Certification is costly

[eelnoraa]

I paid in excess of $800.00 for eLearning, OWC, Drysuit and Nitrox Computer certification. The cost included 4 paid pool sessions. I had to buy a different BCD, Mask and Fins using 3 of the 4 pool sessions without any skills training. I am paying $50.00 for 2 hour weekly pool session not knowing how I have to pay before I can begin open water training.

Not knowing the total cost of pool sessions and the length time it will take is disturbing. It’s like throwing money to the wind not knowing where it will land. Other than this I have no complaints.

If the quality of the training is good, $800 is actually cheap for what you get. We are talking OW, drysuit and nitrox.

 

[eelnoraa]

I was talking with someone recently who has a decent set of tech gear and he was saying it had hardly gotten wet. He kept moaning about lack of buddies, having to drive more than an hour to get to dive sites, being married now (no kids). I told him to quit with the excuses. There are plenty of ways around it. You have to make it a priority. I know several younger divers who work second jobs in the winter to be able to afford diving.

I think a lot of divers have gotten OW/AOW with cheapo classes. They rent gear. They have little conception of what new recreational gear costs, let alone tech gear. So if you’re used to cheapo recreational classes, no wonder there’s sticker shock when they’re looking into tech classes.

If you want to afford it, you’ll make the sacrifices in order to do so. Like taking lunch to work every day and making tea or coffee at home in the morning rather than swinging by McD’s. People see the custom DUI drysuit, good regs, and multiple sets of tanks, and think I’m rolling in dough. I make a good salary, but I’m also damned frugal outside of my diving. Diving either has priority or it doesn’t.

I think married with no kids is completely manageable even with a non diver spouse. With kid(a), it is entire different ball game. The 1st 6 month, as a dad, I wish I get enough sleep. Between 6 months to about 2 yrs old, getting out to dive is possible with a understanding wife. Between 2.5-4, where I am now, my personal hobby is almost non existent. We did have new common hobby tho. I can imagine this will be the way for a few more years.

 

[Joris Vd]

I paid in excess of $800.00 for eLearning, OWC, Drysuit and Nitrox Computer certification. The cost included 4 paid pool sessions. I had to buy a different BCD, Mask and Fins using 3 of the 4 pool sessions without any skills training. I am paying $50.00 for 2 hour weekly pool session not knowing how I have to pay before I can begin open water training.

Not knowing the total cost of pool sessions and the length time it will take is disturbing. It’s like throwing money to the wind not knowing where it will land. Other than this I have no complaints.

Honestly you don't have to do any of those. When doing your cert, renting gear is a better idea in general.

If the dive shop is unwilling to provide you the total cost of their training up front, change shops ASAP. Like literally, go to the shop, say you need to be sure what the financial picture is gonna be and if they aren't prepared to do that, bolt as fast out of that shop as you can.

I have to be honest though, it surprises me that the shop would tell you you NEED to buy all your gear before doing your cert. Most shops require ABC materials. Which is basically fins, mask snorkel and that's it. The rest you rent untill you get your cert.

Where are you located if I may ask? To me this seems highly irregular (here in Belgium/ Europe atleast).

 

[Mr. Ed]

Honestly you don't have to do any of those. When doing your cert, renting gear is a better idea in general.

If the dive shop is unwilling to provide you the total cost of their training up front, change shops ASAP. Like literally, go to the shop, say you need to be sure what the financial picture is gonna be and if they aren't prepared to do that, bolt as fast out of that shop as you can.

I have to be honest though, it surprises me that the shop would tell you you NEED to buy all your gear before doing your cert. Most shops require ABC materials. Which is basically fins, mask snorkel and that's it. The rest you rent untill you get your cert.

Where are you located if I may ask? To me this seems highly irregular (here in Belgium/ Europe atleast).

My apologies for suggesting my dive shop made me buy my gear, I voluntarily did so on my own accord. I could have used the shop’s gear, but doing so may have presented less incentive to push forward for certification.

I am glad that I own my gear even though my investment was not a sure thing, but was based on a hunch that I could and would finish what I started.

 

[TMHeimer]

Honestly you don't have to do any of those. When doing your cert, renting gear is a better idea in general.

If the dive shop is unwilling to provide you the total cost of their training up front, change shops ASAP. Like literally, go to the shop, say you need to be sure what the financial picture is gonna be and if they aren't prepared to do that, bolt as fast out of that shop as you can.

I have to be honest though, it surprises me that the shop would tell you you NEED to buy all your gear before doing your cert. Most shops require ABC materials. Which is basically fins, mask snorkel and that's it. The rest you rent untill you get your cert.

Where are you located if I may ask? To me this seems highly irregular (here in Belgium/ Europe atleast).

Good advice. Our shop doesn't rent gear (wetsuits/BBCDs, regs, tanks, etc.) to students during their OW courses. They are provided as part of the course fee, which I assumed is more the norm. Then are sold the following Spring to folks like me.
I agree that if the shop is unwilling to explain all financial details you should bolt to another shop-- IF there is another one within reasonable driving distance.

 

[boulderjohn]

I once attended a week-long workshop for our dive shop that presented ideas for improving the dive shop's bottom line. One suggestion was to provide high quality gear throughout the pool sessions and then rent crap gear for the OW dives. The idea was that if the students knew that doing their OW dives with good quality equipment would require them to purchase their own, they would be more likely to purchase a full set of gear prior to their OW dives. Students would be pressured (subtly and not-so-subtly) throughout their pool sessions to buy a full set of gear before certification.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I raced motorcycles for 20 years. Started with dirt, went to road racing. It was a stupid expensive hobby that I enjoyed immensely. Spoken as someone who owns a shop and multiple dive boats, scuba is a cheap hobby in comparison.

I believe rally racing is even worse, as if you drive full throttle, you will be replacing parts regularly.

 

[Tracy]

I believe rally racing is even worse, as if you drive full throttle, you will be replacing parts regularly.

I would believe that, twice as many wheels, twice the cost.

In the same vein, if you drive full throttle, you break things, if you don't, you lose.
That applies to both.

 

[TMHeimer]

I once attended a week-long workshop for our dive shop that presented ideas for improving the dive shop's bottom line. One suggestion was to provide high quality gear throughout the pool sessions and then rent crap gear for the OW dives. The idea was that if the students knew that doing their OW dives with good quality equipment would require them to purchase their own, they would be more likely to purchase a full set of gear prior to their OW dives. Students would be pressured (subtly and not-so-subtly) throughout their pool sessions to buy a full set of gear before certification.

Hard to figure. You'd have to think that if the students had good gear at the pool and were told they would be getting crap at the ocean they may think "hey, what the....?" I would think "why don't we get the good stuff at the ocean", I'd probably live with the crap at the OW dives and buy all my stuff elsewhere or online.
How did this strategy work out (or had you left by then....?)?

 

[broncobowsher]

I knew a shop that kept a mix of gear and cycled it through the students. Claim was it gave them an experience in all different types of gear. So they were more educated on what they wanted and worked for them when it came time to buy there own stuff. So you show up for class and you might get something nice, or not. After the class the nice stuff sold better then the economy stuff did. Amazing what a little taste of good stuff will do.