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

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

Scuba Diving Activities

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Scuba Diving Holiday – Panama City Scuba Diving Trip Update

We’ve made it to Panama City Beach!!   After checking into the hotel, we hit the new oyster bar across the street for a great dinner of oysters, shrimp and the “cheapest beer on the beach”. All of us ate too much and complained that it seems we can’t seem to find fresh seafood like this on our side of the gulf.
This morning we’re off to the famous Vortex Spring for a shake down dive and a picnic. Everyone is excited to cheek out the springs gin clear water and freshwater eels. Well Elizabeth seems more excited about the clear water than the eels.
This afternoon we get to the main event, Viola’s first saltwater dive! Everyone else is also looking forward to great artificial reefs that Panama City Beach has to offer.

As the group’s only photographer, I’ve been charged with getting a new profile picture for everyone’s Facebook account. So hopefully we’ll have so cool pictures to share by the end of the day.

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Hello from Houston, Scuba Diving in Micronesia, Update 8

Jim With Sharks, photo by Katrina Adams
Jim With Sharks, photo by Katrina Adams
We have been home now for a week and I finally feel like I am back in the right time zone.
We had a fun time in Kosrae and got to experience life as eco-tourists for a week.  Of course, nothing ever really dried out and when I opened my bags, I knew what my Mother felt like when I returned from camp.  Holland laughed when we were talking about it and she said “i added Lysol to the laundry just to make sure that smell went away.”  It seems that when clothing is put away in a travel bag for 30 hours where it was exposed to sun on a runway, the belly of three jets and who know what else, it takes on a life of its own.  I had to fight the washing machine to just take the clothes — it was not in the mood for cleaning them.
Scuba diving in Kosrae is a little different from other Pacific destinations.  The reefs are made up of lots of hard corals with some soft corals.  My experience in other areas is that the soft corals are more abundant that the hard corals.  One of the more interesting coral formations is a spreading pillar coral which may explain some of the local legends about small cities underwater,
Of course, during my two week absence, Dive Mom saved up a lot of tasks for me including the bill paying and inventory functions of Oceanic Ventures and Eric and Ann, Inc.  This meant that I had a lot of accounting to do — which I hate.  I also have a lot of other demands on my time from students and clients needing equipment and a schedule for training.  Life just does not go on hold while traveling in the Pacific.
I have over 500 photographs from my stay in Kosrae to process and ??  I will be posting some of those soon.  I know that Holland and Steve have been working on their photographs from Chuuk because they have been posting them on Facebook.  And I must say, they took some really fun photographs.  I can’t wait to see what they turn in for the Photography Contest.
 
Keep checking back — I leave for Fiji on Thursday!

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Scuba Ranger Edouard Snorkels in Indonesia

edourd brandedDuring their summer vacation in Indonesia, Scuba Ranger Edouard put his snorkeling skills to use and spent a lot of time in the water with his family.  According to Edouard, “it was a blast!!”  His mother even commented that during his adventures he saw turtles for the first time underwater!  Dive Mom was heard saying that she “cant wait to hear more about his adventures at the next Scuba Ranger Club meeting this fall!!” 

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Santa Is Coming to the West University Pool For Underwater Photographs

Photo with Santa 2013 wu smallThe Christmas holidays still a little ways off but if you ever wanted a personalized Christmas or Holiday card, you should gather up the children and head over to the West University Recreation Center Pool on  2 November 2013 from 10:00 to 1:00 to have your photograph made with Santa underwater.  This is our seventh year to take photos at the pool and it is a lot of fun!  You can come with your scuba equipment or just your swimsuit.  The cost is $10.00 in advance or $35.00 the day of the event.  to find out more, please contact us at divesafe at oceanicventures.net or via phone.

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Eric with Santa
Santa in 2007
Santa and the Elves in 2008
Santa and the Elves in 2008
Photograph of santa and elph
Santa in 2010 with Elf Tamara
Santa & the Mittendorfs
Santa with John, Sean and Paige Mittendorf, along with a large Elf in 2011
Santa with Elf Zaide in 2012
Santa with Elf Zaide in 2012

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Puffy Clouds in a Blue Sky, Hydrilla Fairy Forests and Fresh Water Sponges – Scuba Diving in Texas

Texas Blue Sky and Puffy Clouds
Texas Blue Sky and Puffy Clouds (c) Ann Keibler
Madison and I decided that a Sunday afternoon at 288 Lake was just what was needed for the holiday weekend. It was a beautiful, picture perfect Texas blue sky day with just the right amount of white puffy clouds. We met on the back side of the lake at Ted’d favorite spot, where he also met us, continuing his work on the mapping project . The water was warm at the surface , 79 or 80 degrees f , and cool but nice 76 at depth. Visibility was awesome, at least two body lengths of Madison, so 12+ feet of clear !! The Hydrilla looked like a “Fairy Forest” dusted with soft powder on each of its star like leaf patterns. And as if each was placed at differing heights to make a perfect arrangement. It reminded me of the opening scene of the recent Oz mneue.
ANN HydrillaWe visited the boat that lives under the big red ball. The very curious blue gill “damsel” fish alternated between farming their algae and staring at us. The eyes are surrounded by a very thin iridescent coral pink colored ring. And they love to come stare at you if are holding still or the also like a nibble or two at your glove. They are occasionally chased away by the perch “barracuda”. It was too warm for the “penguins”. Madison said they had left when the viz was so bad this winter and it was starting to warm. But we did see what we think are the start of several patches of an encrusting light pinkish sponges. It had started to encrust around the wood support on the roof, around the broken out window near the port side cleat, and in one of the exposed cable bands on the aft port  roof. We had never seen a fresh water sponge but are fairly certain that is what is growing there.  The pattern is similar to encrusting sponges, they have the tell-tale mouth holes, and skeletal structure, texture, indicative of a sponge.
All and all it was a good day. We both got two 60 minute dives on one cylinder, swam the lake underwater, found new critters, and enjoyed Madison special lettuce and cheese sandwiches and dark chocolate.
How was your Sunday?
Come visit 288 Lake in June with me and Madison and meet the barracuda and damsel fish.

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First Dive Cache In Texas Established by Scuba Divers at Oceanic Ventures, Inc. in Houston, Texas

Steve Soulen With Dive CacheThis past weekend, our new Cache Master, Steven Soulen, Installed the first Dive Cache in Texas.  The Cache was placed in 288 Lake in a secret location.  In order to find the cache, you can follow this link for the clues.

Like geocaching, the Dive Cache program is a way for individuals and groups to use their navigation skills to locate a secret “cache.”  These containers have some token items and a list of people who have discovered the cache.  The list of searchers is periodically posted to the main geocaching website, OpenCaching.com.

Looking for dive caches is a way for divers to practice their navigation skills and have fun doing it. According to Ann Keibler, President of Oceanic Ventures, “we saw that there were DiveCaches in a lot of other places in the United States but there were none in Texas.  Steve Soulen volunteered to establish and maintain the first in a series of Dive Caches that we hope to place in our local training lakes.  DEMA, the Diving Equipment & Manufacturing Association, the trade organization for the diving industry, has been promoting this program throughout the country but there were no Dive Caches established in Texas so we decided to step up and start the program ourselves.

This event even made the Dive Newswire!

Next time you are at the lake, try your navigation skills and find the cache.  But remember, if you take something out of it, you have to put something back in it that still represents a prize to the next searcher.