"ADD" a new dive op in Cozumel, investment opportunity.... Add Diving....

[flots am]

"ADD Diving" an acronym for Adult Daycare Diving is looking for investors for it's Cozumel Operation...

I know you were just being a smart-ass, but I have to tell you that if I didn't already own a successful business, I'd happily open up a dive op that caters to infrequent or infirm divers that just want to hang out and watch the fish somewhere warm and calm. I'd make a fortune.

These people you make fun of pay $250 for an $80 massage on the ship and $150 for a nice $50 catamaran ride with a little snorkeling. It wouldn't be all that difficult to setup a dive op geared specifically to cater to their needs, and if you make it a happy enough time, could easily charge $300+ for a two tank dive and a some rum punch on the way back to the ship.

Also, I just wanted to mention that time is a cruel mistress and all it takes is watching the years pass, a little arthritis or someone who didn't quite see your motorcycle, and you could easily be one of the people you mock.

Be nice to people. One day you'll be one of them. It's just a matter of "when."

flots.

 

[Darol]

And you missed the point. Diving..... take it serious.... it's not about money.... it's about people getting seriously hurt....

 

[Mossman]

I know you were just being a smart-ass, but I have to tell you that if I didn't already own a successful business, I'd happily open up a dive op that caters to infrequent or infirm divers that just want to hang out and watch the fish somewhere warm and calm. I'd make a fortune.

Uh, no. You wouldn't. It's a known fact that no one makes a fortune in the diving industry unless you find a treasure ship.

 

[Mike]

I know you were just being a smart-ass, but I have to tell you that if I didn't already own a successful business, I'd happily open up a dive op that caters to infrequent or infirm divers that just want to hang out and watch the fish somewhere warm and calm. I'd make a fortune.

These people you make fun of pay $250 for an $80 massage on the ship and $150 for a nice $50 catamaran ride with a little snorkeling. It wouldn't be all that difficult to setup a dive op geared specifically to cater to their needs, and if you make it a happy enough time, could easily charge $300+ for a two tank dive and a some rum punch on the way back to the ship.
flots.

That's called Scuba Du at the Presidente

 

[flots am]

Uh, no. You wouldn't. It's a known fact that no one makes a fortune in the diving industry unless you find a treasure ship.

People don't make money in SCUBA because they're typically good divers and poor business people. I'm pretty sure LeisurePro and SCUBA Toys are doing nicely, and they're selling hardware, which is brutal. Selling an experience is much more profitable and easier. It's all about fulfilling the desires of people with disposable income.

20 years ago, nobody thought people would pay close to $100 to get a small package delivered across the country overnight, but FedEx is making a killing.

There are a lot of people who would love to go diving again and would be willing to pay well for the experience if it wasn't too painful, stressful or dangerous. These are all things that can be mostly engineered out of the process.


---------- Post added April 14th, 2012 at 12:01 AM ----------

And you missed the point. Diving..... take it serious.... it's not about money.... it's about people getting seriously hurt....

The only divers I've ever seen get hurt (excluding health problems like a stroke or heart attack):

1. Weren't following their training,
2. Were doing something stupid (really this is just #1 again) or
3. Were diving in conditions that weren't appropriate for them (this is really #1 again, also).

I'm not sure where all your danger and gloom and doom is coming from. SCUBA doesn't need to be dangerous.

flots.

 

[Mossman]

There are a lot of people who would love to go diving again and would be willing to pay well for the experience if it wasn't too painful, stressful or dangerous. These are all things that can be mostly engineered out of the process.

I'm not sure what someone would get for $300 that they can't already get for less than $100 in most locales. $200+ for rum punch? I pay $85 for a dive op that handles all of my gear, including wetsuit (though I do have to put my own wetsuit on, they don't do that for me), has 120 CF tanks so I don't have to worry about running out of air so soon, takes my gear from me in the water so I don't have to climb it up the ladder, hands me a towel when I get back in the boat (and windbreaker if it's chilly), provides fresh fruit and bottled water, and takes me to a nice beach for an SI where I can eat whatever I want for lunch for a few bucks more. The price rises to about $150 in more expensive locales like Hawaii and Palau, but the gist is the same: painfree, stressless, safe diving. For $200 extra I can drink all the rum punch I want after I get off the boat, after all I'm only staying 10 minutes away from the dive sites.

What more would someone get out of a $300 dive that they couldn't already get from a premium dive op today for much less?

(If we're talking cruisers, the math is a bit different since they might pay $150 for a cattleboat experience, but that's only because the cruise line takes its big share of the revenue.)

 

[flots am]

I pay $85 for a dive op that handles all of my gear . . .

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. . .

(If we're talking cruisers, the math is a bit different since they might pay $150 for a cattleboat experience, but that's only because the cruise line takes its big share of the revenue.)

They would get the assurance of an appropriate dive in an appropriate location, with professional staff and whatever assistance is necessary, both in and out of the water.

My point wasn't to offer the cheapest dives on an island, but to cater to the customer and offer them the best experience they can have, given their current skill-level and any physical limitations, and let the dive op compete on service, not price.

flots.

 

[Mossman]

They would get the assurance of an appropriate dive in an appropriate location, with professional staff and whatever assistance is necessary, both in and out of the water.

My point wasn't to offer the cheapest dives on an island, but to cater to the customer and offer them the best experience they can have, given their current skill-level and any physical limitations, and let the dive op compete on service, not price.

I've dove with the dive op I mentioned both on "advanced" dives (Devil's Throat past 130' and with mandatory deco) and when he had a beginner pair along. The beginners were probably assured beforehand that they would have an appropriate dive in an appropriate location and it was. They got lots of assistance from a very professional "staff". They also saved $215 each by your math.

Even more appropriate is skipping Cozumel altogether for an area more suitable to the divers you speak of, in which case dive site selection is of less concern and one only needs to find a more personalized deluxe dive op.

There are several other dive ops that offer a similar level of service and personal attention on Cozumel. Because there are more than one, they do have to compete on price as well as service. $85-90 seems about the upper end of Cozumel dive shops, which apparently offer all the services you mention except for rum punch. There's no way one would pay $300 when two can charter their own boat and DM for only $430 (Deep Blue Cozumel Diving: Private Charters) which will take them to the easiest sites upon request and assure a private guide. So say you can get away with charging $100 because you do include a mean rum punch and maybe some chips and guac for the long boat ride back. Out of that you have to pay for staff, boat upkeep and slip rental, gas, insurance, advertising, taxes, equipment, air fills, and rum and avocados, among plenty other things that if mentioned would exceed the maximum post size. At that rate, you'll make your fortune in just a few hundred years.

 

[flots am]

There are several other dive ops that offer a similar level of service and personal attention on Cozumel. Because there are more than one, they do have to compete on price as well as service. $85-90 seems about the upper end of Cozumel dive shops, which apparently offer all the services you mention except for rum punch. There's no way one would pay $300 when two can charter their own boat and DM for only $430 (Deep Blue Cozumel Diving: Private Charters) which will take them to the easiest sites upon request and assure a private guide.

I was thinking of things like a lift on the back of the boat that goes from ~5' underwater, up to the boat deck, instead of a ladder. AFAK, nobody in Coz has one because I tried to rent one for a friend once. In any case, you're still completely missing the point.

In the simplest terms, there are people who consider cost to be secondary, or don't consider it at all. And I'm not talking specifically about Cozumel, I'm talking about anyplace warm.

And I'm not talking only about "lazy" divers but also disabled divers and people who have had to give up diving because they can't manage portions of the dive, like entries and exits.

However I don't especially care if you agree with me either, and have no plans on starting anything SCUBA related because I already own a successful business and have no desire to move.

flots

 

[Mossman]

I was thinking of things like a lift on the back of the boat that goes from ~5' underwater, up to the boat deck, instead of a ladder. AFAK, nobody in Coz has one because I tried to rent one for a friend once. In any case, you're still completely missing the point.

In the simplest terms, there are people who consider cost to be secondary, or don't consider it at all. And I'm not talking specifically about Cozumel, I'm talking about anyplace warm.

And I'm not talking only about "lazy" divers but also disabled divers and people who have had to give up diving because they can't manage portions of the dive, like entries and exits.

However I don't especially care if you agree with me either, and have no plans on starting anything SCUBA related because I already own a successful business and have no desire to move.

I'm sure one of the million or so dive ops in Cozumel would have installed a lift on their boat by now if there were sufficient demand for it. As for those to whom money is no object, they'd just take their yacht somewhere warm, preferably their own island. Why associate with the riffraff on Cozumel, might catch a disease or something?

But if you want to put your money where your fingers are, I'll move to Cozumel and start your business for you. Just figure the cost of a boat with lift, whatever licensing fees I'll need to pay, and operating expenses and room and board for a year, and write me a check. Don't forget, as I'll be hobnobbing with the rich and famous lazy disabled divers, I'll need to act the part, so you're better off putting me up at the Presidente with an unlimited expense account, or maybe a condo at El Cantil with an account at Prima. I'll forgo taking a salary for a 50% commission instead so you can't lose there.

As soon as the check clears, I'll fly down and get started.