The time is approaching when, throughout the East and Midwest, local training sites are shutting down for the season. Unfortunately, to best meet your customers’ needs, you must be able to offer open-water training year-round.
This is why dive centers and instructors from as far away as New England and the Midwest make Blue Grotto their number one choice for diver training during colder months. If you’ve yet discover the Blue Grotto difference, here are ten reasons why you should.
1 We have it all
Blue Grotto can provide visiting instructors with everything they need to conduct any aspect of diver training.
In addition to a great open-water training site, we have both a classroom and teaching pool. Students can suit up either at one of our nine pavilions or on the large deck overlooking the water. And this is just the beginning.
2 Unparalleled facilities
It’s not just the fact Blue Grotto can provide these facilities for instructors, but the quality of the facilities themselves. For example:
- Our large, heated bathhouses have warm showers both inside and out.
- Our nine pavilions have picnic tables and wetsuit drying racks with hangers.
- All parking areas and walkways are paved with gravel so that visitors needn’t deal with mud or dirt.
On top of this, we go out of our way to ensure everything is clean and well-maintained.
3 No seasonal flooding
About once every decade, we may experience a few weeks of unusually high water. Other than that, however, Blue Grotto is not subject to the seasonal flooding that makes so many north-central Florida dive sites unusable.
Additionally, you needn’t worry about wind, waves or seasickness. This area is also largely immune to the tropical storms that can affect other parts of the state.
Water temperatures are a constant 22° C/72° F year-round. There are no thermoclines. A full-length, 5 mm wetsuit is all most divers need to be comfortable. And, being Florida, the last thing you need to worry about is ice and snow.
4 A skill you can’t teach elsewhere
Blue Grotto is the only training site in north-central Florida where instructors can safely and easily teach giant-stride entries.
Thus, students can come away having had the opportunity to practice an important boat diving skill.
5 Dive here, stay here
You will need a place to stay while you are here. We have you covered there as well. We offer:
- Ceder-lined cabins and cottages.
- RV sites with electricity and water.
- Tent camping.
Staying here can save you from having to drive 30 to 40 minutes or more from hotels in Ocala and Gainesville.
6 Friendly critters
Not only is Blue Grotto home to several species of freshwater fish, but we also have Florida’s most diver-friendly reptile.
We are talking, of course, about Miss Virgil, our resident softshell turtle. Virgil is friendly, curious and loves to interact with visiting divers. Students find her endlessly entertaining.
7 Nothing here but divers
Blue Grotto is, first and foremost, a training site for scuba divers. It is not a party spot for the general public. We maintain a drug-free environment.
Additionally, your students will not be run over by hordes of snorkelers. We allow a limited number of snorkelers on weekdays. On weekends, we only allow snorkelers if they are part of a larger group that includes scuba divers.
8 We love instructors
Sadly, some Florida dive sites seem to treat instructors as more of an inconvenience than as valued customers. One site even goes so far as to ban scuba divers on their busiest weekends.
At Blue Grotto, instructors are our very best customers; we treat them as such. Much of what we do focuses on meeting instructors’ needs. If you can think of anything else we can do to make your experience better, let us know. We are here for you.
9 Online resources
While you are welcome to call us any time during normal business hours, you will find most of what you need online 24/7. Our brand-new website allows you and your students to:
- Watch both our diver- and instructor-orientation videos.
- Download waivers for adults and minors.
- Reserve the classroom, pool and pavilions and our cabins, cottages, RV slots and tent camping sites all online.
In total, the website will answer almost any question you might have. But if it doesn’t, you’ll find us eager to help.
10 We’re nice people
No one likes dealing with employees who are perpetually annoyed or indifferent. You won’t find that here.
We genuinely like our customers which is why we enjoy working here so much. You’ll find this reflected in how we treat people. It’s a difference you’ll find refreshing.