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Would it mostly be in Southeast Asia? Or somewhere else?

In response to this Q being "put on hold" for being too broad, let me add the following:

Include only cost of equipment rental and lessons. Exclude cost of getting there, cost of food, cost of lodging.

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    Is there a particular qualification that you're hoping to get?
    – Gagravarr
    Oct 24, 2013 at 21:19
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    And does cheap include getting there from a specific location?
    – Stuart
    Oct 24, 2013 at 22:35
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    including the expense of food and lodging makes this question even more broad!
    – Dirty-flow
    Oct 25, 2013 at 7:02
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    @hippietrail your previous comment actually shows that the question is too broad. and when we add food and accomodation - Some people are probably ready to sleep under any bridge and not to eat 2-3 days, I will prefer to stay in 3* hotel... and also - prices change! and that's why shopping question are off topic here.
    – Dirty-flow
    Oct 25, 2013 at 17:35
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    @hippietrail Free is the cheapest. The OP does not state what kind of diving he wants to learn. Equipment could be anything from full scuba to fins and a snorkel. Come to my place in Virginia and I'll teach you to dive for free.
    – CGCampbell
    Sep 1, 2015 at 13:55

6 Answers 6

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The answer is almost certainly Thailand, in particular Ko Tao, the PADI factory of the world. An end-to-end course that gets you the standard PADI Open Water license will set you back roughly 9800 baht (~$310 at time of writing); if you're happy with the far more limited PADI Scuba Diver course, you can complete that for 7000 baht (~$225) at this randomly chosen dive shop. Chuck in food and accommodation for around 1000 baht/day all-in for 3-4 days (you can squeeze by for less if you're a cheapskate frugal), and you can complete your course for under $500.

A close second is Malaysia, where diving is about the same price due to furious competition, but food and accommodation are generally pricier. I'd imagine the Philippines are in roughly the same price bracket as well. Diving in Indonesia is generally not as affordable simply because the diving off Bali is not that great and the places with great diving (Bunaken etc) are in harder-to-reach locations.

All that said, diving is one of those things where you definitely don't want to look for price alone, this is life support equipment we're talking about here and you want to make sure it's properly maintained. (When I lived in Singapore, I ended up buying my own gear, just so I could maintain it myself.) So do your homework and pay a little extra to find a dive shop with a clue, here's a handy article with some tips. (TL;DR: Check online reviews, go visit, chat with the instructors and look for certifications, general cleanliness, gear appearance and maintenance schedule.)

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  • Quality of instruction can vary a lot too! Someone who's done a rigorous course in a colder location tends to be a much better diver early on than someone who's done their Open Water somewhere warm + relaxed...
    – Gagravarr
    Oct 24, 2013 at 23:09
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    It's a bit rough calling everybody willing to embark upon adventures with less wealth than yourself a "cheapskate". By this measure most of the nice local people in these places are also cheapskates. Remember there's plenty of rich people who might consider you a cheapskate too. Now the advice about how well maintained the gear is is an extremely important point however so +1 but offering some advice on how to know tell whether a place has good gear might also help.
    – hippietrail
    Oct 25, 2013 at 4:03
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    If you're about to burn $500 on a PADI Open Water license, plus rather a lot more to get to Ko Tao in the first place, you're by definition wealthy enough to have disposable income! But all I meant is that 1000 baht/day is a workable minimum budget for most travellers in Thailand, you need to make some conscious sacrifices to manage below that. Obviously actually living in the country is different, the Thai minimum wage is still under 10k/mo.
    – lambshaanxy
    Oct 25, 2013 at 4:28
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    Getting a qualification might be money to burn for some people and might be an investment for other people. I've certainly met my share of people that got PADI certification in cheap places and went on to become diving teachers, etc. I'm personally pretty far down the budget scale but constantly meet travellers on much lower budgets having a great time, especially young people from developing countries that still find a way to fund their travels. I find these people inspirational.
    – hippietrail
    Oct 25, 2013 at 4:42
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    @Gagravarr: Well that's a good warning to include in an answer or warn the OP that they might want to clarify in the question, but as it stands they're only asking about cheapest and that is objectively answerable. Just more reasons these low-effort 1.5 sentence questions are not the best ones to ask.
    – hippietrail
    Oct 25, 2013 at 12:17
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Alicante, Spain. You can get some offers from €130 for a two-day course. Normal prices are a bit higher (€200), but if you just want to get the PADI certificate, this is the cheapest way I've found. In Alicante most people speak fluent english and sleeping and eating each day is about €25 if you go to a hostel or similar and cook your own food. Also, if you live in Europe or even in America, the flight is much cheaper to Alicante than to any south Asian country. The sea is the Mediterranean, not so impressive as the Thailand seas, but not too bad.

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    That offer appears to be for the PADI Scuba Diver course, which doesn't permit you to dive except one-on-one with a divemaster, and is thus not usually considered a "real" diving certification like Open Water. padi.com/scuba/padi-courses/diver-level-courses/…
    – lambshaanxy
    Oct 25, 2013 at 10:50
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    May be it's true @jpatokal, but the op is not asking for a "Open Water", he's asking for a place "to learn diving" which is a more open question than a place to get this specific certification.
    – Ivan
    Oct 25, 2013 at 14:25
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Lake Malawi, Malawi it's $350 for the open water padi cert at aquanuts. In terms of accommodation next to the dive shop is Kande Beach, if you have your own tent $5 a night otherwise it's a cabin for $15 per person per night. The food is cheap and so is the beer.

So unless you bring a tent you are looking at $500.

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Cheaper Is Not the Way

For the purpose of safety I will start off by repeating what others have already mentioned: looking for the cheapest place to learn something potentially life-threatening is probably not a good idea. Ask yourself how these places can afford to charge less for the organisation of an activity, and the maintenance of gear, both of which are inherently expensive. If costs are reduced by cutting the materials and maintenance budget, then you'd probably not want to be trained in such a club.

Go Local with Group-Buys

When I first qualified in 2004, the average price for a first scuba diving certification, be it PADI or CMAS, oscillated between 300€ and 400€, back home in Italy. This included renting gear, learning materials, pool training and two or three sea dives (excluding accommodation). However, the recent boom of deal-of-the-day, group-buys and other similar websites has reduced prices of such activities dramatically. You will most probably find a local dive club offering cheap rates for open water certifications on Groupon, for example. Here is a randomly-picked offer at 125$ for Open-Water PADI. Beware the link will inevitably expire soon, but you can do more research yourself.

The main advantage here is that you cut out travel and accommodation costs, since you wont be flying to the Pacific in order to take the course. Obviously, unless you live in places where the seaside offers amazing flora, fauna and landscape, you might have to settle for cold-water dives in quarries (yes UK residents, I am talking to you!). However I would say that this is what you get when looking for the cheapest deal.

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    I agree that one should consider factors other than--such as safety as you suggest. But I asked this question with a deliberate narrow focus on price, in part so that I'd keep it within the scope of SE (and render the question 'answerable').
    – user8803
    Dec 12, 2014 at 17:11
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South Africa offers Open Water Diver courses in Range of R2000 - R6000 ($200 -$600). Depending on training organisation, location, time of year, additional options, etc.

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    can you please elaborate a bit more for your answer?
    – VMAtm
    Dec 11, 2014 at 9:49
-4

Try DJL on Koh Tao. www.davyjoneslocker.asia They were excelent. The equipment I used looked brand new and the instructor was really patient. Talking afterwards to friends who did thier PADI course elsewhere (and paid a lot more) I got the impression the training I got was much more detailed.

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