How Much Should Certification Cost?

[Dive-aholic]

It depends on the area that you live in and the instructors that are available. Some instructors are just more expensive. In my area of Pensacola Florida $400 just got you knocked in the head... Open Water is $179 and includes tuition, books, video/audio discs, log book, dive tables, equipment rental, dives and card fees... This dive shop is one of the best if not the best in the area also. They are not there to make money, they are there to promote diving. Heck here in Djibouti Africa, a 3rd world country, the price is cheaper than $400.... Make sure you talk to the people who run the shop, do the certification and the customers who have been certified by them. Good luck and check around...

What shop is this and what is the OW course schedule (how many hours in the pool, classroom, and on dives)? Either their instructors are working for free or the shop is losing a lot of money on their OW classes.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Just to clarify, I understand everyone's arguments about not getting certified on the cheap, and if I had the money I would spend as much as I needed on top-notch instruction, but unfortunately I have the choice of getting certified for $400 or less or not getting certified at all, because as a college student I don't have enough money to spend on all the bells and whistles. I already did a resort dive in Costa Rica and found it very easy, my boyfriend is a rescue diver, and I don't plan on doing any really dangerous dives until I can afford some of the advanced certifications, so I think I'll be fine for the time being with the cheapest certification course I can find.

Were you neutrally buoyant during that resort dive? Were you able to maintain proper trim?

Learning to dive isn't just about going under water. It's about going under water and not harming the environment that you're an uninvited guest in.

 

[ucfdiver]

Were you neutrally buoyant during that resort dive? Were you able to maintain proper trim?

Learning to dive isn't just about going under water. It's about going under water and not harming the environment that you're an uninvited guest in.

For $400 you learn how to (hopefully) safely EXIT a dive during an emergency. For a little more $$$, she could learn how to safely ENJOY a dive and avoid an emergency.

 

[GatorKev]

What shop is this and what is the OW course schedule (how many hours in the pool, classroom, and on dives)? Either their instructors are working for free or the shop is losing a lot of money on their OW classes.

It is MBT divers (MBT Divers Dive shop Pensacola, FL) Pensacola Florida. They have the prices listed on the web page, even cheaper for military folks. They are very personal and are interested in taking care of people and promoting diving in general. I do not know the actual schedule because I have been certified long before I went to this shop.

As spectrum stated, some shops work for the return customer basis (equipment, rentals, air fills). It's like the one dollar off a million customers instead of the million dollars off one customer concept. The money will come in based on return customers.

From my knowledge (which isn't much) I have seen the dive manuals go for $40-$60. So why should it cost over $400 for a class (yes I do understand about overhead)? Just because someone charges more does not mean that they are better or will teach you better than anyone else. Sometimes less is more, if they are doing it for less it might be because they WANT to be there, it's not just an income for them. Some places charge more because they have more overhead and might be doing this as just an income. That is why I stated to make sure you talk to those who have been certified by the shop to see how they were treated and things that they had to complete. Just my opinion...

 

[Belle67]

I just finished my classroom and pool sessions and will be doing my ow soon. So far for basic gear, and my classes with a private instructor cost me $600. I have another $150 to spend for my ow check outs. So I will have spent $750 just to get my c-card. Then ofcourse ther is the added costs of having my own gear which will skyrocket my investment to close to the $3000-$4000 mark depending on what choices I make for bd, reg and other such.

 

[fisherdvm]

There was a dive opt in California that sold OW training on ebay for about $220.

 

[Dive-aholic]

It is MBT divers (MBT Divers Dive shop Pensacola, FL) Pensacola Florida. They have the prices listed on the web page, even cheaper for military folks. They are very personal and are interested in taking care of people and promoting diving in general. I do not know the actual schedule because I have been certified long before I went to this shop.

As spectrum stated, some shops work for the return customer basis (equipment, rentals, air fills). It's like the one dollar off a million customers instead of the million dollars off one customer concept. The money will come in based on return customers.

From my knowledge (which isn't much) I have seen the dive manuals go for $40-$60. So why should it cost over $400 for a class (yes I do understand about overhead)? Just because someone charges more does not mean that they are better or will teach you better than anyone else. Sometimes less is more, if they are doing it for less it might be because they WANT to be there, it's not just an income for them. Some places charge more because they have more overhead and might be doing this as just an income. That is why I stated to make sure you talk to those who have been certified by the shop to see how they were treated and things that they had to complete. Just my opinion...

I just checked out their website. The schedule is on there and they spend 5 hours in the pool before taking their students out to open water. 5 hours! I guess you get what you pay for...

Oh, wait a minute, 5 hours scheduled for the pool. That includes set up, tear down, and in between dives. Maybe you'll get 3 hours in the water with that schedule. Sorry, but I just can't let that one go without comment. That's pathetic.

 

[ucfdiver]

I just checked out their website. The schedule is on there and they spend 5 hours in the pool before taking their students out to open water. 5 hours! I guess you get what you pay for...

Oh, wait a minute, 5 hours scheduled for the pool. That includes set up, tear down, and in between dives. Maybe you'll get 3 hours in the water with that schedule. Sorry, but I just can't let that one go without comment. That's pathetic.

Agreed. 5 hours is simply not enough time to get a diver comfortable in the water.

I can quickly teach a new diver how not to kill themselves on scuba gear, and I'm no an instructor nor do I care to ever become one. It takes a much longer time in both the classroom and the water to make a diver who will not only not kill themselves, but will ENJOY diving!

 

[PvtStash]

Agreed. 5 hours is simply not enough time to get a diver comfortable in the water.

Ah but is that what OW is for? to get enough hours/training to get you "comfortable in the water"?

You probably know divers that've been diving for Years that arent comfortable in the water... maybe they only dive once every couple years or whatever...

No , I think OW is to teach you the skills you need Not to Die, and the Comfortable part comes later while you practice On Your Own Time (as opposed to paying Big Bucks in some class until you get "comfortable")

 

[Nick_W]

I just finished my classroom and pool sessions and will be doing my ow soon. So far for basic gear, and my classes with a private instructor cost me $600. I have another $150 to spend for my ow check outs. So I will have spent $750 just to get my c-card. Then ofcourse ther is the added costs of having my own gear which will skyrocket my investment to close to the $3000-$4000 mark depending on what choices I make for bd, reg and other such.

Wow, really? I'm sorry to say I think you're being taken to the cleaners by someone.





I'm also enjoying coments in this thread along the lines of "I'm not an instructor, but I know exactly what it takes to make divers".