What does your LDS do?

[El Orans]

My LDS (Discovery Diving) organises boat dives, day trips to remarkable dive sites (Nemo33 Thread, Monte Mare, Naturagart Thread), weekend trips on local liveaboards Thread, longer dive trips to Bonaire, the Red Sea etc., maritime training activities, visits to a recompression chamber, pool training during winter.

All in all, pretty active.

What kind of activities does your LDS organise or what would you like to see them organise?

 

[almitywife]

my lds, Frog Dive Scuba Centres (where hubby also works as an instructor btw) is super active

we have montly club bbqs that include boat dives, training (so students are included), shore dives and a huge bbq with great yummy food!

up coming year monthly club dives includes 4WD'ing to get to the dive site and they also have drivers taking those that dont have a 4WD in and out so they dont miss out.

we also have a huge treasure hunt with great prizes including tanks, fins, mask, regs, free fills, courses & a mike ball dive trip (i think last one had about 40 prizes in total)

they also offer DM's for club members for tuesday night dives & weekend shore dives if you are buddy-less or its a new site or you are new

ummm - trips away, Santo/Coolidgee, Truk, GBR, Asia ect & liveaboards or resorts plus long weekend trips to Queensland to dive HMAS Brisbane or a roadtrip for Fish Rock/South West Rocks

and in august they even have a snow trip (yes, it does snow down here)

late november they have a big black tie christmas ball - over 100 people attend all dressed up with awards for staff & divers

and the year ends with a big Christmas BBQ (though 2007 wasnt huge due to weather and changed dates) where santa shows up and pressies for the kids

whew - no wonder my LDS owner is tired! and this is outside his usual 6 day per week job in the shop!

oh, and monthly newsletters (printed and emailed), plus weekly emails about conditions and who is diving and where plus some gossip

 

[dkatchalov]

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

I love my LDS! Scubamarket USA: Savannah Scuba gear NAUI & PADI Scuba Instruction Shop Bob, the owner, has been a godsend to me! I was definitely not happy with my first LDS and those that certified me. He really gave me back my confidence in what a good LDS should be! He is finishing the move into a new facility and put us in a pool to make training much easier! He also is very fair and matches any prices we find even on the internet! He helped give our scuba club a voice and gave us a forum to hang out on! Savannah Georgia Scuba Club Grays Reef dive boat Scubamarket USA: Savannah Scuba Forum (Powered by Invision Power Board) He is trying to meet all the needs of many divers including Recreational, Tech, and Cave! Our club has many trips planned throughout the year and I think with his shop, it helps get more people in to join us on these adventures!

Happy Diving with the Blackbeards!
Carolyn:sharks:

 

[TSandM]

The biggest thing my LDS does for ME is sell me Nitrox at a single price for a year's supply. I figure I save two to three hundred dollars a year by doing this, not to mention the hassle of accounting and paying for each fill as the tanks come in.

But they also have several local dives a month, at least one charter a month, and several trips a year to local destinations like BC, which are weekend trips. There are rumors of a possible Red Sea trip next year on the MV Tala (which, if it happens, I WILL do).

Very good seminars and classes are given through, but not by, my LDS. My husband took Essentials through them, and I did the Ratio Deco Mini through them. The shop owner, who is a NAUI tech instructor, has also offered me a NAUI helitrox class which would fit my needs perfectly, and which I might actually be able to pass.

Plus, they play GREAT music in the shop, and always have some kind of cool video running when I go in there.

 

[rcpilot44]

I like my LDS as well. He has been in Richmond for 25 years. Will match any internet price as long as it is from an authorized dealer. Lot of trips scheduled through out the year. He has been diving for 47 years and is always happy to answer any questions.

The Dive Shop

 

[Steve_Dives]

We have two good shops run by good people. Aquatic Realm is too far away for me to get to very often, but SODA (Southern Ohio Diving Academy) is really close and gets most of my business.
Aquatic Realm Scuba Center - A PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center (IDC)! Dayton Ohio Scuba Diving Training in Dayton Ohio Scuba Training Dayton OH Scuba Diving Training
Southern Ohio Diving :: Home Page

SODA usually has an instructor at a quarry once a month. Show up and do whatever check-outs you need (best to schedule in advance). They offer a variety long weekend trips, and week long or two week trips. The week trips generally have a pre-trip and post-trip party. Check out SODA's Egypt trip. It's coordinated by a couple that lived there (and dove there) for several years. On the downside, they are such a riot I usually can't get in and out in under an hour since they're such fun...or is that an upside?

Aquatic offers tons of DAN courses. I don't get there often enough to offer much else in the way of comments.

 

[String]

What kind of activities does your LDS organise

Mine fills tanks and tests them.

Which to be fair is pretty much all i want them to do.

 

[superstar]

My LDS contributes to urban blight as it went out of buisness and is now an empty building with weeds growing on the lot.

 

[seadoggirl]

My local dive shop replaces (sells me) all the gear I drop overboard in the Gulf of Mexico, they replace (sell me) new cameras when I've destroyed them, they sold me a new pair of gloves when I lost just one, they even sold me a new dive watch when I dropped that overboard after only wearing it once === and they do all of this with a HUGE SMILE! I love my LDS!

Seriously they love me!