Scuba diving as a sport has been slow at adding new divers to our niche market. There are a variety of reasons why. The stumbling blocks preventing people from becoming scuba certified includes things such as the cost, fear of marine life and seasickness. All of these myths and misperceptions can be overcome or prevented, but sometimes you need to step back and look at new ways to encourage the reluctant new diver to sample a taste of our passion for the sport of scuba diving.

For those in your family or circle of friends who are hesitant about the training, they may not realize that there are alternatives to the hurdles they list. For example, they may not be thrilled about the local training site in a cold-water lake or quarry. You could suggest a more relaxing environment where they can enjoy a vacation at an exotic location and possibly consider a dip below the surface. What about the new diver who doesn’t want an all-dive vacation but does want to spend a few days diving? Discover Scuba courses and special promotions can entice someone to try diving without making the same level of commitment that an Open Water course entails.

There are also obstacles for certified divers who would like to vacation with a companion who does not dive. Many dive liveaboards and resorts cater to scuba divers and do not offer exciting and compelling options for nondiving companions or divers seeking a vacation that offers activities and experiences besides diving.

All of the above need robust solutions if we are going to attract new dive buddies into the sport. In business, as much as you research and plan, you have to make a leap of faith that you are making sound decisions. At Aggressor Adventures, while we cater to the adventure in everyone, we excel in worldwide scuba diving adventures. We realized that if we could find a way to include potential new divers, we’d be creating a blueprint for every dive shop and dive operator that exists.

At Aggressor Adventures, we thrive on change, even at our most seasoned destinations, to ensure we stay relevant for another 40 years. We wanted to find a solution to overcome the lack of new divers in our sport. We took a leap of faith, not just for our company but for the entire dive industry, by designing and introducing the Aggressor Floating Resort. The Aggressor Floating Resort is a yacht-based vacation that can include, if you choose, scuba dives for those already certified or an introduction to scuba for those interested in trying it out. Upgrading the yachts, signature amenities and experiences only works if you have customers wanting what you are offering. At the Aggressor Floating Resort, it starts with the building blocks that all previous Aggressor destinations have honed their skills at and adds a new element of all-around adventure. For those seeking to spend more time with their nondiving partner, they can get in a couple of scuba dives in the morning while their partner enjoys some local shopping or a relaxing morning on the sundeck, pampered by our attentive staff of course, and then both can be together in the afternoon, four-wheeling in the desert.

For those looking for an introduction to scuba diving, our experienced dive instructors will spend the time to ensure a comfortable and compassionate training environment where the new diver has every opportunity to enjoy their first time breathing on a regulator, their first time floating just above a reef, and, most of all, their first time seeing the wonders of the ocean that so few will ever experience.

I am serious when I say we are doing this for the entire industry, as well as for you. Without a healthy number of new divers entering the sport, your choices of destinations and operators will be limited, and the main reason you became certified — scuba diving around the globe — is not possible. We believe that the Aggressor Floating Resort will transform not only how divers choose to take a liveaboard vacation, but also how the industry encourages growth in the sport.

Not every business decision made becomes a success story, but every business decision made becomes a learning experience that has a positive effect on future business decisions. The lesson for business owners is this: The road to change occurs only when you gather all the information you can, couple that with a good gut feeling, and head down that highway. The lesson for our guests is this: If your partner does not dive, or is reluctant to commit to even a Discover Scuba course, the Aggressor Floating Resort is a way to keep you diving while enjoying the adventures that we’ve included for both you and your nondiving companion. And you never know, maybe, possibly, potentially, they will get the scuba bug!