RETAILING Adaptive Diving in Retail: Seeing Possibilities for Your Dive Shop – by Jeff Cinciripino, JeffCinciripino.com, Former Owner of Scuba Shack, Rocky Hill, CT
We love scuba diving. We are pas- sionate about being underwater, ex- periencing freedom as we move weightlessly through this incredible environment. Diving offers us a measure of peace and tranquility from a hec-
ings lack the ramps necessary for wheelchair entry. Public transportation is a challenge. The physical and digital infra- structure many times reinforces exclusion versus inclusion. As a dive community, we like to think of ourselves as being inclusive. Adaptive diving offers an inclusion for those from the confinement and constraints of a disability. First, there
are many testimonials from adaptive divers who tell us that the freedom from gravity provides relief from pain. Being weightless enables them to expe- rience not only this relief but also gain an independence of movement and re- gain a sense of autonomy. But more importantly, adaptive scuba diving makes them scuba divers and being a part of our dive community. Included,
tic and noisy world. As dive shop owners and dive professionals, we are engaged in sharing this passion with others. We empower individuals to experience this world by equipping them with quality gear, training them to safely engage in the sport, and then taking them on trips to exotic dive destinations. And when we think
Dive Pirates Week on Cayman Brac
about our customers, we don’t normally think about individ- uals with a disability. We can, however, see the possibilities that adaptive diving provides not only to the individual with the disability but also to the dive shop. The world isn’t really designed for people with disabilities. There are many examples of this in our daily life. Many build-
not excluded! Adaptive diving can be defined as scuba activities modified to accommodate individuals with disabilities. The goal is to have these divers be as independent as possible. Adaptive diving normally incorporates adjusting training techniques that are adapted to a specific diver’s needs. For example, if a
PAGE THIRTY-FOUR | SCUBA DIVING INDUSTRY
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker