Planet Scuba - History
Planet Scuba Staff
Brad Johnson -
Owner / PADI Master Instructor /
Commercial Dive Supervisor / Emergency First
Response Instructor
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After Brad's first diving lesson, he was hooked. A year later he had finished his Dive Instructor certification. He originally thought he'd like to earn a living in the tropics, however, after some travelling he realized that many of the dive masters and instructors in the tropics were only making minimum wage. His solution was to make the best of both worlds – live at home and travel the world taking people on tropical vacations.
Brad started running his business right after he finished his four month dive training course at PADI Canada College. He opened his first dive store as a part of the service station that his father owned (Johnson’s Service Ltd.) on Victoria Avenue East while doing dive instruction contract work summers in Newfoundland. When his father retired from the service station business, the business was divided into two separate businesses; Johnson’s Service (automotive) and Johnson's Scuba Services (diving) on the 1400 block of Fluery Street. In 2004, having outgrown the small space on Fleury Street, Brad opened “Planet Scuba” beside its current location at 1174 Albert St. In 2006, because of the tremendous success that Planet Scuba had achieved, the next store front (1172 Albert St) was also added.
During the last 17+ years that Brad has been teaching people how to dive, he has certified over 1000 individuals. He started by taking people on trips to Cozumel, Mexico every winter, but now Planet Scuba offers trips year round to exotic places around the world. This fall/winter our trip calendar includes: The Bahamas, Egypt and the Red Sea, and Cozumel. This spring there’s a trip planned to Fiji. Next fall we are planning a trip to the Galapagos Islands. With a variety of live-aboard cruises and land-based trips we are taking people on trips every month!
At Planet Scuba, we sell all the equipment you need (or want) in order to snorkel or scuba dive. We believe that people are safer (and more hygienic) when they use their own equipment, and we have tried to package our gear in such a way to make it easy for someone to come in and get everything they need all in one package deal, which includes your training!
We also provide manufacturer authorized scuba equipment service and regularly tested breathing quality air fills (CGA G-7.1-2004 Grade E Gas Quality Specification) for companies requiring specific testing, as well as for divers.
Winter is our busiest season because it’s the
time that most people want to travel to a warmer
climate. Although we take people to do their
open water dives at the lake every weekend
during the summer, it is in the fall (when
people are trying to get their dives done before
the lake freezes over) that our weekend lake
dives have the most people. For this reason,
many people choose to train at home and wait
until they are on their tropical vacation to do
their open water dives required for their
certification.
