Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

Archives for September 2012

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Wade's Excellent Adventure Party

Wade in Truck with Snorkel
Let’s Go Diving!

Wade and I were talking yesterday and we thought it was about time for some fun diving!  As the conversation continued, Wade felt inspired.  It seems that he has had a successful year hunting so far and he the urge to cook!  So, he has offered to come up to the lake and throw a bar BQ to celebrate!  He is prneuding the main course and everyone else attending is bringing the side dishes and dessert!
This is your opportunity to tase some of Wade’s cooking, enjoy the beautiful fall weather and go diving!  All of your friends will be there (ok, maybe a few won’t really know about it until you tell them — so what are you waiting for?)  This is also your opportunity to show off your cooking abilities by preparing a really delicious side dish or dessert for everyone to swoon over.  Imagine an entire beach of gourmet chefs — it will be like an iron chef episode without all of the yelling!
In addition to the gourmet dining, you get to go diving too.  To make things even more fun, Oceanic Ventures will be bringing door prizes to win and the Oceanic Ventures staff will be on hand to help you trim out and look good in the water.

  • Buoyancy Clinic in the morning with Eric Keibler
  • Open Water Class Dives with Alex Witchey
  • Introduction to Free Diving with Madison Lee
  • Navigation hints
  • Equipment Configuration workshop
  • Lunch by Chef Wade and the other Chefs attending

I think our plan looks pretty good!  Now everyone else has to do is RSVP and come have fun!  Here are the details:

  • When:     Sunday 14 October 2012
  • Where:    Beautiful Blue Lagoon
  • Time:       Festivities start at 9:00 am

Email Wade and let him know you are coming!.

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Dry Suit Scuba Diving and DUI DOG Rally and Demo Days in Texas

Diving Drysuits is fun
Diving Dry Suits Is Fun and They Extend Your Diving Season!
If you did not already know, we dive all winter! Alex, David, Joel. Madison and Rich all dive year round locally. In fact we have diving almost every weekend already scheduled and you do not want to miss a single weekend!
 But despite our living in the South, the lakes tend to cool down a bit. Dry suits are the way to dive year round and laugh at the cold. And, to make it even more special, DUI’s DOG Rally and Demo Days is coming up November 10-1, 2012 at Clear Springs Scuba Park. This is your opportunity to get certified to dive a dry suit, try out the complete line of products from DUI and get fed lunch all for one price! And, if you want to, you can even camp with the rest of our divers!
 Sign-Up today and get ready for this winters diving marathon!

 Dive Mom, I hate being cold and I want to dive! (please sign me up or send me some more information)

 Tell Me More about the DUI DOG Ralley and Demo Event

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Discovering the Why's of Diving…Science of Diving Course Scheduled

Divers under the boatWho is Archimedes and why should we care?  Is Dalton really important to divers?  What do penguins have to do with diving?  What is Martini’s Law?  Do tides really effect diving?

The answers to these questions and others that you didn’t even know to ask will be answered in the fun, interesting Science of Diving course taught by our staff of fun and exciting Dive Leaders!

While this course is required for anyone thinking about entering our Dive Leader programs, it is an interesting program designed to answer some of those Why questions behind the diving rules and procedures.  If you are interested in learning more about diving, sign-up for this program today and continue your diving education.

Course Dates: October 13 (Saturday), 16, with Scuba Steve Brennan

 

Dive Mom, Sign Me Up (or send me more information)

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Scuba Diver Stress & Rescue Course Scheduled

Eric Keibler
Keep your divng stress free, enroll in a class today!
They say diving can be stressful at times. In this program you will learn how to better understand stress in divers, how to recognize it in yourself and your dive buddies and some effective ways to deal with these issues. This is a fun, hands-on course that will improve your overall diving.  Just think how helpful it will be to spot stressers effecting your dive buddy and helping him/her to deal with them before they escaltate into a more severe problem or even a dive accident.
First Aid and CPR training is also a part of the overall program. You can sign-up for the whole program or just the portions you need (Stress Rescue, First Aid, CPR or Oxygen Prneuder).
Don’t miss this opportunity, we only have a few spaces left! Call or email Dive Mom today!

  • Classroom & Pool sessions: October 2,4 9,11
  • First Aid/CPR/O2: October16,18
  • Diving Days: October 20-21at the Beautiful Blue Lagoon

Dive Mom, Sign Me Up (or send me more information)

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New Technical Divers

David & Steve
David & Steve Getting Ready for a Dive

Recently, I had the opportunity to teach a new group of Technical Divers.  They were excited to expand their diving knowledge and learn some new skills at the same time.  We spent the summer Side Mount diving, and learning the Principles of Technical Diving.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of time at the lake.

When it was time to go on the deeper dives required for their Advanced Recreational Trimix Class we were scheduled to go to Lake Travis.  However, they decided that it would be more fun and a better experience if we went diving in clear water.  Now, for people who know me, I don’t particularly like teaching technical diving in Lake Travis because the reduced visibility limits the swim distances and the entire diving experience is shackled.  So, when they decided that they would like a better experience, I immediately began putting something together for Cozumel.

Cozumel is an ideal choice because you can get there easily with almost daily flights direct to the island from Houston and because the diving there is spectacular.  Additionally, the infrastructure for technical diving is there with mixed gas, bottles and sorb readily available.  Additionally, the food and lodging costs are reasonable.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and were boat-diving that afternoon – a 130’ tune-up dive.  Over the next two days, we ended up doing five decompression dives to depths in excess of 145 feet and still had time to enjoy the sun and Pepe’s world famous guacamole.  Our dives were joined by turtles, large groupers, moray eels, schools of snapper, huge lobster, crabs and plenty of crystal clear blue water.
 

David, Eric & Steve
Finished & Celebrating!
David and Steve found out that technical diving is more than minimal visibility, slow swims and brown objects.  Here they had sunlight penetrating all the way down, enough room to swim while keeping track of the team and decompression in clear water, with a reef sliding by underneath.  They also got to experience how nice it is to have the boat pick you up at the end and deal with the equipment after the dive.  This was a whirlwind trip – arrive on Friday, Leave on Monday but it was a better experience than the dives in Lake Travis they had originally planned.
I feel they are now better equipped to deal with the diving environments most technical divers will face.  They have a lot of experience in low visibility locations but clear water is also important and these divers have experience in both environments.