Ideas you could actually run
Every one of these is a real gap divers complain about. Pick the one you'd enjoy on a Tuesday night, and we'll set the page up with you.
Weekend Photo Critique Club
A weekly critique circle for divers who just bought their first housing.
New underwater photographers who keep posting blurry clownfish and want honest feedback.
- 20–80 members, 10–15 actively posting each week
- No professional rating needed — a portfolio and an eye for composition is enough.
- Light · 2–3 hrs/week
- $150–$700 / month40 members × $12/month, minus the platform fee.
Sidemount Configuration Lab
Teach divers to trim, route and rig sidemount properly before they waste money on kit.
Recreational divers moving into sidemount and technical divers refining their rig.
- 30–120 members
- Technical or sidemount instructor rating for skills sign-off; experienced divers can run it as a discussion hub.
- Medium · 4–6 hrs/week
- $1,000–$4,500 per cohort10–30 students × $149 one-off, minus the platform fee.
Breath-Hold Basics
An eight-week dry static and CO2 tolerance programme divers can do at home.
Scuba divers curious about freediving and spearos wanting longer bottom time.
- 25–100 members
- Freediving instructor rating strongly recommended — safety guidance is the whole product.
- Medium · 3–5 hrs/week
- $800–$3,500 per cohort10–40 students × $89, minus the platform fee.
Local Shore Diving Guide
Everything about diving your stretch of coast: parking, entries, tides, what's actually there.
Visiting divers and newly certified locals who don't know where to get in.
- 50–400 members
- None. Local knowledge and a lot of dives on those sites.
- Light · 1–2 hrs/week
- $0 directly — the audience is the assetFree groups convert later: guided days, workshops, or a paid tier once you pass ~150 members.
IDC Theory Prep
Physics, physiology and tables drilled until the exam is boring.
Divemasters heading to an instructor course who are terrified of the theory exam.
- 15–60 members per intake
- Instructor or Course Director rating.
- Committed · 6–8 hrs/week
- $1,500–$6,000 per intake8–30 candidates × $199, minus the platform fee.
Drysuit Troubleshooting Club
Leaks, squeeze, undersuits and feet-first ascents — solved by people who dive cold every week.
Divers in their first two years of drysuit diving.
- 40–200 members
- None — plenty of cold-water experience is the credential.
- Light · 2 hrs/week
- $150–$900 / month60 members × $9/month, minus the platform fee.
Reef Survey Crew
Train recreational divers to record usable survey data on ordinary dives.
Divers who want their dives to count for something beyond the logbook.
- 30–150 members
- None to organise; scientific or research experience helps you design the protocol.
- Medium · 3–4 hrs/week
- $0–$500 / month via a paid training tierKeep the crew free; charge $39 for the survey-method course once the group is active.
Liveaboard First-Timers
What to pack, what it really costs, and how not to be the person everyone waits for.
Divers booking their first liveaboard or long dive trip.
- 50–300 members
- None — a few trips under your belt.
- Light · 1–2 hrs/week
- $0 directly — trips are where it paysFree group; run one hosted group trip a year and take a per-head organiser margin.
The Buoyancy Fix
A four-week programme to cut air consumption and stop kicking the reef.
Divers with 10–60 dives whose SAC rate is embarrassing them.
- 20–90 members
- Instructor rating for in-water sign-off; experienced divers can coach the dry theory.
- Medium · 3–5 hrs/week
- $500–$2,500 per cohort10–45 students × $59, minus the platform fee.
Gear Care & Service Club
Keep your kit alive: rinse routines, o-rings, service intervals, what shops actually charge.
Divers who own their own kit and hate surprise service bills.
- 40–250 members
- None — technician experience makes it much stronger.
- Light · 2 hrs/week
- $150–$1,000 / month80 members × $7/month, minus the platform fee.
Wreck History & Penetration Prep
The stories behind local wrecks, plus the skills and rules before anyone goes inside.
Divers moving from swim-bys to overhead-adjacent diving.
- 25–120 members
- Wreck or technical instructor rating for anything overhead; history-only groups need none.
- Medium · 3–4 hrs/week
- $300–$1,500 / month50 members × $15/month, minus the platform fee.
Back in the Water
For divers who certified years ago, stopped, and are quietly nervous about restarting.
Lapsed divers with 5–20 dives and a long gap.
- 40–200 members
- None to run the community; a refresher course needs an instructor rating.
- Light · 2 hrs/week
- $200–$1,200 / month50 members × $10/month, minus the platform fee.
What it could pay
Run the numbers
- Gross
- $480
- DiveBook fee (5%)
- −$24
- You keep
- $456
5% launch rate (industry-standard 10% from Jan 1, 2027). Card processing is handled by Stripe and paid from the gross amount. Payouts land in your connected bank account on Stripe's normal schedule — typically two business days after the payment clears. Figures are a planning aid, not a forecast of earnings.
Three ways this pays
Pick a model, not a price
- Free community — $0
- Builds the audience. Typically pays later through a hosted trip, a workshop, or a paid tier once you pass roughly 150 engaged members.
- One-off paid course — $49 to $249
- Best where there's a clear outcome: pass the exam, rig the sidemount, hold your breath longer. Sells in cohorts rather than steadily.
- Monthly membership — $7 to $19
- Best where the value is ongoing feedback. Slower to start, far steadier once it runs. Most dive memberships settle between 30 and 80 paying members.
What moves the needle from a handful of members to a few dozen: posting on a fixed day every week, replying to every single member for the first month, and one live session a month.
Open the launch playbook