by Randy Piper
Poseidon Adventures is your one stop Scuba adventure store. We can start you on a life altering experience that will really get you pumped about the underwater world. Did you know that close to 70% of the earth’s surface is water? That’s why, from outer space, the pictures make this world look like a big blue marble.
We will not only teach you to dive, but sell you the right gear you need for any kind of diving that you aspire to. We also rent gear, service equipment, set up trips for people, take pictures and video so you have memories of the great time you had as well as doing social activities at the local lakes.
We’re in this sport full time, for the long haul, not part time. We have the knowledge to inform you about getting the greatest value, for the money you have to spend. You can enter this sport for under $300.00 and meet new friends that will be buddies for life. Poseidon will be there to assist you with all of your diving needs.
We didn’t start Poseidon Adventures to sell gear, we started it because of our passion for diving and we continue to pass that enthusiasm on to others. This is something new for people and we want them to have the best time they can, while learning good habits and diving safely.
Because this is such an equipment intensive sport and Scuba equipment changes on a regular basis, you need to find out whether the equipment you’ll be using in class is state-of-the-art. It certainly is at Poseidon Adventures. Just one of the many reasons a dive store is the place smart shoppers look to start diving.
What does the equipment look like?
a. Does it look new and is it neatly arranged?
Do the regulators look in good shape?
a. Do they have alternate air sources?
b. Do they have depth and pressure gauges on them?
Are the buoyancy compensation devices weight integrated?
a. That will hold the unit in the correct place, while you can easily breathe on the surface and a weight belt is not dragging you down.
Is the wetsuit easy to get on?
a. There are wetsuits out today that are far superior to those in the past and allow a great fit for the average and not so average person.
Is all of the equipment furnished for your beginning class?
a. Poseidon supplies all the equipment (including your wetsuit).
b. Boots (health issue) are the only item you need to supply for your class.
Can you see the pool?
a. Is it on site and approved by the city?
b. Does the facility have regular working hours?
c. Can you try out the equipment in the pool, before you’re ready to buy?
If you’re taking a class from an Independent Instructor, the chance of them having up to date equipment is very poor. We have a state-of-the-art diving facility, with a classroom and pool on site. It makes things run much smoother than trying to teach at Starbucks, or carrying all your equipment over to a local pool. The city health inspector checks Poseidon’s pool regularly and we control the temperature at 86 degrees, in addition to having crystal clear visibility.
This is such a visual sport that you need a mask that fits well and feels comfortable on your face. When you purchase equipment from us and it doesn’t fit, you can return it for something else, before you take that once in a lifetime trip. That’s one of the huge advantages if your mask leaks in class. Poseidon will just trade it out for you. That will help make the class easier for both you and your instructor.
At Poseidon Adventures, we won’t rush you through a class. If you’re not ready, or don’t feel comfortable, you’re more than welcome to join another class. If you have questions about your class, we’re available to answer them 10-6 Monday through Friday and 10-5 on Saturday. If you want to enter a private class, that option is also available. We’re not going to take you to the lake, until you’ve shown that you’ve learned the material. We have more than one pool session, so you can reflect upon the skills you previously learned and get a chance to master some you might have felt uncomfortable with previously. The pool session isn’t extended so you won’t miss lunch, get tired and cold (remember 86 degrees), like you might elsewhere. PADI has certain guidelines that must be met before you can become a certified diver and we want you to feel at ease with those skills, before you do your certification dives. We’ll give you breaks during your class and there are lots of places to eat lunch on Brookside around noon. The pool is performance based, but we’ll work with you to get it right. It’s your class; it’s your time.
Having been in business for 25 years, Poseidon has the best staff available. When you are looking for an Instructor, look for someone reputable, reliable and ethical. Look for a Poseidon Adventures Scuba Instructor. Others may say they owned and worked at dive facilities previously, but there are a myriad of reasons why those people don’t work with the premier facility in the area, Poseidon Adventures.
An assembly line class is an unacceptable way to instruct people, since each person is different. We have never taught that way. Randy Piper has been teaching Scuba since 1979 and PADI Instructors since 1984. He has also taught the people, who teach people to dive today around the area, using the PADI system. He has never shortcut classes, by doing the pool in one day and skipping lunch in the process. He has never used Instructors to just teach one skill to students. Anyone in a situation like that needs to demand their money back, because the learning process in your class will be compromised. If anyone admits to having taught that way, that person should have quit teaching at that facility before they finished teaching their first class.
Each of our Instructors has trained hundreds of divers and knows what it’s like when you first get involved with a new activity. We want you to feel comfortable and will do everything in our power to make it happen. We want people to enjoy the beauty and serenity of the underwater world. We are divers who teach. We love to dive and we want to share that thrill with everyone else.