I have been looking into taking a PADI course. I met with the instructor and everything went well until he told me it would take about $2000.00 for the equipment I need. Not including the course fee. This price was for a snorkel, mask, fins, BC, regulator with octo, computer & compass, 5mm wetsuit. I was blown away. I had been surfing the net and after looking at online scuba suppliers I was under the impression I would get in for around $1000.00. Am I missing something here. I realize he probably handles top of the line equipment but do I really need this high end stuff for what I plan on doing. My diving extent would be once a year vacations to Florida with some recreational diving one or two days. Maybe a trip or two to the local quarry that the instructor owns. No real serious diving. I could use some unbiased advise on the equipment purchase. Thanks from a complete newbie.
I Could Really Use Some Serious Help!
- Thread starter WC46
- Start date
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Carribeandiver
Guest
oh man, I saw the headline and dug out my psychology book, all ready to help.
But the instructor is the guy needing the help. YES, if you become a serious diver, you will eventually get your own gear and that could be $2000-3000 or more easily. BUT to take an OW course, all that should be necessary is a mask, fins, snorkel and possibly a weightbelt and weights. The shop should make available the rest of the gear including exposure suits, BCDs, regulators, etc. MAYBE, and only maybe, you will need your own set of boots.
The total equipment cost, all bought new of decent quality, should be no more than $200.00 or so plus the OW course fee of $200-300.
If this guy requires you to get more, go somewhere else. Heck, make it a vacation and I can tell you of several spots in the Carribean where you can get the course for under $200.
But the instructor is the guy needing the help. YES, if you become a serious diver, you will eventually get your own gear and that could be $2000-3000 or more easily. BUT to take an OW course, all that should be necessary is a mask, fins, snorkel and possibly a weightbelt and weights. The shop should make available the rest of the gear including exposure suits, BCDs, regulators, etc. MAYBE, and only maybe, you will need your own set of boots.
The total equipment cost, all bought new of decent quality, should be no more than $200.00 or so plus the OW course fee of $200-300.
If this guy requires you to get more, go somewhere else. Heck, make it a vacation and I can tell you of several spots in the Carribean where you can get the course for under $200.
Diver Dennis
Contributor
You should not purchase more than your fins mask and snorkel until you finish the course and make sure you like it. Rent the rest. For the amount of diving you are planning to do, renting makes a lot of sense. I've seen too may people buy the entire equipment set up only to end up diving on vacations.
You're instructor wants you to fork out $2000 on kit & you've not even started the course yet. Personally I never recommend students buying any more than the very basic equipment until they are certified divers.
The first bits I would recomend getting are mask, snorkel, fins & boots which you should be able to pick up for less than £100 (~$200). If you like snorkelling then you may well have some of this already although it's always best to check that it's suitable for diving (i.e. the mask has tempered glass in it). After that you slowly want to start adding to your equipment with exposure suits, computer, regs & BCD. If you're only going to be diving once or twice a year than it might not be worth buying everything straight away. With regards to the cost of the kit, $2000 is probably about right for eveything. It's best not to buy the cheapest as this is not always the best option in the long run. The most important thing to remember is to get the most comfortable item you find which means going around as many LDS as you can & trying on a wide selection of kit from different manufacturers. At the end of the day if you're not comfortable with the kit you have then you're not going to enjoy the dive. This is why I recommend buying things gradually so you can spread the cost out & maybe be able to afford kit that will be better suited to you in the long run.
If you're instructor wants you to buy all the kit from day one then it's quite likely he wants you to buy it all from his dive store (which may have a limited choice of stock) & therefore might not be the equipment that's best suited to you. If this is the case then I'd recommend finding another instructor. Have a look on PADI.com to find centres near you.
Good luck
The first bits I would recomend getting are mask, snorkel, fins & boots which you should be able to pick up for less than £100 (~$200). If you like snorkelling then you may well have some of this already although it's always best to check that it's suitable for diving (i.e. the mask has tempered glass in it). After that you slowly want to start adding to your equipment with exposure suits, computer, regs & BCD. If you're only going to be diving once or twice a year than it might not be worth buying everything straight away. With regards to the cost of the kit, $2000 is probably about right for eveything. It's best not to buy the cheapest as this is not always the best option in the long run. The most important thing to remember is to get the most comfortable item you find which means going around as many LDS as you can & trying on a wide selection of kit from different manufacturers. At the end of the day if you're not comfortable with the kit you have then you're not going to enjoy the dive. This is why I recommend buying things gradually so you can spread the cost out & maybe be able to afford kit that will be better suited to you in the long run.
If you're instructor wants you to buy all the kit from day one then it's quite likely he wants you to buy it all from his dive store (which may have a limited choice of stock) & therefore might not be the equipment that's best suited to you. If this is the case then I'd recommend finding another instructor. Have a look on PADI.com to find centres near you.
Good luck
WC46:
depending on the location (local temps) and what you want to do a simple gear setup can be as little as $900. to $1,400...not including course fees...if someone comes into my facility before or during their ow course,and purchases an exposure suit-bcd-regulator/spg/oct and either a tank or computer along with the standard mask/fins/snorkel/weightbelt/ the ow course academics and pool ($250) is no charge...sign up to go on a trip with us and the ow training dives and an advance course no charge..
You guys are making sense with your advise. I don't think the instructor was really pressuring me to buy the stuff. I made the mistake of telling him I would like to have the stuff but that was when I thought it was much cheaper. I don't understand why I see scuba gear packages on the web for like 600 or 800 dollars and his packages are like double. Are the packages I see advertised capable of doing the type of recreation diving I am wanting to do?
Watch out!! Sounds like this guy is up to something. Every course I've ever seen has always included gear. The ONLY things you should have to buy are a mask, fins and a snorkel. Should you decide to continue, you should buy your own gear. Aqualung has some great deals for around a grand or so that would allow you to dive pretty much anywhere.
My advice would be to find another shop that is a little more reasonable.
My advice would be to find another shop that is a little more reasonable.
People that own their own equipment dive more. If you know that you are only going to dive once or twice a year and if renting gear when you do dive is fine with you then I wouldn't invest in your own gear.
Take the OW class and see how you feel. If you like diving sign up for the next class (you'll gain some experience under an instructor's guidance) and then see where you are.
Heck, you may get bitten by the bug and decide that you want to dive more than twice a year then you can start investing in your kit.
Take the OW class and see how you feel. If you like diving sign up for the next class (you'll gain some experience under an instructor's guidance) and then see where you are.
Heck, you may get bitten by the bug and decide that you want to dive more than twice a year then you can start investing in your kit.
I'm all for supporting a LDS but they just can't be looking after your best interests.
The price seems right so maybe check to see whether you need to buy this stuff first or whether the instructor was merely informing you of the costs should you buy your own gear. Maybe you misunderstood, give them a chance and see if you can't rent for the course. If not move on...
You want to be renting gear for the course, and by the sounds of things, for the foreseable future.
If you only plan on doing vacation diving I wouldn't buy anything except mask and fins. Obviously if things change you can then make purchases as people who have their own gear definately dive more.
The price seems right so maybe check to see whether you need to buy this stuff first or whether the instructor was merely informing you of the costs should you buy your own gear. Maybe you misunderstood, give them a chance and see if you can't rent for the course. If not move on...
You want to be renting gear for the course, and by the sounds of things, for the foreseable future.
If you only plan on doing vacation diving I wouldn't buy anything except mask and fins. Obviously if things change you can then make purchases as people who have their own gear definately dive more.
divebutt:
I don't think that the guy is up to anything. The original post didn't say that he HAD to purchase all of the equipment to take the class. Talk with the instructor and let him know what your plans are.
If you do want to invest in equipment decide what your budget is first and then purchase equipment that can grow with you. Invest in the best you can afford.
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