Eco Dive Center's Mission

Mission Statement: Eco Dive Center is committed to helping people appreciate the life in our oceans and foster awareness of the threats facing this sensitive, globally important ecosystem by providing training, equipment, travel, and services to help forge the world's safest, most environmentally aware recreational and professional scuba divers.

Credo: Exploration, Education, Conservation

Exploration:
Many Southern Californians are unaware of the diversity of dive environments and marine life in our own waters. In fact, the giant kelp forests just off our local beaches and islands are some of the most productive ecological communities in the ocean and home to hundreds of unique plant and animal species. Our boat trips to all nine local islands visit dive sites ranging from the rich kelp forests to impressive deep-water pinnacles and rocky reefs teeming with life. Whether you're interested in weaving through the picturesque kelp, photographing colorful nudibranchs on a wall over deep water, finding lobster and moray eels in the reefs, or playing with curious baby sea lions, Eco Dive Center has a trip that will suit you. We also have regular opportunities for exciting night, beach and wreck diving. Join us for our tropical excursions to exciting destinations around the world. To help you plan your own dive adventure, our website offers convenient resources such as local dive site information, current weather and water conditions, and a dive buddy forum. To help outfit you properly for your dive adventures, our shop is stocked with Southern California's best selection of quality equipment used by the same dive professionals who teach our classes, run our boat trips, and staff the shop. Come visit us for all of your equipment needs including sales, rental, service, and air fills with available enriched air Nitrox.

Education:

As student divers learn about and witness marine life, they realize its intrinsic value and importance as part of the global ecosystem. Our divers are certified by PADI, the world's largest recreational scuba organization and founder of Project AWARE, the dive industry's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving the aquatic environment. Courses offered by Eco Dive Center such as A.W.A.R.E. Diver, National Geographic Diver, Underwater Naturalist, and the new Eco Diver specialty certification are designed to increase awareness of issues threatening aquatic life, develop knowledge and appreciation of marine ecosystems, and stress proper interaction with the underwater environment. We offer courses for all levels of divers, from first-timers with no experience to professionals looking to continue their education. As a PADI 5-star facility, our instructors are among the most knowledgeable you'll find anywhere. Our free monthly Eco Divers club meetings are the perfect opportunity to expand your educational horizons with our distinguished guest speakers while having fun meeting other interesting people in the local dive community.

Conservation:

Scuba divers literally immerse themselves in nature's largest playground and witness first-hand the beauty and sensitive nature of the ocean. Given our unique position, we feel it is our duty to promote environmental awareness and responsible behavior in our student divers, embrace sustainable business practices, and actively pursue community and global stewardship efforts. We play an active role in community efforts to conserve and restore the environment. We're proud to be affiliated with fine non-profit organizations such as Santa Monica Baykeeper and Heal the Bay, both of whom act to protect our local waters and beaches through restoration and monitoring efforts, political advocacy, and education. At the 2007 International Coastal Cleanup Day, Eco Dive Center led an underwater cleanup of the Santa Monica Pier in which over thirty volunteer divers participated and removed hundreds of pounds of trash from the water.

About our shop:

We strive to operate a business that makes minimal impact with regards to airborne emissions, runoff, and trash generation. Eco-friendly fluorescent light bulbs are installed throughout the shop and we carry non-toxic cleaning supplies. We refrain from selling granular soft weights, as they have been known to leach lead into the aquatic environment. By installing a water filtration system on site, we have eliminated the emissions and plastic waste generated by having our drinking water delivered. Our new solar power array generates clean energy while decreasing our dependence on fossil fuel sources. Thanks to Culver City's excellent recycling program, we have been able to reduce our garbage output to the point where we have five recycling bins and only one trash can in the shop. Equipment?

Here at Eco Dive Center, our credo is Exploration, Education, Conservation. What's yours?