Methodology
How we verify dive prices
DiveCost exists to answer one question honestly: what will diving actually cost you? Here's exactly how we collect, verify, and date every price.
1. Certified operators only
We source dive centers from the official PADI, SSI and SDI dive-shop locators. That means every operator is a real, certified business — and resellers and booking middlemen are excluded by definition. We only ever use a center's own agency-registered website as the source.
2. All-in, not bait prices
A '€30 fun dive' is rarely €30. Once you add gear, insurance, marine-park fees and tax, the real number can be more than double. So every price we publish is labeled either 'all-in' (the final price you pay) or 'base price' (extras on top), with a structured list of exactly what's included.
3. Verified at the source
We read prices directly from each operator's official website, not from blogs or aggregators. Where local taxes are mandatory and bundled — like Egypt's diving entertainment tax and VAT — we fold them into the all-in figure so the comparison is fair.
4. Dated, so old data looks old
Every price carries the date we last verified it. The color ages from green to amber to red as it gets older. Nothing on DiveCost pretends to be fresher than it is.
5. Corrected by the community
Prices change. Anyone can flag a wrong or outdated price with the 'Update this price' button. We re-check against the operator's site before publishing any change. Honest data beats stale data.
What we will never do
- Show a price without saying whether it's all-in or a base rate.
- Hide how old a price is.
- List a reseller's marked-up rate as the operator's price.
- Take a booking commission that biases what we show you.
Explore verified prices
DiveCost exists to answer one question honestly: what will diving actually cost you? Here's exactly how we collect, verify, and date every price.