I Don't Understand Dive Shops

[divinh]

This kind of service is going to win more in sales. I am pretty sure that @divinh is more likely to give business to the shop 30 minute drive away.

Exactly. I've been going to the dive shop 30 minutes away... and have bought gear... and will consider having servicing there, as well as look at the trips they offer...

 

[divinh]

I've got 2 shops locally with indoor pools, Scubatoys offers free pool time for things like gear testing, etc but they are in N. Dallas so close to an hour drive one-way. The other shop is a much easier/closer 20 min drive one-way, they charge $25 flat fee (not hourly), which includes free use of their AL80 tanks/weights. I use the closer shop as their fee is very reasonable.

I'm willing to pay a reasonable fee, but $100/hour doesn't seem reasonable. A co-worker, who also dives, commented, "It's like they don't want you to use their pool..." I think that sums it up.

 

[scubafanatic]

I'm willing to pay a reasonable fee, but $100/hour doesn't seem reasonable. A co-worker, who also dives, commented, "It's like they don't want you to use their pool..." I think that sums it up.

Yeas, $100/hr is spendy, but you are in SF, where everything is spendy so that may well be a 'fair' rate for all I know in the SF area. If you had no other option, even $ 100/hr could be worth it if you've got some BIG/spendy trip planned and testing things out prior to your trip saves you grief later on.

 

[divinh]

Yeas, $100/hr is spendy, but you are in SF, where everything is spendy so that may well be a 'fair' rate for all I know in the SF area. If you had no other option, even $ 100/hr could be worth it if you've got some BIG/spendy trip planned and testing things out prior to your trip saves you grief later on.

The other dive shop, 30 min by car, is outside of the city, in Marin, but still Bay Area. When I first inquired about the pool, I thought maybe $100/hr was the fair price/going rate, until my co-worker suggested I check out the other dive shop first. It's such a contrast. But yes, if I had no other choice, I'd spend the money to test everything before a BIG/spendy trip. I'd just be very judicious with the time allotted.

 

[TMHeimer]

Not smart business in my book. If they are a customer, it should be free, as long as they don't interfere with classes. That's the practice in my area. One shop has a pool, the others you have to drop in during their classes when they rent pools. But a single person is going to be able to stay out of the way.

This kind of service is going to win more in sales. I am pretty sure that @divinh is more likely to give business to the shop 30 minute drive away.

Yes, that's what our shop does. They have a deal with a Survival Org. to use their pool that involves some form of payment. The shop gets the pool for a said number of hours. To my knowledge, students and former students can drop in and use it when a class is there, staying out of the way-- no charge. Often it's with an instructor one on one.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Exactly. I've been going to the dive shop 30 minutes away... and have bought gear... and will consider having servicing there, as well as look at the trips they offer...

I suspect the closer shop just relies on people not willing to make the drive across the bridge. The Bay Area traffic can be pretty bad, so I'm guessing 30 minutes on the low end, a bit more on typical. It depends on your schedule of course.

When I did contracts down in norcal, I was amazed to the massive traffic all around SF. Traffic is pretty bad up here in Seattle, so much is that I just don't go places during heavy traffic times (which is limiting, but I don't want to wind up at dive sites with white knuckles).

But service is so important. Service, atmosphere, culture, are so important to a successful shop. My guess is that the shop 30 minutes away will offer more fun trips than the one close to you. The close shop reminds me of no frills airlines:

 

[JamesBon92007]

The longer I dive the less use I have for dive shops. About the only time I visit any is to rent a tank for shore diving while on a vacation, or to book a dive on a boat. In my early days of diving I was a regular visitor to get my tanks filled. I rarely bought much gear but when I did it was mainly from my favorite shop and a little from mail order. As for the lack of interest in diving in the ocean, I have only one thought--the way you described the entry/exit it sounded a bit tricky but some places I've gone diving you can use that surge to your advantage. Of course if you don't do it just right you could become a bloody mess. Maybe they had too many bloody messes. When I am looking for a new mask or whatever these days I pay close attention to what the people here on SB say. Over the years there are some who's opinions I've come to trust and if they like it I figure I probably will too. Recently there was a discussion about a cheap mask that everyone loved. I haven't bought a new regulator for decades thanks to all the help and information I've gotten here and all the way back to NewsGroups, which I don't think even exist any more. Everything I need to know to maintain my old regs is online somewhere. Judging from how the basic scuba courses have nearly doubled in price in just a few years makes me think that it is a major income-producer, just like you said.

 

[JamesBon92007]

The only specialty class I've taken is nitrox, and I don't have a need to be a "master" scuba diver so I'm not lining up to take other specialty classes. But PADI has a "Zombie Apocalypse Diver" course someone invented, that might be a fun thing.

What would be the attraction of paying for dive travel through a dive shop instead of just setting up one's own vacation? Convenience, or being with people you might know? Do dive shops get access to anything I can't find on my own by contacting a dive shop in the far off area? What has gotten me back into wanting to dive more was a trip to Tulum my wife set up just for a beach getaway that she arranged for not much money, but I also spent a morning with a dive shop there on a cenote thing I set up with them, and it was a blast! .

I had a step-brother who, in my opinion, was one of those people who should not be a scuba diver. He seemed to panic easily and freaked out over the littlest thing. Several years after introducing him to scuba and writing him off he told me he had joined the Kamekazi Divers. It seemed like he was over-reacting, but whatever.

I knew a dive shop owner who was landlocked and basically I went into his shop just to see what a dive shop was like that was 40 miles from the ocean (or any divable body of water). He seemed to be very good at putting together package deal trips to places like Fiji and it seemed pretty cheap considering everything was included, including diving and meals. If you like diving with a club then that could be a good way to go. Personally I think I do much better cost-wise by finding the best airfare deals, renting a VRBO or AirBnB, and booking my dives when I get there. I'm now doing twice as much diving as I was for about the same amount of money. I still like to do a dive resort occasionally because it is so convenient and easy but for the most part I'd rather make a few minor sacrifices and dive more.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Judging from how the basic scuba courses have nearly doubled in price in just a few years makes me think that it is a major income-producer, just like you said.

Not in my area. Prices haven't changed in 5 years. And if teaching for a shop, with time put in, an instructor has difficulty making minimum wage without a full class (and too ful).

 

[Marie13]

Yeah, but your water is cold. Ours gets up to 50 degrees (10 celsius).

Nothing wrong with cold water.