Bloody dive shops...

[Manatee Diver]

Huh, teach tech? I thought all you had to do is get a BPW then you are a tech diver. I've been fooled!

You need a Shearwater too.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Huh, teach tech? I thought all you had to do is get a BPW then you are a tech diver. I've been fooled!

You mean I am not a cave diver as I own an Xdeep Stealth tec?

I'm crushed!

 

[aviator8]

You need a Shearwater too.

yes, and that. I don't cut it though because I got a suunto!

 

[BenjaminF]

yes, and that. I don't cut it though because I got a suunto!

Shame on you! Shame!!

 

[KathyV]

DRIS recently bought Scuba Emporium, another shop in Chicago’s south burbs. Emporium had been around since the mid -70s with the same owners, who wanted to step back some and just be instructors. The plus is the new location has a pool onsite, but it’s small.

Will be interesting how it works out. I’ll still be going to the original location as it’s closer.

@Marie13 I totally missed the news that DRIS had purchased the Scuba Emporium! I used to live on the South Side of Chicago/Suburbs and the Scuba Emporium in Alsip was my shop. Then I moved to the West Suburbs and they moved to the new location far south in Orland Park. I have some family members living in that area and over the years I have occasionally stopped by the Orland shop when I am in the area but I haven't been there in awhile.

I am not at all familiar with Dive Right In Scuba in Plainfield but I know that they have a good reputation in the Chicago area so I will have to make a point of visiting one of their shops soon!

Pat Hammer and the Scuba Emporium were leaders of the Chicago-area dive industry for decades and I wish them well. Pat was the driving force behind the Our World Underwater show and now it is defunct - but it was a great show in the early years! Good luck to them and to DRIS!


Posted on the Scuba Emporium Facebook Page on October 3, 2019:

It is with mixed emotions of great pleasure and sadness Sherry and I, Patrick, announce that we have sold the store and want to slow down (just a bit). In 1974, when I first opened Scuba Emporium, people thought I was crazy. However as crazy as it seemed, it has been an unbelievable run.

We have had the pleasure of certifying tens of thousands of scuba divers, made over ten thousand PADI Instructors, and had stores in 4 states. We have helped many open up successful dive stores and traveled the world with our wonderful customers by our side. We watched families grow and witnesses our young customers get married and circle back around, allowing us to train their grandchildren.

We thrived in good economies and survived when the economy was weak. We have made friends all over the world and had the best job in the world.

So it is time for the next exciting chapter in our life. We plan to continue doing what we love, teaching and running dive travel trips. I want to continue to teach PADI Instructors locally, in other states, and abroad. Sherry loves teaching children and still is hopeful to be able to make young scuba divers. Together we will teach classes and specialties. Our dream is to continue to be leaders in the industry and inspire others to follow their dreams with scuba.
Retail has changed so much over the years and we do not want to be tied to the retail aspect of the business.

We cannot express our gratitude to the many loyal customers that supported us over four decades, our amazing staff (some of which have been with us for twenty plus years and are a second family to us), and PADI, the greatest training agency in the world.

We hope to continue to grow the dive industry.

We thank you for this great run and remember, we're not leaving, just changing directions. We have some great trips planned in the future and hope you will continue to travel with us.

We can be reached at:
Patrick E-mail: Patrick@scubaemporium.com
Cell: 708-650-3483
Sherry E-mail Sherry@scubaemporium.com
Cell: 708-651-3483

 

[DiverDaniel2485]

Shops should charge more for their classes, and explain what their costs are. As an independent instructor, when I teach OW, my air costs are about $300 for 2 students, and I don't use a pool. Pools in my area (eastside of Seattle) are about $160 an hour.

Potential students should know approximately how much their instructor is making an hour. Some won't care, others will say "okay, paying more for a course is fair."

What in the name of Capatalist america is that?!

$300 for airfills? In Australia, even if I hired tanks, I wouldn't be paying more than about $60AUD ($41.54USD) for 2 students (6 tanks total for Confined water and dives 1 - 4). A pool, depends on whether you need heated or not. Unheated is about $15AUD ($10.39USD) for 3 (1 instructor and 2 students). A heated pool on the gold coast is about $30 - $40AUD (up to $27.70USD) for a scuba class (up to 8 people).

Let's say you hired all the kit for students in Australia (wetsuits, weights, BCD's etc.) you would pay $160 for everything for 2 students. You are getting ripped off mate.

 

[Zef]

What in the name of Capatalist america is that?!

$300 for airfills? In Australia, even if I hired tanks, I wouldn't be paying more than about $60AUD ($41.54USD) for 2 students (6 tanks total for Confined water and dives 1 - 4). A pool, depends on whether you need heated or not. Unheated is about $15AUD ($10.39USD) for 3 (1 instructor and 2 students). A heated pool on the gold coast is about $30 - $40AUD (up to $27.70USD) for a scuba class (up to 8 people).

Let's say you hired all the kit for students in Australia (wetsuits, weights, BCD's etc.) you would pay $160 for everything for 2 students. You are getting ripped off mate.

I can see it...2 students and instructor...lets say there are 5 pools sessions and 5 open water dives to complete basic open water certification, and the tanks are taken to be topped off after each class.....the dive shop charges per fill up to 200bar/3000psi not by how much air is specifically needed to top off each tank.

At $10/fill, which is not uncommon in the US multiplied by 10 (5 pool sessions and 5 open water dives), multiplied by 3 (2 students + instructor)...that is $300.

Perhaps that can be reduced because the instructor would use less air, but to be honest the instructor should have a full tank, especially before each open water dive so they have enough of a reserve to deal with any emergency that might crop up underwater.

Now, I think a fair argument might be that this arrangement is not the most economical, but unless their is some agreement with whomever is filling the tanks or the instructor invests in their own compressor (which is its own cost that needs to be amortized and recouped somehow) it is what it is.

Here in the region of Belgium I live in, clubs are trying to figure out what to do for pool training as community pools are shutting down as they are not economical to keep open given their age and ongoing maintenance and facility expenses. So it does not surprise me that in Seattle WA that it would cost that much to purchase time in a pool. Life-guards and insurance are required in the tort lawsuit happy US...typically facilities will schedule dive sessions after normal hours so they probably are paying the life-guard a premium to stick around, as well as any security or other people they require to be on location while their facility is open and occupied.

-Z

 

[formernuke]

Pools here also charge more if it's some kind of professional use. So me going just to swim might only be 10 or 20 but an instructor teaching a class is considered a professional use and the charge skyrockets.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

What in the name of Capatalist america is that?!

$300 for airfills? In Australia, even if I hired tanks, I wouldn't be paying more than about $60AUD ($41.54USD) for 2 students (6 tanks total for Confined water and dives 1 - 4). A pool, depends on whether you need heated or not. Unheated is about $15AUD ($10.39USD) for 3 (1 instructor and 2 students). A heated pool on the gold coast is about $30 - $40AUD (up to $27.70USD) for a scuba class (up to 8 people).

Let's say you hired all the kit for students in Australia (wetsuits, weights, BCD's etc.) you would pay $160 for everything for 2 students. You are getting ripped off mate.

In my area a 10 tank full card is $82.50 with tax, so $8.25 a fill. That’s the cheapest.

My OW course consist of 4 days of OW dives with 2 required plus one optional dive. So 12 dives potentially per student. 2 students plus instructor comes out to 36 tanks. Multiply that by $8.25. That’s $297 total.

No shops make much profit off air fills.

Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot about confined water days (2, no time limit). So probably 6 more tanks, bringing the total to 42 tanks, $346.50.

This is Seattle, not the Gold Coast. I'd be curious what it would cost in Sydney's eastern suburbs (I used to live in Lane Cove). Real estate is expensive here, not so much in the Gold Coast. There are not that many swimming pools either. Many indoor pools don't like diving classes as they don't like tiles getting chipped (the good shops put out mats next to the water to minimize this).

Just the price of business here. I provide all equipment except for dry suit. They rent that.

 

[Hartattack]

Yes, I have a dream dive shop. DRIS is local to me. My only real issue is their lack of parking. They’re in a cute little downtown area and there’s only street parking. I can always drop tanks off in back if I can’t get a close spot on the street, though.

My emails are answered within 24 hours. Shop is incredibly busy. If I need an answer quickly, I’ll call.

They get bonus points for being open until 9pm on weekdays.

There’s another shop I deal with that I use for air fills as they are close to my office. I drop tanks off at lunch and pick them up after work. DRIS is 100 miles round trip (bit less from my office). Run by one couple. If they’re on a shop sponsored trip, the shop is closed.

I think we live near each other... lol