RussianSoldier
Banned
I went scuba diving to 20 feet, and I enjoyed it. I'm thinking about getting certified, but I'd like to know what to expect for the $200-$300 I have to pay...
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Any Scuba Divers here?
- Thread starter RussianSoldier
- Start date
lightpants
Platinum Member
Expect to pay another $2-300😀
Scuba diving is great, but there is always something else to buy or rent.
However, out of all the things I waste money on, scuba is the most rewarding.
Scuba diving is great, but there is always something else to buy or rent.
However, out of all the things I waste money on, scuba is the most rewarding.
RussianSoldier
Banned
I think i'm going to start scouting some local lakes. I'd like to get certified before winter...
Once you're certified, you are certified for life. A PADI Open Water certification means you're good for anything up to 120 feet. If you're interested in reef diving, looking at fish, etc this is all you'll need (most of the "pretty" stuff is in 30 feet of water or so). If you're interested in Wreck diving, then I'd recommend you get your Advanced certification and take a class specifically on wreck diving.
The class is pretty easy and is split into "book learning" and "hands on". Look for a class that meets a few times a week over the course of a few weeks rather than "get cerified in one weekend". Those extra class sessions really help you learn the proper way to hook up your equipment and how to do a safety check. Obviously, the "hands on" stuff is the most fun. You learn a lot of practical skills (e.g. how do you clear your mask of water while you're under water, bouyancy control, etc) and then drill them again and again until they are second nature. The "book learning" stuff goes over stuff like calculating the amount of nitrogen build-up in your blood and how long you can remain underwater at a given depth (it's not hard, it's all on a chart) and why it's REALLY REALLY REALLY *BAD* to hold your breath while ascending to the surface. If you can read a chart and passed 6th grade science you'll ace the tests.
Let us know if you have any specific questions, I'm sure we would all be glad to help answer them.
Dave
The class is pretty easy and is split into "book learning" and "hands on". Look for a class that meets a few times a week over the course of a few weeks rather than "get cerified in one weekend". Those extra class sessions really help you learn the proper way to hook up your equipment and how to do a safety check. Obviously, the "hands on" stuff is the most fun. You learn a lot of practical skills (e.g. how do you clear your mask of water while you're under water, bouyancy control, etc) and then drill them again and again until they are second nature. The "book learning" stuff goes over stuff like calculating the amount of nitrogen build-up in your blood and how long you can remain underwater at a given depth (it's not hard, it's all on a chart) and why it's REALLY REALLY REALLY *BAD* to hold your breath while ascending to the surface. If you can read a chart and passed 6th grade science you'll ace the tests.
Let us know if you have any specific questions, I'm sure we would all be glad to help answer them.
Dave
Carbonadium4
Senior member
sweeet... dont forget "spare air"
The Open Water cert (for PADI) and similar basic cert classes with the other agencies teach you about the same thing: the basic stuff which will make you a little more comfortable in the water and hopefully prepare you for any problems so you won't die. Good news is that if you're smart and follow the rules, the chances of dying are fairly slim. Break the rules, and your chances of inhaling water increase significantly.
Anyway, don't expect the $200-300 initial cert to be the end of your money for scuba. It is NOT an inexpensive activity at least in the beginning. I spent $140 on the initial certification, and since then have dropped about $1600 on equipment, tank rentals/air fills, and a couple boat trips locally. This is all in the past two years for a total of 38 (?, haven't filled out my log for the past few) dives. AND, I live on a tropical island so I can drive to the shore and hop in instead of having to take a plane to a dive site.
Further, with the gear, don't go really cheap. Think about it -- if you had to choose which helmet to wear in a car crash, would it be the least expensive one? The gear you buy is what you trust your life to, literally. If you want to trust someone else's care and/or don't dive often enough to justify the expense of buying, then rent. I prefer to own my own stuff because I know where it's been and how it's been handled. I also dive every weekend lately so it's paying for itself compared to rentals.
Incorrect -- PADI OW certifies a diver to 60 ft. Advanced OW raises that to 100 ft, and the Deep Diver cert (all PADI) raises that finally to 130 ft. Deeper than that is not considered recreational diving. That being said, the difference between 60 and 100 ft is fairly academic on a reef dive. Set my personal depth record at 130 ft last weekend, somewhat accidentally. Wasn't there for long though. Wasn't much to see down there anyway (sloping downward and getting more and more sandy).
Generally speaking, I see most of the really interesting stuff around 50-80 feet here in Okinawa. There is certainly plenty of stuff around 30-40 ft, but the deeper the dive, the bigger the fish. Saw some huge lionfish last weekend at about 70 ft. Awesome stuff.
Anyway, don't expect the $200-300 initial cert to be the end of your money for scuba. It is NOT an inexpensive activity at least in the beginning. I spent $140 on the initial certification, and since then have dropped about $1600 on equipment, tank rentals/air fills, and a couple boat trips locally. This is all in the past two years for a total of 38 (?, haven't filled out my log for the past few) dives. AND, I live on a tropical island so I can drive to the shore and hop in instead of having to take a plane to a dive site.
Further, with the gear, don't go really cheap. Think about it -- if you had to choose which helmet to wear in a car crash, would it be the least expensive one? The gear you buy is what you trust your life to, literally. If you want to trust someone else's care and/or don't dive often enough to justify the expense of buying, then rent. I prefer to own my own stuff because I know where it's been and how it's been handled. I also dive every weekend lately so it's paying for itself compared to rentals.
Incorrect -- PADI OW certifies a diver to 60 ft. Advanced OW raises that to 100 ft, and the Deep Diver cert (all PADI) raises that finally to 130 ft. Deeper than that is not considered recreational diving. That being said, the difference between 60 and 100 ft is fairly academic on a reef dive. Set my personal depth record at 130 ft last weekend, somewhat accidentally. Wasn't there for long though. Wasn't much to see down there anyway (sloping downward and getting more and more sandy).
Generally speaking, I see most of the really interesting stuff around 50-80 feet here in Okinawa. There is certainly plenty of stuff around 30-40 ft, but the deeper the dive, the bigger the fish. Saw some huge lionfish last weekend at about 70 ft. Awesome stuff.
RussianSoldier
Banned
i'm reaaly looking more toward a weekend or couple day class, because i'll have to travel about 75 miles to get certified, and i wouldnt want to do that a couple times a week... I'd rather just get a hotel room for a few days...
RussianSoldier
Banned
the girl who took me down told me not to hold my breath...
RussianSoldier
Banned
You pay that much? The places where I seen rental gear, it was about $35 for two tanks of air, fins, and the regulator. It was nice quality equipment too.
RussianSoldier
Banned
got that wrong, its OMGWTFSCUBAJRUNBBQWATERMELON
RussianSoldier
Banned
I was also told this, and I could feel the difference when I tried different masks on...
RussianSoldier
Banned
well, the max depth I went to was only 25 feet since I was not certified, nor had much knowledge on the equipment.
I was a padi instructor for about 6 years and logged thousands of hours underwater. It got a bit boring after a while and I was only interested (in the end) in havesting the sea for my dinner.
Gear you want to have at a minimum:
Regulator
BCD
Wetsuit if you're in cold weather
Mask Fins Snorkel
Other stuff can wait 'till you get more versed in it.
Also, take the advanced course, you'll learn a great deal more than "how to" and it will make every one of your dives more enjoyable.
Plan your dive, dive your plan?
It's much fun but after career, kids and other stuff, I never found or made the time to keep up with it. I miss the shark riding, the huge sea turtles and the endless lobster dishes but in the end, I didn't have time.
Gear you want to have at a minimum:
Regulator
BCD
Wetsuit if you're in cold weather
Mask Fins Snorkel
Other stuff can wait 'till you get more versed in it.
Also, take the advanced course, you'll learn a great deal more than "how to" and it will make every one of your dives more enjoyable.
Plan your dive, dive your plan?
It's much fun but after career, kids and other stuff, I never found or made the time to keep up with it. I miss the shark riding, the huge sea turtles and the endless lobster dishes but in the end, I didn't have time.
I'm on my fourth mask, and I'm skeptical about the "you must try a mask on before buying" to an extent. The problem is that you can indeed learn some things about a mask if you try it on in the store, but you will never know how it works until you dive with it. Two of the four masks fit just fine in the store but did not fit comfortably underwater (one pushed on my forehead painfully, another felt like a balloon because it was too high-volume).
However, when you find a mask that fits, you definitely want to own it so you can avoid future problems. Since it is such an individualized piece of equipment (everyone's face is different), you're likely going to have crappy dives if you rent masks.
Fins are almost the same because two people can wear the same fins, and one will love them while the other can't tolerate them at all. Everyone here raves about Scubapro Twinjets so I rented them to see how they worked, and I despised them -- fatigued my feet in a heartbeat. I'm still wearing my Oceanic fins and absolutely love them.
Snorkel is often useless especially if you're doing a boat dive. On a shore dive, it's essential equipment if you want to conserve your air, depending on the entry. Either way, though, it provides an element of safety in case your bobbing on the surface with some decent waves.
Buy a wetsuit. Those rental ones? The ones that OTHER people have peed in? Yeah, that's nasty. The problem is that you'll probably start amassing more and more wetsuits depending on the conditions of the dives you'll do. I have a 3/2mm wetsuit, a .5mm dive skin, a thin dive shirt, and a dive shirt with a thermal hood. If we go to California next, I'll likely get a drysuit and/or a 7mm suit, depending on what they recommend there.
However, when you find a mask that fits, you definitely want to own it so you can avoid future problems. Since it is such an individualized piece of equipment (everyone's face is different), you're likely going to have crappy dives if you rent masks.
Fins are almost the same because two people can wear the same fins, and one will love them while the other can't tolerate them at all. Everyone here raves about Scubapro Twinjets so I rented them to see how they worked, and I despised them -- fatigued my feet in a heartbeat. I'm still wearing my Oceanic fins and absolutely love them.
Snorkel is often useless especially if you're doing a boat dive. On a shore dive, it's essential equipment if you want to conserve your air, depending on the entry. Either way, though, it provides an element of safety in case your bobbing on the surface with some decent waves.
Buy a wetsuit. Those rental ones? The ones that OTHER people have peed in? Yeah, that's nasty. The problem is that you'll probably start amassing more and more wetsuits depending on the conditions of the dives you'll do. I have a 3/2mm wetsuit, a .5mm dive skin, a thin dive shirt, and a dive shirt with a thermal hood. If we go to California next, I'll likely get a drysuit and/or a 7mm suit, depending on what they recommend there.
GasX
Lifer
I am an avid diver an can attest to the cash intensive nature of the sport. Most dive shops REQUIRE you to get your own mask, fins and snorkel for the class (which they will be happy to sell you). Everything else can be rented. Once you have gotten certified, you will want to get some dives under your belt and (hopefully) get your advanced certification. note - "advanced" is a misnomer - you will still be a novice
The you will decide that since your regulator is your life support, you will want your own. The the constant adjustment necessitated by using different rental equipment every time you dive, you will want your own bouyancy compensator. A wetsuit and tank may soon follow and if, like me, you dive in coldwater a drysuit will be on your wishlist.
Then there is rescue diver certification which is a GREAT class...
Then that trip to the caymans
then that trip to Cozumel
then Truk lagoon...
et cetera...
stay wet!
The you will decide that since your regulator is your life support, you will want your own. The the constant adjustment necessitated by using different rental equipment every time you dive, you will want your own bouyancy compensator. A wetsuit and tank may soon follow and if, like me, you dive in coldwater a drysuit will be on your wishlist.
Then there is rescue diver certification which is a GREAT class...
Then that trip to the caymans
then that trip to Cozumel
then Truk lagoon...
et cetera...
stay wet!
TreyRandom
Diamond Member
90 feet is approx 4 atmospheres:
0 ft = 1 atm
33 ft = 2 atm
66 ft = 3 atm
99 ft = 4 atm
But your logic is correct. 🙂 Holding breath = bad
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