[WA Only] Padi Open Water Cert $249

Related Stores

Our Deal

• 

  bargaino on 29/08/2013 - 14:05

  +3

  It sounds like you get what you pay for.
  Home study, and no boat dives included.
  Its a bare-minimum crash course, which is fine if that's what you want.

  edit: I missed the fine print. bad deal.

  ^Customers must complete home study prior to commencing the course at their own expense of $170 for crew pack, text books etc.

  Makes it a rip-off, by Perth standards. I suggest PDA instead.

  And the "normal price" includes books etc, so the claimed discount is a lie. Keep away.

  • 

    Haemoglobin on 29/08/2013 - 14:58

    ah good spotting, I thought you can get all that stuff free online though?

  • 

    super8 on 29/08/2013 - 16:29

    more illegal advertising from Ourdeal.

    the ACl requires that the "total minimum price of the service" be displayed "prominently". I cant even see the total minimum price displayed anywhere on the deal, just component prices in the small font of the terms and conditions.

• 

  coquinone on 29/08/2013 - 14:08

  Completed my earlier this year in Port sea VIC for $499 including online training.
  Reading from the site:
  '^Customers must complete home study prior to commencing the course at their own expense of $170 for crew pack, text books etc'

  So, I guess the total would be $419 for the cert., Still not a bad price if you're planning to get one and live in WA.

• 

  figarow on 29/08/2013 - 14:31

  +2

  Sharkbait! Hoo ha ha!

• 

  sirs2k on 29/08/2013 - 14:53

  +2

  You know what PADI stands for right???
  Put Another Dollar In!

  People think you have to get PADI because it's the best, and dive schools market it that way.
  Me and my Mrs done our open water last year with SSI, it's free to do the online and it's just as recognized as PADI all around the world, it's not like you're going to get better training or anything. Almost always the school that trains you, do both PADI and SSI Certifications, that's all it is, the logo on your diver card

  Ours cost $200pp in total with SSI online study and on Weekend inc 4 shore dives (which is usually more expensive). We go it from special scoop deal.

  Usually in the next couple of months you should see a lot of special dive deals come around for Oct-Nov because it's their quiet season and the water is nice around then. They gave us 8mm wetsuits when we took the course in beg Nov

  Hope that helps

• 

  bluechan on 29/08/2013 - 18:09

  +2

  I have yet to be impressed with any of these coupon dive certification offers. More often than not they are not for a "full" dive certification. But for an "entry level" certification. This one is at least for the full Open Water cert.

  Entry level: limited to shallow depths. Must dive with a dive master or similar ($$).
  PADI Open Water: 18m max certified depth (you can go deeper but you won't be covered by insurance). You can dive with a buddy and there is no need to dive with a dive master.

  From personal experience: PADI, SSI and BSAC are all recognised around the world.

  If you want to do it on the cheap find yourself a BSAC club and do the training through them. BSAC are more club orientated so the instruction is generally free. You just pay for the materials and the card. The issue with BSAC is it can take a really looonnnnnggggg time to get your certs. As you are at the mercy of your instructor's schedule. When I say long. I'm talking on average 6-9 months before you get your first certification. Compared to 1-2 weeks with PADI and SSI. The other issue with BSAC is that they are not as popular in Australia as they are in the UK. So BSAC clubs might be harder to find.

  When I got my PADI Open Water cert in 2007. I paid around AU$400 for the cert + 4 nights accommodation including all food and transfers in Pulau, Malaysia. But that was along time ago. And I got a deal through a friend who knew the resort owners.

  The agency who you do the training through isn't that important. It's more important to find a good instructor. Kind of like learning to play the piano. The brand of piano you learn on isn't as important. But if you find a good instructor you will more than likely learn more each lesson. (Your results may vary).

  If you are in a high dive traffic area like say Cairns. It's pretty much luck of the draw. Instructors come and go. Sydney and Melbourne are a little different. Most instructors hang around their dive store for longer periods.

  For Sydney and Melbourne I would recommend joining up with a non-shop dive clubs. Ask around to see if anyone recommends any particular instructors. I'm in Melbourne and happy to answer scuba related questions (I'm not an instructor).

  My dive certs:
  2007 PADI Open Water
  2009 SSI Advanced Adventurer
  2011 BSAC Sports Diver
  2011 TDI Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures
  2011 GUE Fundamentals
  2012 CDAA Deep Cavern
  2013 CDAA Cave

  PS. I've negged this deal due to the "hidden" $170 fee. Although I wonder if you can get the book cheaper else where?

  • 

    sirs2k on 29/08/2013 - 21:13

    Agree and disagree on one point,
    You should consider a dive shop with at least a half decent reputation, it matters because you don't want worn out and unreliable gear. The air in your tank (which they fill) could be contaminated and you won't even know it.

    :)

    • 

      bluechan on 29/08/2013 - 21:58

      +1

      I never said don't take instruction/do courses at dive shops. I'm just saying seek opinions from those less likely to be biased. Additionally a dive club tends to have a mix of people in the club. Which may provide a bigger spread of opinions and experiences.

      As for gear. Yes, totally agree. The gear you receive for your course should fit and function correctly. Having said that old gear can be just as good as new. It just depends on how well it's been maintained.

      As for clean fills. As a diver there's only so much you can do to ensure you get a clean fill. To a degree I agree that a dive shop with a good reputation will be less likely to give you a bad fill. But that's certainly no guarantee. I personally carry a personal filter. But that's only because my tanks are O2 clean… Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

      Contaminated fills are more concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning. I'm not going to get into an in-depth (no pun intended) discussion about this. But the main causes of carbon monoxide in a scuba fill would be that the intake for the fill is too close to a hydrocarbon exhaust or the lubricant in the compressor is too old and is burning up inside the compressor resulting in a bad fill. You'd have to be pretty unlucky to ever encounter these situations. It does happen. But it's quite rare. The instructor should be using the same fill so they should detect an issue before the student. But carbon monoxide is odourless and colourless.

      It's more common to get an "oily fill" where the filter on the compressor hasn't been changed frequently enough. Some people claim to be able to smell a bad fill… I've got a bad sense of small as it is. I've never detected a bad fill.