Is the best i have found for full set ups.I think the dive shop in wangara is good as well.

go and see lee out at perth scuba local owned business and he will beat any price you get

I will beat Till to it and recommend Chriso at www.divetub.com.au. He is in Warwick kind of area and has plenty to get you comfortable. If your interested I have a 5mm Cressi superstretch wetsuit (size 7) and an Oceanic Probe LX BCD (size XL)you may be interested in. I am 6'2" and needed the bigger gear to fit my ample torso. I am looking for somewhere around $450 for both. PM me if your interested. Happy for you to give them a try before you buy. They are just hanging around as spares here now.

Yeah I like my zeagle gear, call Chriso for some trydive gear!

As strike zone said Perth scuba, but for $1500 you're only going to get the cheap end of the market & depending on what depth & style of diving you want to do may need an upgrade very quickly as you get more confidence. I also look at it as life support system, don't want cheap gear failing on you 20 - 30m down. I would look to at least double your budget to $3k as a minimum.

$3k might be a bit much there colt. he is just starting to do his course mate.

mr winta, most of my gear has been second-hand, and i have never had ANY problems with it AT ALL. same with all my mates and their gear. just get it serviced regularly, and look after it properly (wash/rinse/flush with fresh water, after every trip). we regulary use our gear, mostly around 20 - 25m, and have been up to 45m with it. not one of us (or anyone else that i know), has had a problem with gear failure.

from memory, my dive set (2x regs, occy, bcd, and ali tank) cost me $400. i actually picked up a bcd and reg set, and a near new steel tank for $400 from this site just before christmas. there are some really good wetsuits pretty cheap these days too, and i have a 3mm that i got for under $150, that i use all year round, for spearing and tank diving.

you basically want to assess - if you like diving, what kind of diving you want to do (scenic, crays, caving, photography, etc), how often you see yourself going for a dive, and then decide what your budget should be. if you buy second hand, you wont loose much money if you decide diving isnt for you, or simply want to upgrade. if you buy new, you will loose will loose 50% should you have to sell.

after a while, if you want to start doin tech dives / deep dives,  THEN start looking at upgrading.

True Scotto, but suppose cause I do mainly night & wreck diving any where from 20m to 67m I went for more of the upper end. Another good idea my mate did when getting into it mrwinta was hiring different gear from different shops to try all makes & models to see what suited him & his diving styles best.

wait a year or so before you buy your scuba unit, I've seen many people do their open water course and buy their gear right away only to find after six months they dont dive anymore and so end up with it collecting dust and getting out of test, it's not that expensive to hire for your first 12 months unles you do an awful lot of dives

You get great deals in the quokka, lots of people buy full kits use once or twice and then sell them. Look for a good brand get it serviced and you will pay a third of the cost... The wet suit you will have to get from a shop..

ill help with the spearfishing part :), ok for 400 bucks u wont get a new rob allen rail gun, i would suggest something like a pelaj? they are cheaper and u can buy them in kits like with a float and float line. if u can get a second hand rob allen though id go for a tuna or a carnax, those are alli rail guns, i got a 800 tuna for my drity water work and shore diving. another good gun to look at is an edge super frog. very good aussie made guns, my mate who is juniour state champ and probs one of the best divers i know uses a 1.4 and he shoots fish, lots of me. many guys in my club use them. i use a carbon 1.3 rabitech but once again. thats like 900 bucks, without a reel or what ever set up u want. i wouldnt go a 1.2 either, go a 1.3. the reason is u get a bit more range its probs the best all round gun, good for demershals likes dhuies and baldies and things like that, but u still get the range you want for macks and pink snapper. but yeah thats just my two cents :)

Look at a 1.3 rail gun for sure, I have a rob allen sparid, excellent gun, look on diveandfish.com.au or adrenelin.com.au these guns are around $400 or so, 7mm spear, great range, they are not too hard to load from the hip, I personally wouldn't worry about a reel unless your into mackies or queenies, but get a line and float especially when free diving cause if the fish takes off you can always find your gun.