How to Start a Dive Shop Business (and Actually Enjoy It): Tools, Tips & a Secret Weapon Called Jack AI

What You’ll Be Doing (Besides Being on the Water)

Owning a dive shop is exciting, but it’s far from a non-stop beach vacation. While you’ll definitely spend time teaching and guiding dives, a large part of your time is spent running the business. Here's a deeper look at what your day-to-day might involve:

Managing Bookings

Customers will need to reserve dive trips, courses, and equipment rentals. This involves coordinating class sizes, managing gear availability, and ensuring no double-bookings — especially during peak seasons. A digital booking system helps centralize this process and reduces the time you spend organizing it manually.

Handling Payments & Inventory

Beyond selling dives, your shop might offer retail gear, air fills, and rental equipment. That means you’ll need a POS system that can track inventory, manage sales, process payments, and even schedule recurring maintenance for rental gear like BCDs and regulators.

Staff & Instructor Scheduling

As your business grows, so will your team. Coordinating staff shifts, instructor availability, and matching them with scheduled dives or training sessions is crucial — especially if you offer multiple certification levels or private courses.

Marketing Your Business Online

Getting certified is just the beginning — people need to find your shop. You’ll need a strategy to attract new divers and returning customers. That includes maintaining a presence on Google, posting dive highlights on Instagram, running promotions, and reaching out via email.

Engaging with Customers

Expect to spend time answering questions, replying to reviews, confirming bookings, and handling pre-dive and post-dive communication. The more personal your customer service, the more likely customers will return — or leave glowing reviews.

Gear Maintenance & Safety

Maintaining and inspecting dive gear isn’t optional — it’s a responsibility. From tanks to wetsuits, everything needs to meet safety standards. Keeping records of service dates and upcoming inspections will be part of your regular operations.

Staying Up-to-Date with PADI Standards

If you’re offering PADI scuba diver certification, you’ll need to stay current with training standards, insurance coverage, safety practices, and instructor renewal requirements.

Running a dive shop successfully means blending adventure with organizations, keeping one eye on the ocean and the other on logistics.

What You Need to Start a Dive Shop

Whether you're converting a passion into a career or entering the industry fresh, these are the foundational elements you'll need to get started:

PADI Certification

If you're going to teach diving or lead trips, becoming a PADI Instructor (obtaining the certificate or sometimes referred to a Diving License) is the first step. It ensures you're trained to deliver quality, safe instruction and opens the ability to certify others.

Equipment & Gear

Invest in well-maintained, high-quality gear — including regulators, tanks, BCDs, wetsuits, and dive computers. Whether you’re buying or leasing, ensure everything meets safety standards and is ready for frequent use.

A Great Location

Choose a location close to popular dive sites, ideally with easy access to the water, parking, and visibility to walk-in traffic. The right spot can significantly influence your customer flow and long-term success.

Insurance & Permits

This includes business licenses, liability insurance, boat permits (if applicable), and adherence to local environmental and safety regulations.

Digital Booking & Scheduling Tools

You’ll need software that lets customers book online, select available time slots, and manage their own reservations. Even a free scheduling app can help early on — though it’s worth upgrading to something more scalable as you grow.

Streamline Operations Like a Pro

The more organized your back end is, the more seamless your customer experience becomes. While traditional computer reservation systems are outdated and clunky, modern booking software lets you manage everything from one dashboard. Here’s how tech can support your growth and simplify day-to-day operations:

1. Online Booking System

An online booking system allows customers to reserve dives, rentals, and classes directly from your website or social media — 24/7. It reduces missed opportunities and helps prevent overbooking or scheduling conflicts.

Look for a system that:

• Sends automated confirmations and reminders
• Lets customers manage their own bookings
• Syncs with your calendar and availability
• Tracks customer history (certifications, gear sizes, past trips)

2. Smart POS with Inventory Management

An advanced POS does more than take payments. It can:

• Track sales and rental equipment
• Alert you when stock is low
• Record maintenance logs for gear
• Handle multi-channel payments (in-store, online, mobile)

For dive shops renting out gear, a POS that can flag when a tank needs inspection or when a regulator was last serviced can help avoid safety lapses.

3. Marketing & Social Media Tools

You’ll want to stay top-of-mind with your audience. That means:

• Regularly posting dive photos, class availability, and testimonials
• Running email campaigns for promotions or returning customers
• Creating blog content or dive reports for SEO
• Responding quickly to messages and reviews

Social media is powerful, but managing it consistently can be a full-time job. Later on, AI or automation tools can help (we’ll touch on this in a bit).

4. A Website That Works as Hard as You Do

A well-structured website acts as your 24/7 salesperson. It should:

• Show your services and dive packages clearly
• Allow customers to book online
• Be mobile-friendly and fast
• Be optimized for search (think “scuba diver certification in [your town]”)

It also helps build trust — especially if it includes reviews, staff bios, and safety info.

Meet PADI Boost Powered By Guidesly Pro: Built for Dive Shops Like Yours

PADI Boost is an all-in-one business platform designed specifically for dive shop owners and instructors. Whether you're just starting out or looking to scale, it provides everything you need to run your business smoothly — all in one place.

With PADI Boost, you get:

• A professionally built website, tailored to your brand and dive location
• An integrated online booking system so customers can book dives, classes, and gear anytime
• A powerful POS system to manage payments, inventory, rentals, and certifications
• Marketing tools to attract new divers and retain loyal customers
• Customer communication tools for reviews, emails, and updates
• Reporting features to help you stay on top of business performance

It’s everything you need to go from managing chaos to running a smooth, customer-focused dive business.

What really sets PADI Boost apart is Jack AI 

Jack AI is designed to take all the time-consuming admin and marketing tasks off your hands, so you can spend more time doing what you love — diving.

Here’s what Jack AI can do:

• It takes trip information, location, water conditions and photos and videos of the trip and create a dive report and curated social media posts hashtags and the best images and videos. These are then with a single tap is published across the website and social accounts
• Create content that matches your tone and brand, so your voice stays consistent

Imagine leading an epic dive, and by the time you’re back on shore, Jack has already posted the highlights on Instagram, updated your website with a detailed trip report for the day. No copy-pasting. No late-night content writing. Just more time for the water, your team, and your customers.

Dive In Without Drowning in Admin

You didn’t start this business to get buried in spreadsheets, bookings, and social media captions. You started it to connect people with the ocean, run an unforgettable dive shop, and build a lifestyle around what you love.

PADI Boost, with Jack AI powered by Guidesly can help you stay in the water while the business runs smoothly in the background. It’s not just about running a dive shop — it’s about creating a sustainable, enjoyable business that grows with you.

Ready to Dive In?

From your first PADI scuba diver certification course to becoming the go-to dive shop in your region, PADI Boost and Jack AI powered by Guidesly Pro give you the tools to grow, streamline, and thrive.

Let the platform handle the business — so you can get back to the reef, the boat, and the smiles of happy divers.

Explore PADI Boost and Jack AI at and take your dive shop from startup to standout.