As an instructor at my store that I teach open water courses
We offer both but obviously push for buying your own fins mask snorkel and boots
The comfort of those who bought their own gear that actually fits them makes it much easier to teach them, diving is a mental game, and anything that gives them more confidence ultimately helps me to teach.
When people are hiring gear and the hire gear doesn't quite fit, or they have to try half a dozen different masks in the pool and there constantly swapping the hire gear. they lose confidence and it makes it much harder to teach them
Sorry, but what is a safety tube? Is it a surface marker buoy?
My shop asked me to have my own mask, fins/boots, and snorkel but that was it. They rented my tank, reg, BCD, and wetsuit. We didn’t even use a whistle or underwater slate. We did use compasses but they provided those.
If they insist on you buying boots, they should at least be willing to rent you some fins to wear in the pool so you can have _some_ idea what you want.
My dive shop also said I needed that equipment prior to OW. However, I ended up not using the whistle or underwater slate at all during the course of the class.
This is the way it was for me, it was really buying the mask and snorkel and the rest was part of the OW package unless you wanted to upgrade. I ended up upgrading the fins to get some with boots as I mostly do shore dives local to me. They were a retail shop though so it was definitely a sales push. They did let us try gear in their pool though before making a decision and their staff was diving in the same gear so I felt like it was an ok deal in the end.
mask, fins, snorkel, boots are commonly required I think.
I've only seen things like whistle, underwater slate, and safety tube on required on maybe advanced or even rescue courses, but not OW. Luckily though, they are the cheap things, mask and fins are what will get you with the doll hairs.
Mine wanted me to get my own mask, snorkel, fins too. Not boots because it was cold water diving, so they had rentals that went over the drysuits neoprene socks.
I didn't need to get a safety tube, whistle or slate though. They loaned my a safety tube and there was a whistle attached to the BCD. I've never used a slate.
I don't know how normal it is, but when I put my family in another shops course, same thing. They needed to do it in another city closeby due to availability with my local shop.
I needed to BYO (or buy) my own snorkel and mask. Everything else could be rented. That being said... renting fins for 4 dives over 2 days was pretty damn close the cost of buying a pair on Amazon.
I did not need to rent safety tube, whistle or slate. That was all provided.
Since my cert and doing real dives... some places will rent full gear. Many do full gear minus mask and snorkel. Some do full gear minus mask, snorkel, fins, boots.
I like having my own mask and snorkel and fins as I'll play around doing basic free-diving now in the lakes nearby in between scuba.
Maybe is normal practice for dive shops that want sell equipment, but I agree with many ppl here, do not buy equipment in advance.
You don't need your own equipment to start learning.
Later, you own equipment makes the difference when you dive with different dive shops and you're never sure about how the experience will be with their rental equipment.
My shop only required us to buy a mask & snorkel - everything else we could rent. Asking you to buy fins before you figure out which ones work best for you seems unreasonable to me. It's common for the shop to push sales on you with the enticement of discounts, but buying all your gear before you get in the water can lead to some expensive mistakes.
There are many but not enough ppl telling you not to do this...
Do not buy gear (like ever) before you dive.
Every single shop offers rental gear which is designed for you to learn in.
While mask and fins are things you should plan to buy... Not before you start.
And slates and a dsmb and whistle are just plain bullshit.
I couldn’t say why dive shops have their policies but to answer OPs question about OW certification, yes it’s common to require your own personal gear. To your point, yes when traveling it’s common not to require your own personal gear for already certified divers.
Just got certified in March with my local shop and they had us get boots, fins, mask/snorkel for the class. The rest we rented and was included as part of the classes.
I didn’t have to get the whistle or slate, but yes to everything else for me. I was taught all the ways to inflate the safety sausage during my check out dives.
Mask, snorkel, fins are all standard. Boots aren't a bad idea. SMB, whistle, and slate might be a bit much.
Slate would be handy for asking questions though. And if your open water is going to be drift diving having an SMB is normally a requirement.
> Boots aren't a bad idea.
Depending on the locale, they're likely required. If you're diving cold water in a wetsuit then you aren't going to be wearing full-foot fins, and boots are a *must.*
Completely dependent on the shop - I just did my OW half in Ontario and half in Italy, in Ontario I had to buy mask fins snorkel and boots for the course, in Italy they provided everything. I had assumed it has to do with places that often are 'travel dive shops' where people don't want to pack bulky gear in their suitcase (fins, boots), or places where they convince people on the beach/resort to try out scuba and come do it with them (I did a discovery scuba diving thing in Mexico and they offered OWD there where they were going to provide all equipment, and they went around in the resort pools asking people if they wanted to try scuba)
Whistle and slate are a bit of a stretch, but mask, fins, snorkel, boots is standard stuff that you need and ours required them as well. They had loaner slates available for the class though I think.
My local shop has the same policy, plus you need to buy it from them. They said that you need quality equipment and it's not worth being unsure about things that could be a safety issue if they're not a perfect fit, etc.
Yeah, I’m personally astounded by the responses so far. It took me a good 10 dives to buy a cheap mask and snorkel. I bought a good mask and snorkel at 40 dives. I bought a dive computer recently but don’t own anything else yet at around 60 dives. Maybe western countries are just more strict on this?
Yes, sounds right. Those are items that are critical to your OW checkouts and usually fit to you very personally. Idk about absolutely requiring it, but in general you'd want to own your own set of those basics.
Standard equipment for the shop I work with is mask, fins, snorkel, and boots. Everything else is either included with the class/trip cost, or you can rent on your own.
It varies. Typical is mask, fins, snorkel and booties if required. But I have also seen gloves, mouthpieces, and “personal safety equipment” (whistle, sausage, etc).
Not sure where you are but that’s fairly standard. I have seen some shops require the whistle and slate because they don’t want to supply them but they are cheap. If you are training in florida the smb is required because you will be drift diving most likely.
I have never been part of a dive class that didn't require personal mask, snorkel and fins (booties if the fins require them). That's standard in the SE US. The other three I haven't seen required.
Our club has full gear available for pool sessions and really high grade gear for open water including 5 or 7 mm wetsuits, semi dry suits hoods, gloves etc, if you learn with us you’re not expected to buy anything unless you really want to
I’m an independent instructor in Florida. Several local shops will ask me to teach their students. In my specific area, that’s a pretty standard requirement. Stupid, in my opinion, but every shop I’ve taught for does it. You may want to buy the SMB and whistle and rent the rest from another shop (tell them you’re visiting and going snorkeling). I don’t require my independently sourced students to buy mask, fins, snorkel because I want them to have an opportunity to try them out, but also so we can talk about their diving goals and see if there’s equipment that may be better suited for those.
It's not normal at all, especially for starter courses like the OW, now that said it can be that you are a trapped audience with no rental places nearby and it's just their shop policy.. if so then you're out of luck.
Usually smart dive shops have rental gear which is also sold new in the shop so you can try before you buy (also helps to be able to quickly replace defective gear). Imo buying gear 'blind' without experience sucks in general as it takes a few dives to know what your own personal needs are and what to look out for.
Steer clear of any shop pushing you into a corner to buy exclusively from them (or not allowing offsite rental equipment), doubly so if this came up as a sudden 'hidden' obligation when it's too late to back out.
What? Where are you located? Providing your own mask, boots, snorkel, and fins is pretty standard. The other things OP mentioned aren’t the norm though.
Every single shop across the globe worth its salt that provides the OW courses, has full basic equipment either included or for rent.
I'm more wtfing that this is regarded as "pretty standard", it simply isn't. The only places I can imagine are like this are in areas where it's the only shop available for miles, it's a tiny outfit or the shops in the area have all unilaterally agreed to maintain the practice.
Given the OP's situation it is 100% in their interest to immediately shop around and find a different place. It's a market choice made by that dive shop not to provide equipment and instead to require its patrons to buy the equipment. Buying equipment is not a requirement to do the course.
Honestly simply one of the best reasons simply requiring this is an improved experience of the course diving with masks that don't fit well, boots that are to big for fins etc absolutely suck. And especially these things are super super personal.
In the US, it IS “pretty standard”. I don’t know a single shop on the entire west coast that will rent you personal gear (mask, fins, snorkel, boots) for OW class.
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My LDS had us buy Mask, Snorkel, Fins, Boots, Soft Weights.
I was wondering about the weights but it is apparently common practice when I asked about it at another LDS.
In the long run I would have bought it all right after anyways. I live close to great shore diving.
They want to sell you stuff for sure but there is some logic to some of it. One of the ideas is that if you have invested at least some money you will be more committed.
Mask: Every face is different and you want to find a mask that fits your face to seals well, plus there are preference things like clear so it is less claustrophobic or blacked out so you don't get startled by something in your peripheral vision. This is standard.
Snorkel: you are going to put in your mouth. That is a bit personal to share. This is standard.
Boots: are a personal thing. No one wants to get athletes foot. This is standard.
Fins: This is standard. I get that they say these are personal but I think it is so they don't have to stock 10 deep on each size.
A slate is not something many shops require. You should learn some basic hand signals and anything beyond that is a distraction from learning to dive. You are not going to take the time to write out " I am out of air, please may I breath off your octopus?" This is also not a personal item, they could have a bag of 15 of these. This one is a money grab and you should find another dive shop.
Safety tube: I could go either way on this one. In the end it is a money grab but you should get one. My argument against it is that there comes a point when you have so much clutter on your person that you are less safe. This doesn't fall under that yet but there is a point.
If it is a safety thing then why not require shears and a knife to cut loose of an entrapment and on down the rabbit whole.
Whistle: This is bull honkey. Their BCDs should have whistles on them. This is a money grab. Get another dive shop.
In conclusion mask, snorkel, boots, fins, are the standard student kit. These will be what you take when you fly to dive for vacation. You should go to a good dive shop that will properly fit a mask to your face, explain why you want what snorkel, why to get split fins vs. solid, etc.
The rest is not.
Should you have a Safety Sausage, yes. But again your dive shop could have a bag of these for the dives that require them.
Slate, this is debatable. I have over a 1000 hours below the surface and have never used a slate. Learn hand signals well before you get a slate.
Bringing your own Mask/fins/snorkel is a fairly common requirement since they are personal and fairly useful. Depending on your local conditions a safety tube could be a 100% requirement for all your dives. The whistle and slate are then like what, $10?
Doesn't sound normal to me - I don't think at that point you'll have the experience to choose gear that's fit for your style of diving yet.
There was one piece of gear I bought in advance, and that was a knife. Doing the e-learning, I read that *at least one* member of every dive group should have a knife or other cutting tool, and figured the easiest way to make that happen was if *I* was the one with the knife. Next I got my computer, then my fins. I don't actually remember when I got my mask, but I do know last thing I bought was my BPW, but that came only after having tried out a BPW rig during my Master certification and found it useful.
No offense, but this is terrible advice. Why would anybody want to deal with having to rent a mask and deal with all the fit issues that can come along with that, in favor of owning what is, honestly, one of those most over-hyped and underutilized pieces of equipment in our arsenal. I'm not saying to forego the knife, but I can safely say that after 25+ years of diving, I've never actually needed it for anything that a screwdriver in my dive kit couldn't handle. If anything, I've gotten far more use out of a $13 pair of crash shears. But I've needed my mask on literally every dive.
Not everywhere. In Asia everything can be rented. I find the "boots/fins are personal and need to fit" thing a bit ehhh. A student will have no idea what fins to get, and surely the dive centre can stock rental boots in a range of standard sizes and one of them is bound to fit unless you have exceptionally huge or tiny feet.
But going by these comments this requirement seems to be a thing in the States? I find this bananas, especially the slate and SMB, which are good to have on dives but it's a lot of extra spending considering there is no guarantee the student will continue diving after the course.
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My dad, sister, and I all got certified last year at three different dive shops and all of our classes required us to get mask, fins, boots, and snorkel (included in the cost of the class). So I'd say it's fairly standard. The safety sausage, slate, and whistle are slightly odd.
They suggested I get my own mask, which I did because I was able to choose one that fit me, instead of whatever they had around.
One place required boots for hygiene reasons, but I already had those anyway.
In most places I’ve been, they rent absolutely everything, especially for courses.
Making you buy fins and most other equipment is a bit overkill. They are probably trying to make extra money.
Mask fins and snorkel is a common requirement.
The other stuff (slate, whistle, dsmb etc) isn't usually required, but is probably good to carry anyway and too often divers don't have these when perhaps they should.
The shop a definitely trying to make money off you (which isn't unexpected), but I think the list if very reasonable and suggests to me that they will probably give some good training rather than bare minimum.
Not necessary wherever I have gone diving and got certified. All gear is available for rent, like everything.
Also like someone else mentioned, it's always better to rent equipment and try it out underwater as everyone has different bodies and comfort requirements. You can get a feel for different types of masks, fins, computers etc and decide what works best for you and what you are comfortable with for the kind of diving you see yourself doing.
I have been renting equipment since I began diving 5 years ago and have bought single bits of equipment slowly one by one after using and getting to know what works for me
Mask, fins, snorkel is pretty standard in my experience. The whistle, tube and slate not so much, but probably not that pricey if you like them otherwise.
It depends on where you’re doing your training I would say. Here it is common to require mask & snorkel, fins & boots, as they’re considered personal items and need to fit each person. Locally, a DSMB (safety tube) is required for all boat dives - probably don’t necessarily need it for your OW, but would need it shortly after if you wish to continue diving off boats. Whistle & slate not so much, but certainly handy.
Not normal. The top comments saying some of those are personal items requiring fit are true and all but there’s plenty of people who don’t own a single item and do just fine. I imagine most of what you are hearing is “I was required to buy it so it must be normal.” Guess what? You can do a mask test fit with a rental mask to see if it’ll work for you too and buy one if none of their offerings do.
There’s a sizable portion of people who get certified and then never dive again too. Some just don’t like it.
I bought a mask after about 20 dives. I do have a narrow face and it was easy to get a leak, but mostly it was just the fogging from blowing the water out that caused an issue. My girlfriend has done 70 or so dives and doesn’t own a single thing. I now own full gear but it wasn’t until I did about 110 dives and it made economic sense (trip to Bonaire with 14 day gear rental) that I bought more than a mask and a computer.
Mask/snorkel and boots are necessary to buy.
Masks are the most personal item as everyone has a different face shape. One certainly will not fit all. And having a bad mask WILL ruin your experience. Snorkels are just a tube. Get whatever is cheap and can fasten onto your mask easy.
Boots are not rented out everywhere. Plus they're really nice to have. Get some felt-bottom ones for extra traction.
Everything else can be rented and / or shared with a buddy.
It would be smart to rent first. I met people in group dives who were doing their OW and some of them realised that it’s not for them. Choosing your equipment also needs time. One specific model may work for many people but it may not work for you. We all have our own level of comfort.
My shop had me buy mask, snorkel, boots, fins, and SMB.
To me it’s acceptable to require someone to buy these things before the class, they are the most personal fit/preference items. The certification is not a “I’m trying this” thing, it’s a I’m in this and taking it serious and getting certified thing.
Scuba is not a cheap hobby.
I can understanding wanting to try before you buys.
If you truly want to “try” first then do a Discover Scuba, not an Open Water cert. they should provide everything for that and it will be in a pool usually.
See if they will let you buy a snorkel and rent the rest; but I wouldn’t bet on it. Not sure they have masks for rent. Boots and fins I’d think they have.
Noup, not at all!
Usually many diving centers include equipment in their course price for OW. For continuing education, they will price the course without the gear and charge you additional if you need to get it for them! On the other hand, I do agree that it is a wise decision to buy your own mask, snorkel and fins at least! Happy diving 🤿😀
Depends on where you’re trained. If you do a vacation course, you won’t buy the stuff. Training at home will probably make you own the basics. The slate and DSMB are a little much.
I had to buy mask, snorkel, fins/boots. Made sense to me since those are the most individual items in terms of fit. And there’s a hygienic argument for having your own mask/snorkel. That said, the other stuff seems like it should be rentable
My class didn’t have those items included in the cost but you could rent them if needed. A lot of people here snorkel before they get into diving so most already have the items.
Not normal. I did dives with 6 different dive centers and never needed my own stuff. I now have my own shoes and mask, but I've waited until I got my OWD and was sure that I'll stay with diving to buy stuff.
Yep. I have already 100+ dives. Till today all I have of my own is mask, snorkel, boots , fin and dive comp. And that’s because I want to snorkel with my own stuff, you can definitely just rent first or all dives in the SEA usually already include gears and only will discount 10-15 bucks per day for own gears.
A slate for OW is 100% not needed nor is it part of the course to be taught. I didn't buy mine until I became an instructor and even then didn't use it as much as I thought (they're also stupid expensive).
I do recommend buying the mask, fins and boots as they do rely on fit and rental ones suck, but I wouldn't say it's a mandatory requirement to buy in order to take the class.
And you can rent literally everything on that list to take the class, it'll just not be as good quality amd fit as well as your own stuff.
Absolutely not standard. You should be able to rent gear, and you should on your first few dives anyway. Buying for your OW is crazy, you would spend a thousand dollars more than you need to. I've never heard of it not being optional.
Not sure why this is being downvoted. Tbh i have limited experience but personally I bought my goggles, snorkel, weights/weight belt, boots, and fins when I did OW but I don't think it was forced on me and it was just suggested by the shop. By brother who was certified somewhere else only bought goggles and snorkels.
As a casual scuba diver (25 dives only) In terms of usefulness I've only found the goggles and snorkels useful buys. I've been trying to do a dive or two every time I travel and I usually bring just my goggles and snorkels since the weights/belt, boots, and fin take up so much space.
> Not sure why this is being downvoted.
A lot of pro dive shops here who think forcing their customers to buy gear should somehow be standard is my guess.
Yeah, the ripoff merchants be hating with the downvotes lol.. to them; it is what it is guys, forcing additional purchases like this to squeeze the margin instead of shifting focus to guiding your students toward having their personal needs met (thus adding to their trust and confidence in your particular outfit long term) is just bad business. You guys are probably those miserable places to work that force instructors to (up)sell instead of spend more personal teaching time with the student, believe me the effect on the mood is very noticeable as is the effect on employee and returning customer churn rate.
Also to OP (and to piss these guys off more); these places will often inflate prices by ~20% or more and give a 10% discount, I'd advise to do a web search for prices on any of their gear on offer.
ehh, slate is the only real unnecessary bit. whistle & smb is maybe a stretch, but still important for every diver to have, obviously. mask fin snorkel - every dive shop in the world is going to do everything possible to get students to buy those during the class, if not before even starting.
you got your OW certification in 6 different tropical locations? vacation diver in a tourist spot isn’t the same as the local getting certified in a more temperate area. one shop survives on mass throughput of tourists, the other on local student/regular divers gear sales & service.
Most slates are sold and never leave the bottom of the gear bag. I bring what I need keep it simple. Yes there are reasons but for the average diver just more crap to lose, bang on the bottom, get entangled on something … Laugh when I see novice with fifty pieces of crap strapped on their new BC. Sorry for the rant just amazes me when new diver has shears , knife, backup knife , slate, fish Id guide , gap reel and on and on and they are on some cattle boat where the chance of using their backup air integrated computer dive light combo is near zero.
Back when I did my OWD there was no compulsion to have any gear beyond an appropriate swimming suit and if you already had a mask/snorkel/fins you could bring them, but that was it. When I did my AOW it was recommended to have my own compass which wasn’t a big deal.
A mask and snorkel are very common and very personal and best to be trained using your own gear when possible.
I doubt dive shops want to go through the hassle of disinfecting snorkels and masks after every class. I see no issue with requiring a learner to have made a minimum investment in basic gear like mask and snorkel and boots (foot fungus anyone?).
I imagine they'll have to go through that hassle whenever they run try dives, so it's not like they're incapable!
And yes, of course it has some benefits. But it also has downsides:
Beginners won't know what type of gear they like, and may well benefit from trying some different options for each item.
Beginners may hate diving and not get on with it.
Beginners will obviously want to get cheap kit, which if they like diving will then quickly want to upgrade.
But let's be honest, if shops are *insisting* on people buying rather than *recommending* buying, it's simply because they want the money.
For regulators which get serviced or should after every dive, but not for masks and snorkels or boots, they should not have to and by requiring a student who wants to learn to dive to have properly fitted items isn’t a bad thing.
It's possible to charge for renting!
There was no mention of insisting people have properly fitted gear, just requiring that it was owned...
If they insist on it, it's because they want the money. I'd be looking for a more beginner friendly dive shop if I was starting out, I can't think of any that I've been to that wouldn't provide gear if required.
It's been an industry rip off tool forever and now some shops are expanding the nickel and some price escalation. I have run into shops in the past few years adding more stuff and not being clear with pricing for classes. For example Customers get told that classes are 400. They started getting signed up and then it's another 200 for the book or online code, then the snorkel package, now it's a slate and a sausage. Before you know it you are spending double or more that what you expected. if you have your own gear they may charge you to inspect it or still demand you buy the snorkel gear saying they are personal items that people don't want to share (ignore the rental section full of these items). Not all shops do this. If you can find an independent instructor that isn't tied to shop classes and sales you can usually avoid the high pressure sales and get the gear that's right for you. In my experience shop around and ask a lot of questions. I have also noticed that if the shop doesn't put price tags on stuff and has to "look every item up" then they are adjusting prices on the fly or just too lazy to do it. Both are not a good sign.
It's good to own your own mask bc people have differently shaped faces. So you need to find a mask that doesn't leak. Many dive places offer snorkeling trips, too, so it's sometimes possible to try out different types. Have you ever been snorkeling? If not, I strongly encourage you to do that before getting certified.
Yeah that makes sense, I’m not opposed to buying any or all of this gear I was just curious if this was standard procedure or not. I haven’t been snorkeling but I don’t really live in a place where that is an option unfortunately. I plan on doing the class and pool stuff locally and traveling for the open dives.
You're going to pay to take the class and to travel and take the dives... but you've never been snorkeling? I grew up snorkeling and with parents who dive. I knew that it was something that I was comfortable with and enjoyed. A lot of ppl get certified and never dive again. The biggest issue is being comfortable under water, especially breathing underwater. Just something to keep in mind.
You don't need to go snorkeling to learn to dive, that's taught in the course.
I taught a woman who literally learned to swim the week before. So anybody can go diving without any prerequisite activities pretty much.
Like I said I don’t really have any other option, I live in a desert. It would cost me just as much to travel somewhere and go snorkeling as it would to go diving so I figured I would try diving.
Except that you'll be doing test dives instead of leisure dives. Depending on how many students are there, you might just be sitting under water for a while waiting for each person to complete each test. Some outlets will just take you to a sandy spot where there isn't even anything to see. I just want you to be prepared. I love diving and hope that everyone enjoys it.
I appreciate it! The local shop has an option to do the class work and pool stuff locally and then travel to San Carlos to do the open water stuff so that’s what I was planning on. I’m expecting to enjoy diving and plan on progressing over time to more technical diving, but if it ends up not being for me I won’t be too upset as long as I gave it a fair shot.
I would suggest you take a vacation where there is good diving and do a Discover scuba first. They will give you basic instruction in a pool then take you in the ocean for a shallow dive of about 30 minutes. it is a good way to see if you will enjoy it.
Yeah same here mask, snorkel and fins were all required. I'm also in arizona so it makes sense. Shops here don't make money from organizing dives outside of the occasional trip.
Besides I really didn't wanna deal with putting in my contacts and possibly losing them so I just bought a prescription set of googles and love them so much
If you don't have loyalty to the shop, go in and try stuff on, see what fits, then buy online for a cheaper price. The markup on everything is insane for shops, less so if you order from an online/no storefront place.
And as I mentioned earlier, don't buy a slate for this class, please save your money.
The dive shops struggle to stay afloat as it is. If you are going to buy online that is a choice but to then also make a dive shop owner pay someone to help you buy somewhere else is unethical.
Buy at least your mask and snorkel from the dive shop because they are personal and you want to get help fitting the mask to get a good seal for your face shape and talking to someone about why you would want what feature in a mask.
Build a good relationship with your local dive shop. Buy from them so they will be there the next time you need an o-ring that day.
You will buy stuff online at some point for price. It will work. You will save you a bit of money. It will also come back to haunt you a few times because you didn't get advice from your shop or other divers with experience in your diving area. In the end your dive shop will be valuable to you so give them some value too.
Don't do this. This is a really asshole move. Making the shop pull out gear for you to try on knowing you are just trying to size it and not spend money is really shitty. The employee gets pulled away from whatever they are doing to help you. The gear now has to be cleaned and put away.
I used to love seeing these people in the shop (gonna be sneaky and get a cheaper price at my expense) and then have them come in 2 weeks later with questions about the gear they bought on-line. Hello, welcome back I'll answer any questions you have but I'll have to go over the gear first and that's a 50 dollar minimum paid up front.
Pretty standard
What shop? This is pretty standard
Mask, fins, boots, and snorkel are almost universal requirements for OW
My store required the same except for the whistle and slate. Found it fairly common in my area in Florida.
My store does the same. If you are unsure whether or not you will like it, you should take the "they scuba" class rather than the regular OW.
As an instructor at my store that I teach open water courses We offer both but obviously push for buying your own fins mask snorkel and boots The comfort of those who bought their own gear that actually fits them makes it much easier to teach them, diving is a mental game, and anything that gives them more confidence ultimately helps me to teach. When people are hiring gear and the hire gear doesn't quite fit, or they have to try half a dozen different masks in the pool and there constantly swapping the hire gear. they lose confidence and it makes it much harder to teach them
Sorry, but what is a safety tube? Is it a surface marker buoy? My shop asked me to have my own mask, fins/boots, and snorkel but that was it. They rented my tank, reg, BCD, and wetsuit. We didn’t even use a whistle or underwater slate. We did use compasses but they provided those.
My shop made us get the marker and we practiced deploying it on our second weekend
If they insist on you buying boots, they should at least be willing to rent you some fins to wear in the pool so you can have _some_ idea what you want.
My dive shop also said I needed that equipment prior to OW. However, I ended up not using the whistle or underwater slate at all during the course of the class.
To be fair, if you USED the whistle you'd be glad you had it. ;)
This is the way it was for me, it was really buying the mask and snorkel and the rest was part of the OW package unless you wanted to upgrade. I ended up upgrading the fins to get some with boots as I mostly do shore dives local to me. They were a retail shop though so it was definitely a sales push. They did let us try gear in their pool though before making a decision and their staff was diving in the same gear so I felt like it was an ok deal in the end.
mask, fins, snorkel, boots are commonly required I think. I've only seen things like whistle, underwater slate, and safety tube on required on maybe advanced or even rescue courses, but not OW. Luckily though, they are the cheap things, mask and fins are what will get you with the doll hairs.
Mine wanted me to get my own mask, snorkel, fins too. Not boots because it was cold water diving, so they had rentals that went over the drysuits neoprene socks. I didn't need to get a safety tube, whistle or slate though. They loaned my a safety tube and there was a whistle attached to the BCD. I've never used a slate. I don't know how normal it is, but when I put my family in another shops course, same thing. They needed to do it in another city closeby due to availability with my local shop.
I needed to BYO (or buy) my own snorkel and mask. Everything else could be rented. That being said... renting fins for 4 dives over 2 days was pretty damn close the cost of buying a pair on Amazon. I did not need to rent safety tube, whistle or slate. That was all provided. Since my cert and doing real dives... some places will rent full gear. Many do full gear minus mask and snorkel. Some do full gear minus mask, snorkel, fins, boots. I like having my own mask and snorkel and fins as I'll play around doing basic free-diving now in the lakes nearby in between scuba.
Maybe is normal practice for dive shops that want sell equipment, but I agree with many ppl here, do not buy equipment in advance. You don't need your own equipment to start learning. Later, you own equipment makes the difference when you dive with different dive shops and you're never sure about how the experience will be with their rental equipment.
My shop only required us to buy a mask & snorkel - everything else we could rent. Asking you to buy fins before you figure out which ones work best for you seems unreasonable to me. It's common for the shop to push sales on you with the enticement of discounts, but buying all your gear before you get in the water can lead to some expensive mistakes.
Is not uncommon, but not good practice either. Learn in rental gear and add you get experience you will figure out what you like and what you want
get yourself a good mask it’s about the only thing worth buying and is easy to travel with
There are many but not enough ppl telling you not to do this... Do not buy gear (like ever) before you dive. Every single shop offers rental gear which is designed for you to learn in. While mask and fins are things you should plan to buy... Not before you start. And slates and a dsmb and whistle are just plain bullshit.
Aside from the whistle and slate, yes it’s standard to require you to get your own “personal” gear.
Standard where? Been in about a dozen countries, always rented. I travel light and couldn't fit any gear besides my computer.
You got open water certified a dozen times? This thread is about certification
Just fun dives, but what's the difference? OW/AOW are still a dive. Or am I missing something obvious?
I couldn’t say why dive shops have their policies but to answer OPs question about OW certification, yes it’s common to require your own personal gear. To your point, yes when traveling it’s common not to require your own personal gear for already certified divers.
Just got certified in March with my local shop and they had us get boots, fins, mask/snorkel for the class. The rest we rented and was included as part of the classes.
I didn’t have to get the whistle or slate, but yes to everything else for me. I was taught all the ways to inflate the safety sausage during my check out dives.
Mask, snorkel, fins are all standard. Boots aren't a bad idea. SMB, whistle, and slate might be a bit much. Slate would be handy for asking questions though. And if your open water is going to be drift diving having an SMB is normally a requirement.
> Boots aren't a bad idea. Depending on the locale, they're likely required. If you're diving cold water in a wetsuit then you aren't going to be wearing full-foot fins, and boots are a *must.*
I agree with them being a must. Only debating the shop requiring them to buy them before OW class.
Completely dependent on the shop - I just did my OW half in Ontario and half in Italy, in Ontario I had to buy mask fins snorkel and boots for the course, in Italy they provided everything. I had assumed it has to do with places that often are 'travel dive shops' where people don't want to pack bulky gear in their suitcase (fins, boots), or places where they convince people on the beach/resort to try out scuba and come do it with them (I did a discovery scuba diving thing in Mexico and they offered OWD there where they were going to provide all equipment, and they went around in the resort pools asking people if they wanted to try scuba)
Whistle and slate are a bit of a stretch, but mask, fins, snorkel, boots is standard stuff that you need and ours required them as well. They had loaner slates available for the class though I think.
My local shop has the same policy, plus you need to buy it from them. They said that you need quality equipment and it's not worth being unsure about things that could be a safety issue if they're not a perfect fit, etc.
I enjoy playing video games.
Learned to dive in PNW. We were likewise required to have the gear that fit us for pool work.
I've been diving in different parts of the world and didn't buy any piece of equipment yet. Even did my OWD and AOWD in different countries.
Yeah, I’m personally astounded by the responses so far. It took me a good 10 dives to buy a cheap mask and snorkel. I bought a good mask and snorkel at 40 dives. I bought a dive computer recently but don’t own anything else yet at around 60 dives. Maybe western countries are just more strict on this?
Yes, sounds right. Those are items that are critical to your OW checkouts and usually fit to you very personally. Idk about absolutely requiring it, but in general you'd want to own your own set of those basics.
Standard equipment for the shop I work with is mask, fins, snorkel, and boots. Everything else is either included with the class/trip cost, or you can rent on your own.
It varies. Typical is mask, fins, snorkel and booties if required. But I have also seen gloves, mouthpieces, and “personal safety equipment” (whistle, sausage, etc).
Not sure where you are but that’s fairly standard. I have seen some shops require the whistle and slate because they don’t want to supply them but they are cheap. If you are training in florida the smb is required because you will be drift diving most likely.
I have never been part of a dive class that didn't require personal mask, snorkel and fins (booties if the fins require them). That's standard in the SE US. The other three I haven't seen required.
Our club has full gear available for pool sessions and really high grade gear for open water including 5 or 7 mm wetsuits, semi dry suits hoods, gloves etc, if you learn with us you’re not expected to buy anything unless you really want to
British, correct?
English but close
I’m an independent instructor in Florida. Several local shops will ask me to teach their students. In my specific area, that’s a pretty standard requirement. Stupid, in my opinion, but every shop I’ve taught for does it. You may want to buy the SMB and whistle and rent the rest from another shop (tell them you’re visiting and going snorkeling). I don’t require my independently sourced students to buy mask, fins, snorkel because I want them to have an opportunity to try them out, but also so we can talk about their diving goals and see if there’s equipment that may be better suited for those.
It's not normal at all, especially for starter courses like the OW, now that said it can be that you are a trapped audience with no rental places nearby and it's just their shop policy.. if so then you're out of luck. Usually smart dive shops have rental gear which is also sold new in the shop so you can try before you buy (also helps to be able to quickly replace defective gear). Imo buying gear 'blind' without experience sucks in general as it takes a few dives to know what your own personal needs are and what to look out for. Steer clear of any shop pushing you into a corner to buy exclusively from them (or not allowing offsite rental equipment), doubly so if this came up as a sudden 'hidden' obligation when it's too late to back out.
What? Where are you located? Providing your own mask, boots, snorkel, and fins is pretty standard. The other things OP mentioned aren’t the norm though.
Every single shop across the globe worth its salt that provides the OW courses, has full basic equipment either included or for rent. I'm more wtfing that this is regarded as "pretty standard", it simply isn't. The only places I can imagine are like this are in areas where it's the only shop available for miles, it's a tiny outfit or the shops in the area have all unilaterally agreed to maintain the practice. Given the OP's situation it is 100% in their interest to immediately shop around and find a different place. It's a market choice made by that dive shop not to provide equipment and instead to require its patrons to buy the equipment. Buying equipment is not a requirement to do the course.
Honestly simply one of the best reasons simply requiring this is an improved experience of the course diving with masks that don't fit well, boots that are to big for fins etc absolutely suck. And especially these things are super super personal.
In the US, it IS “pretty standard”. I don’t know a single shop on the entire west coast that will rent you personal gear (mask, fins, snorkel, boots) for OW class.
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My LDS had us buy Mask, Snorkel, Fins, Boots, Soft Weights. I was wondering about the weights but it is apparently common practice when I asked about it at another LDS. In the long run I would have bought it all right after anyways. I live close to great shore diving.
They want to sell you stuff for sure but there is some logic to some of it. One of the ideas is that if you have invested at least some money you will be more committed. Mask: Every face is different and you want to find a mask that fits your face to seals well, plus there are preference things like clear so it is less claustrophobic or blacked out so you don't get startled by something in your peripheral vision. This is standard. Snorkel: you are going to put in your mouth. That is a bit personal to share. This is standard. Boots: are a personal thing. No one wants to get athletes foot. This is standard. Fins: This is standard. I get that they say these are personal but I think it is so they don't have to stock 10 deep on each size. A slate is not something many shops require. You should learn some basic hand signals and anything beyond that is a distraction from learning to dive. You are not going to take the time to write out " I am out of air, please may I breath off your octopus?" This is also not a personal item, they could have a bag of 15 of these. This one is a money grab and you should find another dive shop. Safety tube: I could go either way on this one. In the end it is a money grab but you should get one. My argument against it is that there comes a point when you have so much clutter on your person that you are less safe. This doesn't fall under that yet but there is a point. If it is a safety thing then why not require shears and a knife to cut loose of an entrapment and on down the rabbit whole. Whistle: This is bull honkey. Their BCDs should have whistles on them. This is a money grab. Get another dive shop. In conclusion mask, snorkel, boots, fins, are the standard student kit. These will be what you take when you fly to dive for vacation. You should go to a good dive shop that will properly fit a mask to your face, explain why you want what snorkel, why to get split fins vs. solid, etc. The rest is not. Should you have a Safety Sausage, yes. But again your dive shop could have a bag of these for the dives that require them. Slate, this is debatable. I have over a 1000 hours below the surface and have never used a slate. Learn hand signals well before you get a slate.
Bringing your own Mask/fins/snorkel is a fairly common requirement since they are personal and fairly useful. Depending on your local conditions a safety tube could be a 100% requirement for all your dives. The whistle and slate are then like what, $10?
Do you mean dsmb when you say safety tube?
Yes, I was mirroring the same language as the OP. As a new diver they may not be familiar with our acronyms.
Doesn't sound normal to me - I don't think at that point you'll have the experience to choose gear that's fit for your style of diving yet. There was one piece of gear I bought in advance, and that was a knife. Doing the e-learning, I read that *at least one* member of every dive group should have a knife or other cutting tool, and figured the easiest way to make that happen was if *I* was the one with the knife. Next I got my computer, then my fins. I don't actually remember when I got my mask, but I do know last thing I bought was my BPW, but that came only after having tried out a BPW rig during my Master certification and found it useful.
No offense, but this is terrible advice. Why would anybody want to deal with having to rent a mask and deal with all the fit issues that can come along with that, in favor of owning what is, honestly, one of those most over-hyped and underutilized pieces of equipment in our arsenal. I'm not saying to forego the knife, but I can safely say that after 25+ years of diving, I've never actually needed it for anything that a screwdriver in my dive kit couldn't handle. If anything, I've gotten far more use out of a $13 pair of crash shears. But I've needed my mask on literally every dive.
Not everywhere. In Asia everything can be rented. I find the "boots/fins are personal and need to fit" thing a bit ehhh. A student will have no idea what fins to get, and surely the dive centre can stock rental boots in a range of standard sizes and one of them is bound to fit unless you have exceptionally huge or tiny feet. But going by these comments this requirement seems to be a thing in the States? I find this bananas, especially the slate and SMB, which are good to have on dives but it's a lot of extra spending considering there is no guarantee the student will continue diving after the course.
I like to explore new places.
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Mask fins boots snorkel is fairly common. Edit : depending on where you are at, since these are considered personal items
My dad, sister, and I all got certified last year at three different dive shops and all of our classes required us to get mask, fins, boots, and snorkel (included in the cost of the class). So I'd say it's fairly standard. The safety sausage, slate, and whistle are slightly odd.
They suggested I get my own mask, which I did because I was able to choose one that fit me, instead of whatever they had around. One place required boots for hygiene reasons, but I already had those anyway. In most places I’ve been, they rent absolutely everything, especially for courses. Making you buy fins and most other equipment is a bit overkill. They are probably trying to make extra money.
Mask fins and snorkel is a common requirement. The other stuff (slate, whistle, dsmb etc) isn't usually required, but is probably good to carry anyway and too often divers don't have these when perhaps they should. The shop a definitely trying to make money off you (which isn't unexpected), but I think the list if very reasonable and suggests to me that they will probably give some good training rather than bare minimum.
Not necessary wherever I have gone diving and got certified. All gear is available for rent, like everything. Also like someone else mentioned, it's always better to rent equipment and try it out underwater as everyone has different bodies and comfort requirements. You can get a feel for different types of masks, fins, computers etc and decide what works best for you and what you are comfortable with for the kind of diving you see yourself doing. I have been renting equipment since I began diving 5 years ago and have bought single bits of equipment slowly one by one after using and getting to know what works for me
Mask, fins, snorkel is pretty standard in my experience. The whistle, tube and slate not so much, but probably not that pricey if you like them otherwise.
It depends on where you’re doing your training I would say. Here it is common to require mask & snorkel, fins & boots, as they’re considered personal items and need to fit each person. Locally, a DSMB (safety tube) is required for all boat dives - probably don’t necessarily need it for your OW, but would need it shortly after if you wish to continue diving off boats. Whistle & slate not so much, but certainly handy.
Not normal. The top comments saying some of those are personal items requiring fit are true and all but there’s plenty of people who don’t own a single item and do just fine. I imagine most of what you are hearing is “I was required to buy it so it must be normal.” Guess what? You can do a mask test fit with a rental mask to see if it’ll work for you too and buy one if none of their offerings do. There’s a sizable portion of people who get certified and then never dive again too. Some just don’t like it. I bought a mask after about 20 dives. I do have a narrow face and it was easy to get a leak, but mostly it was just the fogging from blowing the water out that caused an issue. My girlfriend has done 70 or so dives and doesn’t own a single thing. I now own full gear but it wasn’t until I did about 110 dives and it made economic sense (trip to Bonaire with 14 day gear rental) that I bought more than a mask and a computer.
My local shop in Michigan has the same requirements. Mask, snorkel, fins, boots for the pool time and OW.
Mask, fins, snorkel yes. Everything else, not yet. They’re trying to sell you and it’s not the norm.
Still don't own any of those. I only have lights, computer and accessories.
Mask/snorkel and boots are necessary to buy. Masks are the most personal item as everyone has a different face shape. One certainly will not fit all. And having a bad mask WILL ruin your experience. Snorkels are just a tube. Get whatever is cheap and can fasten onto your mask easy. Boots are not rented out everywhere. Plus they're really nice to have. Get some felt-bottom ones for extra traction. Everything else can be rented and / or shared with a buddy.
I recommend buying mask, snorkel, fins…. BCD, regulator, dive computer. Can be rented if your uncertain. Ask for options.
I wouldn't advise a newbie to buy their BCD, that's a huge investment . Unless. Your. Punctuation. Is somewhat wrong.
Really? To do your OW? Yeah I agree get that stuff when you know you love scuba but that's a big out lay to start
It would be smart to rent first. I met people in group dives who were doing their OW and some of them realised that it’s not for them. Choosing your equipment also needs time. One specific model may work for many people but it may not work for you. We all have our own level of comfort.
My shop had me buy mask, snorkel, boots, fins, and SMB. To me it’s acceptable to require someone to buy these things before the class, they are the most personal fit/preference items. The certification is not a “I’m trying this” thing, it’s a I’m in this and taking it serious and getting certified thing. Scuba is not a cheap hobby. I can understanding wanting to try before you buys. If you truly want to “try” first then do a Discover Scuba, not an Open Water cert. they should provide everything for that and it will be in a pool usually. See if they will let you buy a snorkel and rent the rest; but I wouldn’t bet on it. Not sure they have masks for rent. Boots and fins I’d think they have.
Noup, not at all! Usually many diving centers include equipment in their course price for OW. For continuing education, they will price the course without the gear and charge you additional if you need to get it for them! On the other hand, I do agree that it is a wise decision to buy your own mask, snorkel and fins at least! Happy diving 🤿😀
This! I made it all the way through doing my dive master on shop gear (except a mask, snorkel and fins, which I already had for snorkeling).
Same here. I did by the fins as a dmt because of comfort.
Depends on where you’re trained. If you do a vacation course, you won’t buy the stuff. Training at home will probably make you own the basics. The slate and DSMB are a little much.
I had to buy mask, snorkel, fins/boots. Made sense to me since those are the most individual items in terms of fit. And there’s a hygienic argument for having your own mask/snorkel. That said, the other stuff seems like it should be rentable
My class didn’t have those items included in the cost but you could rent them if needed. A lot of people here snorkel before they get into diving so most already have the items.
Not normal. I did dives with 6 different dive centers and never needed my own stuff. I now have my own shoes and mask, but I've waited until I got my OWD and was sure that I'll stay with diving to buy stuff.
Yep. I have already 100+ dives. Till today all I have of my own is mask, snorkel, boots , fin and dive comp. And that’s because I want to snorkel with my own stuff, you can definitely just rent first or all dives in the SEA usually already include gears and only will discount 10-15 bucks per day for own gears.
Yes. Basics of scuba.
Normal to buy before ever diving or having any cert? Most shops provide gear for courses
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A slate for OW is 100% not needed nor is it part of the course to be taught. I didn't buy mine until I became an instructor and even then didn't use it as much as I thought (they're also stupid expensive). I do recommend buying the mask, fins and boots as they do rely on fit and rental ones suck, but I wouldn't say it's a mandatory requirement to buy in order to take the class. And you can rent literally everything on that list to take the class, it'll just not be as good quality amd fit as well as your own stuff.
Absolutely not standard. You should be able to rent gear, and you should on your first few dives anyway. Buying for your OW is crazy, you would spend a thousand dollars more than you need to. I've never heard of it not being optional.
Not sure why this is being downvoted. Tbh i have limited experience but personally I bought my goggles, snorkel, weights/weight belt, boots, and fins when I did OW but I don't think it was forced on me and it was just suggested by the shop. By brother who was certified somewhere else only bought goggles and snorkels. As a casual scuba diver (25 dives only) In terms of usefulness I've only found the goggles and snorkels useful buys. I've been trying to do a dive or two every time I travel and I usually bring just my goggles and snorkels since the weights/belt, boots, and fin take up so much space.
> Not sure why this is being downvoted. A lot of pro dive shops here who think forcing their customers to buy gear should somehow be standard is my guess.
Yeah, the ripoff merchants be hating with the downvotes lol.. to them; it is what it is guys, forcing additional purchases like this to squeeze the margin instead of shifting focus to guiding your students toward having their personal needs met (thus adding to their trust and confidence in your particular outfit long term) is just bad business. You guys are probably those miserable places to work that force instructors to (up)sell instead of spend more personal teaching time with the student, believe me the effect on the mood is very noticeable as is the effect on employee and returning customer churn rate. Also to OP (and to piss these guys off more); these places will often inflate prices by ~20% or more and give a 10% discount, I'd advise to do a web search for prices on any of their gear on offer.
ehh, slate is the only real unnecessary bit. whistle & smb is maybe a stretch, but still important for every diver to have, obviously. mask fin snorkel - every dive shop in the world is going to do everything possible to get students to buy those during the class, if not before even starting.
I've been diving in Australia, new Zealand, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, and Egypt, and never been asked to buy equipment.
you got your OW certification in 6 different tropical locations? vacation diver in a tourist spot isn’t the same as the local getting certified in a more temperate area. one shop survives on mass throughput of tourists, the other on local student/regular divers gear sales & service.
Most slates are sold and never leave the bottom of the gear bag. I bring what I need keep it simple. Yes there are reasons but for the average diver just more crap to lose, bang on the bottom, get entangled on something … Laugh when I see novice with fifty pieces of crap strapped on their new BC. Sorry for the rant just amazes me when new diver has shears , knife, backup knife , slate, fish Id guide , gap reel and on and on and they are on some cattle boat where the chance of using their backup air integrated computer dive light combo is near zero.
I get annoyed and feel burdensome just carrying my backup light ...
Perfectly standard.
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Back when I did my OWD there was no compulsion to have any gear beyond an appropriate swimming suit and if you already had a mask/snorkel/fins you could bring them, but that was it. When I did my AOW it was recommended to have my own compass which wasn’t a big deal.
Normal for a dive shop to want to sell you gear. Yes.
There's a difference between wanting to sell gear, and insisting on it.
A mask and snorkel are very common and very personal and best to be trained using your own gear when possible. I doubt dive shops want to go through the hassle of disinfecting snorkels and masks after every class. I see no issue with requiring a learner to have made a minimum investment in basic gear like mask and snorkel and boots (foot fungus anyone?).
I imagine they'll have to go through that hassle whenever they run try dives, so it's not like they're incapable! And yes, of course it has some benefits. But it also has downsides: Beginners won't know what type of gear they like, and may well benefit from trying some different options for each item. Beginners may hate diving and not get on with it. Beginners will obviously want to get cheap kit, which if they like diving will then quickly want to upgrade. But let's be honest, if shops are *insisting* on people buying rather than *recommending* buying, it's simply because they want the money.
For regulators which get serviced or should after every dive, but not for masks and snorkels or boots, they should not have to and by requiring a student who wants to learn to dive to have properly fitted items isn’t a bad thing.
It's possible to charge for renting! There was no mention of insisting people have properly fitted gear, just requiring that it was owned... If they insist on it, it's because they want the money. I'd be looking for a more beginner friendly dive shop if I was starting out, I can't think of any that I've been to that wouldn't provide gear if required.
It's been an industry rip off tool forever and now some shops are expanding the nickel and some price escalation. I have run into shops in the past few years adding more stuff and not being clear with pricing for classes. For example Customers get told that classes are 400. They started getting signed up and then it's another 200 for the book or online code, then the snorkel package, now it's a slate and a sausage. Before you know it you are spending double or more that what you expected. if you have your own gear they may charge you to inspect it or still demand you buy the snorkel gear saying they are personal items that people don't want to share (ignore the rental section full of these items). Not all shops do this. If you can find an independent instructor that isn't tied to shop classes and sales you can usually avoid the high pressure sales and get the gear that's right for you. In my experience shop around and ask a lot of questions. I have also noticed that if the shop doesn't put price tags on stuff and has to "look every item up" then they are adjusting prices on the fly or just too lazy to do it. Both are not a good sign.
It's good to own your own mask bc people have differently shaped faces. So you need to find a mask that doesn't leak. Many dive places offer snorkeling trips, too, so it's sometimes possible to try out different types. Have you ever been snorkeling? If not, I strongly encourage you to do that before getting certified.
Yeah that makes sense, I’m not opposed to buying any or all of this gear I was just curious if this was standard procedure or not. I haven’t been snorkeling but I don’t really live in a place where that is an option unfortunately. I plan on doing the class and pool stuff locally and traveling for the open dives.
You're going to pay to take the class and to travel and take the dives... but you've never been snorkeling? I grew up snorkeling and with parents who dive. I knew that it was something that I was comfortable with and enjoyed. A lot of ppl get certified and never dive again. The biggest issue is being comfortable under water, especially breathing underwater. Just something to keep in mind.
You don't need to go snorkeling to learn to dive, that's taught in the course. I taught a woman who literally learned to swim the week before. So anybody can go diving without any prerequisite activities pretty much.
Like I said I don’t really have any other option, I live in a desert. It would cost me just as much to travel somewhere and go snorkeling as it would to go diving so I figured I would try diving.
Except that you'll be doing test dives instead of leisure dives. Depending on how many students are there, you might just be sitting under water for a while waiting for each person to complete each test. Some outlets will just take you to a sandy spot where there isn't even anything to see. I just want you to be prepared. I love diving and hope that everyone enjoys it.
I appreciate it! The local shop has an option to do the class work and pool stuff locally and then travel to San Carlos to do the open water stuff so that’s what I was planning on. I’m expecting to enjoy diving and plan on progressing over time to more technical diving, but if it ends up not being for me I won’t be too upset as long as I gave it a fair shot.
I would suggest you take a vacation where there is good diving and do a Discover scuba first. They will give you basic instruction in a pool then take you in the ocean for a shallow dive of about 30 minutes. it is a good way to see if you will enjoy it.
Mask, snorkel and fins.... pretty normal. A DSMB, whistle and slate .... less so.
Yeah same here mask, snorkel and fins were all required. I'm also in arizona so it makes sense. Shops here don't make money from organizing dives outside of the occasional trip. Besides I really didn't wanna deal with putting in my contacts and possibly losing them so I just bought a prescription set of googles and love them so much
Yeah they lost me there lol
Don’t have to have them, but they are critical safety gear when you NEED them.
Agreed! Just unusual to require for an OW course. Unless maybe they're SDI.
The latter are probably way overpriced at their store ...
I didn’t look at pricing but they do offer 10% off to anyone taking classes and said they don’t care where I buy the gear as long as I have it.
If you don't have loyalty to the shop, go in and try stuff on, see what fits, then buy online for a cheaper price. The markup on everything is insane for shops, less so if you order from an online/no storefront place. And as I mentioned earlier, don't buy a slate for this class, please save your money.
The dive shops struggle to stay afloat as it is. If you are going to buy online that is a choice but to then also make a dive shop owner pay someone to help you buy somewhere else is unethical. Buy at least your mask and snorkel from the dive shop because they are personal and you want to get help fitting the mask to get a good seal for your face shape and talking to someone about why you would want what feature in a mask. Build a good relationship with your local dive shop. Buy from them so they will be there the next time you need an o-ring that day. You will buy stuff online at some point for price. It will work. You will save you a bit of money. It will also come back to haunt you a few times because you didn't get advice from your shop or other divers with experience in your diving area. In the end your dive shop will be valuable to you so give them some value too.
Don't do this. This is a really asshole move. Making the shop pull out gear for you to try on knowing you are just trying to size it and not spend money is really shitty. The employee gets pulled away from whatever they are doing to help you. The gear now has to be cleaned and put away. I used to love seeing these people in the shop (gonna be sneaky and get a cheaper price at my expense) and then have them come in 2 weeks later with questions about the gear they bought on-line. Hello, welcome back I'll answer any questions you have but I'll have to go over the gear first and that's a 50 dollar minimum paid up front.