Rainbow Reef Dive Center buys Ocean Divers

[scubadada]

Are there any bad tacos?

Some are better than others, the fish tacos at the Galley/Sharkey's are the former

 

[jffknapp]

Between Silent World, Horizon Divers, Florida Keys Dive Center, and Conch Republic are double dips on the wrecks a hard thing to find in Key Largo? Also all of those shops will allow Solo diving if you've got the cert and the gear to go. It sounds like people think double dips, solo diving, and even technical dive support are a rarity in Key Largo, but a bunch of shops besides Rainbow Reef or Ocean Divers have welcomed those things for a long time.

Just getting the good word out

 

[Norrm]

Between Silent World, Horizon Divers, Florida Keys Dive Center, and Conch Republic are double dips on the wrecks a hard thing to find in Key Largo? Also all of those shops will allow Solo diving if you've got the cert and the gear to go. It sounds like people think double dips, solo diving, and even technical dive support are a rarity in Key Largo, but a bunch of shops besides Rainbow Reef or Ocean Divers have welcomed those things for a long time.

Just getting the good word out

In my experience the smaller operations with the smaller boats either do the double dips or will give the first booking diver the option and put their choice on the schedule. Especially if that first booking diver is bringing along at least 2 other divers. Conch Republic Divers being a good example and they also accommodate solo divers so they're my first choice in the upper keys. The larger ops such as RR, Ocean Divers and Florida Keys Dive Center are not nearly as flexible in their scheduling and will not guarantee a double dip on a wreck to the first diver booking for the day, and I think that's because they run larger boats with a lot more divers who might not want to do that.

 

[Key Largo Dive Center]

Between Silent World, Horizon Divers, Florida Keys Dive Center, and Conch Republic are double dips on the wrecks a hard thing to find in Key Largo? Also all of those shops will allow Solo diving if you've got the cert and the gear to go. It sounds like people think double dips, solo diving, and even technical dive support are a rarity in Key Largo, but a bunch of shops besides Rainbow Reef or Ocean Divers have welcomed those things for a long time.

Just getting the good word out

If we already have a trip booked, we're more than happy to book a solo diver. But if we don't have a trip, we try our hardest to get one built or recommend somewhere so you can still dive while you're visiting.

 

[CajunDiva]

DJ - I have a great idea! Rainbow Reef needs to have a huge grand opening party. I even know someone who could provide the gumbo

 

[GetDownScuba]

Pete,

Thank you for the kind words and your assessment is pretty much right on target.

Simply stated, we had a lot of customers who enjoyed the way we delivered our service and classes, we were at capacity and we were having problems accommodating everyone. We had thought about building another boat but then we realized we wouldn't have enough parking or It would create other bottlenecks at check in time. Our Air system could handle it, we already fill over 600 tanks a day on a busy day, so another 120 or so wouldn't be a big deal. But, after careful consideration, we decided another location across the canal and a few more boats would allow us to split the customers into two places to check in, we'd have a lot more parking, and also spread out the customers more evenly onto the boats..It basically became a no brainer for us.

As you speculated, there were many great things we plan to take advantage of as we grow this way. We will have 8 boats, so we can schedule them for 8 different locations, different dive experience levels, and much more. So for example, it's very likely we will have snorkelers on one boat, classes like discover scuba and open water on another boat, shallow reef dives on a couple of boats going to different locations, advanced trips, wreck trips, double dip trips, tech trips, and as you said, a lot more space for more DiveHeart divers. We haven't really finalized the new schedule yet, but as you can see it opens up a world of possibilities in how we can better accommodate our wide range of customers and their preferences or experience levels.The truth is, we probably have not yet thought of all the ways we can enhance the things we do by bringing these two companies together, but we are thinking about it each day and gearing up the staff and the infrastructure to be better than ever going forward.

I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has about how we might be doing things going forward to better serve our customers.

D.J. @ Rainbow Reef

D.J., we all know the reason for the acquisition was to shorten the commute to Sharkeys
Congrats on the expansion.

 

[Bubbles below]

I dove w OD 2015 and Rainbow Reef 2017. I have double dipped on both wrecks, captain choice, weather permitting. So, I guess, I was lucky! I like that OD has gear storage and a restaurant is nearby for your afternoon dives. I'm leaning of staying at Marina Del Mar which is conveniently located to OD. Key West Inn is conveniently located to RR. When will the new schedule comes out? I'm heading to Key Largo before my cruise in October. On RR website, it doesn't state where you're checking-in. OD now offer free guides!