Ft Lauderdale Dive Shops

[Phaethon]

Where are the best dive shops in Ft Lauderdale? i.e. the ones with the widest range of gear for for a newbie to try out. In particular I'm interested in an entry level BCD, basic lightweight/travel model like the Mares Vector Origin.

Cheers,

K.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

The biggest one I know of is Divers Direct. They have a few locations, http://www.diversdirect.com/. My experience with them tho, don't expect much assistance unless you have money falling out of your pockets.

 

[Phaethon]

Thank ScubaJenny!

Sawgrass Mills and the nearby Wal Mart are mandatory stop offs for us Brits on the conference run (ARVO), so the Plantation store looks ideal... and almost 50% off the price of UK mail order!

Cheers,

K.

 

[Tom Winters]

This is strange - Phaeton is a Brit coming here to go to Divers Direct which has its headquarters about 2 miles from me. I'm looking online at UK and other European dive stores for Suunto, Apeks, and Scubapro stuff because even paying the international shipping charges, it's still cheaper than I can get locally. Plus in the US, you can't get these lines via mail order unless it's from LeisurePro who got their inventories from Europe also. Oh yeah Ken - they might not have any Costcos near you in the UK - even though it is membership-only here, anyone can shop there just by paying a 5% surcharge. None of that VAT stuff here...yet

 

[Phaethon]

Perhaps specific European lines are cheaper over here, but in general it is accepted wisdom that most things are cheaper in the US, especially at the moment when the dollar is at it's lowest for many years - $1.83 to the pound. Most conference goers make a bee-line for Sawgrass to stock up on jeans, t-shirts and designer stuff.

The Mares BCDs between Divers Direct and www.mikesdivestore.com are about the same price in dollars and pounds so, after State Sales Tax, about 40% cheaper.

There may be money to save in the Euro Zone, but I'm not planning a trip there any time soon and want hands-on (try it on) shopping for this kind of stuff.

Cheers,

K.

 

[simbrooks]

Have had good experience with Divers Direct, not that store, that may be where the problem lies!

As for VAT, it gives you the full price you will pay out the door rather than having to roughly guess what sales tax you will get added to your bill before leaving. I prefer to know in advance, even though it is 17.5% rather than only 6-8%. Phaethon, when checking out the DD prices, remember to add on somewhere around 7% (dont know the Ft Lauderdale sales tax amount, but 7% is average in central FL) to the total of the items you are looking for. I also dont know if you have to pay tax on them when you take them back into the UK, cant recall on that as i havent taken large expensive items back to my family over there (yet).

PS. If you have good LDS's that value your custom and work with you, you can pretty much beat the LeisurePro and other online store prices on most packages of gear, not individual items though.

 

[simbrooks]

especially at the moment when the dollar is at it's lowest for many years - $1.83 to the pound.

Ken, i feel that pinch everytime i send money back to the UK to pay off my student loans! I have to send more cash per month to cover this weak currency exchange until something changes - not fun, its like taking away cash for an extra dive trip every month!

Be wary of "everything is cheaper in US" thoughts though, its not always the case, but in general i do get more bang for my buck here than getting pee'd on with the pound price when i used to be over there - i also get paid 30% more now than in a similar position in a UK company - all evens out in the end!