Real Total Cost of a Scuba Diving Certification (like the PADI Open Water Diver Course)

How Much Will It Cost Me To Be Scuba Certified?

Unfortunately… It depends! There are quite a few options, some of which will significantly impact your safety, comfort, and fun. So bear with me for a minute, please!

At the end of this post, you should have a good picture of the various components of your beginner open-water scuba diver course. And the spreadsheet I will share with you will help you “shop” for it.

But let’s start by clearing the air on two topics.

First, if you want dirt cheap, you will easily find numerous dive centers offering just that. Traditionally, in the dive industry, local dive shops sold scuba training courses as a loss leader to get you in the store while hoping to make a killing on over-priced dive gear.

So what? After all, if I don’t buy gear from them, I get a good deal on the course, right?

Well… It is mostly wrong. You get a cheap course, but not necessarily a good deal because it will be a bottom-of-the-barrel dive training course. And when looking at what you got for the money spent, you will probably realize that it was actually a bad deal because the course did not make you a competent, safe diver. If your goal is to be scared, I suggest you watch a horror movie instead! It’s also less expensive.

Second, the advertised price of a beginner open-water scuba certification class usually means… Nothing! There are many components to scuba diving, including training, dive gear, access to dive sites, transportation, airfills, and so on. You will get the complete list in this post.

Unfortunately, you will find plenty of fishy scuba diving operators trying to trick you like a used-car salesperson with offers like a $49 open water diver certification course, with… nothing included! In other cases, they are honest dive professionals, but they are not marketing experts, and they try to make money by nickel-and-diming you as the airlines do.

So, let’s have an open-book look at the cost of getting your open-water scuba diver certification in a way that you will feel safe and have fun for years to come!

A Perspective on The Price of an Open-Water Scuba Diver Certification Course

When considering what is a fair cost to become a scuba diver, think about other sports or activities you have participated in and the fees associated with quality training. If the dive center or dive instructor is advertising an entire open water diver course at the rate you would expect to pay for a 30-minute ski lesson, you should be skeptical.

So, step one is to ask for detailed pricing and compare prices only among dive centers and instructors offering a professional and safe diver training program.

It Is Not Just About The Price!

When you buy an F-150 pickup truck, it is an F-150 pickup truck regardless of the dealer where you buy it. But when you buy a scuba diving course, it is an entirely different story. You are purchasing a service.

The single most crucial factor for you to be ready for a lifetime of legendary underwater adventures is… Selecting the right scuba diving instructor for your open-water diver course. But that is a whole different topic. I will come back to it. Subscribe to Scuba Diver Press to be in the know.

The Price of The Various Components of an Open-Water Diver Certification Course

You start with the price advertised by the dive center or instructor.

• Quoted Price of The Course

Ask for a detailed list of what is included. Then, for every other component below, ask if it is included in the price or what would be the additional cost to you.

The open-water diver course has four major segments.

1. Preparation
2. Academics
3. Pool (Confined Water) Dives
4. Open Water Dives

Most dive centers and scuba diving instructors will tell you there are three parts because they neglect preparation. In another post, I will share with you the numerous steps and actions you can take before the start of your open-water diver course to ensure you have an outstanding experience once you start the course.

The Costs Related to The Dive Theory (Academics)

Scuba diving is not rocket science. Basically, you have to breathe in, breathe out, and repeat as necessary. But, seriously, there is a bit more to it than that.

Once you have carefully selected the best dive instructor for your goals and abilities, you will have to do the dive theory of the open water diver course with the material from the dive training agency used by that instructor. Nowadays, it is often done online with just a little bit of face-to-face academic time. But that depends on your instructor. So, ask!

Ask about the cost of:

• Online Learning
• Course Material (e.g., books, logbooks)
• Other Course Materials (e.g., dive tables)

For online learning, ask if you must pay the dive training agency on their website or if the dive center/instructor will give you access.

For the logbook, well… I have to say I created the perfect scuba diver logbook for your open-water diver course! It is focused on continuous improvements for a lifetime of legendary underwater adventures.

For the dive tables, well… You should learn with a dive computer, but that will also be the topic of a forthcoming post.

The Costs Related To The Pool Dives

You learn to dive in the safety of a pool, which we refer to, in the dive industry, as a “confined water” environment. Ask about the cost of:

• Facility Access Fee
• Parking
• Dive Gear (see the section below)

The Costs Related To The Open Water Dives

Once you have mastered all the basic scuba diving skills, you have fun in open water dives — I mean… Fun if you picked the right dive instructor.

Ask about the cost of:

• Dive Boat Fees (if applicable)
• Dive Site Access Fee
• Parking
• Dive Gear (see the section below)

Open Water Referral Costs

If you do the academics and the pool dives in your hometown and want to go under tropical skies for your open-water certification dives, that should not be a problem.

However, ask the origin dive center for the precise costs of your diver training without the open water dives and if there are any fees to get your referral documents. You need to bring “referral papers” to the second dive center to let them know what you have done with the first dive instructor.

Scuba Diving Equipment Cost for Your Open Water Diver Course

For all dive gear that you need, ask if the “rental” is included in the quoted price of your scuba diver certification. If not, ask how much it would be to rent or buy it, and if you must buy it from them or if you can shop around.

First, there are pieces of dive gear you should own for safety, comfort & hygiene reasons:

• Mask
• Mask Defog/Anti-fog (please only buy “reef safe” products)
• Snorkel
• Booties or Socks
• Fins
• Exposure Protection (e.g., a wetsuit or skin)
• Small Dry Bag (for your logbook, smartphone, etc.)

You could rent or buy the rest of the gear:

• Dive Computer
• Complete Regulator Set
• Underwater Compass
• Buoyancy Compensator (BCD)
• DSMB (Delayed Surface Marker Buoy)
• Knife or Cutting Tool
• Noise Maker (e.g., marine whistle)
• Underwater Light
• Gear Bag
• Cylinders (usually included)
• Weights/Weight System (usually included)

In all cases, if you are renting, there are two main concerns:

• the quality of the rental dive gear
• the disinfecting of equipment between divers

Many dive centers only put cheap scuba gear on rental. You may think it is not a big deal because you want to first see if you like diving. But you may end up disliking scuba diving precisely because of the badly maintained, non-performing, and non-fitting dive gear you had while experiencing diving for the first time.

Otherwise, there are ISO standards on how to properly disinfect dive gear between divers. While shopping for your open water diver course, ask what their disinfecting procedures are. In many cases, they will look at you with their mouth open because they never disinfect rental gear.

Other Costs

After reviewing this list with them, ask them if there are any other costs you should know about. I do not subscribe to the marketing tactic of nickel-and-diming customers, but… Some do.

• Certification Card (c-card)
• Tips
• Transportation
• What else?

Some dive centers will charge you an extra fee to get the C-card at the end of your course!

Tips are common on dive boats, so if you want a total budget for your open-water diver course, ask if tips are expected anywhere and how much is anticipated.

Transportation to the pool and open water dive sites is typically not included because dive centers are rarely licensed as public transport operators. Since you are paying them, they could expose themselves to tremendous liability.

Tools To Help You Evaluate The Full Cost of Your Open Water Diver Certification

As promised, here is a form to help you evaluate the total cost of an open-water diver certification course from different dive centers & instructors.

It is available in three formats:

• A PDF form: print one page (on recycled paper, please) per dive center/instructor, then compare the totals.
• A spreadsheet file (XLS) with totals being automatically calculated. The XLS comes in a zip file. Simply unzip it!
• An online Google Sheet. If you have a Gmail or Google account, you can “make a copy” and then work with it.

All in all, an open-water diver course will typically be advertised from $50 to $600 and will actually cost you between $500 and $1,000, excluding dive gear purchases and travel if you are doing it on vacation.

But let me say that training costs are not where you should try to save money. You want the best dive instructor, and then you want to pay for more underwater time than is usually included in the fast-food-type open-water diver course. You will do your scuba certification only once; then, you will have a lifetime of legendary experience if you do it right. So focus on doing it right!

After your initial training, there are ways to further develop your skills without spending a fortune on courses anymore.

Alternatives To Consider

If your budget is tight, one way to reduce costs is to pick an instructor with a dive training agency that doesn’t sell you overpriced material and online learning. I will come back to it in a forthcoming post.

If your budget is not tight, you could consider a private course or, better yet, find an instructor you can hire as a coach per hour or session.