Posted by Kendall Raine on November 14, 2001 at 08:27:09:
In Reply to: Nitrox diving in Southern California posted by Chris on November 13, 2001 at 17:27:45:
My sense is many of the operations that have gotten into nitrox fills have done so because people at the shop, not necessarily the owner, were into it anyway and had already made the commitment to a crude fill system. I suspect this is true of Scuba Toys, Scuba Haus, Pacific Wilderness, Ocean Odyssey, OHMS and Malibu Divers. I don't know about others. Some of these shops' systems remain relatively simple while at least one developed a sophisticated nitrox entrainment platform. I don't know specifics about relative profitability, but it's probably safe to say the shops with higher nitrox-based revenue also have a greater commitment in terms of classes, equipment and clientele awareness.
If you're suggesting that it's tough to recover the cost of a $5000 investment in a blending station from pumping nitrox alone in California, it's tough to argue with that.