Indoor places in MD to test gear

[Phishie]

Does anyone know of any indoor pools that will let you bring in scuba gear to do drills and work in trimming gear?

I just purchased my first bp/wing (only $250 package!!! TECHNICAL SCUBA BCD PACKAGE at Divers-Supply.com ) and I want to find a nice warm place to fiddle with some weighting and try it out.

I live in the Germantown, MD area so if anyone knows of any pools near the area that are scuba-friendly I'd love to know

Thanks!

 

[ScubaTerp]

Looks like you're pretty close to Annapolis Scuba Center. I've never visited them, but they probably have a local pool they use.

 

[poe26bcfd]

Does anyone know of any indoor pools that will let you bring in scuba gear to do drills and work in trimming gear?

I just purchased my first bp/wing (only $250 package!!! TECHNICAL SCUBA BCD PACKAGE at Divers-Supply.com ) and I want to find a nice warm place to fiddle with some weighting and try it out.

I live in the Germantown, MD area so if anyone knows of any pools near the area that are scuba-friendly I'd love to know

Thanks!

I know they run classes at the pools in Germantown and Olney but not sure how scuba friendly they are w/o the scuba class being there.

 

[TravisD]

I don't see any booked for December at the moment, but Aqua Ventures in Cockeysville does "Playtime At The Pool" sessions. They're usually $20 if you have your own gear - they supply tanks and weights.

Upcoming Events

Underwater Playground (Formerly Knight Divers I think?) in Edgewater has their own pool and offers "drop-in" diving when they're doing classes: It's $49 though, including Air and weights.

Underwater Playground Scuba Refresher Class

 

[letterboy]

Underwater Playground is right down the road from me . . . nice people . . . never used their pool, but they run swim lessons etc all the time . . .

 

[Paleface]

Atlantic edge dive center-is in your area and should have pools to go to.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

I don't see any booked for December at the moment, but Aqua Ventures in Cockeysville does "Playtime At The Pool" sessions. They're usually $20 if you have your own gear - they supply tanks and weights.

Upcoming Events

Underwater Playground (Formerly Knight Divers I think?) in Edgewater has their own pool and offers "drop-in" diving when they're doing classes: It's $49 though, including Air and weights.

Underwater Playground Scuba Refresher Class

Why on earth would a scuba center charge a fee to let someone, especially a potential new customer, come in and use the pool?

 

[offthewall1]

Why on earth would a scuba center charge a fee to let someone, especially a potential new customer, come in and use the pool?

I have no problem with a place paying for pool upkeep to charge a fee... but $49 (if correct) is a bit high...

The Owners at Underwater Playground are good people... I'd call to clarify the fee.

We also offer "Play in Pool" time when we have pool sessions. Ours are $15 which helps offset our pool rental costs. You can call us to find out when and where they're available or check our website Calendar.

Cheers

 

[letterboy]

Why on earth would a scuba center charge a fee to let someone, especially a potential new customer, come in and use the pool?

I have no problem with a place paying for pool upkeep to charge a fee... but $49 (if correct) is a bit high...

The Owners at Underwater Playground are good people... I'd call to clarify the fee.

We also offer "Play in Pool" time when we have pool sessions. Ours are $15 which helps offset our pool rental costs. You can call us to find out when and where they're available or check our website Calendar.

Cheers

Not to knock getting screaming deals off line - but I am sure if you purchase gear through a shop - they would let you try the new gear in their pool . . . IJS - YMMV

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Let's do the math here - shops that are serious about their business invest heavily in advertising, with one specific purpose - to bring customers into the shop. So, there is a direct cost associated with each customer that actually does come into the shop, and that was paid by the shop owners as part of the advertising expense.

Now you have a diver who is not a customer who wants to come to your pool and try gear or test gear or just check their gear out. So, not only did you not pay an advertising cost to get this guy in, which puts you ahead of the game, but now you also want to actually charge them a fee. Sorta double dipping in my book. Here we're just happy to have old or new or prospective customers and divers join us, at no cost, cause we are confident that once they try us, they will be our customer. So if that is not worth the "expense" of letting them swim in a pool you already pay for, then what would it take to make sense? Are pool rentals or maintenance not already in your operating budget? Is that $15 that important to the shop owner? Geeeesh, I hope not.

I hope the original poster finds a shop owner in his area that understands this logic, and welcomes him in to his pool gratis, as we would if he was up here in southeast PA. And for the shop owner, I know passing up that $15 or $49 for the pool use will pay off in the long run.