Where Mero comes from
Mero Diving has taken divers into the water at Cala Lliteras in Cala Ratjada since 1969. It is one of Mallorca’s oldest dive centres. Today, it belongs to Tim Jochems. He was personally trained by the centre’s founder, Jaime Ferriol. Jaime was a pioneer of recreational diving on Mallorca, led the Balearic dive-centre association for decades and discovered the famous caves of Cala Ratjada. Tim grew from the team into management. Eventually, Jaime handed the centre to him.
Five decades of diving shape the way a centre works. Mero’s reservation and planning system was paper — but it was no shoebox full of loose notes. It had been thought through over decades and refined season after season. Mero had even designed its own print templates. The system organised the diving operation and its billing reliably, every day.
It came with one condition: it only worked when the experienced people were in the room. The system was smart, but its intelligence lived in people’s heads. Someone had to watch every process because nothing watched itself. A new employee could not simply get started. First they had to learn what their colleagues knew; until then, they could not be left alone at the front desk.
“Our paper system was good — we built it over decades. But it ran on experience. New staff had to learn everything from us. Until they had, we watched every step ourselves.”
The limits of paper
Even the best paper system could not do four things. The billing was correct, but invoices did not write themselves. The reservation book stayed at the dive centre; anyone who wanted to see planning, enquiries or reservations had to go there. Certification cards and medical forms arrived on paper, which could not guarantee that they reached the centre safely and remained safely stored. And online reservations? They were impossible. Every reservation raises one question: who is allowed on this dive? On paper, only the experienced people could answer it. No reservation bypassed them. An open booking page would have filled the boat with anyone who paid.
“With paper, we could never have let guests reserve online — nothing could check who was allowed on the boat. Today, the system checks who may join. That is the only reason our reservations can be online at all.”
Knowledge becomes rules
One example says the most. A guest booking an OWD course at Mero initially pays only for the first dive. Afterwards, the guest decides whether to continue or stop. If they continue, the amount already paid is credited automatically. Nobody has to remember it; the system does. The entire price list moved in the same way: as rules in the system, not knowledge in people’s heads. Dive insurance no longer needs someone watching it either. The system checks whether it is still valid.
Mero’s workflows and pricing rules grew over decades, yet the centre did not have to bend. Everything could be represented as settings: configuration, not custom development. Mero has worked with HALIBLU since March 2023. We made the move together, transferring Mero’s data step by step with personal support.
A high-season morning at the front desk
Vicky works at Mero’s front desk. The centre operates in German and Spanish. Her HALIBLU screen is set to German — her language, her interface. On a busy August morning, she sees at a glance who is arriving and why: a try dive, a boat trip or a course. She also sees who is still missing documents before the boat leaves. The system knows every guest’s rental equipment. Vicky only adds the tank size; planning, documentation and pricing then have what they need. When the front desk needs an exception, the system warns instead of blocking. At Mero, the front desk decides and the system speaks up.
Twenty guests are waiting in the heat outside reception. The boat leaves in 45 minutes. Vicky suggested the Presence List for exactly this moment. It brings the expected guests from the selected trips together: Who is already present? Who is still missing documents? Are medical and insurance resolved? The list leaves room for quick handwritten notes.
Guests do their part themselves. They reserve online, and the system checks who is eligible with every reservation. They check in on their own phones. Certification cards and medical forms arrive digitally and remain attached to the guest, rather than on a sheet in a filing tray.
Management keeps the overview
Tim’s day now begins at home. Over breakfast, he looks at the day ahead — planning, enquiries and reservations — before driving to the dive centre. Tim runs the operation. His manager role shows him everything without requiring him to do everything himself. Delegating becomes easier. The front desk works with rules stored in the system, and Tim can see where things stand at any time. If he wants, he can check in divers himself or head out as a guide. Watching every process used to keep an experienced person in the room. Today, the system keeps watch whether Tim is at the front desk, on the boat or still eating breakfast.
Moving first is a Mero tradition
Moving first is nothing new here: the centre’s founder was a pioneer of recreational diving on Mallorca. Mero also joined HALIBLU early. As one of three dive centres, it shaped how we have onboarded every centre since. More came from that early period. Large parts of the permission system trace back to Mero’s requirements. It is the system that now checks every reservation. The Presence List began with Vicky’s suggestion. The IAC course catalogue, with its 20 templates, was created for Mero and now comes with every HALIBLU system. The smallest trace sits in our change log: Vicky’s request for the 12-litre tank selection to save automatically, recorded in her own words. A dive centre that joined early helped shape the tool for everyone who followed.
“Today, the system holds what used to live in our heads. That was exactly the point.”