What makes one cave instructor more expensive than the other (in their own mind?)

[abnfrog]

jonnyc wow just wow , 75 other instructor complained about the guy and they didn't do a thing .....the guy im taking about is a cave instructor as well ......

 

[JohnnyC]

jonnyc wow just wow , 75 other instructor complained about the guy and they didn't do a thing .....the guy im taking about is a cave instructor as well ......

Fatal accident in Fontanazzi Cave and protests towards IANTD

Here's an SB thread on it. And it wasn't 75 instructors, it was over 200!

Also, unrelated, but FDW.

 

[rjack321]

@CAPTAIN SINBAD
Your question started with the unstated assumption that the majority of cave instructors were similar quality but they varied by price. And of course the inquiry about why that variation exists... The reality is that they vary by quality first and foremost. Then price is a secondary variable.

I can think of perhaps 10 (cave) instructors I would send a family member to. Doing the course math backwards, they all charge ~$275-325/day. As @tbone1004 pointed out, what you get is going to be dependent on course structure and duration which is only partly set by the instructor. Normalizing prices to daily rates removes some of the perceived variation, but raises the question of how (and why) some instructors/agencies it takes X days to teach certain skills and others take more or less than that time. This is sometimes a matter of certain student pools being better prepared, and sometimes its agencies and instructors trying to appeal to a lower quality barometer.

 

[rjack321]

Oh man and I totally forgot about the instructor & guide pulling all the markers out from behind his client in MX. *shaking my head*

 

[Superlyte27]

Still remember one of my enemies (and the founder of a large training agency) saying to me, even the people that hate you say you teach a great class.

That's neither here nor there. My classes are pretty pricey compared to others because I don't need the money and I'm super selective in student selection.

If I had it to do all over again, I would have strongly considered the GUE avenue, but I'm pretty happy with the way TDI treats students and instructors.

There are absolutely crap instructors out there. Rjack is correct. Spend a weekend at Ginnie and you'll see a lot of them. But to answer your question, cost has many factors. It's supply and demand, quality, and attitude just to name a few. How many GUE instructors are in FL? How many IANTD? I know some super awesome CDS instructors who are cheap as can be price wise, because they're humble.

 

[kelemvor]

Most Florida cave instructors are $300/day, but fills and equipment are not included. That's not a bad deal.

That's about what I recall paying for cave1-4 a couple years ago.

Edit: I also had to do tek 45 at the same price. I think it was between cave2&3.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Oh man and I totally forgot about the instructor & guide pulling all the markers out from behind his client in MX. *shaking my head*

I was told by a reliable source that he has drank himself to death. Sad twice now.

 

[kelemvor]

My experience is limited but I have yet to find a cave diver who would say that I had to retake my course elsewhere because my instructor was not good. This is strange because in open water courses you will not find that level of price deviation across US but quality is all over the place

I've never encountered someone who would say anything of the sort (regardless of the training level) to someone's face. On the internet is another story.

I do recall overhearing a discussion between my instructor and some other instructor when we were doing dives at peacock. They went on about how terrible these puppy mill type instructors were, and how they produced crappy students weekend after weekend. I don't recall any instructor names, although I do recall hearing him name an agency that he didn't think much of.

However, two instructors talking among themselves is not the same as someone telling another diver that they suck so bad they should retake a class.

 

[tmassey]

You need to do WAY more legwork and ask around more. There are a few absolutely terrible cave instructors, I can think of 4 off the top of my head in FL alone and a couple more remotely. Some are name brands as well.

Some examples...

I find it telling that you use zero names. So we're supposed to ask lots of questions and do lots of legwork... And you won't name names.

And don't give me the, 'I'd do it in private but not in public!' That's gossip, not advice. Besides, when a person is just starting into cave diving (by definition: they need an instructor!), where are they supposed to get that advice if not ScubaBoard? They are highly unlikely to physically know *ANYONE* who cave dives. And they likely live a continent away.

This isn't aimed at @rjack321 specifically at all. But I think you in-the-know experienced cave divers are *REALLY* divorced from the reality that the rest of us experience. We don't live there, we don't "know" *anyone*, and there's no one who's volunteering that information to us. At *best* we might get a, "You trained with him, hunh? How'd that go..." Kinda too late then, isn't it?

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

This is where your assumptions fail you.

Thanks. Elaborate please.