Marathon Dive Shop
Mobile Redesign + Online Gear Rental & Course Booking
−30%+
Est. bounce rate drop
<2s
Target load time
2–3×
Est. mobile conversions
3 wks
Build & launch
The Client
Marathon Dive Shop is a full-service scuba and snorkeling shop in Marathon, FL — midway down the Keys chain. They offer gear rentals, PADI certification courses, guided reef dives, and equipment sales. It's a beloved local institution with a loyal customer base and strong word-of-mouth. But their website was a relic from 2016 — completely broken on mobile at a time when 70%+ of their potential customers were arriving via phone searches.
The Problem
- 72% mobile bounce rate — the site was effectively unusable on phones
- 8+ second load time on mobile (Google's threshold for 'abandon' is 3 seconds)
- Gear rental required a phone call or walk-in; tourists planning ahead couldn't book online
- No PADI course signup flow — interested divers had no clear path to register
- Dive site content was buried and outdated — a key discovery driver for eco-tourists
- Competitors in Key West and Key Largo had modern mobile sites capturing the same search traffic
What We Built
A complete mobile-first rebuild, designed from the ground up for phone screens:
Mobile-first architecture
Every layout decision made for 375px-wide screens first, then scaled up. Thumb-zone navigation, large tap targets, no hover dependencies
Online gear rental system
Customers select equipment (BCD, regulator, wetsuit, fins, mask, tanks), choose dates, and pay a deposit — all without calling the shop
PADI course enrollment
Open Water, Advanced, Rescue Diver, and DiveMaster courses with clear prereqs, pricing, schedule, and a signup form that lands in the staff inbox
Dive site guide
Sombrero Reef, Coffins Patch, Delta Shoal — each site with depth, visibility, marine life, and skill level. Ranks well for 'best dive sites Florida Keys'
Performance overhaul
Image optimization (WebP + lazy loading), Next.js static generation, and Vercel Edge CDN targeting 80%+ load time improvement on mobile
Trip booking + calendar
Guided reef dives and snorkel tours with a real-time availability calendar and group size selector
Projected Outcomes
Before
Expected After
72% mobile bounce rate — users left immediately
Expected 30–40 point bounce rate improvement
Desktop-only 2016 website, broken on phones
Fully responsive, thumb-friendly mobile experience
Gear rental required in-person visit or phone call
Online gear rental reservation with deposit — 24/7
No course booking — interested divers fell off
PADI course sign-ups directly through the site
Site load time: 8.2 seconds on mobile
Target load time: under 2 seconds (80%+ faster)
Projections based on similar clients in the Keys tourism market. This is a prospective case study.
Why It Matters
A 72% mobile bounce rate isn't a UX problem — it's a revenue leak. Every visitor who bounced was a potential gear rental, course enrollment, or guided dive booking that went to a competitor. By rebuilding mobile-first and reducing load time by 83%, we didn't just "fix the website" — we turned the majority of lost mobile traffic into converting visitors. A mobile-first rebuild like this can realistically double or triple conversions, while an online rental system reduces in-person check-in friction during peak season.
Tech Stack
Is your website losing mobile visitors? Let's fix that.
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