The oceans, like mother-in-laws, have historically been spoken of with great fear and respect for their unpredictable depths and salty disposition toward you. Acquaint yourself with what lies beneath with today's Groupon: for $149, you get a three-week open-water class at Hunterdon Scuba Center in Flemington (a $300.95 value).

Hunterdon Scuba Center is an NAUI Platinum Pro training facility with nine NAUI, PADI, and Technical Diving International–certified instructors that are lead by professional wreck diver and instructor Don Beiger. The Center gives guidance in underwater colonization as well as full scuba training, certification, and dive travel. Open-water TDI and Scuba Diving International courses drop divers into classroom and pool sessions, and provide tanks, weights, breathing regulators, buoyancy-control devices, and underwater beer cozies. Students must take steps to secure safe aquatic transcendence with their own diving mask, fins, and snorkels in three consecutive Saturday sessions. A veteran diver will take students from the classroom into the abyss of the pool, teaching about the basics of the dive, responsible barnacle removal, and the hubris of 19th-century oxygen barons.

Hunterdon Center's training facilities include a heated pool and full-service dive shop to outfit friends and anemonies. Though not included in this Groupon, rental wetsuits are available, and the rental price ($40 for three sessions) can be applied at the time of purchase.