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Adler, Gainesville changed. When you lived here you probably knew Aquatic Center, Merritt's, Lloyd, Divers Supply, and Water World. Depending on when you left, you may have also known Best.
The only one still in business is Lloyd, and he's frequently closed. He will open up the shop if you call him, but he doesn't keep regular hours. The rest are long gone, water world was the last hold out. I don't think Lloyd teaches many classes anymore, so we are not talking about him.
WOW Gainesville had THAT MANY SHOPS :O I realized after I posted that Lloyd's shop was still open, but its more museum than shop... IF like you said, you can find him open. LOVE going there when I can.Quote:
Originally Posted by kensuf
Tim
EE teaches open water, I believe some staff members can teach GUE Rec 1 and some through PADI OW.Quote:
Originally Posted by twaldo
My wife took the Rec 1 course through someone who often holds classes at EE (not an employee though). The course is taught in a bp/w, uses tables, includes nitrox, covers basic rescue skills, teaches basic kicks (frog/flutter w modified versions, helicopter, and back kick), covers gas management (minimum gas to safely ascend doing all safety stops, rule of 1/3rds for ow dives where surfacing isn't ideal, etc), deploying smb, s drills, etc. There was an effort made to expose her to different entry types, shore entry, platform, and boat, although weather didn't place nice for the boat so we ended up going for a few fun dives with the instructor after class for boat experience.
Basically it's the course everyone complains they didn't get once they move to higher levels of diving...but no one wants to spend the time or money to take when they first start diving. It requires at least 40 hours of instruction, 14 dives, and it's completed in a minimum of 5 days. I can suggest it until I'm blue in the face (and I do), but it's really difficult to explain to someone who doesn't dive why they should enter that level of commitment for a hobby they have never even tried.
The only way to prevent crappy instruction is to get every agency to raise the standard. Of course, beware of doing that, as many dive shops are barely holding out as it is, and making scuba harder to get into might do them in. I see the problem, I can suggest a better way to close friends, but I couldn't begin to come up with a solution to fix the big picture.
Chris was picking on me for teaching 3rds for open water, but that was how I was taught and NEVER came close to an out of air event. EE seems to not really care about teaching open water, same goes for CC, I mean you always see the shotp who will not be named at manatee with students and EE closed the shop in Gainesville where they got majority of their Ow students. The change needs to be scuba centric, not $$$ driven therefore unlikely it will change. My ow class was several weeks and $150, not 3 days and $300. Actually was only $75 because of an employee discount the instructor gave.
The other issue is not everyone is as silt conscious as Florida divers (silt, coral) Harry posting all the meme's about kneeling and buoyancy really doesn't fit for midwestern divers and most instructors teach based on their location, not ours. Moving to Florida is what made me a better diver, not random facebook posts from neutral buoyancy turtle suggesting my buoyancy is off.
I stopped by to say hi to Lloyd a few months back when I was doing a long drive from Orl to Chicago. I kind of liked it better when he was in the old 1-bay warehouse. Sure is a nice shop now, but now he's down to sort of a 1 man operation.
I was in G-vill from '87 to '97, but seem to get back there 1-2 times a year to see family. I got OW certified at the Aquatic center, and we had Loyd's, and Water World. There was a small shop out in Cheifland for a short while, but I don't think that lasted too long.
Not really related to the original thread, but speaking of dive shops in Gainsville: When they were first exploring caves in N FL, Gainsville had the only dive shop in the area. There were no dive shops any closer to the caves. The first one in the cave area was the Branford dive center. The building it was in is gone now. It straddled one of the boat ramps in the little park in Branford, by the river. Later Dale Stone opened the Aqua Shack a little farther down the river. When Devil's Eye got popular, Dale moved to Ft White, and changed the shop name to Stonedales.
I think we left that behind several pages ago. :) but it has all be educational from my point of view so I really don't mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by FW
By the way, Thanks for the pic Jim, LOVE learning the history behind cave country.
Sorry, I haven't read all the posts here but the thread topic brings up something amusing I experienced last year and the story is worth telling. I too have noted the silliness, animosity, jealousy, bickering, and territorial attitudes which are thankfully the minority. My thought has always been that it's counterproductive and I too thought that it was a temporary problem that would run it's course and pass. Several months ago I had the honor and pleasure of visiting for a few hours in his home a gentleman who had quit cave diving many years ago. Sheck Exley was his instructor and he went on to become an instructor himself. He was very active in cave diving in what could be called the "early days." As he related stories the conversation eventually came around to the egos, infighting, and personal vendettas of those days. As I sat and listened I thought to myself, "Wow! This is exactly the same 30-40 years later! If I just substituted the names he could have been telling stories of events that happened last year! The point is that technical and cave diving attracts a certain type of personality. We know who we are and when people like this interact there is friction. Human nature does not change. The solution is to be the better person, rise above, and remember why we do this in the first place- to have fun!
You obviously have never been to Lloyd's shop. He has over 5000 sq ft of gear. Everything from open water to cave. He has cut down a little on his cave inventory but he still has anything in cave diving that you would need. He has been in Gainesville since the 80's. His hours are Wed, Thur, Fri, from 12:00 to 6:00. Saturday 10:00 to 4:00. If you need anything on any other day just give him a call and he will meet you at his shop. He reserves Monday and Tuesday to teaching. Instructor from OW to Full Cave. There is not another shop within 200 miles of Gainesville that has as much inventory. He respects the cave shops in High Springs and does not conflict his inventory to theirs. I respect that a price war is avoided and the fact that he works with the owners of the other shops is appreciated.Quote:
Originally Posted by twaldo
What have you seen at Lloyds that makes you think he is not on top of the industry? When was the last time you went into a dive shop and was offered over 300 suits to make a decision? His Lavacore inventory is to die for. The only thing I know that he does not carry is Shearwater. There are enough shops in the area that do.
I say all this to say this: Be careful what you say about someone's business when in fact is not any of your business.