The changing Scuba Industry

[scubadada]

As someone who borders both the baby boomers and the millennials, let me offer a different perspective.

The Earth is changing. Some hobbies just don't seem like worthy investments anymore. I grew up in update NY and skied all winter. I have kids now and I'm not even bothering teach my kids to ski because there is no point. I live in Pennsylvania and it has snowed twice this year. Two weeks ago it was 65-70 all week.

Likewise, I am a big fisherman. We used to catch so many fish up on the St Lawrence. Now you can fish a whole weekend and be lucky to catch 1 pike big enough to bring in for dinner. My kids will never learn to be good fisherman because you have to catch fish to get better at fishing. I don't know where or why they are gone but they are.

You probably know where I am going right?

This week the news is filled with Australian reef bleaching. They keep saying on the news that the worlds coral reefs will be 90% dead by 2050. I'll be 80. I think I'll be one of the last generations to teach their kids to dive. What is the incentive to become to a diver? I'm kind of a new diver and I really love it but I have no disillusions that I am going to watch the reefs die over the next 20 years.

Note: I was in Jamaica last year and there are no fish there. Except in huge underwater cages set by the locals and the lionfish.

At least you got some more snow today

 

[The Chairman]

What is the solution?

First, if you like your LDS, and want them to stick around, do them a favor and post OFTEN about how wonderful they are. Encourage your buddies to do the same. It used to be word of mouth, but now it's word of internet. And while Facebook is better than nothing, no one goes to Facebook to research gear, LDSs and destinations: We Google it! No one does Google for the dive industry like ScubaBoard [/shameless plug]. Do yourself, them and myself a huge favor and post your experiences right here. Send them links when you do, just in case they aren't looking.

 

[SeaHorse81]

The result is that the industry is having a lot of chaff separated from the wheat and thrown away. But, I think the shops like my small mom-and-pop LDS, DRiS, etc., are going to hang in here and thrive as their suck-a$$ competition falls by the wayside. The industry is changing from a seller's market to a buyer's market. The shops that offer great customer service (speaking in a holistic sense) will be left standing and stronger than ever. And the general population of divers will be less diluted by graduates of those crappy shops that produce people with C cards instead of producing Divers.

The industry is changing, but I think it will prove to be for the better.

Nice post, and I think you're right. The question is whether we'll be left with enough critical mass when it's all over to keep the industry alive on anywhere near its current scale. I suspect not, for reasons both economic and environmental.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

That's encouraging. My biggest complaint about standardized training ... regardless of agency ... has always been that it often fails to produce divers who are capable of planning and executing their own dives without further assistance or training.

This is an indicator of a couple problems.

First, the instructor did a bad job (I'm speaking from a PADI perspective) of teaching open water dive #4. There is nothing stopping an instructor from teaching the simple concept of total gas being the sum of usable gas and reserve gas. Nothing stopping an instructor from talking about SAC (including when sharing air) and slow ascent rates, and planning different turn pressures based on depth. Nothing stops from providing dive site maps, all this information, and say, "okay you and your buddy have to agree on a dive plan, utilizing what you are taught". And then talk about it.

The other problem is that classes are often just too big. To teach open water effectively, you need 1:2 ratios, at least for the last dive, as dive buddy pairs are going to come up with different dive plans. They should plan and execute a dive with a certified assistant following them. The dive buddies should be as alone as possible (easy to do in dark water), so they get the experience and confidence to go on and dive with other newly certified divers.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

because believing the only mark you can make is something along the lines of curing cancer. Once you believe that you are limited, you are.

So many ways to make an impact on society in subtle, but meaningful and long lasting ways. Am I going to be remembered for things I did in 100 years? No, but the impacts of what I have done will be felt, and that is what is important to me.

 

[Schwob]

... They have a highly curated product line, most of it private label (that is, products manufactured by others which they sell under their own brand), and their own fulfillment operation that is very effective.... .

Generally I like more choice over single manufacturer assortment... But "curated" can be quite nice and very helpful once one has reasons to trust the "curator" and the price is OK. From my layman's point of view, DGX seems to be doing something right there.

 

[Schwob]

Curious:
So these LDS that found this recipy and do very well in attracting and keeping customers with their training offerings and their atmosphere of family and friends even so they are at a notably higher price point:
Are they able to do well enough to be offering their employees (e.g.: DM's and instructors) reasonable living wages for the area they are in for reasonable hours?
If yes, great & kudos!
If not, isn't there then still something essentially not quite right?

 

[Marie13]

There is more to diving than just looking at pretty reefs. I love diving, but I rarely do reef dives. Teach your kids some history and take them to dive some cool wrecks. I am 50 years old and I have learned more about WWII in the 2+ years since I started diving than I ever really learned in all the time before that.

My passion is Great Lakes wrecks. I happen to have been reading about them for 25 years. The thought of being able t dive them really grabbed me when I was first thinking about diving. I don't really give a flying fig about the pretty fishies. . I'm a major history buff. Give me my wrecks! . I'm told I'm an anomaly - a woman who isn't running screaming from local cold water diving, and is embracing it. Always did do my own thing.

 

[Marie13]

Curious:
So these LDS that found this recipy and do very well in attracting and keeping customers with their training offerings and their atmosphere of family and friends even so they are at a notably higher price point:
Are they able to do well enough to be offering their employees (e.g.: DM's and instructors) reasonable living wages for the area they are in for reasonable hours?
If yes, great & kudos!
If not, isn't there then still something essentially not quite right?

My instructors from DRIS teach for the love of it. They have nice, full time jobs elsewhere, totally unrelated to diving.

 

[dmaziuk]

I'm not in the industry, but since my kids are "millenials" (currently nearing their 30s) I noticed that they just aren't into owning things. They would rather "do" things. I've seen this with the 20s at work, too. Some of them see "things" as something that takes up space when it isn't being used.

Meh. Gimme a paid-off beachfront property someplace warm and I promise I'll seriously consider investing in tanks and a truck to cart them to/from the local shop's fill tap, and all that. I live in an inner city apartment, on the third continent so far -- have you ever tried shipping a full bookcase from .ua to .au? And I have a paid job: I gather the "millenials" mostly have debt.