Max Dives Per Dollar

[ImmaHyrdalisk]

Scuba is an expensive hobby, there's really no way around that. Fortunately it's totally worth it, but that doesn't stop me from (trying to) be stingy.

I've done a handful of boat charters with the folks I got my cert with, and a few more shore dives on my own with my fiancee. Personally I have a bit of an issue slinging out $65 + 20 for tanks (per person x 2) for a two tank dive. Just about every charter in my area is the same price or higher, so it's easy to blow $200 a weekend for two hours bottom time (not incl rental gear).

As I'm buying gear I can't help but think I'm stuck spending in the triple digits a month on charters alone!

My question to you guys is how do you get your bottom time in a fiscally efficient way? Mostly shore dives, occasional charter, liveaboards, vacations, clubs, etc? Is there some secret way all you guys with 100-200 dives are getting your bottom time cheaply, or do I just need to quit whining and open up my wallet?

I'm fortunate enough to live about five minutes away from one of the best shore dives in the US (or so I'm told), the Blue Heron Bridge, so it is a staple for me. I'm just slightly concerned it might lose it's magic after 20+ dives there. So can any shore divers chime in on getting bored diving the same spots?

Thanks everyone

 

[Steve_C]

Concerning Cost:

It ain't cheap.

Shore dives as you note.

Get a wealthy friend who pays your share just for the company.

Getting Bored.

Now that can be taken care of cheaply. Turn the dives into a quest. In my case I added photograhy. Then I added hunting for nudibranchs (not something usually done in NC) Then I added fish ID. As a consequence I have places I have dove over 20 dives on that I still enjoy because I can never tell when something new will turn up. But on each dive I make sure to put aside the quest for at least a bit and just enjoy being under water.

 

[oly5050user]

Bonaire.. Get a unlimited shore dive package ..many pe pole get 30 + dives in a week there.

 

[Steve_C]

Bonaire.. Get a unlimited shore dive package ..many pe pole get 30 + dives in a week there.

Yes but you take room + air + food etc, divide by 30 and you will not be much significantly cheaper than the $40 a dive that OP thought was too expensive.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

If you're lucky enough to live in an area where shore diving's available, use it as often as possible. I'm lucky in that respect ... I live 2.5 miles from a nice dive site, and have at least a dozen within easy driving distance. I can dive pretty much whenever I want to. Sure, the trips offer nicer conditions or easier diving ... but you take what you can get. And as my friend TSandM used to say, "if you focus on what you see rather than what you didn't see, you'll never have a bad dive."

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[iamrushman]

that's a good question.....i give thanks to the diving gods that i live close to LBTS for the economical beach dive. i boat dive one to two times a month.....and that gives me 75 to 100 dives a year.

 

[rivers]

Unfortunately, most of my dives are in my local quarry. But I also DM for them, so my entry, even when not working, is free. When I'm working, my gas is free, so I make sure to get a fill of 32% before I leave. When I'm not working, my gas is 50% off, so still relatively cheap, and 95% of my fills are through them, or my club. My club also has a rib, and we are able to do dives at cost (fuel+ petrol for towing the rib down). It works out to about £10-£15/dive. Maybe £20 if we go to something further out. If I have a lot of hard boat dives planned (or a trimix dive), I DM as much as I can the month before to pay for the diving. I don't tend to shore dive because a twinset is a bit cumbersome for shore diving.
I dive every weekend, and sometimes mid-week (most Thursday evenings in the summer), and manage about 150 or so dives a year.

 

[Lorenzoid]

A thousand bucks or so for a week of dive vacation for one person (double that now that I'm married) is the reason I only have a few hundred dives 17 years after first being certified.

At least to do boat diving down there where you live you don't have to take vacation time off work, stay in a hotel, etc.

If I lived near Blue Heron Bridge, I'd be there often. I love the macro stuff.

 

[Phil_C]

In my case I commute fortnightly to the middle east, with weekends free - so I get two weekends warm water, and two weeks cold water diving each month.

In the warm I teach/guide at a local dive club so I get tanks and boat dives for free, if there is no-one for lessons or guided dives we just dive for ourselves, again at no cost so long as we are not silly about where we go.

At home I have my own compressors, so I fill my own tanks, and I dive local quarries virtually every week, then the local (UK) club makes trips to the coast. We pay a monthly club membership (costs £10 a month) and we have our own boat.

It's a RIB on a trailer and we are 100 miles from the sea, but it just costs fuel for towing and running the boat and any launching fees so it depends how many people we take as to what it costs, but about £25 to £30 probably covers a days diving including air.

We'll do shore dives, shallow water diving or deeper wrecks depending on who goes and what they want.

I haven't used a commercial 'dayboat' for about 4 years now, yet still get 80-100 dives in a year. - P

 

[Laurie S.]

I bought my own boat.