The Japanese word Kaizen has no direct equivalent in English. Among the best translations is the process of continuous improvement. It’s a principle at the heart of everything we do at Blue Grotto.
The most recent example is our brand-new floating dock. If you’ve been to the Grotto during the past two weeks, you’ve had the opportunity to experience this dock firsthand. If not, it’s something you should look forward to during your next visit.
Key features
The new dock consists of unique, interlocking High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) blocks explicitly designed for dock construction.
- Size: The new dock is significantly larger than the one it replaces, providing more room to move around.
- Stability: While all floating docks move when you step on them, you’ll discover the new dock moves a lot less.
- Durability: Unlike wood, metal, Styrofoam or fiberglass, HDPE won’t rot, rust or become waterlogged. It’s virtually maintenance-free.
- Traction: The textured surface of the dock provides greater resistance to slipping.
The best feature
Unlike the old dock, the new dock has separate stairs for entries and exits. As you face the water, you enter using the righthand stairs and exit using the left. This will help alleviate congestion, allowing divers to get in and out of the water faster.
As before, you can also use the new dock to perform giant stride entries. This allows divers to practice a valuable boat-diving skill. We are the only diver training site in north-central Florida where this is possible.
Continually improving
We will continue to add features to the new dock over time. The more divers use it, the more we will find ways to improve it. This is just how we do things.