Overpriced OW class?

[Diver0001]

Are private lessons worth the extra money?

They can be but the golden rule remains that the quality of the instructor is primary. A private instructor who is a first class loser is just going to give you a bad course and charge you more for it. Likewise, many shop instructors are excellent and can give you great training in that context.

You really have to stop thinking about the money aspects here and get out and interview instructors before you make a choice. People here can help you prepare some questions to ask that might give you an indication of how the instructor conducts the course.

Choose the best instructor you can find for the budget you can afford, but make a short list of instructors you feel good about before talking about money.

R..

 

[Culcuhain]

Nothing like helping with an OW class and see 4 different dive shops slap straps on the students....

 

[pauldewitt]

Paid $300 for ow, through a military-only deal. 3 other students in the class and there were no other fees involved. You needed your own boots, fins, mask & snorkel. The instructor was military retired and I don't know how profit shook out between the shop and instructor.

 

[D&JH]

My instructor is only charging me $329 for EVERYTHING. I do not have to buy any gear till after certification!!! I am in SW FL

 

[ichaanisaar]

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

$500 plus supplying the personal gear is not an overpriced class.

It is not reasonable to demand that gear be purchased from the retail facility providing instruction, however, a consumer should give the retailer a chance to offer a suitable package. Some retailers offer students a discount and some will discount the class if an equipment package is purchased. Many are willing to price match and even work with a competitor to meet their customer's needs. As long as the retailer was given a chance to make a sale, then they can't be upset if the consumer's needs weren't met and they had to make a purchase elsewhere.

Quality instruction should not be undervalued. The OW class is the most important class that a diver will ever take. This is the foundation for many habits that will never be unbroken. The first law in learning is primacy: first heard, best remembered. Many would-be divers will lack comfort from sub-par instruction and will not continue on with the sport. Those brave enough will be receiving remedial instruction during future excursions and continuing education.

The OW class and all equipment is an investment to a new sport. $500 is far from over-priced.

(On a side note: Statistics say most diving classes today are priced lower than their equivalents in the early 1980's and that's without counting for inflation. I would not trust anyone with my life that only thinks their value is at $10 per hour.)

 

[flots am]

My instructor is only charging me $329 for EVERYTHING. I do not have to buy any gear till after certification!!! I am in SW FL

I don't think my OW class has cost me much more than $40,000 so far.

 

[shoredivr]

....some shops sell their rental gear close to for what they paid for it.They still had to maintain it and service it to sell and does cost..We do not sell our rental gear ..we destroy it and throw it into dumpster.
Tanks are perhaps the only thing we may sell used., and then it is so rare for us to do so why bother.

While I applaud the success of the shop owner's business, throwing serviceable gear into the landfill and not reselling it is part of a bigger issue: the throw away society, bulging landfills and waste of materials that we do frequently in NA. It's too bad that a successful business can't find a way to recycle used regs, BCDs, tanks etc. I'm sure the shop has a marine conservation element to the scuba courses (picking trash up from local dive sites, "leave nothing but bubbles" etc....why not extend this to recycling used gear?

 

[tridacna]

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.

Additional costs:
Equipment - 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.

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:

1. 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.

Which shop was this?

 

[oly5050user]

While I applaud the success of the shop owner's business, throwing serviceable gear into the landfill and not reselling it is part of a bigger issue: the throw away society, bulging landfills and waste of materials that we do frequently in NA. It's too bad that a successful business can't find a way to recycle used regs, BCDs, tanks etc. I'm sure the shop has a marine conservation element to the scuba courses (picking trash up from local dive sites, "leave nothing but bubbles" etc....why not extend this to recycling used gear?

Believe me the gear being thrown away is well used and not worth being serviced. Tanks are sold for scrap here by the LDS owner but everything else is dumpster junk.
Wet suits have a life span and no long have flexibility or any kind of stretch to them.
bcds get torn and not reliable to consider repairing.
regulators last a long time here as we mostly use Sherwood for rental and they are almost indestructible.