Kind of a take off on several threads as of late...
Assume you found an instructor who was exactly what you think a good instructor should be. Whether that means he spent the time necessary, challenged you, was passionate about the sport, had great dive skills, taught more than the book had in it, etc.. whatever is important to you in other words. How much would you have been willing to pay (realistically speaking, none of that "a good education is priceless" even though it is)
There are classes within 1 mile of my house ranging from $125-$500 for BOW. Lets assume a max class size of 4 and a minimum of 5 full days instruction (8 hrs/day minimum).
I ask because I wonder if we are shortchanging some of the good instructors out there, who teach because they love the sport, but really could never afford to live off of what they make... Do they deserve more and would you be willing to send your family/friends to them at a significantly higher cost?
Personally I am quite cheap and always look for a bargain, (just look at my projects in the DIY forum - lol) but it would be worth $500 for good instruction to me (I might just have to save my pennies a bit longer or put it off for a few more months...). And I think an active instructor could make a fair living on that (figure $3-4k per month after expenses including a paid DM and 1 boat charter per class)
Aloha, Tim
P.S. If folks are willing to pay more, I actually hope some of the instructors out there would start charging more... Just understand the pupils you get will expect a lot more too!
Assume you found an instructor who was exactly what you think a good instructor should be. Whether that means he spent the time necessary, challenged you, was passionate about the sport, had great dive skills, taught more than the book had in it, etc.. whatever is important to you in other words. How much would you have been willing to pay (realistically speaking, none of that "a good education is priceless" even though it is)
There are classes within 1 mile of my house ranging from $125-$500 for BOW. Lets assume a max class size of 4 and a minimum of 5 full days instruction (8 hrs/day minimum).
I ask because I wonder if we are shortchanging some of the good instructors out there, who teach because they love the sport, but really could never afford to live off of what they make... Do they deserve more and would you be willing to send your family/friends to them at a significantly higher cost?
Personally I am quite cheap and always look for a bargain, (just look at my projects in the DIY forum - lol) but it would be worth $500 for good instruction to me (I might just have to save my pennies a bit longer or put it off for a few more months...). And I think an active instructor could make a fair living on that (figure $3-4k per month after expenses including a paid DM and 1 boat charter per class)
Aloha, Tim
P.S. If folks are willing to pay more, I actually hope some of the instructors out there would start charging more... Just understand the pupils you get will expect a lot more too!