Overpriced OW class?

[Wookie]

I don't find that outrageous, but it is on the high end of normal. I think you need to ask what else it includes, books, rental gear, OW fees, gas fills, instructor fees, DM tips, camping at the OW checkout, pool fees, etc. Someone else's $275 that includes books and c-card may not include the rest of the stuff I mentioned, and all of that is going to get charged to you one way or another. It's a fallacy that there are cheap scuba courses out there. They may range $25 or $50, but that's about it. Make yourself a matrix that includes those other things I mentioned, then ask where OW class is. I know a dive shop in Houston that will push you to do your OW checkout dives in Cozumel, adding an easy $1500 to the bill. Of course, you're in Cozumel....

If you do find a cheap scuba course, they are likely taking it out of the Divemaster and Instructor's hide (fees). Do you want to learn from the cheapest contractor?

It tends to be SSI shops that insist you buy your gear from them. It's part of their marketing technique. It isn't wrong, it is what it is. I'd like you to use pawn shop gear when I teach, because you're going to replace the fins a couple of times and the mask at least 3 times. Actually, I think it's a shame that dive shops won't let you try their masks, it lets you use 3 or 4 of them without committing to one, and when you find the right one, buy it then.

 

[wycacher]

I would not do it. That is what I paid for private lessons and a private session on open water checkout dives total. I bought my fins mask and snorkel online during a Black Friday sale. usually 200 got them for 75. Can't hunt for a deal if your limited to one shop.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My son was recently OW certified and I pulled this from the shop website - $199.00 tuition + $92.95 books + $295.00 OW rental and Quarry Dives = $586.95
Plus the Mask, Fins and booties another $200 or so I dont have receipts. So all added up - here in NJ - just under $800 to get OW Certified.
That does not include buying equipment after he was certified so we can dive together.

I would have been annoyed if the shop told me I had to buy my equipment from the shop - other than that it seems in line with prices around here.

Class Tuition
Class tuition is $199.00. This includes approximately 25 hours of classroom and pool instruction, and the use of XXXX scuba equipment (i.e. tank, regulator, weight belt, weights, and BCD) for all pool sessions.Due to an increase in the cost of training materials (text book, log book, video and audio tapes, and dive table), we have separated their costs from the tuition. Training materials are an additional $92.95 HOWEVER, if reasonably un-marked they can be returned at the end of your class for a $45.00 credit. You may also, based on availability, purchase used training materials at a discounted price. A $75.00 deposit is required to hold your space in class. Our refund policy can be found XXXX. [/FONT]

Additional costs:
Equipment - [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Students are responsible for their scuba quality personal equipment (i.e. mask, fins, snorkel, and boots) by the first pool session. All of XXXX's students receive a 10% discount on purchases made during their training. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Open water training dives require the rental of standard scuba equipment for the weekend.
Our ALL INCLUSIVE STUDENT OPEN WATER TRAINING PACKAGE is $295.00 and includes:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]. 2 entry vouchers for the two days of diving at Dutch Springs
2. Rental of Scuba gear package for two days which includes: 7mm, 2 piece wet suit, hood and gloves,
two 80 cu ft aluminum tanks, weight belt with appropriate weights, regulator with octo and console with depth and pressure gauges, wrist compass and BCD.
3. 2 air fill tickets
4. Instructor fee
5. Scuba Diver Certification upon successful completion of open water dives. [/FONT]

 

[Shasta_man]

Force you to Cozumel?! Isn't Houston right next to the Gulf of Mexico?! They must have a waiting list for hiring instructors.

 

[freewillie]

My LDS offers basic PADI OW certification for $350. Includes all course materials but shore dives only for that price, boat dives available but would incur the extra expense. Mask, fins, snorkel available through the shop and while recommended to purchase you won't get dirty looks or black balled if you don't. The instructor however reserves the right to inspect the gear to see if they are appropriate for scuba. Some students try to bring their $35 vacation snorkel gear.

 

[Shasta_man]

The prices here in Northern California seem to be much better, as it's $350 for everything including rental gear except the training materials which look to be $70 for OW. It includes pool time and then ocean certification shore dives.

The $300 for OW rental in Jersey seems a bit much. Particularly since it looks to be only for two days, but I also see now that is where the instructor fee is!. So the shop gets $200 off the top and then the sneak the actual instructor fee in the "OW rental fee". I can imagine the cut he gets out of that. If I just rent the gear outside of the class, I can rent tanks for the weekend for $10 each. The air is free. To rent all of the rest of that stuff would be $75 for a week.

 

[Mustard Dave]

The cost of the course is whatever people are prepared to pay. If the training offered was superior to others, I wouldn't be too bothered if I thought I was getting value for money. I would be more concerned about a cheap course.

On the whole, I don't think diving instructors make a fortune and many do it just for the love of diving, the lifestyle, or in the case of shops, to bring in customers. If more instructors charged a rate that provides a living wage, we wouldn't have the ridiculous situation where dive operators are employing little more than slave labour.

Expecting you to buy your kit exclusively from the instructor is bang out of order in my opinion. My local dive school provides all equipment in the price of courses up do DM.

I would not recommend buying fins until you have learned to dive. Fins are a very personal thing and what suits some does not suit others. I would recommend diving with others and having a go on theirs to see what you like.

 

[Texanguy]

My LDS offers basic PADI OW certification for $350. Includes all course materials but shore dives only for that price, boat dives available but would incur the extra expense. Mask, fins, snorkel available through the shop and while recommended to purchase you won't get dirty looks or black balled if you don't. The instructor however reserves the right to inspect the gear to see if they are appropriate for scuba. Some students try to bring their $35 vacation snorkel gear.

Thats the same price of the class I will be attending it was 400 but he gave me a deal since i got some of my fiends to sign up. One of my friends actually wants to either lone his brothers gear or ues his vacation snorkeling gear. I am not sure what to tell him.

The cost of the course is whatever people are prepared to pay. If the training offered was superior to others, I wouldn't be too bothered if I thought I was getting value for money. I would be more concerned about a cheap course.

On the whole, I don't think diving instructors make a fortune and many do it just for the love of diving, the lifestyle, or in the case of shops, to bring in customers. If more instructors charged a rate that provides a living wage, we wouldn't have the ridiculous situation where dive operators are employing little more than slave labour.

Expecting you to buy your kit exclusively from the instructor is bang out of order in my opinion. My local dive school provides all equipment in the price of courses up do DM.

I would not recommend buying fins until you have learned to dive. Fins are a very personal thing and what suits some does not suit others. I would recommend diving with others and having a go on theirs to see what you like.

I don't have a problem paying for better training. The problem is that the dive shop down the road had the same gear for half the price. I kind of got the impression that they were trying to charge me for every little thing.

 

[oreocookie]

That's about the going rate in my area... where I work, the OW course runs $459 and includes books, rental gear, cert fees and pool time (since we don't have an onsite pool). The student has to supply their own mask, snorkel, fins and boots (which would run about $260+tx if they bought the cheapest models we have... on average it's in the $350-400 range), but they aren't required to buy them from us. Course dives are from shore at a public park, so no entrance fees for that, but we do include a boat dive after the course to introduce the new divers to one of our local wrecks (and so they can see that diving around here involves more than just training platforms).

At least one local shop also "recommends" students buy a wetsuit along with mask, snorkel, boots and fins. Students aren't required to have a wetsuit (which is only included in the rental for cert dives), but rental gear is only included in the course price if the student buys mask, fins, snorkel, boots and wetsuit from them.

In trying to determine if a price is good or not, you really have to compare ONLY the shops in the area(s) you're considering... $500 may be expensive in an area where there's a nearby beach with calm, clear water for "pool" training and where the certification dives can also be done from shore, whereas it might not be expensive at all in an area when pool time has to be rented and certification dives are done from a boat.

 

[freewillie]

PS forgot to add. The cost of the class includes the equipment. Tanks, weights, Atomic Z2 regulator with console computer and compass, BC, and wetsuit with hood. You as a student need your own mask, snorkel, fins, gloves, and booties (we dive local California waters with temps around 60 depending on time of year.)

As for your friend, tell him to bring the snorkel gear for the instructor to inspect. The mask in particular needs to be a low volume mask with tempered glass. If the instructor fails the gear then he should be prepared to buy at least an inexpensive dive mask. The fins for snorkeling are also much softer and shorter than scuba fins and in general won't have enough thrust to properly scuba.

You should be able to find a dive mask for about $40 and a pair of fins for about $50-60 depending on brand and retailer. I use Aeris Mako adjustable fins for my daughter. Excellent fin, no complaints (at least from her), comes in a wide variety of colors (she likes the ice blue) and is about $60.