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

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

Caribbean

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Another CCR Diver Emerges

Boy was Cozumel HOT!  Francisco Ortigosa and I have just returned from 3 days of diving in sunny Cozumel.  Despite the air temperature, we had a great time diving with Pepe, Giovanni and Ramon  We did two spectacular dives on Palancar Caves, others on Santa Rosa Wall, Cedral Wall, Palancar Bricks, Delilah and the Buckle Up wreck.

 

Francisco agreed with me that Lake Travis would be a poor place to finish his rebreather course opting instead for warm, clear water and a boat to take us there!  There is enough frustration for an advanced diver (Francisco is an Advanced Trimix diver and an Instructor) learning to make the transition to a rebreather without having to deal with zero visibility and a dry suit.  I know a number of people who have done it and I have taught some of them, but the experience is much better in the tropics!

 

Upon hearing that Francisco had completed his course, the Pepe baptized him with cold water and everyone congratulated him.  Congratulations Francisco!  A silent diver is born and another set of doubles are relegated to the garage.

 

Next stop – Grand Cayman for Tech week…

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Cozumel and more new divers


Part of the group
Part of the group

June 29 finds me in Cozumel Mexico with Ann’s dive group for a week of CCR diving.  Ann had a very fun group diving with her in Cozumel this time.  There were the entire Neblet family, making their first saltwater dives and the Alonso’s learning what Juan had discovered during his college years.  They were joined by Pat Croll, an Instructor with Oceanic Ventures and Ann and Steve Brennan (who is also a Dive Supervisor with OVI).  Jenny,  David Jo, Rich Walker and OVI Dive Supervisor, Zaide Scheib rounded out the group.  Looking at the group, would to think it was a staff trip!

 

 By the time arrived you could tell they had been having a lot of fun and bonded as a group. There were jokes about one of the dive masters telling them to dive without snorkels and then finding that they needed them (I guess next time they will listen to their OVI Instructor instead).  They all had fish stories galore and even funny stories about one another.  Zaide and Steve took some classic photos on the trip making for some fun memories.

 

As the group departed for Houston, Steve Ann and my Ann continued to dive so Ann would have some time to finish her CCR course.  She has sat through three of them but life happens when you own your own business and she had not been able to get all of the dives in until now.  We had some great dives and some challenging dives but Ann finally got enough hours to complete her course.

 

Dave Snyder and Martha Gurwit joined us near the 4th so like Ann, Martha could finish her rebreatrher course.  Of course Ann and Martha bought their rebreather together so only one of them could dive it at a time and now it was Martha’s turn.  And dive it she did, finishing her course dives in record time.

 

Congratulations Ann and Martha!  Welcome to the world of silent diving!

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Matt’s Adventure

Matt could not make Inner Space due to some prior commitments but he could come in after Inner Space so I sacrificed and agreed to stay in Grand Cayman for a few extra days so he could finish his Normoxic/Trimix CCR course.  We got is some fantastic dives, taking full advantage of the line we had set two weeks ago during our Expedition Trimix course. 

 

Robert Hew, a friend from Jamaica, joined us on several of our dives.  We even did one dive off Lighthouse Point finding a wall full of life and untouched coral stands including several large stands of black coral.  Of course Robert and I had more fun on some of these dives since Matt still had some skills to complete during these dives.  

 

We had some great dives and it was a lot of fun staying and diving more after Inner Space.  Thanks Matt for the excuse and congratulations on completing your CCR Trimix Diver program!

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Inner Space

Who would have thought five years ago when we were talking to Nancy about getting Buzz Aldren to come to Grand Cayman for an even sixty that we termed a dive into Inner Space, would still be a successful event going into its fifth year.  Even though Buzz Aldren was unable to make it to the first event, Inner Space has blossomed into the premier rebreather event in the world, hosting as many as rebreather divers from open water to trimix.

 

There were about eight of us from that original event still coming to it every year.  We have come from being CCR open water divers to CCR trimix divers and CCR trimix instructors.  Looking at the participant guide for the first year, most of he people were recreational divers limited to 130 feet.  At this years event, most of the people were Trimix certified limited to 330 feet.  Imagine 2 boats full of Trimix divers all in one place.

 

During this year’s event, Jess Stark, and Harvy Sisco came down to work on their Normoxic Trimix ratings.  Dave Snyder also joined me to finish getting his hours so he can get his Meg Instructor rating. 

 

Our primary destinations were the beautiful walls on the North side of Grand Cayman.  The visibility was down probably due to the early arrival of the summer algae bloom.  This also accounted for a great deal of algae on the walls.  Of course, the reduced visibility made Ghost Mountain more of a mysterious dive because you could not see the pinnacle until you swam towards it suddenly emerging from the mist.

 

On two separate occasions, the hot weather was abated by Robert Hew who brought his favorite treat – Italian Gelato and cookies.  You simply can’t imagine how refreshing cold ice cream is after a long dive.  No wonder Susan always seems to work on the boat Robert is assigned to.

 

Inner Space is a fun event for rebreather divers of all levels.  As Nancy says…Inner Space, deep down you want to be here.

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Trimix In Cozumel

It has been a long time since I did any Technical Diving in Cozumel.  My last experience was in 2003 and the logistics and dealing with the “technical” dive shop on the island made doing it there more effort than it was worth. 

 

Recently I was introduced to Don Labruzzo, owner of Dive Extreme who like any good salesman pursued our business and invited us to dive with him.  He came with good references, Wayne Cooper, a recent Optima rebreather student spoke highly of him.  Wade Sparks, one of our Assistant Instructors, agreed to try him out while he was on a vacation with his wife in Playa del Carmen.  Wade too brought back good reports of Don’s operation.

 

 In talking with my current Trimix students, Madison and Jerry, I proposed the idea of completing our open water session in Cozumel.  Looking at the costs of going to Florida and the quality of the deep diving in comparison to the walls in Cozumel, it made good sense to go to Cozumel (cost wise it was about $200.00 more).  Two other of our technical diving clients, Kelly and Geoff, also agreed that a weekend of diving in Cozumel sounded like fun, They joined us.

 

The plan was to do one dive on Thursday, two on Friday, two on Saturday and return on Sunday.  Maximum depth, 240 feet.  We arrived in Cozumel with a strong north wind which made the diving a little rough.  The first dive was on Villa Blanca Wall, not too far out by boat so we could get a long dive in and be done before dark.  Don’s boat is a 40’ modified sport fisher with lots of room and a good crew.

 

The next day the winds were still up but had shifted so the waves abated a little.  Dives onto Yucaab wall and Paradise.  Not the most picturesque walls in the area but a reasonable run with the weather the way it was and the drills I needed to do with the students.  In-between dives, Don and his crew treated us to a lunch of fresh baked bread (from that morning), cheese, cold cuts, fresh made salsa, tortillas and guacamole.

 

Our plan for Saturday included a run down to Palancar for some truly spectacular wall diving.  Unfortunately, the winds shifted again and the port was closed to all baot traffic.  That meant no diving offshore.  Don offered to take us all to a local Cenote but I was not comfortable taking everyone into one of the small openings found in Cozumel with their current skills. 

 

However, Kelly and Geoff jumped at the offer.  According to them, they had an adventure that involved a local army/police unit, a stalled truck, no change of clothes and a fantastic dive.  I think they are truly hooked on Yucatan diving.

 

Unfortunately the storm did not abate so we returned to Houston, still in need of some extra dives. 

 

I did find diving with Don’s operation a pleasant surprise when compared to my previous experiences.  He is runs a good operation, with a great group of men and woman who understand customer service and want to build a relationship with their clients.  We will be back.

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Tradition!

On the beach in CozumelYou can just hear Tevia singing Tradition in the background.   

Tradition you ask?  Well this trip has reoccurred for over 10 years and many of the participants have span>been going on it for most of those years.  We celebrate two birthdays – Steven Hann and Anu Baji, and an anniversary, mine. 

The only reason I get to go is because our wedding anniversary usually falls over the trip.  But don’t get too sentimental, I am a working diver who gets to take sixteen of his close, warm personal friends diving each year. 

This year, like the last, I had two rebreather students silently plying the waters off the coast of Cozumel with a tremendous amount of problems, albeit simulated problems.  You would think people would rather just dive than take a course on their vacation.  Matt, on of my students even made the comment “Here I am again, taking a class in Cozumel – I can’t remember what it is like to just dive here.”  Of course, I reminded him we could have done the eight dives and eight hours of diving in beautiful Lake Travis!

This trip had a number of firsts – 500 dives for Jean Jansen, now an SSI Gold Diver, rebreather divers Matt Booth and Wayne Cooper, Dale Keyworth and Cecilia Chipman finished their Deep Diver course and as such, finished their Advanced Diver certifications and Ann put up with me for another year! 

We had some great dives and ate some fun meals at some of our favorite restaurants.  Anu is another year younger and Stephen feels another year older (especially since he moved just before leaving for this trip).  Traditions are so much fun!