DIA – The 25-Year-Old Start-up

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Gene Muchanski

Dive Industry Association, Inc.
A 25-Year-Old Start-up
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

This April, the Dive Industry Association will celebrate its 25th Anniversary.  WOW.  Where has the time gone?  It has been my honor and privilege to study and work with some of the greatest companies in the global diving industry.  As a Dive Industry Professional, my greatest joy has been to spend my time researching our industry and consulting with some of the best people and companies in the global diving community.

Being an Industry Planner in the Diving Industry is not a career path for the faint of heart.  It takes a person who has a passion for diving, business, and people.  It’s our love for diving that compels us to learn as much about the activity as possible and put that education to use as often as we can. Every dive is a new experience, and any seasoned diver knows that the more experience we get, the better at diving we become.

Business is the same way. You have to have a passion for it.  A formal business education in a business discipline like Marketing will pay dividends you can’t possibly comprehend fully at the beginning of your diving career.  And that’s just the beginning.  Getting your business degree qualifies you as an apprentice or an intern.  It’s only through a lifetime of learning where you will master the techniques that will make you worthy of the degree you hold.  Continual professional development in business is critical for Dive Industry Professionals working in the Global Diving Business Network.  It’s imperative that we stay current with business tools and technologies that make our businesses competitive and sustainable.  In the business world, we need to keep up with the constant changes in products, markets, communications, and consumer behavior.

To be successful in the diving industry, especially as an Industry Planner, you have to have a passion for, and genuinely like people.  Serving the needs of the divers in the global diving community is why we are doing what we do.  Training agencies create diving courses that make diving as safe and enjoyable as possible.  Their continuing educational programs and professional development conferences build on their integrity and safety.  Diving equipment companies design and produce the safest equipment imaginable for underwater exploration and recreation.  Retail Dive Centers work relentlessly to teach people how to dive, outfit them with the correct diving equipment, take them diving, and keep them active in the global diving community.  The industry’s main focus is for the safety and recreational enjoyment of divers worldwide.

Having a passion for diving, business, and people goes deeper than the present moment.  Industry Planners need to be students of the industry.  Knowing what has worked for us in the past 80 years and what has not is important.  Having a vision for the future of the diving industry is critical in the global planning process.  Knowing where the industry has been, where it is now, and where it is we all would like to go is the quest we are undertaking.  The challenges, as we have found out in the past 25 years is that it takes time, money, and manpower to create and implement a workable plan of action that is capable of achieving our goals and objectives.  I believe we are at that tipping point right now.

Creating a plan for the future success of an industry is similar to creating a plan that makes a good company a great company. To me, it’s like putting together a puzzle.  You have to have an image of what the outcome looks like, before you begin.  You have to understand, or in many cases create the pieces of the puzzle that will end up in the final version.  Then you have to align the pieces in proper order so that each piece integrates with the other pieces in the finished product.  At some point in the process, planners will begin to see the progress well enough to believe that the final outcome is going to be achieved.  That’s the point I believe the Global Diving Industry is at right now.

Twenty-five years ago, the Dive Industry Association was created to “Build a Better Industry.”   The diving industry at the time was fragmented.  Industry sales were flat.  Annual numbers of initial certifications were declining.  The number of retail outlets that specialized in diving was declining rapidly.  Suppliers and vendors were operating their businesses and following their own agendas as if nothing was changing in the global economy.  While the diving industry was declining, or remaining “flat” at best, two major socio-economic changes were taking place.  Technology was advancing at an alarming pace and consumer behavior was going through a historical make-over.

People in the diving industry are not known for being early adapters.  It would be more correct to classify industry professionals as being late adapters, or slow to adapt.   We polled the businesses in the diving industry at the time and found out that a good number of diving businesses were in favor of a new Trade Association that would work with them to build a better industry.  In April 2001 we incorporated the Dive Industry Association and created the byline, Building a Better Industry, One Member at a Time.

In 2002, our Association conducted an industry-wide survey of the Retail Dive Stores in the U.S.   We asked about their organizational structure, their profit centers in equipment, training, and travel, and their marketing efforts.  We also inquired about their 5 biggest needs in the diving industry.  The data we received helped us to formulate a strategic plan to work with the retail stakeholder group and create a plan of action to address their needs.   We followed up on the retail survey by polling the diving equipment sales reps.  The results of this survey helped us to understand important issues in the industry’s supply chain.  At that point we were able to work on the components of our vision that needed to be initiated.  It was time to align the pieces of the puzzle and lay out a strategic plan that the industry could participate in and benefit from.

Working in a recreational based industry has its own unique challenges and opportunities.  Understanding the industry takes time and casual observers rarely pay attention to your work because to them, it doesn’t look like you are making any progress in solving their problems.  The same thing goes for research and strategic planning.  These are time consuming endeavors, and they are non-revenue generating by nature.  Building a vision to better your business or your industry is part science and part art.  Over the years we have been able to identify and work with the global diving community to determine their needs and create a global diving business network that meets their needs.

When our association was founded, we understandably began to focus on the trade aspects of the diving industry.  As a Trade Association we communicated with diving equipment manufacturers, sales reps, retail dive stores, training agencies, and diving businesses in the travel industry.  Ninety-eight percent (98%) of our membership came from these groups.  We developed our marketing campaigns to include direct mail, electronic mail, print media, and face-to-face marketing at shows & events to promote our members and their companies.  Our focus was on the sale of diving equipment and service, training, travel, and lifestyle products that were the main components of the supply chain.  We built an incredible database of the diving industry trade and exhibited at more trade and consumer shows than any other similar organizations in our industry.  Our membership saw the value in the services we provided, and we were delighted to have such a high annual renewal rate and loyal members.

As our marketing reach and frequency increased, so did our industry knowledge and effectiveness.  We realized that only having a good command of the supply chain from producer to wholesale buyer (dive stores) limited our market penetration and participation.  We increased our focus to include Dive Industry Professionals in our calculus.  Dive Industry Professionals include those of us who work part time or full time in the industry.  While Dive Industry Professionals don’t normally join our association as individual members, they are the people who work in the businesses we promote.  Our immediate focus changed from targeting businesses to developing business relationships with the people who own or work in businesses that specialize in diving and adventure travel.

The Dive Industry Association grew at a respectable pace for a number of years, growing steadily until the covid pandemic hit.  The diving industry came to an almost all-stop shortly after the Our World Underwater Show in 2019.  The next few years were devastating for the entire diving industry and the economic recovery that followed was slow and painful.  Many of the dive shows, both trade and consumer, cancelled their events.  Sales Reps were not calling on their accounts, and I don’t know how many scuba instructors were still teaching diving during the pandemic lock-down.  Our Association used that time wisely to bring on all of the Microsoft and Adobe software programs and training courses.  We switched our marketing from in person and print to digital formats.  We were able to increase our reach and frequency of our weekly press release service – Weekly News.   We were able to turn our association newsletter into a trade magazine, The Dive Industry Professional, and be able to create, publish, and distribute it to the entire global diving community free of charge. The ability to create and publish our Trade Directory & Buyers Guide in-house saved us thousands of dollars and allowed us to offer it to the global diving community at no cost.  Now, every buyer of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products can have their own up-to-date Buyers Guide that features our member suppliers.

As the pandemic began to wind down, the diving industry began a slow and painful recovery.  I still don’t believe that the industry has fully recovered but what I am sure of is that it has changed forever.  The industry lost a number of diving businesses, including some consumer dive shows.  The retail industry has changed dramatically, and consumer behavior has undergone a permanent change in how they shop and purchase products.  The Dive Industry Association has taken up that challenge and added certified divers to our marketing campaign focus.    After all, the reason we are in the trade business is because our trade partners hire Dive Industry Professionals, and sell their programs, products, and services to the entire global diving community.

In the last two years, we have continued our strategic growth agenda by adopting a five-point growth strategy that I have written about in the last few issues of The Dive Industry Professional.   We will continue to implement this format to achieve our goals and objectives:  1) Awareness  2) Education  3) Planning  4) Execution  5) Measure & Analyze.  As Industry Planners, we are looking at Industry Challenges that need to be addressed.  We will choose Actionable Items that can achieve our Desired Outcomes.  We will create Key Results to measure our progress at achieving our Objectives.

The good news is that our new strategy is working.  Quite well in fact.  This past DEMA Show was the best DEMA Show in my 43 years of exhibiting.  Last week we exhibited at Surf Expo’s 50th year anniversary Trade Show.  It too was the best Surf Expo I have exhibited at.  Is it the economy, the industry, the events, or our strategy?  I don’t know.  It may be a combination of all four.  As a result, we’ve added more new members and recaptured more former members than ever before.  Our annual renewal rate remains high, and we recently acquired some of the biggest names in the diving industry.  Our message of working with our business partners and Dive Industry Professionals to reach the six million certified divers in the world who buy diving programs, products, and services is resonating well with the global diving community.

After twenty-five years of studying, researching, planning, achieving, succeeding, growing, and building a better industry, I believe we are at the tipping point of becoming an overnight success.

The purpose of our Association is still to Build a Better Industry.  Our Mission is still to bring buyers and sellers together.  Our strategy is to be more inclusive in our marketing approach and to be as flexible as necessary to interpret the buying signals we get from diving consumers, so that we can support our members more effectively. Our philosophy is that if an industry has 8,000 businesses in it, its Trade Association should have 8,000 members.  Not 100.  Not 1,000.  All 8,000.  Regardless of who your customers are.  Regardless of which trade shows you exhibit at.  Regardless of how you conduct your marketing campaigns.  The best time to apply for membership is now.

Become a Member of our Global Diving Business Network: Annual Membership in the Dive Industry Association is $125 and includes placement in a number of Trade Directories and websites.  Our organization uses websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are becoming part of a network that works on your behalf to bring buyers and sellers together for the benefit and growth of the Global Diving Community.  Download a Membership Application today.

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Exhibiting at Surf Expo

Posted on January 5, 2026 by Gene Muchanski

Exhibiting at Surf Expo
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

As a Dive Industry Professional you might want to ask, “Why is Dive Industry Foundation exhibiting at Surf Expo?”  The answer is simple.  The Surf Expo is a Trade Show that specializes in watersports and watersports related products.  In her book, Trade Show In A Day, Rhonda Abrams of The Planning Shop said, “At a trade show or expo, the primary action takes place on the exhibit hall floor.  Attendees are there to visit booths, and all non-exhibit activities are secondary.”  We exhibit to identify and meet with watersport product exhibitors and the thousands of qualified retail buyers who attend.  At a trade show, attendees are there to make purchases for their business.  Trade Shows are order-writing shows.

The Dive Industry Foundation is a non-profit, tax deductible, educational and charitable foundation.  Our mission is “Promoting Economic Development in Watersports.”  The foundation conducts primary diving industry research, consults with dive businesses on business, marketing, and strategic planning, maintains the DIVE LOCAL website, and exhibits at trade and consumer dive shows.   As a research and educational foundation, our mission is to facilitate the movement of goods and services between buyers and sellers in the global diving community.

The Surf Expo is owned and operated by Emerald X, LLC.  January is Surf Expo’s 50th Year Anniversary.  Surf Expo has always been known as the active lifestyle expo filled with watersports and board sports hardware, soft wear, and apparel vendors.  Surf Expo has been very innovative in showcasing their exhibiting categories that have included Surf, Skate, Wake, Paddle, Dive, Boutique, Shoreline Outdoor, Resort, Souvenir, Swim, Footwear, and Coastal Gift & Décor.

Surf Expo introduced a Dive Category at their September 2011 Expo. Their 2011 Exhibitor Guide stated their focus for introducing a Dive category.  “Dive – Surf Expo announces its introduction of a new product category this September – Dive.  The category launch will focus on snorkel, swim, freedive and spearfishing; recreational diving products that encompass a strong, growing market for surf, resort and watersports shops everywhere.”  Introducing exhibitors from the diving community to the Surf Expo was a great move forward, although I do not believe the industry fully took advantage of the opportunity.  At that time, snorkeling equipment was perceived to be a product line that was only sold in sporting goods stores and the equipment vendors were reluctant to exhibit their professional scuba equipment lines and their sporting goods line at the same show.  Their rationality was that retail buyers who attended Surf Expo were only interested in their sporting goods line and not their scuba pro-dive lines.  Times have changed.  Wholesale buyers have changed.

The global diving industry has changed considerably in the last 15 years.  While there has been an increase in the number of diving instructors teaching classes, there has been a decline in the annual number of newly certified divers.  The travel habits of divers have changed in the global diving community.  There is less local scuba diving activity and more scuba diving, snorkeling, and freediving activity happening at dive resorts worldwide.

Retailing in the global diving community has also undergone significant changes.  There are less dive stores that specialize in scuba diving-only but more retail operations that sell scuba diving, snorkeling, freediving, and spearfishing equipment.  Our research has indicated that the difference in perception of what is technical diving equipment, pro-dive equipment, sporting goods equipment, and recreational toys is evolving every year, in the minds of the consumer.  Consumers in the 21st Century are purchasing their diving, diving related, and watersports products from dive stores, surf shops, fishing supply stores, boating supply retailers, watersports retailers, resort destination gift shops, sporting goods stores, big box retailers, and the internet.  Buyers from each of these location types are looking for guidance in choosing the best venue to order their merchandise from.  We are here to help them do just that.

As a Trade Association, our mission is to coordinate the movement of goods and services in the industry’s channel of distribution by bringing buyers and sellers together.  We consult with diving equipment and apparel suppliers to help them identify the best venues for exhibiting their products to qualified wholesale buyers.  We work with the wholesale-retail trade to identify which venues are more likely to showcase the programs, products, and services they purchase for resale.   We offer our services as Industry Buyer Relations Managers to the buyers and sellers in our Global Diving Community.

Surf Expo is conducted in January and September every year.  The venue is the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.  One of the largest conference centers in the world.  Orlando has fabulous support from Hotels, Restaurants, and Entertainment Centers.  The area is served by Orlando International Airport and is within driving distance to at least 25% of the dive stores in the United States.  Florida accounts for 25% of the dive stores which means that it represents a sizeable portion of our industry’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the United States.  Surf Expo is focused on being an all-inclusive Watersports Trade Show.  There is considerable space to conduct sales meetings and seminars for exhibitors and buyers.  The expo is only three days long and qualified retail buyers can register for free.  The Surf Expo is conducted by Emerald Expositions.  Surf has six Sales Category Managers to help you select the best booth space for your company needs.  Their Buyer Relations Staff works with exhibitors to connect with registered buyers that attend the shows.  Surf’s Marketing, Operations, Accounting, and Show Director Staff do everything they can to make your Trade Show Experience as seamless and prosperous as possible.

The September Expo is the perfect time of year for a buying Trade Show.  Qualified Retail Buyers from Florida and the Caribbean attend the expo to purchase inventory for the Christmas Holiday Season.  Retail Buyers from the diving community are looking for all types of diving equipment and are getting more serious about carrying apparel at their stores.  Watersport Retailers are increasingly more interested in carrying diving equipment, freediving gear, spearfishing products, and diving related apparel.  We think that exhibiting at and attending Surf Expo is the perfect way for exhibitors to increase their number of retailer customers, and for qualified retail buyers to add new vendors and product lines to your store.  It is a WIN-WIN for both buyers and sellers.

The Dive Industry Association and Dive Industry Foundation are committed to bringing buyers and sellers together to grow the Global Diving Community.  We are actively working with Shows & Events Organizers to bring a trade component to their events, shows, expos, and conferences.  We have taken it upon ourselves to be the Buyer Relations Professionals for the Dive Retail Network and their Vendors and Suppliers.  Please contact us if you need more information about exhibiting at or attending Surf Expo.  We will put you in contact with the proper Surf Expo Staff.

The Dive Industry Foundation relies on generous donations from Dive Industry Professionals like you.  Please support our research today.  For more information about the Dive Industry Foundation, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director.  Email: gene@diveindustry.org  Web: www.diveindustry.org

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Editorial – December 2025

Posted on December 17, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Customer Perception vs Your Definition
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

They say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  So are perceptions.  As a Dive Industry Professional, you might think it is important to spend a considerable amount of time thinking about who you are as an industry professional and how your business is defined, so that you can communicate that idea to your potential customers, in hopes of getting them to see your business as you do.   That concept may have had some degree of validity to it back in the economic eras of the past, but I don’t think it applies as much in the 21st century.  I believe that today’s consumers are more interested in what you can do for them, rather than who you are or how you see yourself.  What you can do for your customer is more important than how you define yourself.

The age of consumerism took a new direction after World War II.  The industrial age that began in the 1900’s changed from a war-time economy to the great post-war economic boom of consumerism.  The economic focus had been on how programs, products, and services were made.  NAICS codes were developed to define industries and what specific industries made.  As the age of consumerism took hold of the economy, the economic world view shifted from how things were made to how things were sold.  Sellers of products defined themselves as wholesalers, retailers, catalog showrooms, mail order houses, and the newly created concept – suburban shopping malls.  The insatiable appetite for goods and services put consumers in the driver’s seat of the economy and market focus shifted from manufacturing to retailing.  Considering the fact that retailing is part of the supply side of the economy, and the demand side, a significant paradigm shift in supply side / demand side economics had not yet taken place.  I wonder if Historians will record this stage of global economics as the turning point?

This is the era that many of us in the global diving community are familiar with and in some respects, still cling to.  Specialty manufacturers strategically focused on selling their products to specialty retail stores such as sporting goods stores, dive stores, surf shops, boating supply stores, and fishing tackle stores. That is how resellers defined themselves back then, and the practice continued for many years to follow.   If you have been in the diving industry since the 70’s or 80’s you have seen the shift from sporting goods stores to dive shops, to dive centers, to adventure sports centers.  You may have also seen the shift from brick-and-mortar stores, to mail order sales, to internet selling.  Forty years ago, there were over 2,400 dive stores in the United States.  Today there is less than 900.

The number of sellers in any given market is proportionate to the number of buyers that rely on their goods and services.  As the number of buyers decrease, so does the number of suppliers.  The retail industry has historically been the ultimate link between the buyers and sellers of the global economy.  They are the undisputed connection of supply side and demand side economics.  It is time in our industry’s history for the retail industry to make a paradigm shift and take the lead as the major stakeholder group of the Global Diving Community.  As members of the Global Diving Business Network, Dive Retailers are the bridge that connects buyers and sellers of diving equipment, dive training, dive travel, and diving related lifestyle products.  Being both buyers and sellers in the Industry Channel of Distribution, retailers are in a unique position of strength and leadership.  They are in constant contact with the consuming public on a daily basis and should be the stakeholder group that understands consumers the best.  Their knowledge of current consumer behavior can propel their stakeholder group to prominence in the industry.

Dive Retailers, by now, should have figured out that the consuming public has taken the predominant role in the global economy.  Consumers today are more educated than they have ever been, and they know how to do their marketing research.  They know what they want, and they have developed new purchasing skills that are more compatible with their 21st Century lifestyle.   The best thing that retailers can do today is to become experts in consumer behavior.

The art and science of marketing is about moving products from conception to consumption, through channels of distribution.  The process doesn’t start with manufacturing anymore.  It begins with marketing.  Marketing is involved in product development and relies on its understanding and connection with the consumer.  As finished products work their way through the channels of distribution, it is up to marketing to know how, when, and where, the consumers will make their purchasing decisions.

Understanding customer perception is how Marketing Professionals can be successful in the distribution and sale of programs, products, and services.  Manufacturers and Retailers have historically defined who they are and set up channels of distribution accordingly.  They make decisions based on their assumptions of how their customers perceive their products and how their customers make their purchasing decisions.  The actual results could be anything from success to total failure.  It all depends on how aligned your corporate definition is to your customers’ perception.

There are many examples of ongoing conflict of perception vs definition in the diving industry.  Much of this conflict has become more apparent since the global pandemic that had a devastating effect on our economy, but the underlining causes have been in our industry for many years.  The pandemic changed the way consumers think about products and how they purchase them.  Perception and definition differences are present in manufacturing, distribution, retailing, advertising, and marketing.  Especially in trade show exhibiting.

Let’s take the example of the production, distribution, and sale of masks, fins, and snorkel.  Some producers define them snorkeling equipment, while others label them as scuba diving equipment.  Would you be surprised if I told you there is a considerable market for them as sporting goods equipment, gift shop merchandise, and pool and water toys.  If you were distributing these items, would you sell them in dive stores, sporting goods stores, free diving stores, boat supply stores, fishing and tackle shops, pool supply stores, or resort gift shops?  If you were purchasing these items for resale in your business, would you write orders at a dive show, surf show, boat show, outdoor show, or home improvement show?

Maybe it is time to stop trying to narrowly define ourselves and start telling our customers what we do for them.  If they believe that we can fulfill their needs, it really doesn’t matter how they label us.  We could be their dive shop, watersports center, sporting goods store, or outdoor adventure outfitter.  The important thing is to know is how our products can meet our customers’ needs.

Become a Member of our Global Diving Business Network: Annual Membership in the Dive Industry Association is $125 and includes placement in a number of Trade Directories and websites.  Our organization uses websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are becoming part of a network that works actively on your behalf to bring buyers and sellers together for the benefit and growth of the Global Diving Community.  Download a Membership Application today.

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director, Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net

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Editorial – November 2025

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Living & Working by Default
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

The word Default has two definitions.  The first one has always been “a failure to do something you agreed to do.”  As when you default on a loan payment.  Since the computer age began, Default took on a whole new meaning.  A default is now a pre-selected option that is adopted by a computer or other mechanism, when no alternative is specified by the user.  That means if you decide to do nothing, the computer software will decide for you.  So often in life, and at work, we take no action on an item, and we accept and live with the consequences of the default action that takes place.  Are you living your life that way?  The better question for the industry to ask is, Are you running your business like that?

Dive Industry Professionals who work in the Global Diving Business Network can make a significant difference for their companies and their professional careers.  While not all workers are entrepreneurs, we can teach industry professionals how to think entrepreneurially.  At a university I worked with, we started to teach future business executives how to think like entrepreneurs and we called it Intraprenuership. 

An entrepreneur in the diving industry has a responsibility for the success of their company.  Many successful Dive Industry Professionals get into a sector of the diving industry that they are passionate about, can make a good living at, and feel they can become the best in the industry at.  That passion is the rationale for designing a course of action that brings their USP (unique selling proposition) from Conception to Consumption.

There are many ways to run a business, and it depends on a few different scenarios that the business is organized around.  A major difference in business management is whether the company is run by its founder entrepreneur or an executive management employee.  Businesses that are run by their founders are lead by the passion and drive of their owners and tend to be result action oriented.  Companies run by hired executive management tend to be focused on bringing value to its owners, board members, or shareholders.  Regardless of which group you identify with, the two variables that separate you from the average worker are your passion and drive.

Dive Industry Professionals who have the passion for their work in the diving industry and have the drive to strive to be the best in the global diving business network tend to be action and results oriented.  Action-oriented people don’t sit back and accept default outcomes for their labor.  They create and implement actionable items that have a reasonable probability of achieving positive outcomes to their planned objectives.  They measure the key results of their objectives for effectiveness to see if their actionable items did in fact achieve their objectives as planned.  A true Dive Industry Professional does not stop working on their goals and objectives until they are completely achieved.

The business of diving is simply filling a need that exists in the global diving community.  If you look at your business as an entity that solves a problem or fills a need, you are on the right track.  If you view yourself as being consumer-centric instead of self-centered, you have just successfully defined the second reason for success in running a business.

The most unsuccessful people in the diving industry, who have failed at successfully running their own businesses or careers are the ones who are self-centered.  They learned the hard way that the business of diving is not about their talent or the features and benefits of their programs, products, and services.  The Business of Diving is about filling the needs of your customers with the programs, and products, and services that are created to accomplish that.

Becoming customer-centric is a process.  It is not something that comes automatically to the creators or sellers of diving equipment, dive training, dive travel, or lifestyle products.  The components you have to learn and apply are 1) Awareness, 2) Education, 3) Planning, 4) Action, 5) Analyzing.  When you adopt a 5-point process to running your business, you are living by design instead of living by default. 

Living by Design: The secret to being a successful Dive Industry Professional is living by design instead of living by default.  It’s all about living offensively instead of acting and reacting defensively.  Creating a business that solves problems for consumers is creating a business that fills the needs of its customers.  The secret to creating programs, products, and services that fills needs is mastering the art of conquering cognitive dissonance.

Ideal Self vs Real Self: Whether you are looking to improve yourself or your business, the process is the same.  Picture your business as it is.  Now imagine your business the way you want it to be.  The difference between the two images is your cognitive dissonance.  Your job as a Dive Industry Professional is to change your current business to the way you want it to be.  This change will not take place automatically, through default.  The change has to come from a series of actionable items (inputs) that achieve the changes (outcomes).

Five-Point Process: The first step in instituting change is awareness.  You have to become aware of your current situation.  Where does your company stand now?  Every company should have a current situational analysis on file.  Many don’t.  Your company should also have a current market analysis, a global industry analysis, and a world economic analysis.  I know, that is a lot to ask businesses in the diving industry to have.

Next in the process to achieving outcomes is education.  Once we are aware of a situation that commands our attention, we need to educate ourselves as to the circumstances that surround the subject.  The planning process is an important part of our education and a precursor to any action that may be required.  Planning is the intelligent way to solve a problem or to change a situation.  Proper planning prevents poor results.  A good plan evaluates all of your available options and chooses the ones that will give you the best results for the least investment of your time, money, and manpower.

A well-designed plan will create a step-by-step plan of action that can be implemented when the time is right.  A good Action Plan will contain your final objective, and supported by key results that have to be achieved in order to successfully complete the objective.

The Missing Chapter to Problem Solving: Implementing your Action Plan is not the end of your problem-solving work.  Successful business managers know that their Key Results have to be monitored and measured to make sure they are completed as scheduled.  If your planned actionable items are not achieving your key results, they have to be adjusted in order to have a successful outcome.

Living and working in the global diving business network is all about achieving results by completing your planned goals and objectives. Adopting a 5-point sales and marketing strategy will put you heads and shoulders above your competitors and give your business the competitive edge it needs to grow your business and capture a sustainable market share.

Become a Member of our Global Diving Business Network: Annual Membership in the Dive Industry Association is $125 and includes placement in a number of Trade Directories and websites.  Our organization uses websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are becoming part of a network that works actively on your behalf to bring buyers and sellers together for the benefit and growth of the Global Diving Community.  Download a Membership Application today.

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director, Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net  

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Dive Instructors – U.S.

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

DIVE LOCAL
U.S. Dive Instructors
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Diving Instructors play a vital role in the development of the global diving community.  As qualified scuba diving instructors, they have introduced millions of people to the joys of underwater activities.  The necessity for safe scuba diving training is written into our industry’s DNA.   Without diving instructors, there would not be a diving industry.

Diving Instructors are one of the four pillars of their local diving communities.  The four pillars being dive stores, dive boats, dive clubs, and dive instructors.  These industry stakeholder groups are the ones responsible for building, growing, and maintaining not only their local diving community, but the global diving community itself.  These full-time, part-time, and volunteer Dive Industry Professionals teach people how to dive, sell and service diving equipment, take people diving, and keep them active in our recreation.  Dive Instructors are the rainmakers of our industry.  They create the market for the programs, products, and services that are created, distributed, sold, and serviced in the diving industry.

Definition of a Diving Instructor: Before we start our global search for instructors who are actively teaching diving, let’s first define the parameters. A Diving Instructor is a person who has been certified or licensed to teach people how to dive.  When the diving industry first began, people who had diving experience started to teach their friends and family how to dive.  These people were for the most part, former Navy Divers, Lifeguards, Spearfishermen, and Free Divers.  They were self-appointed skin-diving instructors, and they wanted to share their activity with others.  Thankfully, early in our industry’s history, these skin-diving enthusiasts realized the need to develop an educational curriculum for teaching and certifying people how to scuba dive safely.  Of course, to do that, they had to develop a curriculum to teach divers how to become scuba diving instructors.

Over the years, a number of Training Agencies were formed to teach and license scuba diving instructors.  I believe we called them Certification Agencies back then.  At last count, there are over 40 training agencies in the United States.  Their affiliated instructors teach and certify a plethora of scuba diving and diving related courses and the practice has become an industry standard.  This industry stakeholder group has grown its course offering from basic scuba diving to advanced scuba diving, specialty courses, technical diving, rebreather courses, rescue training, divemaster programs, instructor courses, and beyond.  They have even included courses in swimming, lifesavings, first aid, water safety, free diving, and mermaiding.

Diving Instructors Are Important: For safety purposes sake, becoming a certified diving instructor has become a prerequisite for being able to teach diving programs.  It is considered an industry standard practice, and that’s a good thing.  For the over six million certified scuba divers in the world, obtaining a diving certification from a certified, licensed diving instructor has been their door opener to our industry.  And it is all because of the Diving Instructors.

Types of Diving Instructors: I have held a diving instructor certification for over 52 years.  In that time, I have taught many types of diving programs, in different types of training facilities, environments, and situations, and have certified my students through different training agencies.  I realize and appreciate the diversity in the kinds of dive training a person can receive, and the differences in the agendas that various training centers and facilities have.  To many in our industry, these differences have created an enormous amount of channel friction and a contentious source of debate and disagreement.  That is certainly a true statement, and I have to say that this type of behavior does not reflect well on our fellow dive industry professionals or their affiliate vendors.  On the other hand, I see this as an opportunity to appreciate the diversity and the differences in dive training focus and the industry’s need to integrate them under a much larger industry umbrella.

Dive Instructors & Stakeholder Groups: Dive Instructors need to have their own stakeholder group to understand their role in the diving industry and advance in their profession.  I am not suggesting that dive instructors band together and start another certification agency.  Far from that.  Training Agencies fall under their own stakeholder group and the purpose for which they were formed is critical to the function and stability of the global diving industry.  Training Agencies develop Dive Training Professionals.  They develop the course content that is used to teach and certify instructor candidates enrolled in their instructor training programs.  Training Agencies develop the curriculum, standards, and procedures their instructors use to teach safe diving courses.  They govern their own associations and maintain their own corporate cultures by conducting periodic professional development programs in dive education and training.

Dive Instructors need to participate in professional development training that focuses on the business of diving issues.  Managing a career as a Dive Industry Business Professional is the other half of being a Dive Industry Training Professional.   Business training and the Business of Diving issues are different for the different categories of job descriptions that diving instructors work under.  Within the Dive Instructor sector of the diving industry, we have instructors who teach at a dive store.  Others teach in an academic setting like a high school, college or university.  Many instructors teach independently, while others are paid employees of a dive business that hires Instructors and Divemasters.  Teaching diving at a dive resort or on a liveaboard is different than working for a contracted Diving Operator who has multiple clients from several hotels and resorts.

As mentioned before, professional business development programs would not be the same for an instructor working in a dive store as for an instructor teaching diving at a college or university.  Sure, they may have many business training needs in common, but a good professional development program should have tailor-made content for the specific audience.

Building a Global Diving Community: Teaching entry level scuba diving programs and certifying them as scuba divers does not guarantee that the Global Diving Community will grow or even continue.  There are four things that need to happen to ensure the creation, growth, and sustainability of our industry.  Dive Industry Professionals employed in the Global Diving Business Network must unanimously make this our industry message to the general public:

  1. Learn to Dive
  2. Buy Your Gear
  3. Go Diving
  4. Stay Active

As we mentioned before, not all Diving Instructors have the same goals and objectives for teaching diving.  That is a topic for future discussion. Our purpose for bringing it to your attention here is that we feel the industry needs to bring awareness to the topic, discuss its pros and cons, think about possible and probable solutions to the problems, choose actionable items that will address this conundrum, implement an action plan, measure the key results, and evaluate our progress.

Creating Active Divers: While teaching diving may be the goal and ultimate objective for some diving instructors, our goal as Dive Industry Professionals should be to create active divers.  Active divers give sustainability to the Global Diving Industry. I believe this is a much higher goal than just trying to create more divers or more business.  Our purpose as recreational professionals should be to create a recreational activity that people could enjoy for a lifetime.  Scuba Diving is an enjoyable activity that can be socially shared with friends and family, and it often leads to new activities and adventures.  As Dive Industry Professionals we can teach people how to dive so they have a good experience and want to continue doing it.  As Diving Equipment Advisors we should continually educate and update ourselves on the proper use and purchase of diving equipment and accessories.  New divers look to us for advice on the purchase or rental options that are available to certified divers.  We know from experience that certified divers who purchase their own equipment will use it more often.  As Dive Travel Specialists we are in a position to share our dive and adventure travel experience with new divers.  We can make recommendations to visit dive resorts and liveaboards we have experience with.  We can also put together a group of divers and escort them to our favorite dive destinations.  To keep divers active in the Global Diving Community, we can recommend membership in our local dive club or put together a social event at the Regional Dive Show in our Local Diving Community.  There are so many things we can do after teaching someone to dive.  It all starts with taking our dive instructing passion to the next level.

Dive Instructor Listing: Based on the successes we have had with our directory listings for dive stores, dive boats, and dive clubs, we are building a directory listing for dive instructors on our DIVE LOCAL website.  Check out Dive Instructors – U.S. on our DIVE LOCAL website.  Of course, this is going to be one of the most difficult directories in our industry to create and maintain but we are willing to start the process.

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net

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Editorial – October 2025

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

The Business of Diving
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Every business has, or should have, their own unique selling proposition.  Some people call it a unique selling point.  Probably because they can’t spell proposition.  A unique selling proposition is a short statement that defines your company’s uniqueness.  It’s what makes you different or better than your competitors.  If you haven’t given USPs very much thought for your company, do yourself a favor and scan the youtube channel for some interesting videos on USPs.

Our industry trade magazine, The Dive Industry Professional has been around for twenty-five years.  First as a newsletter and then as a magazine in the last four years.  Our Unique Selling Proposition is that we are dedicated to bringing Business of Diving issues to Dive Industry Professionals across the globe.  To give relevance to our articles about the business of diving issues, we often have to include content from the vast array of diving issues from the global diving community.  Hence, our readership tends to be very diversified in terms of their diving industry education, experience, and interests.

The global diving community is an integrated organizational matrix of every type of diving and diving related discipline with the common denominator being diving activity, which grew out of the original skin-diving activities of the 1950’s.  To be clear, we are not talking about or including board diving or skydiving activities.  What we now define as the global diving community includes diving activities such as skin diving, free diving, scuba diving, CCR diving, surface-supplies diving, tech diving, and mermaiding.  It’s also interesting to note the high degree of interest this group has in swimming, general watermanship, health and safety activities, marine and environmental issues, as well as adventure travel and exploration.

Definition of Diving: Diving is an activity.  Divers participate in it as a hobby, profession, job skill, occupational requirement, or as a business.  Diving is used in the recreational, commercial, military, academic, scientific, environmental, or public service sectors of the economy.  The way we employ diving activity in these different situations can be on a personal level, a trade level, or in the conduct of business.

Definition of The Business of Diving: When we discuss business of diving issues, we are referring to the manufacturing, distributing, buying, and selling of diving equipment, training programs, travel opportunities, and lifestyle products.  The two major players in this equation are buyers and sellers.  The buyers make up the Global Diving Community.  They are the market for diving and diving related goods and services.  They are the people we serve.  The sellers make up what we call the Global Diving Business Network.  They create the programs, products, and services the market needs to actively engage in diving and diving related activities.  If you work in the Global Diving Business Network, you can function as a business owner, employee, or private contractor.  Of course, private contractors are really business owners in their own right, but they perform for and are paid by other business owners.  Technical point.

Managing a Global Diving Business Network: Our Purpose for creating the Dive Industry Association was to build a better, more sustainable industry capable of further growth and advancement.  An industry that is unified, professional, progressive, innovative, integrated, profitable, and attractive to talented professionals as a suitable career opportunity.  We are the stewards of the Global Diving Community’s future resources and reputation.  Our Mission is to bring Buyers and Sellers together for mutual benefit.  Our ultimate Objective is to build, service, and grow a sustainable global diving community.  To achieve our goals and objectives for a sustainable global diving community we need to research, analyze, work with, and promote the Global Diving Business Network that produces, distributes, sells, and services the diving and diving related programs, products, and services, divers need.

Managing an industry is just like running a business.  Someone has to work in the business, doing what the business does, and someone has to work on the business to ensure it stays in business.  It’s the same with an industry.  Specifically, the diving industry.  While equipment manufacturers are building diving equipment, training agencies are creating training programs, and travel businesses are operating dive resorts, the industry needs a trade association helping its members navigate the world’s economic landscape.  That is the Business of Diving.

The Business of Diving is not about diving.  It’s about running a business.  If you want to go diving a lot, get a job and pay for your diving.  You’ll probably go to more exciting dive destinations and do a lot more diving.  With the exception of dive instructors who work at exotic dive resorts or liveaboards, too many Dive Industry Professionals are diving the same location every weekend.  I know.  I’ll show you my log book from the 1980’s when I was teaching openwater classes at Corona del Mar, California, every weekend, for years.  That wasn’t diving – that was work.  I didn’t make a thousand dives.  I made one dive, a thousand times!  Now, after many years of doing it wrong, we are focusing on the business of diving issues by showing diving instructors and store owners how to balance their activities and implement smart hiring practices so they can get the job done and make some time to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Working 80 hours a week in a dive shop and not having the energy or time to go on fun dives is not the answer.  Neither is closing the shop so you can hang a sign on the door saying – GONE DIVING.  There is a better way and the better way is to take the business of diving issues more seriously.  I do want to caution Dive Industry Professionals about advice they get from dive business consultants who are often just salespeople for some kind of marketing tool or technology.  Business professionals use business tools to get their business work done quicker, more efficiently, and more professionally.  It’s about running your business better – not so you’ll have more time to go diving.  Capturing your customer’s sales history and contact information is absolutely the right thing to do, but if you don’t take the time to use the data to generate more business, it does you no good at all.  The business of diving issue is not just about creating a customer list.  More importantly, it’s about how to effectively use one.

Better run businesses do a better job at serving their customers.  You don’t go into the diving business so you can go diving more.  You go into the diving business so other people can go diving more.  It’s all about making the activity safer and more enjoyable for your customers.  If it also helps you, that’s great too, but it should not be your main goal.

Become a Member of our Global Diving Business Network: Annual Membership in the Dive Industry Association is $125 and includes placement in a number of Trade Directories and websites.  Our organization uses websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are becoming part of a network that works actively on your behalf to bring buyers and sellers together for the benefit and growth of the Global Diving Community.  Download a Membership Application today.

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director, Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net

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Adobe Express for SCUBA Branding

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

The Non-Designer’s Playbook for Scuba Branding That Converts

Photo via Adobe Stock

Whether you’re running shore dives in the Keys or training rescue divers in Puget Sound, your brand has a job to do long before someone zips up a wetsuit. Most small dive shops underplay this — until they realize people are skipping their business not because of price, but because their marketing looks like it was built in 2008. The good news? You don’t need a design degree or an agency retainer. With Adobe Express, you can build a shop that looks like the pros, without sinking time or money.

Your Logo Is Your Liability

Most divers don’t read your certifications — they judge your brand in five seconds flat. If your visuals feel outdated, cluttered, or off-kilter, they assume your operation is too. Perception is performance. That’s why strong branding builds trust — it lets customers feel like they’re in expert hands before they’ve even booked. Adobe Express gives you an easy way to unify your visuals across your website, printed forms, storefront, and Instagram. No guesswork. No “good enough” graphics from that friend who dabbles in Photoshop. Just clear, sharp branding that makes people take you seriously.

Don’t Let Sloppy Files Kill Your Cred

Your shop logo shouldn’t have six versions floating around — or worse, no real version at all. This is where Adobe Express becomes less a design tool and more a rescue rig. It lets you create locked templates that your whole team can access. That means your logo stays where it belongs, your color palette doesn’t drift, and nobody stretches your font into oblivion. Features like lock elements to enforce consistency give you total control without micromanaging every single post, flyer, or promo someone tries to make on your behalf.

Reuse the Ocean of Content You Already Have

You don’t need to keep cranking out fresh content. You already have it — it’s just buried in old phone galleries and forgotten Dropbox folders. That group photo from last summer’s wreck dive? Turn it into a fall promo. That GoPro clip of a dolphin encounter? Slice it into an Instagram Reel. Adobe Express lets you leverage old images into fresh content without complex editing. Crop, resize, slap on a quote or tip — done. You’re not just being efficient; you’re giving that one perfect shot the five lives it deserves.

One Design. All Platforms. No Drama.

Here’s the real pain: you make one great visual… and then need to resize it for your homepage, your Facebook cover, your email banner, and that weird little ad spot on the local tourism site. Adobe Express handles all of that without you needing to start from scratch each time. Resize, remix, repurpose — in one workflow. That matters because dive shop marketing strategies include social media, chamber spotlights, booking engines, and more. Each one has different dimensions, and the faster you adapt, the more you stay visible.

No Budget? No Staff? No Excuse.

Most small shops think real design requires real money. It doesn’t. What you need is software that doesn’t talk down to you and doesn’t bury everything behind a paywall. Adobe Express gets you polished designs without the complexity. You don’t need to understand layers or vectors — just drag, drop, and go. This is how thousands of small businesses design content without graphic expertise and still look like they hired a creative team. You’re not cheating — you’re just finally using a tool that respects your time.

Look Consistent Even When You’re Not

One week, you’re promoting a couples snorkel tour. The next, it’s a deep tech dive. Your offers are all over the place — but your branding shouldn’t be. Customers need to feel like every flyer, post, and promo still belongs to you. That kind of consistency isn’t just about looking clean — it’s about being recognizable in a crowded feed. Adobe Express helps you balance brand recognition and flexibility so each campaign adapts to your message while sticking to your visual identity. You evolve. The trust stays locked in.

What You Hand Out Still Matters

Digital gets all the attention, but paper still closes the deal. When someone asks what you do on the pier, in the bar, or at a chamber mixer, you need to be ready. Adobe Express makes it easy to manage your business card design flow without hiring a print shop. Just pick a template, match it to your brand, add your info, and print locally. It takes ten minutes and looks like you paid for it. This stuff still matters — because the one card that survives a wallet usually leads to a real booking.

Your diving skills are solid. Your trips are tight. But if your brand looks like a last-minute PowerPoint, you’re bleeding credibility — and customers. Adobe Express helps you flip that script. You don’t need to master design. You just need to stop looking like you ignore it. Whether it’s your latest underwater package or your new certification track, your visuals should carry the same weight as your gear: reliable, professional, and built for repeat use. With the right tools, even the smallest dive shop can market like a big-time operator — and still keep both feet in the sand.

Join the Dive Industry Association and stay seen where it counts — above and below the surface.

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The Argument for a September Launch

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Argument for a September Launch
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

We opened the September Issue with our Editorial, Preparing for the New Season.  We discussed seasons and seasonality curves to some extent, and we reminded our readers that different stakeholder groups in the diving industry follow different new season beginning dates.  Some prefer January, some like September, and some think that November is OK with them.  The conundrum is that there are multiple major stakeholder groups in the industry and there are good reasons to start the new season on different dates.  Each start-up date benefits a different stakeholder group.  But that logic only makes sense if you look at this problem from a supplier’s point of view!  The viewpoint of the vender as I like to call it. 

Allow me to introduce a viewpoint from the demand side of the industry’s channel of distribution.  The BUYERS side of the equation.  The side with the checkbooks.  The ones who buy the stuff we sell.  I know I have your attention now.  As a Trade Association, we represent, advise, and serve the supply side of the diving industry.  We do that for the benefit of the demand side of the recreational diving industry.  We are the bridge that connects buyers and sellers of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products.  We are the watch-dog group of the industry’s channels of distribution.  We are the consulting organization that helps diving business entrepreneurs acquire, maintain, and increase market penetration, market share, and the ever-elusive competitive edge.  We do our best to see that both buyers and sellers in the global diving industry have their needs met.

Definition of a Season: A season in the recreational diving industry is a specific period of time when diving activity or diving related sales are at its highest.  That of course, depends on whether you are a buyer or a seller.  Different geographical areas across the globe have different seasons.  Seasons are also based on weather, national holidays, or public activity such as the local school calendar.

Diving Shows & Events: Diving shows and events do not dictate the beginning or end of a season.  They reflect it.  There are three types of shows and events that were created to take advantage of local, national, and international seasonality curves.  They are dive shows, trade shows, and professional development conferences.  Their purpose, function, and agenda are obviously not apparent to everyone in the global diving community.  Let’s review. 

Dive Shows are regional events that cater to local divers who are buyers and end-users of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products.  Dive shows consist of an exhibit hall with vendor booths that are designed to inform and educate, using a show and tell concept model.  Regional dive shows usually have seminars and workshops that educate or entertain the local diving community.  Dive shows ae usually conducted during the peak of the diving season, because that is when interest in scuba diving and adventure travel is the highest.

Trade Shows are industry events that focus on the wholesale buying and selling of diving equipment, training, travel, and lifestyle products which enable the wholesale buyers to order products, in order to be ready for the beginning of the next season.  Vendor booths in the exhibit hall should be set up to showcase products for sale and have adequate floor space for vendors to write orders with their wholesale customers.  Seminars and workshops are kept to a minimum so as not to reduce floor time attendance in the exhibit hall.  The purpose of trade shows is to introduce new products and write orders for the vendors. The reason qualified retail buyers attend trade shows is to see new products and order sufficient inventory to be ready for the next new season. 

The best example of trade show design for the watersports industry is the Surf Expo in Orlando, Florida.  Qualified Retail Buyers attend their trade shows for free.  The September Expo prepares the retail buyers for the Fall and Winter Seasons and the Christmas Holiday.  The January Expo allows retail buyers to order for the Spring and Summer Seasons.  So, when we look at the rational for when to launch the next season for our industry, we have to take in consideration that our wholesale launch is a few months prior to the retail beginning of a new season.

Professional Development Conferences: There is nothing more important to Dive Industry Professionals than professional development.  Continuing education is a must-have process for anyone employed in the diving equipment, dive training, and dive travel sectors.  Diving equipment manufacturers conduct annual training in new product design, and equipment maintenance and repair.  Initial training and annual updates are a significant, and time-consuming process, for the Diving Equipment Specialist.  Continuing education and annual training updates are the foundation to the qualification and professional integrity of Dive Training Professionals.  The Dive Travel sector needs continuing education courses and annual updates for their dive destinations. The best places to conduct education and training for Dive Travel Specialists are Regional Dive Shows and Professional Development Conferences.  The best time for an annual conference would be when it is convenient for the dive equipment, training, and travel stakeholder groups.  The time of year when activity and revenues are at the lowest point of the year.  Many in the industry currently favor mid-October through mid-November for an annual professional development conference. 

September is the Best Month: Diving equipment manufacturers have historically used a September launch.  Good marketers plan six months ahead of current day operations.  Most planning and prep-work is completed during the dog-days of summer. Sales meetings are conducted in August, and sales calls begin the day after Labor Day.  Retail buyers are in prime position to purchase new inventory after depleting their summer stock.  While the retail teaching staff is busy with the new fall classes, the store’s retail buyers can slip away for a few days to place their orders for the Christmas Holiday.

The Travel industry uses a September launch quite effectively.   During their slow time in September, Caribbean Buyers attend Surf Expo to place their apparel orders for the fall.  Taking care of diving equipment and travel orders in a September wholesale launch frees the global diving business network up for a larger and more comprehensive Professional Development Conference in mid-October or early November.  Introducing next year’s equipment lines in September and updating our Teaching Professionals in October allows the global diving business network to take full advantage of the fall and holiday shopping season, allows everyone to enjoy the holidays, and prepares the Retail Business Sector to be ready to introduce the new year and new dive season to the buying public.  It’s a WIN-WIN-WIN for everyone.

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director, Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net  

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DIVE LOCAL – U.S. Dive Boats

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

DIVE LOCAL
U.S. Dive Boats
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Dive Boat Operators are one of the four pillars of local diving communities.  The four pillars of most every local diving community are the dive stores, dive boats, dive clubs, and dive instructors.  These four industry stakeholder groups are the ones responsible for building a local diving community, growing it, and maintaining it.  These full-time and part-time Dive Industry Professionals teach people how to dive, sell and service diving equipment, take people diving, and keep them active in our recreation.  Dive boat operators keep divers active.   

Although dive boats are an important segment of the recreational diving industry, we don’t feel that the industry has spent a sufficient amount of time or talent developing and managing this important and often ignored, stakeholder group.  The Dive Industry Association and the Dive Industry Foundation are committing our resources of time, money, and manpower to research, organize, and manage this important industry group.  We are not saying that the global diving industry has done nothing for dive boat operators during the past 60 years.   We are just saying that the industry has not done enough.  Especially in recent years.

Acknowledgement: The first thing we want to do is acknowledge the importance of boat diving and dive boat operators.  This sector of the recreational diving industry is an important industry segment and should be considered its own stakeholder group. While we are willing to provide industry research and our organizational talents and administrative expertise, the information collected, and the data that we analyze must come from active dive boat operators, who actively work in and operate dive boat operations.  The subjects that are important to this industry sector should be the focus of this stakeholder group.

Geographical Differences: Using the DIVE LOCAL concept that we created for organizing the Global Diving Business Network, we understand that boat diving operations vary tremendously, depending on their geographical location.  Hence, the necessity of segmenting the global territories into continents, countries, islands, territories, and states is absolutely necessary. 

Boat Diving Categories: When we look at boat diving across the globe, we need to point out the specific categories we are focusing on.  We are looking into boat diving as a personal recreational activity and commercial diving operations that are set up as a business.  Another differentiation should be day boat operations versus multi-day trips.  The size of the dive boats is important to consider, as is the different licenses and training that are required, such as a 6-pack license versus a 100-ton Captain’s License.  With the help of a handful of advisors that will make up our all-volunteer Board of Advisors, I am confident we can build a good foundation for this stakeholder group.

We also want to differentiate independent dive operators from resort owned dive operations.  We believe there is a significant operational difference between the two.  We want to put Liveaboard Dive Boats in a special category of its own so that we can research and manage the difference between a day boat operation with that of a muti-day charter.

Historical Dive Boat References: There are a number of dive media references we have available in our Diving Industry Business Reference Library that we use, to see what the global diving industry has done in the past for the dive operator’s stakeholder group.  One of the best media resources for dive boats and dive operators was Florida Scuba News.  In the 1990’s, the magazine listed their annual Florida Dive Operator Directory in every January issue.  According to our research, Florida Scuba News, and then Scuba News produced published 12 issues per year in 26 annual volumes from 1984 – 2009.  Our non-profit diving business research library has a total of 38 issues and are looking to complete our collection.

Eastern Dive Boat Association: The Eastern Dive Boat Association was founded in the Bronx, New York in 1975.  According to its association brochure, its mission statement is:  “The Eastern Dive Boat Association is an organization of dive boat owners, operators and members dedicated to providing cooperation among all dive boats, while promoting education, recreation, self-reliance, and responsibility in SCUBA diving.  Paramount to the accomplishment of its mission is the concurrent obligation to promote the conservation of the oceans, and assist in uncovering and preserving Earth’s history found in the world beneath its waters.”  In a recent phone call to the association, its President stated they were still active as association, although their membership is slowly declining and their website may not be as current as it should be.

Dive Boat Trade Associations: There are two trade associations that were instrumental in working with dive operators.  They were KADO – Keys Association of Dive Operators, Inc (1982) and FADO – Florida Association of Dive Operators, Inc (1993-2005).  We are hoping to interview a few of the pioneers who were active in those associations and record their accomplishments to our industry, and learn from them for future use.

Florida Dive Boat Listing: Based on the success we had with our U.S. Dive Store Directory on our DIVE LOCAL website, we started listing Florida Dive Boats  on its Florida page.  As we did with the dive stores, we began by listing known dive boats in Florida.  Unfortunately, not all dive boats are registered businesses and many of them do not have a current website or active mailing address.  We will continue our research of the dive boats that are active in the local diving community and list them by business names, city, state, and website address.  If one of our listings does not have a website url, we will delete it from our directory.  Our recommendation to dive stores that own and operate a dive boat, would be to create a separate page for their boat and use the page url to advertise their boat charter service to their customers.

U.S. Boat Diving Directory:  Once we complete our Florida Boat Diving Directory, we will expand or directory to include all the dive boats for charter in the United States.  After that, we go worldwide.  Our listings are free to Dive Boat Operators.  It’s our way of bringing more business to the Global Diving Business Network.

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director of the Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net  Web: www.diveindustry.net   Ask about our Dive Industry Marketing & Consulting Services.

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Editorial – September 2025

Posted on September 2, 2025 by Gene Muchanski

Preparing for the New Season
 by Gene Muchanski, Editor
The Dive Industry Professional

Every season has a beginning and an end.  When your season begins and ends is up to you.  In the global diving community, seasonality curves may differ, based on your geographic location, the stakeholder group you are associated with, or your sales and activity history.  Your season could begin or end on a calendar basis, coincide with a social event like the beginning of the school year, or be aligned with an industry trade show, like Surf Expo or the DEMA Show. 

Regardless of when your season begins and ends, your beginning should be signaled as a fresh start for both your company and your customers.  Starting fresh gives us the optimistic feeling that things are going to be better in the new season.  It’s a brand-new day and a new beginning kind of feeling.  I learned a valuable life lesson while reading a book called Holy Moments by Matthew Kelly.  I learned that every day is a new beginning and according to Kelly, “What matters most is what you do next.”   I took that advice to heart and now apply it to every new beginning, regardless of whether it’s a new day, week, month, or year.  Applying it to the beginning of every new season gives me a great psychological heads-up when I am starting a new season.

So, how do you get ready for the new season?  When we (my brother and I) started a new school year, my parents made sure we were physically ready and had seen our doctor, dentist, and barber.  Then we went shopping for new school clothes and school supplies.  When we arrived at school, we got our new books and study materials.  Today, getting ready for the new season is going to be a lot more involved than what it was as a child.  Maybe this is a good time to create a check list or a to-do list.  You may also want to create a not-to-do list!

Start with your business tools: Business is conducted by using business tools and marketing technologies.  Needless to say, our business tools get old, stale, and lose some of the speed and productivity they once had.  If we haven’t used a tool or technology frequently enough in the past season, they may or may not be operating at 100% capacity.  Now is the time to check them.  You should have listed all of your business tools and technologies in a company asset file.  I have them listed in our company’s “Playbook.”  Make sure you have the company and its contact information and any account numbers and user-names and passwords that belong to you.  It’s a good idea to log-in the date you first purchased the tool or program. 

Hardware & Software: Businesses are like people.  The older they get, the more baggage they have.  Baggage, unfortunately, gets worn, torn, and tattered with time.  Some of it becomes less effective or even useless with age.    Much like a boat, the less it gets used, the more maintenance it needs.  All of the hardware you use in operating your business should be checked.  That includes computers, monitors, printers, desk phones, mobile phones, iPads, and all of your electronic devices and accessories.  Make sure all of your software is current and in proper working order.  Is it the latest version or no more than one version less than the latest?  Much of the computer programs and mobile apps are offered in a monthly lease program.  This ensures that we are always using the most current software version available.  But you still have to check that you are familiar with and understand the current version.

Internet Accounts:  Internet accounts are something that business owners need to stay on top of.  Internet companies come and go, and in this day and age can be almost impossible to keep up with.  You don’t have to use all the programs that are available to business owners. You only need to use the ones that are a benefit to you.   As an example, if you use Facebook, make sure that your profile or business page is up-to-date and that you are posting to it often.  The last thing you want is a facebook page that hasn’t been used in two years.  Look at your account and try to see it through the eyes of your customer base.  Will your facebook page make you look good or bad?  If you haven’t posted to it in years, would people think your company is out of business?  The same thing goes for all of the other marketing and social media accounts.  If your not using it to its full extent, you may rethink using it at all.

Industry Contacts and Databases:  Before you do any business in the new season, make sure your contact databases are current.  Check to make sure the Key People in your supply chain are still your immediate contacts and that you have their current contact information.  People in the diving industry do switch companies, retire, and die.  Make sure you still know who’s who.  Most importantly, make sure your CRM database is current.  Your current customer list should be up-to-date.  If it isn’t, you have not been doing a good job of staying in touch with them.  Next, look over your former customer list and make any adjustments that are necessary.  Hold off on new customer contacts for now.  You’ll have plenty of time for that as the new season gets underway.

Give your Daily Operations a Once-Over:  Now that you have checked your tools and your contacts, it’s time to dry-run your daily operations.  This is your pre-season dress rehearsal.  Do a clean sweep of your physical location and make sure that the entire sales process of order entry, receiving, storing, merchandising, sales, shipping, and inventory control are in place and working as designed for peak performance.

Last But Not Least:  Before you start a new year or a new season, make sure you have closed the books on last year’s plans and have set new strategic goals and objective for the coming year.  But I am confident that if you have read this article this far and have prepared for the new season as recommended in the above text, you have already dealt with the pain and pleasure of strategically planning your new year.  If you have – You are my type of Dive Industry Professional.  If you have not – Please use our contact information below and call for an initial free consultation.  Have a great next season, and a successful one at that.

Become a Member of our Global Diving Business Network: Annual Membership in the Dive Industry Association is $125 and includes placement in a number of Trade Directories and websites.  Our organization uses websites and directories in advertising and marketing campaigns to refer business to our members.  By joining our network, you are becoming part of a network that works actively on your behalf to bring buyers and sellers together for the benefit and growth of the Global Diving Community.  Download a Membership Application today.

For more information about the Global Diving Business Network, contact Gene Muchanski, Executive Director, Dive Industry Association, 2294 Botanica Circle, West Melbourne, FL 32904.  Phone: 321-914-3778.  Email: gene@diveindustry.net 
                                           Web: www.diveindustry.net  

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