Tricks and Tips that Save Pennies

[El Orans]

AOW is nice to have but not urgent. Get some experience first.

DAN is a necessity.

Spit will work just as well (no cost whatsoever).

Do lots of shore diving >> Beach Crabs.

 

[spectrum]

We've found that it is SO expensive to dive in CA. From OC/SD/San Pedro, all boats are $75-80+ per person. For that, we can take a boat in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, even Costa Rica, and are almost guaranteed great diving...

Skip AOW? I guess we were just waiting for someone to tell us that...

Any more suggestions?

Ditto on skipping the boat. If you love boat diving and can afford it that's one thing. If the cost of charters is keeping you from frequent diving that is a huge under utilization of training and your gear investment. You can slash your cost of diving by getting familiar with your local shore dive options.

Almost any dive can be a great dive believe it or not. You may be a accustomed to great visibility and so forth but once you get accustomed to the smaller world of local visibility I bet you find it just as interesting and probably more challenging. Don't sell local diving short.

As for AOW I would not prematurely set a training limit. Get some dives that are within your scope. If you are self learners or find yourself in the company of a good mentor you may evolve on your own. If you decide that you want to be better at navigation or be introduced to the deep or night then take AOW.

For the purposes of boat diving there may come a point where the dives you want to make require AOW. Based on your dive count I would do it soon of you see this being the case, otherwise it will be very redundant. There are some good AOW programs so do some research and make it worthwhile, not just another card.

At your discretion consider following that with rescue diver. In fact since you are with NAUI you can skip AOW and take rescue diver anytime. That will do a lot to make you a safer diver and better buddy.

If you remain committed to vacation diving then nitrox should make sense if your vacations are dive centric.

The biggest thing you can do lower your cost per dive is to dive, dive and dive some more.

If you have not yet bought luggage to bring your gear on trips consider conventional cases. Nothing says you need to have a gargantuan dive branded case. A plain case will not advertise the contents. As long as it holds the gear and a mesh bag to carry the day's needs to the boat you're covered.

Taking good care of your gear will let you get many years from the investment and lower the cost further.

If your camera is not digital, consider going digital.

Good luck with the new gear and dive safe and often.

Pete

 

[BEM]

Buy the best reg you can afford. If you keep diving and initially purchased a basic, entry level reg - you will most likely eventually buy a top of the line one. In the long run you'll save money and have more enjoyable diving.
I went from a Mares reg (decent reg that worked well) and went to an Apeks (easier to breathe and good in cold water.)
Renting tanks can be less expensive than buying - depends on the # and frequency of dives (build a spreadsheet and track/project costs - see where the break-even point is.)
See if your local dive shop has a tank fill discount card or program.
Don't scrimp on an octo or guages or BC - try to save money in other areas - fewer restaurants, shop for bargains, use grocery coupons, public transit ......
Anyway that's my 2 cents.

 

[RJP]

I'd be a little leary of anyone that tells you to skip advanced training.

I'd be a little leary of anyone that tells you that AOW is "advanced" training...

 

[RJP]

Any other good suggestions on how we can save a penny or two?

Buy your second set of gear FIRST!

The most money you can waste in diving is money spent on the gear you bought instead of what you SHOULD have bought.

 

[DepthJunkie]

Whatever you're going to buy now, DON'T! Listen to the people (veterans) who have spent before. Buy the absolute best even if it cost a little more than you wanted to spend, you'll save money in the end. There's an expensive reason I own at least TWO of everything.:depressed:

 

[Garrobo]

Dive Pirate: Well spoken by an instuctor whose pocket money comes from inexperienced divers and puts down the same people. Less than 199 dives? That's the majority of divers.

 

[ligersandtions]

We've found that it is SO expensive to dive in CA. From OC/SD/San Pedro, all boats are $75-80+ per person. For that, we can take a boat in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, even Costa Rica, and are almost guaranteed great diving...

Skip AOW? I guess we were just waiting for someone to tell us that...

Any more suggestions?

There's a lot to be said about shore diving....for the price of an air fill and gas to get you to the beach, you can make a lot of really great dives. I do mostly shore dives, and treat myself to the occasional boat dive....THAT will save you a lot of money over going on a vacation every time you want to dive (especially if you're like me and want to dive every weekend).

Maybe I spoke prematurely about AOW. My advice would be to find an instructor who has something to offer. The AOW class I took had low standards (my fault for being loyal to my LDS) and I got nothing out of it other than a new card....however, this card will allow me to do some of the boat dives that require "advanced" training. AOW isn't advanced....but with only 25 dives under my belt when I took it, I expected to get something out of it. Sadly, for the $200+ (course fee, book, boat trip, etc) I spent on it, I came out with five more dives, and that was it. While I'm glad I got five dives in, I could have done that for significantly less.

 

[mksmith713]

Has everyone forgotten this thread is about ideas on how to save $$$$

Using baby shampoo instead of the expensive dive shop goop to defod your mask is another way to save $$$

 

[swifttank]

Get a part time job at a dive shop. Worked for me so far. I pull 4 hours a week in the slow season and pick up more in the summer and around holidays. They paid for my OW, AOW and after a year they do DM too.