Melbourne Area LDS

[Scuba_Dad]

Are there really that many divers in the area or is it one of those cases where there are a lot of shops and they are all on the brink of extinction all of the time?

All the shops I mentioned in Melbourne/Palm Bay have been here for at least 15 years. PDI and Hatts have been here well over 20. Two of the shops in Merritt Island have been there a long time, and the one in Cape Canaveral has been there forever... It used to be a 76 gas station that sold bait, tackle, and dive equipment... they gave up on the gas...

I hope the new shop in Rockledge (Sea Dragons) and the new shop in Melbourne does well. The owners are all good instructors... I hope they're good businessmen as well.

Al

 

[TropicalDiver]

Mavjax - the four mentioned - Hatts, PDI, Dixie Divers, and Sea Dragons - would be what I would "recommend" for certification classes.

Merritt Island has two additional shops and Canaveral one I think.

Hatts and PDI have been around for about forever. Dixie divers 5 plus years at least, Sea Dragons is new this year but shows a lot of promise.

 

[Scuba_Dad]

Mavjax - the four mentioned - Hatts, PDI, Dixie Divers, and Sea Dragons - would be what I would "recommend" for certification classes.

Merritt Island has two additional shops and Canaveral one I think.

Hatts and PDI have been around for about forever. Dixie divers 5 plus years at least, Sea Dragons is new this year but shows a lot of promise.

TropicalDiver,
Schot Becham is opening a shop in the strip mall at Aurora and Wickham. It's supposed to be open some time this month. Schot used to work for Dixie Divers a long time ago... I'm looking forward to his grand opening.
Oh... Dixie opened sometime between '84 and '89 while I was in California & Colorado. They were here when I moved back in '89. My wife got certified there in '90.

Al

 

[mavjax]

Thank a lot. Glad to know my friends will have some good choices when they come down.

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

All the shops I mentioned in Melbourne/Palm Bay have been here for at least 15 years. PDI and Hatts have been here well over 20. Two of the shops in Merritt Island have been there a long time, and the one in Cape Canaveral has been there forever... It used to be a 76 gas station that sold bait, tackle, and dive equipment... they gave up on the gas...

I hope the new shop in Rockledge (Sea Dragons) and the new shop in Melbourne does well. The owners are all good instructors... I hope they're good businessmen as well.

Al

I'll second Sea Dragon's, and i also like the line of gear they sell. They carry alot of Dive-rite gear which i use, and i heard the getting there filling station upto date with hyper clean air, so it wouldn't contamidate a tank if it was O2 cleaned.

 

[DennisW]

The diving off the Melbourne area is a little deeper and colder with not a lot of viz compared to the diving further South. I believe that is why there aren't many if any dive charters in the area. If you like spear fishing and lobstering, the Melbourne area is very good. (Watch out for Bull sharks, though.) Most people in the area that dive there use private boats.

 

[WreckHunter]

Check out Sea Dragons in Rockledge. (Seadragons.com) Mike is the owner. They are a great group of people. They do their pool seesions at a nice, deep pool at BCC in Cocoa. (Should be convenient for your freinds.) They can put you in touch with the only charter diving boat I know of in this area.

Good luck,
Chris