What do i need?

[drrich2]

When you buy boots, get something with a decently thick sole, because if you do shore diving, you may be walking in through rough, rocky areas, and 'booties' just won't cut it. I'd also consider getting a thick pair (e.g.: 6 or 7 mm), since you can use them for warm water diving or cold, but if you get thin (e.g.: 3 mm) boots, they won't keep your feet warm in cold water diving.

At some point you will probably do some local diving, even if mainly boat trips to the Channel Islands, and even southern California waters in the late summer & fall are cold at depth. For that, you'll need wetsuit (likely 7 mm), hood & gloves.

Richard.

 

[dmaziuk]

Wow other than the somewhat crappy diving around here I'm glad I live in Arkansas. My class was $200 for classroom, pool sessions, and open water. I spent the additional ~$75 for elearning and bought my personal equipment for ~$200.

Mine was $250 class + pool, all gear provided. Plus $40 PADI books. $140 for OW, again all gear included and the logbook as well.

 

[pdubois64]

I did the Open Water Referral in the pool and did the 4 open water dives in Mexico. The referral was $450 which included a Sunuto Zoop dive computer. Got a 20% discount to buy wetsuit/fins/mask/snorkel/boots. The 4 dives in Mexico were $299 I believe.
After completing my AOW in Mexico I also decided to buy Regs and BCD after a bad experience with rental gear. My advanced OW was just the cost of the 5 dives plus the cert fee ($45). Nitrox course was $200. I'm at about $1600 all in for gear plus the training about $700.

I also did the Discover Scuba in Mexico before anything.

On the other hand my pool dive buddy back home is certified and doesn't own one piece of gear.

 

[halocline]

Whatever you spend, diving will end up being cheaper than building and maintaining a coral reef aquarium of any reasonable size. That's from a former reef aquarium addict. The other thing is once you visit actual coral reefs, your assessment of aquariums is likely to really change. Think of it as a liberation!

 

[xengxue yang]

Thanks guys for all the tip...so should used or new and what do you guys think or rebrethers....are they worth is?

 

[diversteve]

Right now they're the best way to get yourself dead while diving.

Ask again in 500 dives when you have all the class certifications and training leading up to diving one.

 

[Neilwood]

Thanks guys for all the tip...so should used or new and what do you guys think or rebrethers....are they worth is?

Used or new depends on your acceptance of risk or otherwise. If you want it to work straight off, new. If you accept the risk of possibly having to pay extra to fix something or get items serviced, then used can be a perfectly good option.

Rebreathers are great (from what I hear but never used one) but have a number of issues which is why opinions such as the one below exist. If you don't respect them, get trained on them, get them properly serviced etc they can quickly kill (with relatively little or no warning).

Right now they're the best way to get yourself dead while diving.

Ask again in 500 dives when you have all the class certifications and training leading up to diving one.

I think the point from this is get a good amount of diving experience behind you, then think about further courses/training before thinking of them.

 

[Scubatude]

Above all else, in my opinion, your instructor for Open Water will be your most critical decision. Here is a very brief article I wrote about choosing the right instructor.

I hope it helps,

Robert Arak

 

[fjpatrum]

You'll save yourself a lot of money buying used, no matter what anyone says about "Warranty for life" or other such gimmicks. Here's a primer I put together a while ago about how to look for used gear. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...ying-used-discriminating-shoppers-primer.html

That said, rent/borrow the gear you use for your OW class from the LDS you go through. It will give you some time to learn about the equipment and try using it before you buy. I took my OW classwork and pool sessions then bought my gear before my OW dives. I thought it was a great way to do it and I had an idea at that point what I wanted and what was or wasn't a good deal.

 

[Bob DBF]

^^^^ what fjpatrum said ^^^^

The few times I don't buy used gear, it's used after it hits the water once.



Bob