Quick survey for divers - Help me with my university marketing project

[JMarc]

Do you both mind elaborating more, for both my own curiosity, and perhaps a research note I can add in my final report?

For sure there are several ways to practice diving (and some divers practice several). An important one in France which doesn't seem to exist in the US (at least when coming from an online perspective) is through associative clubs. There is a strong network of non-profit dive clubs providing training with volunteer instructors, organizing local dives in lake, quarries, ... organizing week-end dive trips to the coasts, longer foreign dive trips. When close to the coast, those clubs often have their own boat(s). For some, most of the diving is through the club, with other club members as buddies. In that context, dive shops are diving equipment sellers and simply do not provide many other services, fills for clubs which don't have their compressor (many do) and when using the club compressor is not convenient, middle man for hydro.

At places where diving can be a viable industry (for instance on the Mediterranean coast) there are also commercial operators which have boats and professional instructors on staff and provide both training and boat dives. They often have a small shop, but selling gear seems more a service to their customers than an sizable source of income. Something they do is providing logistic (boat, fills, gear renting) for clubs, either local clubs like mine without a boat or non local clubs coming for a multi-day dive trip.

I'm living on the Mediterranean coast. I do most of my local (i.e. day trip) diving either with my club or commercial operators (where I go either alone -- they pair me with a buddy -- or with friends; there is a regulatory difference between coming with friends on a commercial operator dive and coming to the same operator with the same group of people as a club); from time to time a do a shore dive or a boat dive from a friend boat (and then a big part of the regulations just don't apply). I currently do all of my non local diving on trips organized by my club (with my children now starting not going on vacation with their father, I can see a change in the future).

 

[NSB-Diver]

Done.

 

[Slym]

Do you both mind elaborating more, for both my own curiosity, and perhaps a research note I can add in my final report? To clean up my questions to you both:
1. In the UK (and France), how would the tourist diver select a destination and subsequent shop for support, versus how a local diver and their training regiment and recreational dives be supported locally?
2. What factor might be important to the local diver in your community, when looking to travel away from their LDS for a trip?

We have thousands of wrecks around the UK, including the scuttled WW1 German fleet in Scapa Flow. Apart from hard corals we have a diverse marine environment. The best way for a tourist (either UK or overseas) to access dive sites is to contact a dive club, some dive shops will do escorted trips, but they are oriented to novice divers. A few, less than 5, dive shops in the U.K. have attached ‘clubs’, but they’re a captive pool of customers for training courses and expensive dive trips. One dive shop charge £75 for a shore dive clubs and individuals do for free.

1.
UK club diving is self-contained. For example, I’m a Cox’en assessor, I can qualify club members to operate and drive the RHIB[1], and a compressor instructor so we can run our own compressor. Some bigger clubs operate their own Hard Boat{2] and even have a bar. Cylinders are inspected by dedicated test houses, not many dive shops can afford the certifications or equipment required.

Commercial diving is in industries like; oil & gas, scientific research, construction, ship cleaning or inspection or surveying. A PADI/SSI el at instructor (someone getting paid to teach scuba) must have an annual HSE[3] medical, a written risk assessment, a standby diver and surface cover. Why teaching scuba isn’t normally profitable. Each year there are a few who got their instructor qualification overseas and think they can teach in the UK, only to find themselves in Court.

The dive shops round Glasgow make most of their revenue providing services to companies and doing air quality testing.

2.
A fare few dive shops organise overseas trips, as do many dive clubs. Dive shops use Travel Agents, if they plan the trip themselves, they fall under the UK Travel Package Regulations, dive clubs can arrange there own overseas trips as they don’t fall under the regulations.

Independent divers looking to dive abroad can use specialist travel agents, like Regaldive, but a growing number book direct with overseas operators.


1. Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat.
2. Hard Boats are limited to 12 passengers/divers. To carry more the boat must have lifeboats and safety equipment for 250 passengers.
3. Health & Safety Executive.

Thank you so much for that! Quite a different world from how North America runs things.

To be honest though, almost a better system where clubs bring up divers through mentorship and genuine interest, rather than profit. Human factors wise that takes away the monetary stressors associated with opting into a dive, and can create a better circle of safety.

To me, an outsider looking in, I'd almost sum your description up (especially the one with the Bar) as a community center disguised as a dive shop. Which is a novel idea!

 

[Slym]

For sure there are several ways to practice diving (and some divers practice several). An important one in France which doesn't seem to exist in the US (at least when coming from an online perspective) is through associative clubs. There is a strong network of non-profit dive clubs providing training with volunteer instructors, organizing local dives in lake, quarries, ... organizing week-end dive trips to the coasts, longer foreign dive trips. When close to the coast, those clubs often have their own boat(s). For some, most of the diving is through the club, with other club members as buddies. In that context, dive shops are diving equipment sellers and simply do not provide many other services, fills for clubs which don't have their compressor (many do) and when using the club compressor is not convenient, middle man for hydro.

At places where diving can be a viable industry (for instance on the Mediterranean coast) there are also commercial operators which have boats and professional instructors on staff and provide both training and boat dives. They often have a small shop, but selling gear seems more a service to their customers than an sizable source of income. Something they do is providing logistic (boat, fills, gear renting) for clubs, either local clubs like mine without a boat or non local clubs coming for a multi-day dive trip.

I'm living on the Mediterranean coast. I do most of my local (i.e. day trip) diving either with my club or commercial operators (where I go either alone -- they pair me with a buddy -- or with friends; there is a regulatory difference between coming with friends on a commercial operator dive and coming to the same operator with the same group of people as a club); from time to time a do a shore dive or a boat dive from a friend boat (and then a big part of the regulations just don't apply). I currently do all of my non local diving on trips organized by my club (with my children now starting not going on vacation with their father, I can see a change in the future).

Nice, and Thank You!

Like I was saying to Edward in the previous reply, I think it's a much better way to do things from a community and diver standpoint.

I can relate that actually quite well to a cave club I am a part of. Where it has an annual membership of 40 dollars, they have loaner gear that costs nothing, they facilitate trips, get together-s, and training sessions, as well as post a quarterly magazine for fun. I see that as more a community rather than a product or service.