Choosing a Local Dive Shop

[Tracy]

I won't claim they don't exist, but I've never come across one in the US.

I can name 5 within 100 miles of me.
1 that is extremely active with pretty extensive club trips, outings, and charters.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I can name 5 within 100 miles of me.
1 that is extremely active with pretty extensive club trips, outings, and charters.

Ohio and Michigan have very active clubs that are independent of shops and some that are kinda loosely affiliated with shops. When I was active with the Ohio Council of Skin and Scuba Divers I knew of independent instructors who were members of those clubs and taught on the side. But they weren't actually club training events in the BSAC style sense.

 

[Tracy]

Ohio and Michigan have very active clubs that are independent of shops and some that are kinda loosely affiliated with shops. When I was active with the Ohio Council of Skin and Scuba Divers I knew of independent instructors who were members of those clubs and taught on the side. But they weren't actually club training events in the BSAC style sense.

Correct. Outside of AED, Oxygen, and CPR, the club doesn't provide any training. But they do provide mentorship and frequently loan gear as needed.

 

[Belzelbub]

My LDS is PADI/ScubaPro, and they treat me just as good as you describe your SSI/Mares store treats you.

Don't get hung up on the brand. A good owner will make a good store independent of the brand.

True. LDS ownership and staff are, without a doubt, the biggest differentiator. Certainly much bigger than agency affiliation or brands offered.

That said, it does generally seem (to me at least) that the pushiest shops are ScubaPro dealers. Now part of that may be due to the popularity of the brand, but some may be due to aggressive terms by ScubaPro as mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I can name 5 within 100 miles of me.
1 that is extremely active with pretty extensive club trips, outings, and charters.

But do they provide training as well? I'm looking at more of a BSAC model.

Air fills too?

 

[Tracy]

But do they provide training as well? I'm looking at more of a BSAC model.

Air fills too?

No, they do not provide scuba training. Some provide safety classes. Some don't. Most have local instructors that they like to deal with and recommend for training. Some have compressors, but not many. Air fills are too cheap to dick with running a private compressor when you are in a metropolitan area.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

No, they do not provide scuba training. Some provide safety classes. Some don't. Most have local instructors that they like to deal with and recommend for training. Some have compressors, but not many. Air fills are too cheap to dick with running a private compressor when you are in a metropolitan area.

Ok, so the kind of dive club to which I was referring may not exist. Still curious to learn if that theory is wrong

 

[boulderjohn]

According to this history of NAUI, in the early days of dive agencies, there was no clear vision of how agencies could make contact with potential students. Three different approaches were tried.

• Under the leadership of a college professor, NAUI focused on college students. This had the advantage of having the funding for the classes provided by tuition--the students would be paying for a class anyway, so the class was effectively free to the student. The disadvantage was it severely limited them to a small subset of potential students and a funding system heavily dependent upon that tuition.
• The YMCA decided to go through local clubs. That evidently had the effect of making each local YMCA a bit different from the rest. That approach ultimately failed, and the YMCA program(s) went out of existence.
• NASDS and PADI decided to contact students through the retail stores selling scuba gear. This, of course, turned out to be the best approach.

So the club approach wqas tried in America by the YMCA, but it ultimately failed. I am no expert on this by any means, but it seems to me that a weakness was that in the USA, the approach was fragmented, with no clear central authority to keep it united.

I think that would continue to be a weakness training through clubs were to be tried again in this country. It would have to find existence in the world you see so well in all the ScubaBoard threads about the existing agencies. American scuba divers demand that agencies supervise all diving instruction carefully to make sure everything is done exactly as it should and within standards with no deviation, but as it does so, it must allow total freedom for instructors and divers to do as they please.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

American scuba divers demand that agencies supervise all diving instruction carefully to make sure everything is done exactly as it should and within standards with no deviation, but as it does so, it must allow total freedom for instructors and divers to do as they please.

Nevermind. I'll copy and paste in I2I

 

[Polarorbit]

I am certified with NAUI, PADI, and SSI. I’ve also instructed for PADI and SSI. I’ve never felt pressured to buy gear or to push students to buy gear. I certainly discuss the advantages in owning your own kit and I’m happy to work with students to find what works best for them. My shop sells ScubaPro, Mares, Hollis, Garmin, Shearwater, etc. and we have all styles of BCs and BP/W. We (staff/instructors) have no incentive to push any one vendor over another. It sounds like there are just some bad shops out there but it’s certainly not because of their training agency association.

As others have said, buy gear where you can get what you want at a fair price. Get training where they have a good training program. Join whatever social group works for you. These are separate issues. The most important thing is to start diving. You can change any of the other decisions at any time.