Buying SCUBA Gear Isn’t Local

With airline baggage restrictions, are your SCUBA divers slowing their SCUBA equipment purchases in favor of just renting SCUBA gear at their destination? Are only your die-hard SCUBA divers buying more and more gear?

SCUBA Equipment IS Local

Your dive center is where your SCUBA diver comes to look and touch the gear they are interested in. Your SCUBA store is where they come when they have questions or need repairs. Your SCUBA shop is where your SCUBA diving students come for additional classes and to book their trips.

Maybe SCUBA Gear ISN’T Local

We need to differenciate between where our SCUBA divers live and where they’ll actually be SCUBA diving. Some people get certified purely for the ability to take that SCUBA certification with them on vacation, but never plan on diving at home. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so I see this frequently.

Aqualung’s Zima BCD is a great example of a SCUBA gear manufacturer understanding these differences. It rolls up. It weighs less than 4 and a half pounds. It’s weight integrated. Plenty of clips and storage. Best of all, MSRP is only $395, which makes it affordable even for the once- or twice-yearly vacation SCUBA diver. Heck, I want one for when I go on vacation.

Understand Your SCUBA Diver

I frequently run into one of the following situations:

1. I walk into a SCUBA shop and get no service for up to five minutes. I won’t buy gear there.
2. I walk into a SCUBA Shop and get bombarded by a pushy salesperson who puts down all of the gear I own and the items I was considering. I won’t buy gear there.

The bottom line is that we need to understand our SCUBA divers needs before we can offer insight into what might be best for them.

Are you seeing a decrease in sales due to airline baggage restrictions?