How many times a year you are going to scuba diving?

[drbill]

I dive several times a week but I live on an island surrounded by water and am a marine biologist and underwater videographer. During the harsh, cold southern California winters I travel to warm tropical dive destinations. It's a tough life, but someone has to live it.

 

[Triker]

As my first year diving, I made it a goal to dive at least once per weekend between June and October. I've not made every weekend, but been close. I've had about 45 dives so far this season, though it will be wrapping up in the next few weeks due to cooling temperatures. Most dives have been in a local strip pit (Linton's Sunset Park) with adequate visibility, though I try to make monthly trips to area quarries like Pennyroyal and Mermet Springs. I made one trip to a salt water location this year, and think that pattern will continue. Work just doesn't allow more time away.

 

[bradells]

Every time I want to dive it involves a trip.

My 'local' diving in the PNW is a 11hr car ride, then a ferry.

Each trip costs me roughly $300 in fuel and ferry costs. Living and diving only costs me fuel for quite a handful of shore dive sites once I'm there, or charter a boat for some wreck and off shore walls, at around the $100 mark for 2 splashes.

So I run anywhere (this calendar year) from $400, down to $30 per dive on a trip all in, for 'local' diving.

I probably won't get in as many dives as I would like this year (very busy work schedule), but should end up with ~75 dives if I can go out for another week or two of diving.

I also try to get 1-2 medium priced, out of continent dive trips at around $1500-2500 for a week or two of diving/hiking/site seeing somewhere, where my exposure protection is a hat and swim trunks (along with a vat of sunscreen and bug spray)

This year had many big expenses, buying a half dozen tanks, more regs, a camera rig (and a flooded one). I've probably spent around 10k this year on diving alone, not including the travel/accom portion.


BRad

 

[jboneng]

Every Wednesday, Saturday, probably every other Sunday (diving locally), one domestic weekend trip (2-3 days of scuba) probably every other month, two longer domestic dive-trips a year (4 days of diving) and two international dive-trips a year (2 and 3 weeks of diving and other activities)

How much money you spend there and for what exactly?

Diving locally costs me around 30-40$ for boat fuel.
Domestic weekend trips costs me around 100-150$ for boat fuel, fills and somewhere to sleep.
Longer domestic dive trips cost around 250-300$ including boat fuel, fills, somewhere to sleep and dinner.
The 3 week international dive vacation was this year 8-10000$ excluding food and the 2 week dive vacation was around 2000$ for me and my wife, and we have the same budgeted for next year.

 

[PhatD1ver]

I dive several times a week but I live on an island surrounded by water and am a marine biologist and underwater videographer. During the harsh, cold southern California winters I travel to warm tropical dive destinations. It's a tough life, but someone has to live it.

Bill, when you get tired of living it, let me know... I will be happy to go back and learn marine biology and how to take pictures...

---------- Post added September 18th, 2014 at 11:10 AM ----------

I could dive every day if I wanted to dive solo and was brave enough. Alas, I'm not either... there are at least 10,000 bodies of water around Shanghai, little lakes, ponds, there are new golf courses probably full of balls waiting to be harvested, but having never done that type of diving, I need a good buddy whose been in the real MUCK before, and of course has good buoyancy, because from past experience when I used to snorkel to harvest golf balls in the US, I know that you're shot once you disturb the bottom with your fins.

I'm working with one of our LDS on a project to start identifying dive sites that could be used locally. Going to take time, we have to beg or bribe local govt guys to let us in the water... It's hilarious standing next to a body of water with guys wearing latex dry suits and a tank servicing the pearl farms, and then have someone tell you that you can't go 'diving'.

 

[peter11]

Thanks very much for usefull information but how many time a year you are going to "LIVEABOARDS "? When you go internationals DO you rent equipments or take your own?

 

[dmoore19]

I have been on 2 live aboards, each about a year apart. I would like to plan on one per year, that would be nice. I take all of my gear with me on any trip.

 

[wspalding]

People often post about where the best place to live as a diver is . . . I think, in the US, Seattle probably has it hands-down. As long as you are willing to do the work of diving in cold water (thick exposure protection and lots of lead), you live where water conditions are favorable for diving about any day that you would be willing to set foot outside of your house. And although we have some great charter boats, you don't have to go out on a boat at all, because some of our very BEST sites are shore dives.

Seattle? Hmmmm..... I've never gone diving there so I really can't form an opinion but, it would have to be something really spectacular to win me over from the warm and clear diving on reefs teeming with tropical fish, sharks, eels, turtles, rays... that you find in South Florida. I am working on a strategy to move to my favorite diving locale.

 

[DukeAMO]

peter11, you've started a fun thread, but I'm still not sure what you're really asking about. Are you thinking about starting your own liveaboard company, or reselling liveaboard trips (like a travel agent)?

We've never been on a liveaboard, but we'd like to do a liveaboard once per year. It's just hard for us because we have young children, so we'd have to ask Grandma and Grandpa to watch the kids for a week or more to do that. More often, we go on trips with the kids where we can get excellent childcare for them on-site for a few days. We go diving in the mornings while the kids are in childcare, and spend the afternoons/evenings with the kids. Disney's Aulani resort in Hawaii is one example of a place with great diving and great childcare; cruises (like Disney Cruise Line, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc.) are another example. We go on about 2 week-long trips per year like that, and we'll usually get in 3 2-tank boat dives in a week (6 dives total). We'll spend about $5000-6000 for a family of 4, with 2 divers, for one of those trips.

We also take a weekend trip to North Carolina or Florida a couple of times per year. Sometimes we bring the kids along and Grandma and Grandpa take them to the beach while we dive; sometimes we leave the kids at home with their grandparents for the weekend. Those trips are closer to $500 per day for a family of 4, of which half is diving expenses for 2 divers, with one 2-tank boat dive per day.

Sometimes we'll sneak in a dive in an aquarium while we're on another trip. We've done that twice, and would happily do it again. That's about $175 per person. The kids will visit the aquarium with Grandma and Grandpa while we do that, and they can see us in the tank when it's our turn.

The rest of our diving (about 1/3 of it) is local quarry diving. About half of our quarry diving is taking scuba classes, and the other half is just for fun. Classes usually cost about $100 for a daylong class, while just diving for fun only costs about $10 per tank for the air fills.

We get in about 20-25 dives per year, and we own most of our own gear. We just rent tanks, and if we're travelling, we'll rent weights too. We occasionally rent other things like wetsuits if we're trying to travel light.

We've always booked our own travel, but we have seriously considered taking trips sponsored by our local dive shops. They set up group trips on liveaboards and group trips to popular diving destinations like Bonaire or the Florida Springs.

 

[EFX]

People often post about where the best place to live as a diver is . . . I think, in the US, Seattle probably has it hands-down. As long as you are willing to do the work of diving in cold water (thick exposure protection and lots of lead), you live where water conditions are favorable for diving about any day that you would be willing to set foot outside of your house. And although we have some great charter boats, you don't have to go out on a boat at all, because some of our very BEST sites are shore dives.

Just because Seattle won the Superbowl last year....geeez.....get over it. I get all the cold water diving where I am minus the salt water, tides, and surf.

Seattle? Hmmmm..... I've never gone diving there so I really can't form an opinion but, it would have to be something really spectacular to win me over from the warm and clear diving on reefs teeming with tropical fish, sharks, eels, turtles, rays... that you find in South Florida. I am working on a strategy to move to my favorite diving locale.

AMEN to that brother!