Greater Vancouver Area Dive Club

[WreckedDiver]

do you have to be a member of some sort of club to come diving? i would like to do porteasu on the 17th im just new to this though i completed my open water last month and have done 4 dives since 1 being the nakaya it was awesome anyways if i can come will i need a buddy?

No you don't have to join anything for these free fun trips only for the real excursions where you leave clean shaven and come back as Grissley Adams (have to drop coin!)!

The word I heard is that it's going to be a change up to the schedule and we are doing the Vt 100 on the 10th. Why not try that? Hey if you want I'll be your buddy! Or there is also some very pretty UASBC girls with a lot of diving experience that make great dive buddies! They seem not to dive with me anymore though Ha-ha-ha!

I hope they read this! So I'm immature I have fun and that's all that matters! Naw really they are great sports to put up with half my $hit!

 

[ryanmacneil8448]

its a date lol email me your phone number and we can hash out some details like where im going i hate driving in the city i get lost everytime my email is rmacneil@telus.net

cheers

 

[WreckedDiver]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that today at around 7:30 pm at the Vancouver Maritime Museum the Underwater Archeolgical Society of BC is going to have a speaker series on...

Well your just going to have to come see... something tropic but still topical

 

[puffy]

Count me in. If there are members who are instructors who can train other members within the dive club for the cost of materials and a nominal fee, this would be helpful, as it would be cheaper than going through a shop. I'm told this is what they do in European dive clubs.

 

[puffy]

count me in on the dive club, that is.
Can we get our own string other than Western Canada?

 

[ryanmacneil8448]

i cant make if for the 10th sorry wrecked diver its buddy day up here in squamish so 1/2 price rentals and a group of us are going out if plans change i will call you and come with you guys

cheers

 

[Wolf_eel]

Count me in. If there are members who are instructors who can train other members within the dive club for the cost of materials and a nominal fee, this would be helpful, as it would be cheaper than going through a shop. I'm told this is what they do in European dive clubs.

Puffy
I don't know what they do in Europe but around here we like
to support the local shops, helps keep the industry alive
and truth be told most shops run courses for cost of materials
and a nominal fee to promote gear sales.

 

[scubandrea]

count me in on the dive club, that is.
Can we get our own string other than Western Canada?

That's exactly what the goal has been. Once enough people were gathered it has been unfortunately difficult to get a separate club set up. Feel free to PM NetDoc if you would like to see this turned into it's own club.

As far as instruction goes, I have to agree with Wolf_Eel. There isn't a lot of markup on classes and I doubt a private instructor could do any better, especially if there is pool time involved.

 

[puffy]

That's exactly what the goal has been. Once enough people were gathered it has been unfortunately difficult to get a separate club set up. Feel free to PM NetDoc if you would like to see this turned into it's own club.

As far as instruction goes, I have to agree with Wolf_Eel. There isn't a lot of markup on classes and I doubt a private instructor could do any better, especially if there is pool time involved.

I've already received some training this way by a friend, and it was SIGNIFICANTLY lower than going through a shop. I'm not saying not to support dive shops, as they continue to make money on gear which is significantly marked up. But, if the priority is to get diving, then wouldn't a more economical option assist others in getting additional training while still being able to afford to buy gear so they can get out diving safely? However, if no one is interested in doing this, then sobeit, I'm still interested in just getting out diving and meeting people, I just thought I'd put it out there as an "outside the box" idea...

 

[WreckedDiver]

Puffy
I don't know what they do in Europe but around here we like
to support the local shops, helps keep the industry alive
and truth be told most shops run courses for cost of materials
and a nominal fee to promote gear sales.

Hey Puffy I know what you mean! But I also agree with Wolf Eel the stores don't make very much on classes and they also pay big bucks for the store operation. If you find a "cheap" instructor and the quality is still there your best bet is to keep it under your hat or you'll get said instructor linched. For pool prices there is a place I go where I pay 1/10th or less shop prices for as long as I want and I do keep costs down as best as I can for myself and students. But then I don't have the knowledge base of a team of instructors to draw on or the experience level of Wolf_Eel or shop costs.

Briefly put shop promote scuba diving and help keep the industry alive. No shops mean clubs might eventually die out and rogue instructors might do alright but then they wouldn't have the pleasure of teaching small classes :lurk_2: and would have to do all there own sales promoting.

I have discussed course pricing issues with a few shops and instructors and also the role shops play in the over scheme of things with long time scuba divers and the feedback I got varied depending on an individuals relationship within the diving industry. I think it's a shame scuba diving isn't bigger for the amount of awesome diving we can do out here! We should all promote scuba diving and take pride in the fact we scuba dive whatever our level of training or affiliations.

Clubs are awesome though and I'm in the stages of starting a new one it'll be the unofficial dive club of take no crap divers! Ha-ha! Naw the name is going to be unimportant it's just for fun diving and to keep people wet.

So Scubandrea an OPD DM? Hey I ran into Hammish at Wytte Cliff he's got big classes and is still having fun!

This novel brought to you by caffeinated nerds 'r us.