With the uncertainty of the future there are so many questions that are currently unanswered…

We want to answer some of the questions that we can for you. The main one we are being asked daily is:
“Will we be staying open?”

The answer to that question is that sooner or later we will be advised to close as a non essential business. However…

We have decided that in the best interests, health and wellbeing of our employees and customers, we will close Perth Scuba from 6pm today (29th March 2020) until further notice.

We know this is sudden and without notice, but we didn’t want to cause a panic rush on air fills or “last minute purchases” leading to the possibility of having a number of people in the store open to the risk of infection by people who may consider the risk of breaking self isolation worth it to get air fills for future dives when we can still provide that service in the immediate future. (read on)

We have been staying open as long as we have been able to, based on Government advice and of course for the convenience of you, our awesome customers!

We all believe that a good mental state of mind and exercise is important to everyone, especially at this time and that diving offers both of those in a safe way, and that is the reason we have struggled with the decision to close without being advised to do so.

The advice we have been getting from the Government has been changing by the hour and even whist putting this message together for you, there have been changes which have affected the way we planned to do things in this event of a complete shutdown of non-essential services.

Perth Scuba has been around for over 15 years and we are stronger than ever because of your support. After this break is over, The crew will be back on deck for all of your diving needs and requirements and rest assured, we are already planning for that day.

Please read on because whist we are going to be in hibernation as a Retail, Dive training facility, we will still be able to look after your diving needs… just in a slightly limited capacity.

Your support of these services will enable us to continue providing them while we go into “hibernation”. It will also support our staff with a small amount of work to keep them active over that time.

We’ll start with the things we can’t do before we go into the things we plan to continue to do…

BLUE DESTINY – ROTTNEST ISLAND DIVES

Effective as of Sunday the 22nd of March, all Rottnest Island Boat Dives on Blue Destiny are cancelled until further notice.

Despite the great efforts of the crew to keep Blue clean and disinfected along with taking Social Distancing measures, we are following the Government’s directive of no more than 10 people in outdoor locations. This has now changed to no more than 2 people together and they must be from the same household. *WA.gov.au advice 28th March 20.

Rottnest Island waters are also off limits (for those of you who have your own boats) due to the quarantine restriction areas released mid week.

We will definitely keep you posted when we will be going back out so keep an eye on Social Media and emails for the official first dive day when we can get back out there!!

CLUB DIVES

ALL club dives and club activities are cancelled for the foreseeable future. Instead, we’ll be posting regular suggestions for where you and your dive buddy (someone you live with already) could go diving on our Facebook page and Blog. We’ll include a dive site map, best entry and exit areas, points of interest, plus safety considerations. This way you can go diving and stay within social distancing guidelines when you and your buddy are available to dive.

ONLINE SALES

Your ongoing support is very much appreciated and is needed now more than ever. If there is anything you’ve been thinking about buying for a while, purchasing it online gives our staff work and keeps us here to support you and diving. We can still pick up the phone to discuss things (As mentioned earlier, we will have the phones set on divert) plus we have an online chat on our shop so you’ll be speaking to one of the crew if you use that for advice on gear. If there is something you can’t find, please ask our team.

We will make sure online orders are delivered as soon as possible (if in stock – within a day or two). And of course… free local delivery to your door for orders over $50… Drop and Run.

AIR FILLS

How can you get Air Fills if Perth Scuba goes into lock down?

We have a plan to make sure everyone can get air fills and can continue doing what they love to do – safely and within the current government Covid-19 regulations. Perth Scuba will be offering a Scuba Cylinder exchange, drop off and pick up service as well as home delivery hire equipment.

How does it work?

If you already own your own dive gear (Air Fills Only):

If you are planning a dive but have an empty cylinder, Perth Scuba will drop off one of our hire cylinders to your home (no contact delivery) and take away your empty cylinder.

You can go for your dive while we fill your cylinder and then we’ll collect our cylinder back the next day and drop your full one off for you ready for another dive.

The cost of doing this will be the air fills (2) + a delivery charge based on your area. There will be no charge for the hire of our cylinder, only the delivery and fill.

To arrange this, you will need to go online and book a cylinder and advise of the location for us to pick up your cylinder or if you will be home to do the exchange we will call a few minutes before we arrive so you can put your cylinder out for us to collect.

We will leave our cylinder in a safe place nominated by you.

Payment for this will be able to be done online by clicking here.

HIRE EQUIPMENT

You can hire a Scuba Unit, Full Equipment or just a Cylinder (or two) and we can provide local delivery for this too. You can book this online but in this case someone will need to be home to receive the hire equipment.

Please advise times which someone will be home to receive the hire equipment. (ie between 1pm and 6pm) so we can plan our delivery times to suit.

You will also need to advise a suitable pick up time. (ie between 1pm and 6pm) for the collection of hire equipment.

Again, we will contact you just prior to delivery & pick up so you can be there to take the equipment once our crew member drops it off. (no contact delivery) or leave it out just before one of our crew comes to collect it.. (no contact pick up).

* All hire regulators will be delivered in a sealed clear plastic bag or tub for your safety. All hire regulator mouthpieces and stages have been sprayed in Virkon- S Solution, left for 10 minutes and then soaked in a diluted Virkon-S solution for another 10 minutes before being dried and packed and sealed into the plastic bag / Tub. If your regulator comes in a sealed plastic bag, Please keep the bag to return the regulator in so the regulator is safe for our crew member to collect and so we can dispose of it correctly upon return to the store. (Bags will only get one hire gear use). Equipment supplied in a tub will be cable tied closed indicating it has been disinfected and checked for you prior to delivery and is ready to go.

Payment for this will be able to be done online by clicking here.

PERSONAL GEAR WITH HIRE

**This is not a sales ploy, but we would prefer that you have your own personal mask and snorkel for hygiene reasons. If you still choose to hire a mask and snorkel, you can be assured that the same rigorous cleaning regime goes on with our hire mask and snorkel sets as the rest of our hire equipment. If however, you decide to purchase a mask & snorkel online, we can add it to your hire equipment order and deliver it for you. (This purchase will make your delivery free of charge* Metro areas).

Full Snorkelling packages (inclusive of fins, boots, mask, snorkel, mesh bag and soft strap) are available online also and if you decide to treat yourself and purchase one, we will give you an additional $50 off any of the following sets: Cressi Frog Package, Cressi Elite Package, Scubapro Sea-Wing Package, or Scubapro Tec Jet Package. (use the code UBERSCUBA for your discount).

Remember if diving is too much effort to organise, snorkelling is a nice quick and easy way for you to get some exercise and enjoy the ocean at the same time.

EQUIPMENT SERVICING

If you have equipment that needs to be serviced, we anticipate a turn around of approximately 1 week.

We can arrange a pick up and delivery drop off service for you for this for a small additional fee. This fee can be added to your regulator service and will cost the same as the zone charges for hire equipment.

Consider purchasing anything you might need over $50 in value and we’ll deliver your purchase and pick up your service gear FREE of charge with the Perth metro area).

WHEN CAN I START USING “CYLINDER EXCHANGE” & HIRING CYLINDERS AND DIVE GEAR?

From Tuesday 1st April, you can start arranging hire equipment and cylinder exchanges by heading to our website click here

PERTH SCUBA POINTS

All online purchases made during the next 3 months will accrue double loyalty points. That means that you will earn your free stuff even faster! (offer expires 30 June 2020 unless extended due to Covid-19 restrictions).

LAY BYS & SERVICED EQUIPMENT FOR PICK UP

If we currently have your service equipment or lay-bys, arranging for their delivery can be done by calling the store 94554448 or via email. If emailing details, please include: Name, contact phone number (mobile) Service Tag number(s), address for delivery *(small charge for delivery may apply), how many items you have, and brief description of what service equipment we are holding for you. (ie cylinder, regulator, BCD). We will contact you as soon as possible to arrange the payment and delivery of your equipment. Not knowing how long we will be closed makes it difficult to give any idea how long you may be stuck without your gear if you don’t arrange it as soon as you can as we may be advised that we can’t even do what we plan to do (the contents of this message) in the near future.

Alternatively, if you call us on 9455 4448 during normal business hours (8.30am – 6.00pm), you can arrange a no contact delivery to your home within the Perth metro area over the phone. This process may still take a day or so, while we arrange for it to be scheduled for delivery.

DIVE COURSES
Due to government advice, we are unable to conduct sporting activities (diving) with 2 or more people who don’t reside at your own address. (Ha! Now you all wish you’d married an instructor!!)

We are waiting for clarification by the WA Government to see if 1 on 1 courses are included in this, however understanding this as it reads, it appears that we would not be able to offer these courses at this stage either. We will advise on this once we have a response.

We thank you for your support in these uncharted times. We have looked very hard into what we can offer to you to be able to allow you to continue doing what you love to do. With so many recreational activities no longer allowed due to Covid-19, we hope we are able to still offer you options to enjoy the outdoors (in a limited way) but to get some exercise and still enjoy what nature has to offer.

As a business, your support of any of these service options means that we can continue to keep our crew members working. We want to do that for as long as we are able to and we want to be here for you as long as possible through the rough times that no doubt lie ahead.

Thank you for being a highly valued customer of Perth Scuba and Blue Destiny and we look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in the water soon (even if it is at a distance!).

Wishing you and your families good health,

Lee, Joey, Dom & The Perth Scuba Crew