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Scubaquarium: Chicago area INDOOR REEF DIVING!!!
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cornfed
Mindless lemming
Has anyone looked at the pricing to dive this thing? It's insane. According to their webpage, the average cost per dive varies between about $40-78. PER DIVE! Oh... and membership level determines how often you can dive. So you might pay $150 to join and $22 per month in dues to be allowed to dive four times a year. That's $264 to make four dives (spread out over a year) in a glorified swimming pool.
I don't know about you but I've got a long list of shops and boat operators that can do a lot more for me for less!
I don't know about you but I've got a long list of shops and boat operators that can do a lot more for me for less!
scuba-sass
Wreckmaniac Extrordinaire
It's pretty easy to design a flashy website these days. I don't see any formal Business Plan posted, or even any link that tells you how to get a copy. I also don't see a list of investors, which I'm sure you would need for a project of this magnitude.
My $0.02 - don't waste your $$$.
Scuba-sass
My $0.02 - don't waste your $$$.
Scuba-sass
H2Andy
Contributor
hmmm... well.... they haven't selected a site to build the thing yet, though
they are looking. it may look more promising once they start construction.
also, they are counting on "pre-build memberships" for construction capital,
it sounds like ("Assuming we fill our pre-build memberships quickly we will be
opening our doors in the summer of 2006.")
(so, assuming they don't, you would have paid $150.00 exactly for
nothing?)
at about $150.00 per membership, that's a lot of memberships to sell to buy/lease
the land and build a reef facility.
also, this worries me:
"Once membership is full we will no longer accept new members."
Doesn't make sense. You would imagine they'd want as many members
as possible.
I wouldn't send my money in just yet, personally.
they are looking. it may look more promising once they start construction.
also, they are counting on "pre-build memberships" for construction capital,
it sounds like ("Assuming we fill our pre-build memberships quickly we will be
opening our doors in the summer of 2006.")
(so, assuming they don't, you would have paid $150.00 exactly for
nothing?)
at about $150.00 per membership, that's a lot of memberships to sell to buy/lease
the land and build a reef facility.
also, this worries me:
"Once membership is full we will no longer accept new members."
Doesn't make sense. You would imagine they'd want as many members
as possible.
I wouldn't send my money in just yet, personally.
You can also dive the aquarium in the basement of the Mall of America in Minneapolis MN. Cost is over the top and they only do it 2 times a week.
From the other comments a common thread appears..."I would do it. once". An aquarium is expensive to run and maintain. Most charge $40+ to get in. Divers in the water would need to be issued wetsuits and equipment or run the risk of them brining in contaminants. So the cost for them is well over that. The Mall of America, if I remember correctly is $180.00 for 40 minutes (20 freshwater 20 salt). Liability insurance is another issue.
Now for the Chicago divers, with the huge amount of wrecks available in the great lakes have lots of nearby diving. True, it is cold water diving. So a trip to this dive park might be cheaper than a trip to the warm waters down south. But would it have repeat business.
I saw this ad over a year ago. The "membership" structure sounds like they are using the divers to finance the venture. Frankly I don't think it will survive financially. The buy in is too high and the yearly dues are too high. You quickly arrive at "I could go to the Caribbean for that price". I would also worry about a scam.
From the other comments a common thread appears..."I would do it. once". An aquarium is expensive to run and maintain. Most charge $40+ to get in. Divers in the water would need to be issued wetsuits and equipment or run the risk of them brining in contaminants. So the cost for them is well over that. The Mall of America, if I remember correctly is $180.00 for 40 minutes (20 freshwater 20 salt). Liability insurance is another issue.
Now for the Chicago divers, with the huge amount of wrecks available in the great lakes have lots of nearby diving. True, it is cold water diving. So a trip to this dive park might be cheaper than a trip to the warm waters down south. But would it have repeat business.
I saw this ad over a year ago. The "membership" structure sounds like they are using the divers to finance the venture. Frankly I don't think it will survive financially. The buy in is too high and the yearly dues are too high. You quickly arrive at "I could go to the Caribbean for that price". I would also worry about a scam.
I hate to be pessimistic, but I can't see any way that something like this is commercially viable. The costs and logistics are prohibitive. I'm not sure it's even possible to have something like this combining divers and actual healthy reef organisms in a closed system. Even this biggest closed system is a drop in the bucket compared to the oceans. Costs aside, just disposing of the saltwater waste produced by the very frequent water exchanges needed is a logistical nightmare. And, don't let anyone tell you that there's not need for massive water exchange.
Even w/ the best filters in the world, the accumulation of toxins introduced by divers, the end-results of biological filtration, toxins producted by various marine organisms, etc, will quickly overwhelm the dillution capabilities of even the largest aquarium. The level of water-quality required to maintain healthy corals, is very high. I just don't see how it could be maintained. *Some* large public aquariums are able to do it, but they don't have lines of divers constantly in and out of the water. There's a big difference between the water quality required to keep fish and that required to keep healthy corals. Even many public aquariums can't keep healthy corals and instead simply replace corals that have died w/ new specimens. That's a dispicable practice IMO. Corals are hardy and can often live 6-9 months in bad conditions, but the entire time they are slowly dieing and eventually give up the ghost. Keeping a coral for 6 months is NOT an indication of a healthy environment.
I'm not even going to get into the costs of maintaining something like that. Electricity for pumps, heaters, chillers, lighting, etc. Then there's the specialized feeding requirements for many reef inhabitants.
Nice concept, but IMHO completely unrealistic.
My $.02
Even w/ the best filters in the world, the accumulation of toxins introduced by divers, the end-results of biological filtration, toxins producted by various marine organisms, etc, will quickly overwhelm the dillution capabilities of even the largest aquarium. The level of water-quality required to maintain healthy corals, is very high. I just don't see how it could be maintained. *Some* large public aquariums are able to do it, but they don't have lines of divers constantly in and out of the water. There's a big difference between the water quality required to keep fish and that required to keep healthy corals. Even many public aquariums can't keep healthy corals and instead simply replace corals that have died w/ new specimens. That's a dispicable practice IMO. Corals are hardy and can often live 6-9 months in bad conditions, but the entire time they are slowly dieing and eventually give up the ghost. Keeping a coral for 6 months is NOT an indication of a healthy environment.
I'm not even going to get into the costs of maintaining something like that. Electricity for pumps, heaters, chillers, lighting, etc. Then there's the specialized feeding requirements for many reef inhabitants.
Nice concept, but IMHO completely unrealistic.
My $.02
CROCETTI
Registered
I'd dive it. It wouldnt be a bad place to dive in January or something considering I dont have a dry suit.
StSomewhere
Contributor
As a certifiable golf nut, I can tell you the general business model for the DiveDome project is remarkably similar to how private golf clubs operate. The Scubaqarium in Chicago at just over pool dept (20 ft) will probably wind up being more of a one-time curiosity like diving Disney's aquarium in the Living Seas. The UK version at 90 ft. deep will probably get lots of training etc. that will pay for O&M to keep the membership dues down.
The funny thing is, when we move to Florida, I thought about having a saltwater aquarium instead of a swimming pool. My wife thinks its crazy and I'm sure she's right, but at least I'm not the only one to have the same idea.
The funny thing is, when we move to Florida, I thought about having a saltwater aquarium instead of a swimming pool. My wife thinks its crazy and I'm sure she's right, but at least I'm not the only one to have the same idea.
Well the coral in the "Living Seas" is actually fibreglass or something very similar weighted down in the tank. Its a fun dive, the cost is a bit OTT, but you only need to do it once. I cant see a closed system working, are they going to keep UV lamps on overnight to keep the reef healthy?
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