Why aren't more people taking up scuba diving?

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drrich2, Yeah I know what you're saying in that there are different sharks and different risks accordingly. I'll rephrase: I'm not comfortable being around most things in the wild that approach my size or more. Not paranoid, but I don't seek those things out either. I am the exception to most divers.

boulderjohn, I guess by "do we want more divers?" I mean do we want more than exist right now. Right now there seem to be plenty of shops and charters at least where I go. Of course we would not want FEWER divers.
 
Do we want more divers?

It would depend on which side of the equation you are on. A a diver, no. As someone who makes his living from divers, yes.
 
Do we want more divers?

It would depend on which side of the equation you are on. A a diver, no. As someone who makes his living from divers, yes.

If you're in the equation at all... it matters.

What do people who make a living from divers do when there are fewer divers?
What do divers do when there are fewer people who make a living from divers?

---------- Post added December 7th, 2014 at 04:33 PM ----------

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I don't think Scuba diving is declining...
....
....

Over to RJP to pick the bones out of that

Yet... it is.

Back to you.

:D

But seriously, a liveaboard boat is not just an infinitesimally small sample... it's a terribly skewed sample.
 
drrich2, Yeah I know what you're saying in that there are different sharks and different risks accordingly. I'll rephrase: I'm not comfortable being around most things in the wild that approach my size or more. Not paranoid, but I don't seek those things out either. I am the exception to most divers.

Ironically, a little perceived danger with minimal actual risk can entice some folks. For example, I can relate to what you say, since at 1st (& still, when in close quarters), I was a tad antsy about diving around large barracuda and big green moray eels. There's just something about being in the water potentially vulnerable with a large predatory creature before me that could, though highly unlikely to do so, elect to come out & mess me up.

Yet I like predators with big teeth. What I hope to be blessed to do later in 2015 is go dive off North Carolina with sand tiger sharks; big, scary looking 'classic' shark appearance, often lots of them, yet highly unlikely to harm me, around wrecks in the Atlantic ocean. But so far, cageless diving at Tiger Beach is still too rich for my blood.

As for live-aboards, I wonder how booked up the ones in the Caribbean stay, and to what extent they need to offer cheap specials to book up? I'm curious as to whether the live-aboard market in this region has better, or worse, market growth potential?

Richard.
 
Do we want more divers?

It would depend on which side of the equation you are on. A a diver, no. As someone who makes his living from divers, yes.

If you're a diver who doesn't make a living at it, you will be happy as long as everything works for you. Convenient LDS, courses if you want them, charters you want to patronize, etc. That's being selfish I guess, but that's the way it is. Some places would or have been hit hard by lack of customers, so I hear. School Band programs are common all over N.A., yet a place that I often applied to to teach, Churchill, Manitoba has never had one. Just the way it is.
 
In the greater Victoria area(~350 000 pop) in canada area there are 4 dive shops 2 of which run boat charters(one just got a new boat this month so that may lead to some overlap in dive area) with different area coverage for the charters. AFAIK all 4 shops are doing reasonably well and the one I spend most of my time with between its connections with schools, the university dive club it supports is doing quite well for itself in an area that is not exactly touristic due to our cold waters. They also get quite a bit of new divers every year.

Also I know that pretty much every shop runs drop in dives that have a DM/Insturcutor on hand at least once usually twice a week. Which meet at the shop.

As for sharks well about the only 2 you'll see up here are if your lucky dogfish and if your really really lucky in the summer 6 gills. Honestly I'm more scared of male ling cod in feb that I am of pretty much anything else since they have been known to chase divers quite far from their egg masses they guard(part of the reason I tend to avoid sites where they are common at that time of the year). Honestly I hope to see sharks some day in my future as I have the utmost respect for a animal that many in this world see as the devil due to how they are portrayed in many media (ie shark week these days). I see them as anything else there is a chance they can hurt me but there also is the same chance when you go for a walk in the woods from any number of bears, wolves, or cougars. These 3 have not been turned into the devil incarnate. Honestly the list of sharks I wish to see in the wild that are not part of some feeding program is longer than my arm as I wished to see them as they are not as chum boat operators want us to see them.

edit: if this pic doesn't melt your heart about sharks I don't know what will.

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net...=8c929346f458a689d15b2e806ae41977&oe=551215B7
 
As for live-aboards, I wonder how booked up the ones in the Caribbean stay, and to what extent they need to offer cheap specials to book up? I'm curious as to whether the live-aboard market in this region has better, or worse, market growth potential?

Richard.

Everyone's got great potential... just ask all the nuns I had in grammar school. ("Raymond has a lot of potential...")
 
Maybe bears, wolves and cougers haven't been turned into the devil incarnate as have sharks, but I'd just as soon avoid meeting any of those 3 in the wild also. I have met bears (black and POLAR) in N. Manitoba--thankfully from inside a vehicle.
 
Everyone's got great potential... just ask all the nuns I had in grammar school.

Phrased another way, which segment of the 'dive industry' appears more practically positioned to benefit from better marketing and get greater growth?

1.) Live-aboard or land-based dive resorts?

2.) Resorts that offer diving plus a lot more (e.g.: Sandals).

3.) Local Dive Shops.

4.) Big online vendors - e.g.: Scuba Toys, Leisure Pro, etc...?

5.) The big training agencies - e.g.: PADI, SSI, SDI?

6.) Niche training agencies alleged to offer a superior or specialty product - e.g.: SEI, GUE Fundamentals, etc...?

7.) Specific gear types or lines - e.g.: BP/W, rebreathers, etc...?

Although some of these threads on diver recruitment & retention evoke the sentiment that a rising tide floats all boats, and a call for all stake holders to band together to support solid co-marketing campaigns to turn on the spigot & get that tide rolling in, I'm reminded that in the real world, it may be much more feasible to target a specific industry venue and customer demographic.

Maybe you can't bring in a tide, but dam up a small river?

Maybe in the spirit of big game hunting, spear fishing-focused live-aboards to travel the seas hunting a range of exotic species to prepare & eat on the boat fresh? Prizes for biggest or most unusual catch? Killing wildlife isn't all that politically correct, and I don't know whether spear hunters have any interest in tourist hunting, so I'm just using this as an example whereby perhaps a niche player could do well for awhile.

Richard.
 
Yet... it is.

Back to you.

:D

But seriously, a liveaboard boat is not just an infinitesimally small sample... it's a terribly skewed sample.

Perhaps I didn't explain my thinking correctly as to why I DON'T think this liveaboard example is skewed. It it had been a Hard core boat in say Truk or the Glapagos then I would agree.

This Boat was a welcome all in that there were no restrictions and minimum quals, hence you had people learning their OW Some experienced people and one technical instructor (buddying his less experienced father on a vacation) We ourselves just cohose it as it was a last minute getaway rather than a focused trip. But I digress

First of all it was truely International, While I was on it we had 3 stos for changing passengers. Every time you got a new set on the make up was generally the same with 50% being mainland Europe 25% being UK and 25% being from the continental US.

The point I was trying to get across was that I feel this provides a good snapshot of vacation divers, who I believe make up the vast proportion of divers. In teh world of vacation divign you might only make 20 dives per year or every other year. Someone having greater than 100 dives is the exception rather than the rule.

If I were to give a really skewed example I could use my local club as an example thus

1. Constant membership of 100 regular divers (those who pay the extra fee for the diving membership rather than social etc
2. Out of that 100, we have 20 rebreather divers
3. we have a "technical" side with around 50 whole have completed the technical training to visit sites greater than 40m depth.
4. 50% of our membership are instructors.
5. Less than 25% are still at AoW standard (all our sites are deeper than OW certification hence all divers new to the club are encouraged to get their AoW as soon as possible)
6 Everyone is Nitrox, everyone carrys DSMB's 50% hold a Partial pressure Nitrox blending cert, 15% are Royal Yacht Association certified Boat handlers ...
7. Over 50% dive wings

And so on

Our Location makes it skewed - with most people having lived in the Middle East for some time, those in more conservative countries have had little more to do than dive and get Quals. The majority have a disposable income such that saving to buy a rebreather is no big deal for instance (not that many do)

As you can see not even a representative sample of a diving club let alone divers as a whole.

Back to my original point. I think the vast majority of divers are people whole dive only on vacation, I'm sure a lot stop when they have a family and can't afford overseas vacations some get back into it when finanaces improve, people consider themself "experienced" once they completed a few vacations. Very few continue it if they don't have a diving partner or spouse. Perhaps thats where the marketing should focus on, get more females into diving and make it sexy - make LDS more of a friendly place to visit rather than guys chatting about geeky diving stuff.

Take my wife as an example. She's very experienced with over 600 dives. She started diving and gave up when she had her children and then restarted. She wants to dive to see pretty things or big things, She's not interested in SAC rates or any of the more technical aspects. She dives her gear and it works, the only modifications she has is if she finds a pink item (hose, fins, mask , webbing etc) She wouldn't go to a Dive shop to browse or chat Where as I will pop in to the shop to chat up and see if they have some wiget that I haven't got whether I need it or not!

---------- Post added December 8th, 2014 at 09:56 AM ----------

Maybe in the spirit of big game hunting, spear fishing-focused live-aboards to travel the seas hunting a range of exotic species to prepare & eat on the boat fresh? Prizes for biggest or most unusual catch? Killing wildlife isn't all that politically correct, and I don't know whether spear hunters have any interest in tourist hunting, so I'm just using this as an example whereby perhaps a niche player could do well for awhile.

Richard.


Or you could go the other way with the younger generation being more envionmentally aware have more Eco focused trips with people seeing Coral damage, teh results on non sustainable fishing litter on the sea bed etc etc Perhaps thats another niche?

---------- Post added December 8th, 2014 at 10:11 AM ----------

As for live-aboards, I wonder how booked up the ones in the Caribbean stay, and to what extent they need to offer cheap specials to book up? I'm curious as to whether the live-aboard market in this region has better, or worse, market growth potential?

Richard.

Interesting comment and my perception is this:-

When I was younger and growing up in the the UK a forigen holiday was rare and normally ment going to Spain. People who went to the Caribbean were viewed as wealthy. Fast forward to the 90's and The US and Caribbean were more accessable. Now it seems with the advent of cheaper airflights, more travel programmes and the Internet, people (from Europe) see SE Asia as a more inviting and exciting destination, normally cheaper too! That said some of my friend with Small families would still choose an All inclusive resort in the Caribbean rather than SE Asia as they want some luxury and "civilisation" and percieved safety and security

But of course it depends where you live. For me in Dubai the Caribbean doesn't offer anything to justify the long plane journey, indeed the Maldives are a 4 hr hop thus a long weekend, SE Asia only 7 hrs amd micronesia and the coral Triangal the same distance time wise as theCaribbean.

I'm certain that holiday destinations suffer from being fashionable and when they become too popular people chose to go somewhere else.

Certainly if I use a UK search engine for Diving Liveablords (just typed it in) then the Red Sea is at the top, then Asia, Austrailia - only on Page 3 did the caribbean appear...
 
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