Hi from Australia. Opening a new dive centre advice.

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Messages
1
Reaction score
1
Location
South Australia
# of dives
1000 - 2499
Hi everyone.
I've been diving on and off for 30 odd yrs, old fossil I know . Well now after a lifetime of hard work raising a Family , I find myself still happily married and a dream to open a dive centre with accommodation (My Wife supports my dream ☺)
I have a nice house in an out of the way area surrounded by great beaches and scuba diving spots , any advice or good experiences you have had would be well appreciated . Thank you ☺
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard SouthAussie. It's great to have you here in this online community.
 
Welcome to ScubaBoard! Good luck with your dream, it sounds great!
 
We've travelled to some small operations and they're always great. I haven't been to a "resort" that takes more than eight people in a long time!

A couple of questions: How many guests can stay in your home? Are you limiting your diving guests to those that stay with you? The reason I ask is really a question of economies of scale. Unless you have a pretty gigantic home, presumably you're going to have a small client base. That can make it tricky as you may need to be at 100% capacity all of the time.

Is your intent to make this a legit business, or more of a hobby that (hopefully) supports itself?

Certainly it sounds like you have the potential to have a neat operation. You might want to compare notes with Rick Stanley at Ocean Quest in Newfoundland. The run a lodge out of their home, with a spa and amazing diving. They don't provide meals, but there is a kitchen for guests (mostly groups) to prepare meals etc. They're also close to St Johns so lots of folks just eat out.
 
I've added you to the Dive Shop group. I can't recall if it gives you specific access to some of the restricted content in ScubaBoard Pro or not.
 
You might want to join the various buy/sell scuba gear groups. For instance right now theres a company selling off a stack of commercial diving gear including Nuvair complete nitros systems for a fraction of their new prices. Someone's selling a bunch of G sized cylinders, and you can always pick up a couple of super cheap BCD's and computers for cents on the dollar for rental gear.
 
if you are running this as a small operation, a secondary income stream other than scuba that is more stable is vital imo. the more successful small shops i have dived with all have something other than scuba whether kayak/SUP rentals, snorkel tours, whale watching etc.
 
Don’t make up stupid rules like 45 min max dive time, let people dive their tank/ndl. Offer the best product you can for the best price you can. Be honest and transparent and try to win repeat customers not just rip off backpackers.
 
Keep your options open.

A number of small dive operators I know run seal or whale watching as a side-line. One in particular can fill their boat within 15 minutes of putting up a sign for seal watching, and can easily do four trips a day. Making it more lucrative that taking dives out.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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