How much does scuba diving cost?

The short answer

Scuba diving is listed here at $50–300 to start and $2k–10k to go deep. Starting means a try dive with an instructor, often in a pool or from a beach, with all the gear provided. Going deep means getting certified, buying your own small gear and paying for dive trips, and the trips are usually the biggest cost.

The try dive

A try dive, sold under names like Discover Scuba Diving, is a short briefing and one shallow dive with an instructor beside you. It usually costs $50–150, more at resorts. It tells you whether you are comfortable breathing underwater before you pay for a course.

You will be asked to fill in a medical form. Some conditions, such as asthma or a recent operation, need a doctor's sign-off first.

Getting certified

The first full course is Open Water, taught by agencies such as PADI or SSI and accepted worldwide. It takes three or four days: theory, pool sessions and four dives in open water. In the US it is usually $400–700. Dive centres in Southeast Asia and Central America often charge less and train you in warm, clear water.

Some people do the theory and pool sessions with a dive centre near where they live and the open-water dives on holiday. Ask the centre whether they accept this, called a referral.

Where to learn for less

A few places are known all over the diving world for good, inexpensive courses, with warm water and many dive schools competing:

• Koh Tao, Thailand, which certifies more divers than almost anywhere. The Gulf of Thailand side is calmest from March to September.
• Utila, in Honduras's Bay Islands, on the Caribbean's Mesoamerican Reef, with whale sharks passing through some months.
• Dahab, Egypt, on the Red Sea, where many sites are walk-in dives from the shore.
• The Gili Islands off Lombok, Indonesia, and Moalboal in the Philippines.

Courses in these places often cost noticeably less than in the US, Western Europe or Australia, and the dives are in the sea rather than a quarry. Choose a school by its instructors and how many students each one takes, not only by price.

What to buy first

• A mask that fits your face. It is the piece that most often goes wrong when rented.
• Fins and boots, if you dive often in the same kind of water.
• A dive computer, once you are diving several times a year. Basic models start around $200.

Rent the regulator, the buoyancy jacket and the tank until you know you will keep diving. A full set of your own easily costs $1,000–2,000 and is heavy to travel with.

The cost of diving

After certification, the money goes on the dives. Two boat dives with rental gear are often $100–200 in popular places. A week on a liveaboard boat to a remote reef costs much more, but you dive three or four times a day.

Diving is usually a holiday hobby, so plan the trip around the season. Visibility and sea conditions change a lot by month.

Safety habits that cost nothing

• Never hold your breath while you go up.
• Do not fly for at least 18 hours after several days of diving.
• Dive with a buddy and within the depth your certification covers.