What is the "normal" cost for the Nitrox class?

[purbeast]

The next step I want to take is the Nitrox course.

The place I did my OW class it is listed as $125 on the website. However I contacted them and that doesn't include the materials cost or the certification/taxes cost, which adds another $129 + $46, for a total of $300 on the dot. This one includes an estimated 5 hour classroom session that concludes with a test, and I believe would include the physical materials as it's in a classroom.

Another local one I checked online thus far is $225 and says it "Includes instruction, digital course materials, and digital certification." From the rest of the description it sounds like you go over the material on your own, then meet in class for a very brief session where they answer questions and go over a few topics, and then you do some sort of logging/labeling (which I assume is part of the test mentioned above maybe?)

And now I just checked another one that is a shop I have been to a few times, says it is $150 for everything, and it includes us doing the studies on our own and filling out 2 knowledge reviews, then a computer tank simulation, and then we come in for 2 hours for and review the book, do a 25 multiple choice quiz, and tank analyzing.

So I'm just wondering, are these prices pretty standard? Do they seem high? I really don't know what to compare it to so thought I'd ask.

 

[Marie13]

I paid $150 over two years ago for SDI Nitrox with eLearning and a three hour classroom session that includes review and learning how to analyze tanks. Shop website currently shows it as $250. I may have gotten a special.

 

[Neilwood]

I paid £75 for a course over here - was for the materials, instruction, practical testing on analysing tanks and certification. Took about 2-2.5 hrs.

 

[mmerriman]

The next step I want to take is the Nitrox course.

The place I did my OW class it is listed as $125 on the website. However I contacted them and that doesn't include the materials cost or the certification/taxes cost, which adds another $129 + $46, for a total of $300 on the dot. This one includes an estimated 5 hour classroom session that concludes with a test, and I believe would include the physical materials as it's in a classroom.

Another local one I checked online thus far is $225 and says it "Includes instruction, digital course materials, and digital certification." From the rest of the description it sounds like you go over the material on your own, then meet in class for a very brief session where they answer questions and go over a few topics, and then you do some sort of logging/labeling (which I assume is part of the test mentioned above maybe?)

And now I just checked another one that is a shop I have been to a few times, says it is $150 for everything, and it includes us doing the studies on our own and filling out 2 knowledge reviews, then a computer tank simulation, and then we come in for 2 hours for and review the book, do a 25 multiple choice quiz, and tank analyzing.

So I'm just wondering, are these prices pretty standard? Do they seem high? I really don't know what to compare it to so thought I'd ask.

5 hours?????

 

[almostDIR]

here the padi nitrox course without dives is typically from 100 to 150 euros including the materials and other costs. Mine was 150 euros.
read the book (only couple of dozen pages nowadays) + do the exercises in the book and do the couple of hours classroom session + multiple choice exam + tank analysing exercises and that's about it. It is good if the instructor has some additional info and exercises included in the classroom session or can at least share some first hand nitrox stories, makes the course more interesting our instructor had prepared couple of pages of additional exercises so that we got to practice more with calculating EADs and other stuff and we also practiced to use the printed tables even when the course is very computer centered nowadays (the tables are still great as a backup) . so it was ok to pay a little extra for the course compared to the cheapest available option.

if the course is over 200 bucks then I would definitely want to know how much extra I would get for the price. if the price for example includes real dives (not needed by PADI but can be added fun if the diving spot is great) then it would be reasonable to pay more for the course

 

[Jcp2]

$180 for PADI course everything included. I had choice of online or physical books, and chose the book because it included the tables on plastic cards, even though I’ll be using a computer. It could have been less if I had done it on vacation, but I chose a local shop because it fit my schedule better and they were flexible in case I needed a class change. I also liked being able to study the material at my leisure away from a device.

 

[seeker242]

Typical prices around here $80-100 plus books.

 

[NAM001]

If you are paying more than 100 you are not only getting the business, but being asked to clean the fence afterwards. My God what can it cost to watch a dvd and take an exam. The prices quoted above is why agencies and shops get such a bad rap.
This is much like plumbers determining the min fee for the house call by the square footage. which has nothing to do with the plugged drain but has everything to do with how much you have available to spend on clearing that drain.

 

[almostDIR]

If you are paying more than 100 you are not only getting the business, but being asked to clean the fence afterwards. My God what can it cost to watch a dvd and take an exam. The prices quoted above is why agencies and shops get such a bad rap.
This is much like plumbers determining the min fee for the house call by the square footage. which has nothing to do with the plugged drain but has everything to do with how much you have available to spend on clearing that drain.

the price does not matter if the instructor is good and brings some extra value to the course.

if the course is lacking and the instructor is bad I would not take that course even for free
it is about learning new things after all, not just getting a coloured plastic card to show to the scuba store people (they rarely ask for the cards here anyway... )

 

[purbeast]

Okay thanks for the information. I have enjoyed my time spent at the one shop that is charging $150 so I think I'm going to use them for this class. It seems reasonable based on posts here.

I'm going to get more information from them about it just to be sure what all is involved and there are no other hidden fees, which I don't think there are based on their description.

There is definitely something to being in a classroom environment for me personally. I like that type of learning better because I am curious by nature and ask a ton of questions. I really enjoyed the classroom portion of the OW that I did for that reason, and I chatted up the instructor during our lunch break both days too.

But it looks like all of these involve some sort of classroom portion, so I think any of them would be good. It would be nice to just try a different shop other than what I used for my OW one too.