i am new to diving and i have a question about cost

[dive_lover88]

oh boy!! is that a new line of regs? i gotta have that!!...

it's hard to keep up with the budgets. Even with Ebay, it's still gonna be expensive in the long run.

 

[scubapatton]

Diving is not for the tight wallets. You will get solid gear and instruction for about 1500-2000 out the door best guess. This will get you wet with own gear. After that you may find things you upgrade, areas you get into that require more gear and/or more instruction. It is a little more for start up than other hobbies/sports/activities, but after you get the gear, you will find it is not so bad long haul. Eg snowboarding down here (I noticed you are in SoCal) would run you at least $150 a day for gas, lift ticket, food at the resort. Golfing would run you ~$30-100 in green fees, etc. Once you have your own gear, and if you join a dive club, you will meet people quickly. Getting out to Casino Point for a weekend may run you $75 for the day - 2-4 dives, 6am to 3pm or so.

So it is all relative I suppose...

 

[kaimoser]

The most expensive part of the sport is the equipment. I used to think that ski equipment was expensive, now I think it's cheap compared to SCUBA gear. Unlike, skiing though (with single day lift tickets costing $50-100 depending on where you go), the bulk of the diving costs are behind you unless you intend to frequent exotic locations each time you dive. The costs will be incurred while getting air or Nitrox fills for your tanks, something to eat and plenty to drink during your surface intervals, transportation to and from the dive site, and whatever the cost might be for your local dive site. In my case, the local quarry (Dutch Springs Homepage) had a super deal on season passes now that the season is ending in the Northeast US. The pass is good for the rest of this season and all of 2008. I'd guess other places do this too.

Next year, I figure $8 for air and $11 for Nitrox fills (typically 2 Nitrox dives and 1 air dive) and I'm only spending $30 for the actual SCUBA costs for a full day of fun and exercise...well of, course next year will be more classes...maybe some new toys...but, you get the picture. The bulk of the expense is done.

 

[mkutyna]

hmm, let me see. I have been diving since June, '06 and have spent slightly over $12,000 on gear

Criminy! Do you just dump all of your gear into the ocean at the end of every dive and buy a new set for the next dive? 12,000 in under a year and a half is just insane. I can't begin to think of enough gear that a newish diver would buy that could amount to 12,000.

Or maybe you meant 1906.. that seems plausible.

 

[Stu S.]

If I had a $12,000 Scuba gift certificate, I could spend it in an afternoon. If diving is a man's primary source of recreation, good for him. Buy a boat or a Harley, and it will set you back a lot more.

We have a lady at work who probably has that much money invested in tattoos. Hell, I had a co-worker who had porn that cost him more than that.

If diving is a man's primary source of recreation, good for him.

 

[Texasdivechick]

Hope you have good shore diving. It's pretty much unheard of here in Houston/ Galveston region and therefore to get blue ocean water it costs between $180-800 for offshore trips (depending on the length of the trip). Don't forget about tips for the DM, Capt., 1st. Mate, etc..... The tips add up the cost quickly! Even diving in the local quarries cost $15/ entry plus air fill plus $30 in gas plus food/drinks. Yeah, scuba is expensive.
But it's soooooo worth it!

 

[paradicio]

The wife and I put about $4k each on our initial kits. That doesn't count the things we've picked up since then (cameras, under water housing, strobes, save-a-dive stuff, etc...). As the poster above said, diving is not cheap...but OMG is it money well spent...

 

[waynel]

I have no idea what you're talking about. My three BCs that just got pushed to the back of the line by the brand new BC I just bought might have an idea though.

Amen, brother.