Hello from Clearwater, Florida!

[Jeff Dykes]

Hi! After living here for six years and having a job that finally stabilized, I figured it's time to take advantage of living on the coast and learning how to scuba dive! I'm really close to the ocean - only six miles as the crow files. My three teens and I are signed up for an intro diving class in three weeks to introduce us to the very basics of diving. After that, I'll probably be pursuing a SCUBA certification (and whichever of my kids wants to do it, too).

I'm in pretty good shape but not getting any younger, so I figured that if I wanted to learn how to do this, I'd better get on it! My kids - they have all the time in the world. I'm hoping that after I've gotten certified, I can find other local divers in order to sharing the cost of taking a boat out to dive from, since I don't have my own boat.

Perhaps the regulars here could answer a few questions for me?
1. What can one expect to pay when going out on a boat and sharing expenses?
2. At what point should one consider buying one's own equipment vs. just renting it?
3. What can you do deep-water diving that you can't with, say, local, shallower wrecks/reefs?
4. What's the cost these days of getting SCUBA certified?

 

[RyanT]

Welcome!

1). Back when I was diving from a friend's boat, we all just split the gas. I commonly volunteered a little more though (often picked up post dive dinner, rounded up, etc.) because my friend shouldered all the expenses of owning a boat.

2) Once you decide that diving is something you want to stick with, start buying your own gear. By owning your own gear, you can ensure that it is in good shape to dive, AND you can configure it to make sure it truly fits you and your style of diving. If you're not 100% diving is for you though, try it out a bit before you invest in the gear.

3). Deep is a bit of a relative term. Some divers might consider 75' deep, while other divers might think that 75' is a shallow dive. In your part of the world, getting offshore to some of the deeper sites often means seeing bigger fish, lobster, and wrecks and reefs that are dove less often than the inshore sites. Diving deeper requires some additional equipment and skill that takes time to learn and develop. The trade-off to diving deeper though is less bottom time.

4) Probably in the neighborhood of $500 per person. You can probably find cheaper courses, but they might not include equipment rentals for your check out dives, etc.

Here's more thing to consider....there is a lot of variation in the quality of instruction out there. As a non-diver, it's hard to know what you're getting. One thing you might consider asking your instructor is, "Do you teach skills with divers on their knees or in neutral trim"? If the answer is "neutral trim" you're more likely to have a good instructor.