OW course price

[Ash0r]

I am curious, what did you all pay for your open water class?

I have a couple shops in my area. After I got the price for the closest one, I decided to shop around some and I found the price to vary quite a bit. I see that ST has the open water for $245 which is even $50 less than the cheaper class I found.

[fire diver]

Yes, class costs vary HUGELY for different regions, and even within the same city. MY suggestion would be to talk to other divers in your area. Find out what instructor does the best job. Don't get caught up in the agency name game. The cert company is just a name on a card. Find a good instructor to teach you right. The best class MAY NOT be the cheapest or fastest, but sometimes you might be surprised.

So where exactly are you located? Lots of folks here who may be able to give more local advice.

FD

[rfreddo]

When comparing prices, don't forget the "add ons" like entry fees to the lake / park, etc. where you will be doing your certification dives, if applicable, cost of air refills that you will need during your cert dives, travel time / cost to get to your cert dives, etc., etc., etc.

Also, if you haven't bought personal gear yet, many LDS will give you a special rate on the gear, the class or both if you purchase your personal gear and the course though them.

Lots of variables. Make sure you compare apples to apples. I definitely agree with the logic of finding an instructor you can work with rather than buying the cheapest course.

Good luck!

[subsur]

$350 including EVERYTHING (pool sessions, book, mask, wetsuit, bc, fins etc etc). equipment was not mine to keep. the price is discounted because i did it though the school and there is a deal between the shop and the school.

[Dive-aholic]

Like rfreddo said, make sure you compare what you're getting for the price. I paid $199 and got in during a buy one get one free deal. All that paid for was the classroom and pool sessions, though. Then we had to pay $200 each for the checkout dive trip and $50 each for rental gear (if we hadn't already bought our own). So the course ended up costing us $350 each, plus a 7 hour drive into Mexico and back. Some shops will also charge you extra for the certification card once you complete the class. My sister had to pay extra for the referral paperwork so she could do the checkout dives during her honeymoon and the checkout dives were already included in the original course fee!!

[Cojrock]

I payed about $US 50 for mine, including a two day trip to a nice resort to do the OW stuff, tho thats because our school(thru the government) did a 90% subsidy as i was in an outdoor education class at the time. Best class i ever did at school

[Ash0r]

Originally Posted by fire diver

So where exactly are you located? Lots of folks here who may be able to give more local advice.

FD

I have already contacted all the dive shops within driving distance and got their prices. I did not choose the cheapest one. Out of the 4 that I contacted it was the second cheapest at 300.

[somewhereinla]

I think I remember paying $350 for mine.

[greyzen]

Originally Posted by Ash0r

I have already contacted all the dive shops within driving distance and got their prices. I did not choose the cheapest one. Out of the 4 that I contacted it was the second cheapest at 300.

Dive shops aren't the only places that give lessons... lots of independent instructors who don't work directly for dive shops

[TxScubaBear]

Don't necessarily go for "cheap"- as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Have any friends into diving? See what their thoughts are- it's not a matter of price of agency certifying you- from personal experience it's the quality of the instructor who is guiding and teaching you. You can get a "cheap" experience at $200, but again- a year later will you remember some things the instructor tried to ingrain in you? Same for more expensive- to me, it all falls on your instructors/DM's. Some places here have AOW for as high as $350; ST had a special a month ago and I bet in a year I'll still remember the things Alan and Mack and Greg taught and reinforced to us-ask around before making the plunge. You want to come out of this knowing you've gained a wealth of knowledge and more importantly- if something goes wrong, confidence in knowing that "hey, I can do this, I remember what I was taught".
Thus endeth the sermon...