The $99 scuba course question

[TSandM]

It's been my experience, working with classes for five years, that the vast majority of people need more than an hour or two in a pool to become comfortable, and in particular to grasp more than the tiniest idea buoyancy control. And I think the four open water dives are really an absolute minimum, and not enough for some divers at all.

 

[spoolin01]

Have you actually met "typical" people? There's a whole lot of different ones out there. You run into someone who gets it in 10 seconds and 1 hour pool dive, you could conceivably charge them a little less. However, you only find out afterwards when they've already paid. Would you refund their money?

You know, I realize I DON'T see many divers, and those I do see have already made the minimum grade, such as it was for them. I try to keep that in mind as I read here.

As pointed out, of course there truly are a couple of dead serious risks in rec scuba (embolism, deco sickness - anything else?) that you're not likely to know about from other experience. For that reason it seems advisable to ensure those points are hammered home to get a basic certification. As I recall, the deco stuff was emphasized far more than embolism in my class... In addition the buddy system is a good safety protocol and core to the dive charter industry, so it's understandable to want to standardize that baseline training and expectation.

Beyond that, I like awap's analogy to the driver's license. Maybe scuba is slightly different in that some risks are not as palpable or instinctual as driving at 120MPH or taking off down an icy double black diamond run after your first snow-plow lesson, and emphasis is needed. As I recall, I spent a similar number of hours qualifying to do each (scuba and driving that is, way more for skiing - but then I was self-taught there too ).

 

[RJP]

I personally think that, although you don't want to scare OW students to death, it IS important that they understand there are certain things they can do while diving that can, quite literally, kill them.

My 17yr old daughter just got her driver's license, and I think there are several parallels. But the main one is that diving is like driving. It's easy to die... and it's easy to not. If you want to do it badly enough you'll accept the risks and focus on managing them. There's a way to serve them up in an educational fashion that won't be so over the top as to scare people away.

That said, I have done some research recently that shows when communication about diving emphasizes "high-quality training" that non-divers take away a seemingly inappropriately elevated sense of danger and risk. (they also are less likely to think they will be able to dive well and that it will be fun.)

 

[redacted]

My 17yr old daughter just got her driver's license, and I think there are several parallels. But the main one is that diving is like driving. It's easy to die... and it's easy to not. If you want to do it badly enough you'll accept the risks and focus on managing them. There's a way to serve them up in an educational fashion that won't be so over the top as to scare people away.

That said, I have done some research recently that shows when communication about diving emphasizes "high-quality training" that non-divers take away a seemingly inappropriately elevated sense of danger and risk. (they also are less likely to think they will be able to dive well and that it will be fun.)

One big difference is diver accidents rarely kill other divers.

But it is not going to change much unless the scuba training agencies profit by the change. They have control over this.

 

[flyin01]

They're just not that into it.

Sometimes they are into it but start a family or have career demands that divert their time and money. We do see some of them come back to diving when their kids are old enough to start training. One marketing avenue could be to bring people back to diving.

 

[Maule]

There is a semi close shop that sells Scuba Lessons for $199.00. This includes all training, books, C-card and the open water portion off of the shops dive boat. There is no "extra" charge for renting gear it is all provided. They also throw in a coupon for 1 2 tank dive off of the shops dive boat once you are certified. I just wonder how any money is being made but they have been doing this for years.

 

[redacted]

So what are the reasons people drop out of diving?

They're just not that into it.

Everybody quits eventually. While not being that into it may be the reason for some of the early dropouts, I'm sure the answer is much more complex than that.

I find myself cutting back on my diving and would not be surprised if I give it up completely in a few years. I have all but completely stopped local diving because of the hassle in getting gas. One local site (aquarena springs) that used to have gas does not have it any more, so I have cut back on that. They are dragging their feet on replacing their compressor and I now suspect the management really does not plan to do it. Getting gas close to home has also become a hassle. The one remaining local shop is floating on a lake and the lake is 15 ft low so a fill involves about a three story climb. And policy changes with the boat doing the Flower Gardens trips have made me give that up also. I'm basically down to a vacation diver and I just don't see that going on for long.

I really thought I would dive until I could not take the physical challenges any more. Now I am beginning to think that I will be physically able to dive but will just get tired of the hassles. But I might have some gear for sale.

 

[Texasguy]

One thing that everyone misses is that the deal is through Groupon.

From: Should You Use Groupon For Your Small Business?

"So given that most Groupon campaigns offer the end customer around 50% off, let's run some numbers here. Say your product retails for $100. By giving a 50% discount to customers, you will only make $50. After Groupon's 50% cut, you only get $25 for something you normally would charge $100 for."

Apply that to $99 that a customer pays, the shop is left with ~$50 after groupon fees. Thus, in reality, $99 is to the customer, for a scuba shop it is WAY less. Point is, read the small print. With groupon you are not getting $99 from a customer, you are getting screwed.

There is some example with a bakery that decided to sell some cup cakes through Groupon. They were a small mom&pop business, they thought they are entering a digital age and groupon promotion sounds a novel idea promoting the business. Well, they lost money because people were just buying with the discount and were NOT coming back. Their loss leading turned to ruin them. It is possible that their cup cakes were not so good, in the end, groupon takes a huge amount from every sale as a fee. If a business doesn't know how to turn such customers into full blown full price repeat buyers, it is as good as throwing money away.

The only way I see $99 price to work is if the shop will penny and dime their customers for everything.
Snorkle set - $160
Books - $80
Air for each dive - $10
Gear rental for each day - $60
Access fee to pool per day - $20
Any redo/reschedule - $70
Heavy reminder to tip EVERYONE...
more fees...

... and it is rather awkward to drop the class because you already paid $99. You find out about all the fees only "after". Yes, you bought the class instruction but you got to pay for every breath...

 

[TMHeimer]

There is a semi close shop that sells Scuba Lessons for $199.00. This includes all training, books, C-card and the open water portion off of the shops dive boat. There is no "extra" charge for renting gear it is all provided. They also throw in a coupon for 1 2 tank dive off of the shops dive boat once you are certified. I just wonder how any money is being made but they have been doing this for years.

The price is quite low. Our shop provides all gear for the course (except the usual mask/fins/snorkel of course), and also give the grads. a free 2 tank boat dive (in fact, our charter guy--who is independent of the shop--only charges $50-$55 Canadian for a 2 tank trip). As far as the OW checkout dives being also from the boat, who else is on board? Other divers who are paying? If it's just a charter for the class then there is the cost of gas (boat fuel) that someone must pay if not the students. Wonder what the Instructors' pay is? Are the classes really large (10,12)? But, I guess they all got it figured out.

 

[spoolin01]

Depending on the shop circumstances, the marginal cost of offering the classes can be pretty close to zero. They may already have the facilities, and staff as existing overhead, and not everyone uses boats for check-out dives, or they charge additional if they do. Whatever they bring in from the class is bonus revenue to a large degree. In addition they likely make some sales, and prospect some customers. $150-$200/head aside from course materials to the shop for a class of 4-6 sounds like good money if the space and time would just sit idle otherwise. A shop that has to pay instructors extra or rent facilities is in a different situation.