The initial costs of diving

[Marie13]

Here's what I suggest, to get a sense of what some dive trips might cost.

Get online with Rainbow Reef Dive Center and look at their packages. Look at the cost of a hotel room, if all of you pack into one room. It's over 5 hours drive for you, from what I see online, but if you guys went down for 5 days or so of diving, not unreasonable and cheaper than airfare + a car rental.

Next, get online and look at airfare to/from Cozumel, Mexico. Consider fairly cheap options like Casa Mexicana and see what a Dive With Martin package would cost you guys (see if they still include rental gear at no extra charge). Or Scuba Club Cozumel, maybe?

Turquoise Bay Resort in Roatan is popular as a fine budget option.

Oh, and looks like Rainbow River is about 2 hours drive from you. I read of people doing guided drift dives down that; fresh water, but fine visibility and looks like a blast!

There are other options, but that might give you some idea.

It sounds like the cert class and personal gear are just the beginning of the OP’s issues. If he can’t swing that, he’s not going to be able to swing travel

 

[VikingDives]

I can definitely understand that. Especially if both the parent and children are getting certified at the same time.

I was able to dive with my children on their checkout dives. I acted as their buddy, and made it very clear that the instructor was in charge. I participated only when asked by the instructor.

It's worse if the parents are certified and the kids aren't... I won't allow parents in the water until all skills are done, then I encourage them to come along to work with their kids. My students do 5 dives in open water so there's plenty of time for the family to work together/as a buddy team. Open water is easier/better than the pool. There's nothing worse than trying to teach and your students are distracted by dad wanting to take pictures, or gesturing at them...

I'm also pretty selective about kids I'll work with, for a number of reasons. I generally won't teach kids under 12, and I prefer 13 or older. Before I struck out on my own I worked with young kids, and while they pick up diving quickly, they don't pick up the academics or understand the dangers. Not to mention that 62f water isn't something that most kids can handle well.

Just typing this is giving me flashbacks to my cert. mill instructor days - life is so much better now.

 

[rx7diver]

I'm trying to estimate the initial outlay of money to scuba dive. ...

But hey, my OW course was $25, and included all equipment, and check-out dives....

It was a college PE class and ...

Yes, how old are your children? If college age, then maybe scuba instruction is available at their university/college. There is still tuition, textbook, lab fee, swimsuit, etc., to pay, but gear is probably included, and college expenses often are paid out of a different pot, and college credits are earned.

My daughter (univ junior) was certified in a univ course last Spring term. Besides the items I listed above, we had to pay for a scuba physical and, since the course (formerly a PE course) has a strong physical conditioning emphasis, running/exercise shoes and clothes, too. And hair products (because Chlorine)!!

She needed to borrow/rent/purchase gear for her open water checkout, and we had to pay for the checkout itself. We purchased a mask, watch (Casio G-Shock), and booties, and rented a wetsuit, cylinders (tanks), and Pb weights for her. Her remaining gear was already owned by her mom (fins) and me (snorkel, BC, regulator and analog gauges, dive knife, and dive light).

I hope this helps.

rx7diver

 

[rx7diver]

Thanks for the input. I think scuba is just too expensive for me. I may wind up doing something like kayaking or fishing that consume far less money.

@Jeff Dykes,

The irony is, scuba doesn't have to be as expensive as it is! (IMHO.) A high school friend was gifted basic gear (mask, fins, snorkel, weight belt, simple regulator, cylinder, and plastic backpack with nylon harness) when we were graduating high school. IIRC, his dad purchased the gear from Sears (or from the Fort Hood TX PX, maybe). The gear came with an "instruction booklet", and I believe his dad might have had some very early scuba experience.

I don't know if he eventually underwent formal, paid scuba instruction, but I do know that he dove that gear the entire summer after we graduated HS (1973) in Belton Lake, Ft Hood, TX. I lost track of him when we left for different colleges the next fall.

CAVEAT: I am NOT advocating his approach.

rx7diver

 

[rhwestfall]

What's the $1K a year for?

If you want to see something more than a flat mud bottom (like wrecks), it is a 1.5 hour drive to the Charter Boats, and a double tank on Lake Erie is going to run you $110-$160, rentals, food, incidentals. Easy $200 day. Dive 5x and it is $1k...

I can do shore based drift dives in the Niagara River for "free" weekly. I have all my own gear, including a compressor... through the local shop, gear rental package for their get together is $40... Sure, it could be done, but it can get somewhat boring to drift the same spot every week.... Different spot? You need your own boat... I do that too... lets not factor in the cost of a boat...

I travel to the Thousand Islands/St. Lawrence River. It is 4 hours to get there, and fuel, accomodations, charters, food, air.. it is going to add up.

Tobermory is further, and costs even more...

Yeas, it is $1,000 a year to do nothing fancy....

 

[TMHeimer]

If you want to see something more than a flat mud bottom (like wrecks), it is a 1.5 hour drive to the Charter Boats, and a double tank on Lake Erie is going to run you $110-$160, rentals, food, incidentals. Easy $200 day. Dive 5x and it is $1k...

I can do shore based drift dives in the Niagara River for "free" weekly. I have all my own gear, including a compressor... through the local shop, gear rental package for their get together is $40... Sure, it could be done, but it can get somewhat boring to drift the same spot every week.... Different spot? You need your own boat... I do that too... lets not factor in the cost of a boat...

I travel to the Thousand Islands/St. Lawrence River. It is 4 hours to get there, and fuel, accomodations, charters, food, air.. it is going to add up.

Tobermory is further, and costs even more...

Yeas, it is $1,000 a year to do nothing fancy....

Completely understood, especially when you throw in those expensive charters (more than I usually paid when snowbirding in Florida). I can see your cost could be well over that 1K. I am lucky to have at least 15 different ocean shore dives within an hour's drive and shouldn't assume others have that advantage. And admit, even that does get boring at times over years. I imagine a similar situation to mine would be those PNW divers who have many shore sites in the Puget Sound area.

 

[scrane]

If you charge into SCUBA and start buying stuff left and right without understanding what you're doing you will pay more than if you take things slowly and make informed decisions. If you find a dive shop that insists you buy expensive gear from them in order to be certified you are being cheated. If you buy a full set of new gear for certification and soon find you don't really like diving you stand to lose money. Luckily I never had these problems. My OW dealer supplied gear beyond Mask and Fins for OW and I dove many years on rented equipment. Now I have all my own stuff, most of it bought used at considerable savings.

 

[Marie13]

Completely understood, especially when you throw in those expensive charters (more than I usually paid when snowbirding in Florida). I can see your cost could be well over that 1K. I am lucky to have at least 15 different ocean shore dives within an hour's drive and shouldn't assume others have that advantage. And admit, even that does get boring at times over years. I imagine a similar situation to mine would be those PNW divers who have many shore sites in the Puget Sound area.

Those charter costs are about the average on the Great Lakes.

 

[Marie13]

If you charge into SCUBA and start buying stuff left and right without understanding what you're doing you will pay more than if you take things slowly and make informed decisions. If you find a dive shop that insists you buy expensive gear from them in order to be certified you are being cheated. If you buy a full set of new gear for certification and soon find you don't really like diving you stand to lose money. Luckily I never had these problems. My OW dealer supplied gear beyond Mask and Fins for OW and I dove many years on rented equipment. Now I have all my own stuff, most of it bought used at considerable savings.

If someone can’t afford the startup costs, then later costs don’t matter.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Dive shops around here (Washington) require you to buy at least $350-$700 mask snorkel fin sets before you can take the class. most will not allow outside gear. Maybe it's different in FL, but I wouldn't say you can get into this sport for under $2000 per person.

So in other words, if you show up to class with your own mask fins snorkel that are all pro grade they won’t let you take the class because you didn’t buy it from them? That’s insane!
I thought Washington was the land of freedom and hippies, acceptance, and they are all easy going and far out man. They all moved there from CA.
What’s with these tyrants?