Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
When I got certified there were two shops in town to choose from. One was down in the south end of town amongst the detail shops, radiator shops, and used car dealers. They had and ad painted on the front window saying "Scuba classes $125". Being the seedy end of town I figured his rent was less and he could discount classes. Then for comparison I went up to the shop on the north end of town and they had certifications advertised for $365 complete. That included all the classes, book, pic card, full gear rental not including mask and snorkel but everything else, and also didn't include fills on the two tanks included in the rental, but only if you got them filled someplace other than back at the shop. The open water portion was out on the coast at a state park and it also didn't include the $5 park fee for each day. They had a sheet with all prices outlined and restrictions up front. There were no surprises. I went with that shop.
Later I found out that the discount shop would have been about $400 if I was lucky, but could have been way more in some cases. That price of $125 was for the teaching part only. It didn't include any gear, books, pic card, tank rental, nothing. Then Infound out from a source that he would routinely "run out" of rental gear which would cause people to have to buy new gear which be bad nothing but a lot of oddball fringe brands and his rental fleet was pretty lame also with a lot of mismatched oddball stuff that hardly worked and was in desparate need of servicing.
So my experience is to go in, talk to them, check out the shop and see what type of gear they sell and how they run their business, because chances are if they're a dealer of top end gear then that's what you'll be using for rental. And if you get a firm price and know exactly what it's going to cost it makes in so much easier with no grief or hidden surprises. Also make sure they'll reserve the gear you'll need for your check out dives so you don't get there and get told they are out and if you want to do the dives you'll need to buy all new stuff to complete the course.
Later I found out that the discount shop would have been about $400 if I was lucky, but could have been way more in some cases. That price of $125 was for the teaching part only. It didn't include any gear, books, pic card, tank rental, nothing. Then Infound out from a source that he would routinely "run out" of rental gear which would cause people to have to buy new gear which be bad nothing but a lot of oddball fringe brands and his rental fleet was pretty lame also with a lot of mismatched oddball stuff that hardly worked and was in desparate need of servicing.
So my experience is to go in, talk to them, check out the shop and see what type of gear they sell and how they run their business, because chances are if they're a dealer of top end gear then that's what you'll be using for rental. And if you get a firm price and know exactly what it's going to cost it makes in so much easier with no grief or hidden surprises. Also make sure they'll reserve the gear you'll need for your check out dives so you don't get there and get told they are out and if you want to do the dives you'll need to buy all new stuff to complete the course.