Snorkel Bob's and the Consolidation of Kona Dive Shops

[ryt]

I am a undergraduate at the University of Hawaii at Hilo on the other side of the island. Some students from the school regularly go out to Kona to do the Manta Ray night dive, and until recently used to get a discount. Kona Coast divers was very accomadating, giving us a $75 price per person for a 2 dive trip. We have our own divemaster, and most of us have our own equipment, so usually we are no problem. Recently the owner of snorkel bob's bought out kona coast and refused to give us the same discount, they wanted us to pay $115 per person, which really is not affordable to a college student (the $75 was pushing it). We called around, only to notice that just about all the dive operators in kona were owned by snorkel bobs (kona-honu, a few others). In the end, we finally found 2-3 that werent, that is big island, and jacks. jacks refused to give us a discount, recommended the snorkel instead (it was cheaper, but quite lame for divers if you asked me), but big island offered us the same price.

Anyway, I just thought I would throw that story out there, it bothers me that snorkel bob's is buying up all the dive shops, it makes me wonder how hard it will be to find good competition in kona.

Jason Trimble

 

[George Scherman]

How many are you? If you have a small enough group you could charter a 6 pack, like Wannadive, or maybe two if you had enough people. Do you know Kara? She's a grad student at UHH and was our DM on our last dives with Wannadive. She was fun and very good.

 

[Code Monkey]

big island offered us the same price.

I've always liked Big Island Divers. They worked with us on our certification (1) and they've always been good to dive with.


(1) We're mainlanders but wanted to do our checkout dives in Hawaii. They let us do the bookwork at home. They tested the holy snot out of us when we showed-up before doing the pool and open water work.

 

[friscuba]

I am a undergraduate at the University of Hawaii at Hilo on the other side of the island. Some students from the school regularly go out to Kona to do the Manta Ray night dive, and until recently used to get a discount. Kona Coast divers was very accomadating, giving us a $75 price per person for a 2 dive trip. We have our own divemaster, and most of us have our own equipment, so usually we are no problem. Recently the owner of snorkel bob's bought out kona coast and refused to give us the same discount, they wanted us to pay $115 per person, which really is not affordable to a college student (the $75 was pushing it). We called around, only to notice that just about all the dive operators in kona were owned by snorkel bobs (kona-honu, a few others). In the end, we finally found 2-3 that werent, that is big island, and jacks. jacks refused to give us a discount, recommended the snorkel instead (it was cheaper, but quite lame for divers if you asked me), but big island offered us the same price.

Anyway, I just thought I would throw that story out there, it bothers me that snorkel bob's is buying up all the dive shops, it makes me wonder how hard it will be to find good competition in kona.

Jason Trimble

As far as I know, Snorkel Bob's owns nobody as far as dive operators here unless something's changed in the last few days. Jack's bought Kona Coast Divers a couple weeks ago, so they now have two locations. Kona Honu is owned by a gentleman named Glenn. There is a Honu Sports 6 pack which has their fingers in a couple snorkel stores not related to Snorkel Bob's. All the rest of the two dozen or so dive ops, with the exception of the dive concessions of the 2 big snorkel boats, are privately operated and unaffiliated with each other.

The going rate for the night dive is in the $79 buck range for a single dive and $99 and up for the afternoon/night combo. If you can get me 5 or 6 passengers I'll give you a bit of a break, but I'm going to put a DM in with you whether you want it or not... occasionally a dive operator or independant boat puts a "self sufficient" group of divers in the water who don't follow the same ettiquette everyone else does and it causes problems... I wouldn't want to get caught in a position where other operators look at my group as trouble.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

To be honest I've wondered about the wisdom in cutting college students slack. At the shop I work for they've given students discounts but they don't live in the area, will move away after college and never spend any money in the shop. Where's the benefit. Better to give discounts to locals with money

 

[friscuba]

To be honest I've wondered about the wisdom in cutting college students slack. At the shop I work for they've given students discounts but they don't live in the area, will move away after college and never spend any money in the shop. Where's the benefit. Better to give discounts to locals with money

In the case of Kona, there are some shops that do have unadvertised kamaaina rates, although that seems to be becoming less prevalent as time passes. Anyone living on the island is essentially living in the area. It's not really a student discount as much as it is a local rate that he's looking for.

In my particular case, 5 or 6 divers is essentially a full boat and I do have a private charter rate that's just below the price of 5 individual passengers. It can take years to build a business to near full capacity. Some ops that have had the benefit of being around a decade or more may be able to pick up all the business they want at full price. For others, a little bit of a break to fill a boat isn't a bad deal.

A flat out student rate or senior rate is a rare thing here, Hawaii isn't exactly a do-it-on-the-cheap destination.

later,

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Some Maui shops offer the same. We stay there long enough on our trips that we benefit ourselves.

 

[fishb0y]

Anyway, I just thought I would throw that story out there, it bothers me that snorkel bob's is buying up all the dive shops, it makes me wonder how hard it will be to find good competition in kona.

I understand how you would be upset, I get a military discount at alot of places, the shop on base here seems like their equipment is more expensive than out in town. Kinda drifting off the topic, but they are a business, looks like Snorkel Bob doesn't want your business anymore, so it's time to look elsewhere. That's the great thing about a free economy. You can't blame them for wanting to make a profit, if they don't, how will you fill your tanks?

 

[ryt]

Friscuba: Maybe I was misinformed about who had bought what, sorry if I misstated.

As for our group, we are repeat customers, we did 4 manta dives this semester and brought along about 10 people each time. We would do 2 tank dives (1 afternoon and 1 night). We are repeat bussiness. And I know that these places don't want our bussiness, we looked elsewhere, and found it, I just though some people might want to know this.

We just did it with Big Island Divers last night, and it was terrific. By far the best service I have ever recieved on a dive boat.

and yes, a flat our student or local rate is rare to find advertised, but if you ask, you can almost always find a place that will do it.

And yes, the DM that we bring along does not replace theirs, it just makes their job a little easier. We also help with getting the boat ready and taking all the gear out, its what we do in exchange for the discount. We also go on a weekend, when most tourists are coming in/going out, so their bussiness is lighter.

Unfortunatly the one thing that prevents most dive shops from giving us a good rate is tips, college students have a tendency to not give any, and most DMs live off them. I wish I could say that our group was different, but I don't think it is (on our trip last night I gave one, but don't think I saw anyone else)

 

[friscuba]

Friscuba: Maybe I was misinformed about who had bought what, sorry if I misstated.

As for our group, we are repeat customers, we did 4 manta dives this semester and brought along about 10 people each time. We would do 2 tank dives (1 afternoon and 1 night). We are repeat bussiness. And I know that these places don't want our bussiness, we looked elsewhere, and found it, I just though some people might want to know this.

We just did it with Big Island Divers last night, and it was terrific. By far the best service I have ever recieved on a dive boat.

and yes, a flat our student or local rate is rare to find advertised, but if you ask, you can almost always find a place that will do it.

And yes, the DM that we bring along does not replace theirs, it just makes their job a little easier. We also help with getting the boat ready and taking all the gear out, its what we do in exchange for the discount. We also go on a weekend, when most tourists are coming in/going out, so their bussiness is lighter.

Unfortunatly the one thing that prevents most dive shops from giving us a good rate is tips, college students have a tendency to not give any, and most DMs live off them. I wish I could say that our group was different, but I don't think it is (on our trip last night I gave one, but don't think I saw anyone else)

Big Island does a good job for a group of your size, good choice. I worked for them for a few years so everyone pretty much knows me there, they get referrals from me when I'm full up or not going out.

How many mantas last night, and how was the swell?

later,

Steve