Maybe I am naive, but does better training that takes more time and effort HAVE to cost a buttload more? When I took my PAID open water training (last year), the training fee was $125 from a large sporting goods store. I was convinced that for all the time and expense it took an instructor to train four open water students. Wow, the store and the instructor had to split $500 for 4 days of pool work, and two days at the ocean (which was 150 miles away, so their was lodging expenses for the instructor). Well, there was no way anyone was making any money at all from the instruction. The store most be making all of their money through equipment sales (I really wonder if you can make any money at all renting gear at $40/day).
So, I have to imagine that the only profit motive is the sales of equipment and that the instructors do it because they love it and they want to share the love. Then would these same instructors offer better training as long as their expenses are covered? Does it really cost much more offer better training? A couple of extra days in the pool. Do three dives a day instead of two. After all, it does not appear that dive instructors are getting paid by the hour (if they it is far below minimum wage).
Different business model ... dive shops typically sell dive instruction as a loss leader, figuring on making up the difference in gear sales. That's one reason why you'll generally pay more for gear at a dive shop ... you're subsidizing the training program.
Dive instructors who work for a dive shop will get their "pay" in other ways ... keyman pricing on dive equipment ... free or discounted fills, tank VIPs, reg repair, etc. It adds up. Or, in a lot of cases, the instructor owns the shop.
The GUE instructor typically does not work for the shop they are teaching at ... and generally they have to travel to the location of the class, often from distances that require air travel. This skews costs quite a bit.
Then factor in pool time. Lots of OW classes really skimp there, because of the high costs of pool rental ... or they spread out those costs by having large classes, or multiple classes using the pool at the same time. But with a GUE class you'll be looking at two to three times the pool hours you'd get with the PADI (or other mainstream agency) class ... you'd need to if you wanted to be able to master the skills and pass the class.
Also, I cannot imagine a GUE OW class with 12 students ... or even 8. Student to instructor ratios would have to be much lower in order for the instruction to be effective. So those pool costs are going to be much higher, per student, than they would be for your PADI class.
Dive equipment ... are you kidding me? Most shops use the cheapest stuff they can get their hands on for OW classes ... because the reality is that the chlorine in the pools do awful things to dive gear, and they couldn't afford to be replacing their rental stock with high-end gear on a regular basis. A GUE OW class will not be using cheap jacket BCs and low-end regulators. The costs of equipping GUE OW students will generally be higher.
All these things add up.
It is true that dive professionals generally work for low wages ... and we don't expect to make much money at it. But we shouldn't be losing money either.
When I first became an instructor, my CD told me to never be afraid to charge appropriately for my classes ... because if I didn't value my time, my students wouldn't either. Time has proven him correct. GUE instructors are consistently at the top end of dive instructors available. One should be prepared to pay for quality. And at any level beyond OW, that's not even something that you need to explain to a properly-motivated student. But at the OW level, a C-card looks like a C-card, regardless of how hard you have to work for it, or who's agency initials are printed on it. This is the reason why people will flock to those $129 courses ... never giving a though to the adage that you get what you pay for.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
