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

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It would be nice to just try a different shop other than what I used for my OW one too.
yes it is good to take courses from multiple different instructors so that you'll get more perspective. I had my OW with one instructor and the Nitrox with other and doing AOW and Deep with the third. will someday later take technical diving courses from two other instructors and maybe doing Fundies before that with the sixth instructor :)

one does not even need take the courses from the same agency unless wanting to get some higher certifications which mandate having the lower cert levels finished. As long as you are continually learning and advancing it works fine to mix and match stuff :)
 
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

Good to know your instructor wanted to offer value by making the effort to explain some of the basic maths. I'm all for computers, but still feel it's important to understand tables and be able to calculate EAD, T formula, etc, even at basic nitrox level.

Our nitrox course is similar to this and we get them to plan a couple of simulated dives (calculating best mix, NDL, MoD, etc) label cylinders and set computers. A tour of the fill station and a demonstration of partial pressure blending also goes down quite well.
 
my 2psi is that I paid about $80 for the EAN books after my instructor told me they 'include' Nitrox with AOW if I wanted to go that route.

It sounds like there is quite a bit of discretion on the cost of the Nitrox cert.

I think it also depends on whether the shop's price includes any dives (not required) with the EAN training / cert.

For me, I wanted to get EAN and AOW and my instructor advised to do the EAN and then we could dive Nitrox on the AOW dives.
 
You have several variables to sort through. First is which agency’s course? I am familiar only with PADI programs, so with that brand you still have choice of eLearning for dive computers, classroom, book and video for dive computers, or classroom, book and video for tables. Actual dives are not required, but some shops do include them in course prices which of course can add quite a bit.
Dives aside, I consider the tables course to require significantly more instruction time rather than simple review of self study work, and so would charge more than a computer version.
The eLearning price to PADI is $180, whether a shop charges anything additional on their end or is content with their revenue share is up to them. (If doing eLearning, do be sure to associate the course with the right shop - don’t send the $$ somewhere else.)
 
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 :poke:
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... )

Pardon the comment but the comment is moot ansd an excuse The issue is gouging for the same course. There is absolutely almost zero overhead in a nitrox class. I also disagree with the plastic card comment. It is 90% all about getting the card. This is not a class that like an OW class where you can teach a lot more than that class min requirements. What is there above the min requirements in a nitrox class. You need to check a tank you need to understand MOD. you need to understand a tank filling log book you need to understand the pros and cons of the gas. , you need to recognise a tank adn its contents, What you dont need is to do a dive, you dont need to fill a tank, you dont need to do deco, you dont need to know how to use a computer cause you can do tables. SSSSSOOOOO where is the justificaton for the high prices. There is no overhead for the instructor that is student dependant except the student book and card. he buys 2 tanks of different gas and 100+ students sample them. there is <20 bucks a year ,,,,he uses the same training kit perhaps 300 bucks one time plus updates for all students. you are looking at perhaps 2 hours that you can do say 6+ students. What is being sold is not so much the information as it is the card to get the gas. If you want to talk advanced nitrox then that may be a whole different game. To be honest I am starting to question why they even teach nitrox. They should be able to give you <30% there abouts with log signature based on your AOW card alone, since you cant have PPO2 issues without exceeding the rec depth limits. Any more nitrox should be a chapter in AOW.
 
What many people don’t realize is that pricing is VERY location dependent. Of course, it’s going to be cheaper in FL.

Most nitrox classes in the US these days don’t seem to require dives.
 
When getting EAx certs for my family, I searched the lowest cost I could find. I was pretty intrigued with this company - B & W Dive Co. - but they were on the other side of town and I found a local, independent instructor that would accommodate this training for about the same price.
 
spending maybe thousands of bucks on scuba gear and then cheaping couple of bucks on the training, that one goes over my head :shocked:
I can't even get a decent diving light with the cost of a nitrox course here so the course prices are the least of my worries but maybe in some warmer parts of the world this is more important (for example where one can get by with using only a rashguard or a shortie and alu80 without much any weights and the cheapest used ebay regulator works well enough at least half the time) . I dunno, maybe it is just so expensive to start with here that the PADI course prices are the least of my worries
 
spending maybe thousands of bucks on scuba gear and then cheaping couple of bucks on the training, that one goes over my head :shocked:
I can't even get a decent diving light with the cost of a nitrox course here so the course prices are the least of my worries but maybe in some warmer parts of the world this is more important (for example where one can get by with using only a rashguard or a shortie and alu80 without much any weights and the cheapest used ebay regulator works well enough at least half the time) . I dunno, maybe it is just so expensive to start with here that the PADI course prices are the least of my worries

Yes, agreed. People complain about the quality of instruction, but are griping about $50 either way. I don’t shop for price on training.
 

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