Is it good that scuba diving is not popular!

[Z Gear]

I also don't think there is any way to retain interest and activity in the sport by people who really aren't that into it. If they don't want to do it they aren't going to do it. There's no way to beg them to stay if their done, and it's silly to think you're going to somehow hypnotise them by strategic marketing and make them sleepwalk in a trance into the local dive shop to spend thousands on classes, gear, and trips before they know what hit them.
But if that's what people in the industry want then great. I personally don't see anything sustainable about that approach.

I was trying to make a suggestion as to what could be done differently to improve the current situation. Perhaps we should look at this as a very solvable problem instead of an impossible one. It has existed for so long I think everyone is use to it. Let me shed some light on this subject for everyone.

The first basic hurdle which has not been touched in my opinion is connecting with a group or population, using their language of communication to relay an impressionable message that says " I've got to try that". Marketing has done a poor job at this, or perhaps they have not even considered to do so.

If a lot of people do try it, you will have some who will lose interest lose but they may pick it back up as the popularity grows!

A lot can speculate as to how this can not be accomplished but the truth is it has not been tried, no one has the vision to put this together at this time, and I guess it is a normal inclination for most to feel it is just not going to happen.

I'm of the mind set "It is what you make it to be".
Anything worth anything sell its self , because of the hard work you put into it.

Frank G
www.zgearinc.com

 

[lemke]

I'm trying to figure out what the OP meant by "popular". As soon as I started going off the beaten path and doing my own thing, diving became much more gratifying.

 

[boulderjohn]

A day of skiing is about the same cost as a day of diving.

Here is a list of ski ticket prices in Colorado. There is a range, but it is in the $110 per day range for fa full day of skiing. The truth is, though, that if you are on a vacation and going for a week, you can get much better prices than that. Think of the $90-$100 range with ease. If you are local, you can do much, much better than that--perhaps half the price.

I was just part of a mixed group of divers in Mexico. The people who were doing the ocean/cenote diving got packages that were priced at $130 per day for two tank dives. Diving in Hawai'i typically costs about $135-$140 for a two tank dive.

Two tank dives bring you back around noon, so they are comparable to a half day of skiing.

As someone who has done a lot of skiing and a lot of diving, my estimate is that diving is about twice as expensive as skiing. As my children grew up, I had no trouble taking my whole family skiing regularly year after year. There is no way I could have afforded to have them dive with that kind of frequency. Not even close.

 

[DaleC]

I think RJP has something with the non adventurous messaging. My wife's comment on diving is that she's claustrophobic. She says if she could just dive to 20 feet in the sunlight she would enjoy that (considering we live in the cold dark PNW). I tell her she could do that and I would dive with her but the rest of diving tends to sell the adventure/danger aspect.

I wonder what would happen, for example, if a shop offered a whole program of easy certification combined with benign guided shallow benign trips that promoted the message of ease, comfort and relaxation. It would not appeal to the traditional audience (and that's probably why it isn't done) but it might open itself to a different demographic.

I know I enjoy shallow diving now that I've gotten into videography. I love the ambient light and if there are subjects in the zone it's great. But it did take a bit in the beginning to justify "wasting" a dive that way. We sometimes get too into bigger dives just for the sense of having done a bigger dive. With video (and photography I assume) it's not about the dive as much as it is about what you can observe. I could see promoting very easy diving that maximized that aspect as being popular to some.

 

[RJP]

I wonder what would happen, for example, if a shop offered a whole program of easy certification combined with benign guided shallow benign trips that promoted the message of ease, comfort and relaxation. It would not appeal to the traditional audience (and that's probably why it isn't done) but it might open itself to a different demographic.

You'll be very interested - and surprised - to see the results of the recent market research.

---------- Post added January 11th, 2015 at 10:05 PM ----------

Here is a list of ski ticket prices in Colorado. There is a range, but it is in the $110 per day range for fa full day of skiing. The truth is, though, that if you are on a vacation and going for a week, you can get much better prices than that. Think of the $90-$100 range with ease. If you are local, you can do much, much better than that--perhaps half the price.

I was just part of a mixed group of divers in Mexico. The people who were doing the ocean/cenote diving got packages that were priced at $130 per day for two tank dives. Diving in Hawai'i typically costs about $135-$140 for a two tank dive.

Two tank dives bring you back around noon, so they are comparable to a half day of skiing.

As someone who has done a lot of skiing and a lot of diving, my estimate is that diving is about twice as expensive as skiing. As my children grew up, I had no trouble taking my whole family skiing regularly year after year. There is no way I could have afforded to have them dive with that kind of frequency. Not even close.

I'm wondering why "the powers that be" in the industry always point to skiing as being of equivalent cost to diving?

On the other hand look at total cost of travelling for a week of diving vs a week of skiing.

My buddy and I recently spent $671pp for a week in Bonaire that included hotel, rental car, breakfast, and unlimited diving/nitrox. If we assume that Bonaire is a premier dive destination... what would be the equivalent "premier ski destination" where I could get hotel, rental car and seven days of skiing for $671? Last time I skied in Colorado a six day lift ticket was ~$600pp. I'm guessing I'd be hard-pressed to get lodging, rental car, and breakfast for $71 to bring the cost to even.

Even if we stayed at Harbour Village and paid twice as much... it would still cost less to dive in Bonaire for a week vs Ski in Winter Park for a week. And the flight to Bonaire was cheaper than a flight to Colorado would have been.

Vermont and NY would allow driving vs flying, so that cost would be less... but a week skiing in Vermont would still cost someone from NJ more per-person for a week of skiing than a week of diving in Bonaire. (And other than one or two mountains in VT I'm not sure anything on the East coast would be even close to being the "Bonaire" of skiing.) Our favorite Vt mountain is Okemo. A week for two there would be $219/night for a so-so hotel and $460 for six-day lift tickets. Total cost of $2497 or $1248pp... which is still more than we paid for our Bonaire trip including airfare, and we'd still have to pay for breakfast.

 

[Z Gear]

I think RJP has something with the non adventurous messaging. My wife's comment on diving is that she's claustrophobic. She says if she could just dive to 20 feet in the sunlight she would enjoy that (considering we live in the cold dark PNW). I tell her she could do that and I would dive with her but the rest of diving tends to sell the adventure/danger aspect.

I wonder what would happen, for example, if a shop offered a whole program of easy certification combined with benign guided shallow benign trips that promoted the message of ease, comfort and relaxation. It would not appeal to the traditional audience (and that's probably why it isn't done) but it might open itself to a different demographic.

I know I enjoy shallow diving now that I've gotten into videography. I love the ambient light and if there are subjects in the zone it's great. But it did take a bit in the beginning to justify "wasting" a dive that way. We sometimes get too into bigger dives just for the sense of having done a bigger dive. With video (and photography I assume) it's not about the dive as much as it is about what you can observe. I could see promoting very easy diving that maximized that aspect as being popular to some.

You have actually tapped into one of the avenues that might help to get certain types of peoples into diving. The key words that bring attention are "easy diving" and promote the message of ease, comfort, and relaxation. That is what I am referring to. Making a more effective way of connecting with several different types of peoples, in the end it can allow for more interest and participation in diving.

Frank G
www.zgearinc.com

 

[dmoore19]

That might be a great marketing idea. Most of the people I work with think that I am crazy and can't believe I would dive to 100'. Maybe not everybody buys into the adventure part of it. Maybe you market the travel part as an adventure and the diving part as the relax and enjoy part of a vacation.

 

[Z Gear]

That might be a great marketing idea. Most of the people I work with think that I am crazy and can't believe I would dive to 100'. Maybe not everybody buys into the adventure part of it. Maybe you market the travel part as an adventure and the diving part as the relax and enjoy part of a vacation.

Actually earlier today I visited one of my local dive shops and one couple had come in. The husband was a diver looking at some gear and he came over and asked if there was any way to help explain to his wife how cool diving was. He was trying to get her to try it but for some reason she was not eager to go for it. Since posting this thread I thought I should try something and see if it gets a positive response. I proceeded to explain to her that the best thing for to do was to try and get an individual training or private training. This way it can be done in a much slower and easier way. I explained things to her that made her feel a lot more relaxed. I told her that the dive site was shore entry that was very calm and didn't have to worry about the waves because it was a sheltered cove. But the main thing was understanding their fear. I probably nailed it when I mentioned that my wife was aprehensive about diving, although she was curious she still had fears. I told her that once she did her first pool session she felt much better.After she did her first dive at the cove she felt really good and proud. She said she needed to hear that because she had a different vision of it in her mind, and it made her afraid of trying it. I told her once you become a diver you can choose to dive mostly in the shallows, where most of the beauty is anyway, and you can take your time and make it a very enjoyable and relaxing experience. She told her husband why didn't he tell her this and he replied I could only tell you how I did my certification and I forgot to mention the option of doing a slower private lesson. He thanked me as well and said hopefully they would be back to set up.

I think the message of easy,comfort, and relaxation is a great message, and I just saw the reaction first hand from some one not sure of diving.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think the message of easy,comfort, and relaxation is a great message, and I just saw the reaction first hand from some one not sure of diving.

You live in San Diego. I have some very old friends who live nearby. Over the years we have vacationed together a number of times, often to areas with good diving. I would dive, and they would not. The primary reason was that the husband owned his own business, and his life insurance policy was critical to that business and his family. That policy did not allow scuba diving or sky diving. Too dangerous.

When that changed, scuba became possible, but they continued to have no interest. They knew what the ocean was like near them. Too cold. Too murky. They would not even consider it.

So when we planned a trip together to Australia for this past spring, they agreed to be certified, but it had to be WARM conditions. They flew to Colorado for their initial pool work with me, and then we went together to Mexico to complete the certification. That went very well, better than they expected. When my wife and I went to Florida that winter, they thought that was warm enough to join us, and they got their AOW with me. Then we went to Australia and did the Great Barrier Reef.

They had to dip their toes in the water a little at a time, and they had to be guaranteed it would be a pleasant, non-adventurous experience. They had three nice experiences that were just what they had ordered.

And they liked it.

Today they own all their own equipment. They dive off the shores near San Diego. They have gone on a week-long dive trip on their own. They will be joining me in Florida again this winter.

 

[scubadada]

I'm wondering why "the powers that be" in the industry always point to skiing as being of equivalent cost to diving?

On the other hand look at total cost of travelling for a week of diving vs a week of skiing.

My buddy and I recently spent $671pp for a week in Bonaire that included hotel, rental car, breakfast, and unlimited diving/nitrox. If we assume that Bonaire is a premier dive destination... what would be the equivalent "premier ski destination" where I could get hotel, rental car and seven days of skiing for $671? Last time I skied in Colorado a six day lift ticket was ~$600pp. I'm guessing I'd be hard-pressed to get lodging, rental car, and breakfast for $71 to bring the cost to even.

Even if we stayed at Harbour Village and paid twice as much... it would still cost less to dive in Bonaire for a week vs Ski in Winter Park for a week. And the flight to Bonaire was cheaper than a flight to Colorado would have been.

Vermont and NY would allow driving vs flying, so that cost would be less... but a week skiing in Vermont would still cost someone from NJ more per-person for a week of skiing than a week of diving in Bonaire. (And other than one or two mountains in VT I'm not sure anything on the East coast would be even close to being the "Bonaire" of skiing.) Our favorite Vt mountain is Okemo. A week for two there would be $219/night for a so-so hotel and $460 for six-day lift tickets. Total cost of $2497 or $1248pp... which is still more than we paid for our Bonaire trip including airfare, and we'd still have to pay for breakfast.

Hi Ray,

Both diving and skiing are generally, reasonably expensive activities. Of course, if you have local access, you can save a bundle. When I lived in Portland, Oregon, I could drive up to several ski resorts on Mt Hood, ski for the day, and sleep in my own bed that night, all for the price of a lift ticket. When I'm down in Florida, I can drive 15 miles and dive Blue Heron Bridge for the cost of an air fill.

Bonaire is probably not a fair example of a typical destination dive trip. Being the shore diving capital of the world, one is able to avoid all boat expenses, including the tip to the crew. Bonaire might be more like going cross country skiing where you don't have to buy a lift ticket. Don't get me wrong, I love Bonaire too. You and I are lucky in that we both have reasonably inexpensive, convenient air travel to Bonaire. I have a one stop flight on Delta from Philadelphia, you have a nonstop or one stop flight on United or a the Delta flight through Atlanta from Newark. For many in the US, getting to Bonaire is neither inexpensive nor convenient.

A fairer comparison to a good destination ski trip would probably be a dive trip to the Florida Keys or Cozumel on the lower end and something like Grand Cayman on the higher end. Both activities can be pretty expensive, particularly if you are talking about a family. I'd say the costs of diving and skiing are reasonably comparable with opportunities for the frugal to same money in either case. Bonaire is a good example of a destination that might save you some money if you play it out right. It's my wife's favorite destination, I look forward to returning.

Good diving, Craig