Cost per Dive?

[MaxBottomtime]

When I worked at a dive shop my diving was really cheap. I originally bought used gear, then gradually replaced it at cost. Air fills were free. Now I have a boat, dive nitrox all the time and my camera rig cost more than many of the cars I've owned. I'm on a fixed income so I don't even want to think about it.

 

[CanadaDan]

I just rented two sets of gear and four tanks for my step-kids (first OW dives), drove two hours to the lake, dove 2 dives with them, spent $50 on lunch, and drove back two hours.

Worth every damn penny.

But for the record their 6 dives each (4 open water cert dives included) have probably cost me $2000 in fees, training, rentals, small bit of kit, food, gas etc... so they're at CAD$166.67 per dive and I haven't even bought them their full kit yet

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Cost is an absolute, but affordable is relative. I bought most of the gear I have used, something like 9 sets, and it's still worth about what I paid for it. Factoring in the resale value at some point lowerers the cost per dive considerably. Dive team and most of my divemaster work is local, so that lowers the cost per dive as opposed to vacation diving....but the value per dive is what is most important.

Whatever the actual cost per dive is, low or high, Oklahoma lake or Carribean Reef, it is still cheaper than therapy....and much cheaper than prison. That is value!! A healthy crack habit might be cheaper, but the friends you make would be boring.

Now, should something happen to me and any of you bastards buy my gear from my wife for what I told her I paid for it....I'll come back and turn off your air!!!

Safe travels Amigos,
Jay

 

[lexvil]

Some thoughts will pop into your head from time to time, this one is in the same category as “I wonder if pee is conductive”? While looking at the dryer receptacle. Push such thoughts aside, some things are meant to remain unknown.

 

[MiloR]

How do you put a price on the pure fun and the best way to spend free time that was ever invented??

 

[OTF]

Some thoughts will pop into your head from time to time, this one is in the same category as “I wonder if pee is conductive”? While looking at the dryer receptacle. Push such thoughts aside, some things are meant to remain unknown.

According to this study Electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids in urine - PubMed the average conductivity of urine is 21.5 miliSiemens (at least in urinary stone patients) and the lab's dryer fuse is inexplicably blown. Test everything!

 

[lexvil]

According to this study Electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids in urine - PubMed the average conductivity of urine is 21.5 miliSiemens (at least in urinary stone patients) and the lab's dryer fuse is inexplicably blown. Test everything!

Make sure you tape the test, you or perhaps your next of Kin will be a YouTube sensation.

 

[Scraps]

A few years ago, I figured the cost per operating hour of a ski/wakeboard boat I keep at a lake in North Carolina and use only two weeks per year. It was roughly equivalent to the cost of chartering a private jet.

This knowledge did not change my behavior. Here’s why:

We’ve been going to this lake for more than 20 years. We even went there when I was assigned overseas in the military.

Now the grown kids have busy lives and families of their own. But they still call every winter to ask when we’re going to the lake next summer. And they carve out a chunk of their precious time to continue adding memories of family time together.

Last year, I got two of my grandsons up on skis for the first time. Their smiles were just like their dad’s when he learned.

That boat helps draw the grown kids back each year. It’s not even a diveable lake, but the money I spent on the boat is worth every penny.

Diving is a hobby. Cost per dive is not a number I have any interest in managing or minimizing—from either a safety or pleasure point of view.

 

[Jcp2]

Back in the day I chartered a water sports boat in Bay Lake at Disneyworld. For $150 an hour, the four of us got to use a brand new master craft ski boat. The best part was that it also came fully fueled, had a captain who also taught us how to use all the toys, including wakeboards, water skis, and a giant tube. The captain got us up as we had never waterskied before and my son and I each got to drive the boat a bit. We were out for 4 hours and then called it a day.

 

[Esprise Me]

Ooof. Let's see.

I can't really reconstruct what I spent on rental gear before I bought my own; let's say about $2-3k. Once I bought stuff, I spent about $6k for essential gear (including wetsuit and drysuit), probably closer to $10k once you factor in camera, boat coat, those dive sandals I just had to have because they have holes to drain water, second computer, second (better) set of fins, pony bottle with reg and other items for solo diving, etc., etc.

Probably about $1500-$2k on various courses and instructor/course DM tips.

About $10k in international dive travel.
Fourteen round trips to Catalina on the ferry at about $1250 total (I like to take the Commodore Lounge on the way back.)
Twenty local day boats at a total cost of between $3-4k with tips.

I've gone through 3 air cards and a Nitrox card at my LDS, so that's another $250 in fills. I don't even want to think about gas or wear and tear on my car.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of stuff. But just those things come to a minimum of $24,000. And if we round up to the 200 dives I hope to make by the end of the year (most of the rest will be beach dives), that comes to at least $120 a dive, probably a lot more. Really makes that $100-150 all-inclusive Discover Dive look like a steal!

I like to fantasize that, now that I have "everything I need," the cost per dive will come down. But who am I kidding? Every time I go in for an air fill, I come out with a new toy. But hey, I make good money and don't have or want kids. What else am I gonna spend it on?