Fostering Collaboration: How Dive Shops Can Work Together for Growth
Rich Synowiec Mar 05, 2025
MUNISING, MI – Last month, divers and instructors from around the world gathered on the frozen waters of Lake Superior for an unforgettable Ice Diving Weekend in Munising, Michigan. Hosted annually by Divers Incorporated, this event brings together multiple dive shops, instructors, and students for a hands-on experience in cold-water specialized diving, teamwork, and cross-shop collaboration.
At its core, this weekend isn’t just about cutting holes in the ice and dropping into frigid water—it’s about the power of dive shop partnerships, the importance of sharing resources, and the mutual benefits of working together to expand opportunities for divers.
For dive shops looking to grow, events like this showcase why collaboration, rather than competition, is the key to success.
Building Growth Through Collaboration
>Many dive shops operate independently, focusing only on their own customers, courses, and trips. While there’s nothing wrong with that approach, a shop’s growth is often limited by its own reach. By partnering with other dive centers and instructors, shops can offer broader opportunities, reach more divers, and provide training beyond what they can do alone.
The Munising Ice Diving Weekend is a perfect example of this in action. Shops working together for this event benefit in several ways:
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Shared Expertise – A high-quality course with specialized instructors ensures students receive well-rounded training, exposing them to different teaching styles and safety techniques.
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Expanded Student Opportunities – A single shop might not have enough demand for an ice diving course every year, but by partnering with multiple shops, instructors can combine student rosters and make the event possible.
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Stronger Industry Relationships – When dive professionals collaborate, they build long-term connections that strengthen their own businesses and the industry as a whole.
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Increased Engagement & Retention – The more divers stay engaged, the more they seek additional training, purchase new gear, and participate in group trips.
Shops that offer unique training opportunities—like ice diving, cold-water training, or rebreather courses—stand out in a crowded market. When multiple shops work together to host these programs, they boost their credibility without taking on all the logistics alone.
Breaking the Competition Myth: Why Collaboration Strengthens, Not Weakens, Your Dive Shop
Many dive shops worry that partnering with others might cause them to "lose" customers. In reality, the more opportunities you provide your divers, the more likely they are to stay active—and loyal to your shop.
Diving is a lifestyle, not just a certification course, and divers who stay engaged are more likely to continue training, invest in equipment, and bring their friends into the sport. A shop that collaborates on events, training, or trips gives divers more reasons to stay involved, benefiting both businesses and the diving industry as a whole.
A diver who continues their education, joins local events, and travels for specialty dives is more engaged—and an engaged diver is a returning customer.
Exploring Local Dive Opportunities for Collaboration
One of the biggest missed opportunities in the dive industry is that many dive shops don’t recognize the unique draw of their own local dive areas. While some shops focus primarily on travel and warm-water destinations, divers are often looking for accessible, engaging, and exciting dive sites closer to home.
Instead of assuming local diving is “just a training site” or “not interesting enough”, dive shops should consider:
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What makes your local site unique? Do you have an inland lake with historic artifacts? A flooded quarry with submerged vehicles or wreckage? A river drift dive that offers a completely different experience than an open-water site?
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Are there seasonal dive opportunities? Ice diving, kelp forests, lake thermoclines, or unique marine life migrations can provide an experience that divers in other areas might not have access to.
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Does your shop have access to wrecks, caves, or geological formations? Freshwater wreck diving in the Great Lakes, limestone caverns in the Southeast, or high-altitude diving in the Rockies could all be enticing experiences for divers outside your immediate region.
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Are there underutilized training sites? Many dive sites that seem basic to a local diver might be ideal for instructors looking for controlled conditions to teach advanced courses.
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Could your site host a specialty event? Whether it’s a wreck exploration weekend, a river fossil hunt, or a night diving biofluorescence tour, offering a collaborative event can attract divers from multiple regions.
White Star Quarry, for example, serves as an accessible, well-maintained dive location for Midwest divers—but it also provides Nitrox, Trimix, Oxygen, and Argon fills that many dive centers don’t have access to. That alone makes it a valuable resource for dive professionals looking to run technical courses or specialty training events.
By identifying what makes a local dive site special, dive centers can position themselves as a regional hub that not only serves their own divers but attracts other dive shops looking for new experiences for their students.
Beyond Events: Everyday Ways Dive Shops Can Support Each Other
Collaboration doesn’t have to stop at events and training. Dive shops can strengthen their business by working together in ways such as:
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Cross-promoting each other’s trips & training programs
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Sharing staff resources for large classes (e.g., if one shop needs an extra instructor for a big Open Water course)
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Coordinating group equipment orders to get better pricing on gear purchases
Simple partnerships like these create stronger relationships between dive centers and help keep the diving industry thriving.
An Open Invitation: Ice Diving Weekend 2026, Ice Hole Festival & More Opportunities to Collaborate
For dive centers and instructors looking for new ways to engage their students and expand their winter training opportunities, the Ice Hole Festival in Iowa (last weekend in January) is an excellent collaboration opportunity, allowing dive shops to introduce divers to cold-water diving in an exciting and controlled setting.
One month later, the Munising Ice Diving Weekend (last weekend in February in Munising, Michigan) offers another opportunity for shops to work together, co-train students, and provide specialized winter diving experiences.
But collaboration isn’t limited to winter events. There are plenty of opportunities throughout the year for dive shops to team up and strengthen their dive communities.
Participation in global and regional events, specialty workshops, and cross-shop training programs can provide a boost in engagement for both instructors and students alike. Whether it’s taking part in a well-known industry event like PADI Women’s Dive Day, hosting a seasonal event to bring divers together for fun and skills practice, or organizing joint travel to a unique dive destination, collaboration allows dive shops to strengthen their communities while giving divers more reasons to stay engaged in the sport.
Final Thoughts
The future of dive shops isn’t competition—it’s collaboration. When dive centers work together, everyone benefits: students have more training opportunities, instructors expand their reach, and dive businesses become stronger.
Many dive shops already have unique resources right in their backyard—the challenge is recognizing their value and making those sites available to other dive professionals who want to expand their offerings.
For more information about the Munising Ice Diving Weekend, Ice Hole Festival, collaboration opportunities, or to discuss partnerships for future events, contact Divers Incorporated.
