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

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

Local Diving

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The Making of a Scuba Diver

Scuba Diver Susan Long Relaxing in Fiji
Susan Long Relaxing in Fiji

I have been scuba diving for over two years – since December 2012. Not only that, I had 100 dives within 10 months, and I had another 100 dives within another 10 months. I LOVE it! I am 59 years old, a retired IT professional, not athletic or mechanical in the slightest. How did I get here?

When we got married in 1992, my husband and I made a deal. He would not buy a Harley, and I would not go scuba diving. That way, we thought we could keep each other alive for a good long time. I have always had friends who scuba dived, and I have long been intrigued by it.

I swam for exercise in college – or more precisely, struggled through maybe 10 lengths a session. It was awful and so difficult, but for some reason, I did it. I did not enjoy it at all. Fast forward 25 years, and we went with some diving friends to the Yucatan for vacation. They did some diving, and we all snorkeled one day. I was terrified! I did not understand how I was supposed to breathe underwater. But I made myself jump in and try it, and within a minute or two, I was having a great time! There were lots of glamorous fish! Who knew? And I really enjoyed being in the water – which was also a surprise, after my college swimming experiences.

Scuba Divers Susan & Larry on a motorcycle trip
Susan and her husband, Larry on their last motorcycle trip.

After I retired in 2005, I decided to go to graduate school in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Houston. The parking is horrible! (The classes were great!) I soon realized if I had a motorcycle or scooter, I could park in the designated areas much more easily. So I bought a Vespa scooter! When my husband got over the shock, he got himself a Harley! So now I had permission to scuba dive! (We now both really enjoy our motorcycle trips together!)

I had permission to scuba dive, but on the other hand, I knew it was an expensive habit. I was reluctant to get a lot more “stuff”. We already had plenty of stuff. Being overweight, I didn’t think there would be enough weight available to keep me down (seriously). I also knew myself it could be dangerous – I had looked at some books detailing scuba diving “incidents” and they are pretty scary. You wonder why anyone comes back alive!

In the fall of 2012, my friend Donna Collins (another scuba diver, and Oceanic Ventures, Inc. denizen) and I were planning to go on a cruise to Costa Rica and Panama. She suggested that we could go snorkeling, and she might try to go diving. I was enthusiastic – I had not had a chance to go snorkeling in years! She took me to Oceanic Ventures to look into getting my own mask, snorkel, fins to take on the trip.

My First Trip the the Dive Store

Ann, Alex and David Morris were in the shop, and I will never forget the warm welcome. David took me under his wing and explained everything I wanted to know about masks, snorkels, fins. I could not believe how expensive they were! But I was sold on the part of getting good equipment so I could really enjoy the experience. I left with the mask, snorkel, fins, a bag, a skin, and maybe a few other goodies. David offered to give me a snorkeling class for free, which I gladly took him up on, since I was certainly not an expert snorkeler, having only done it once.

At the snorkeling class, I learned quite a bit, especially how to “duck dive!” David offered to give me a Try Scuba session, and I was, well, OK, sure! If he’s offering, I sure will try it. Within a few days, I was trying out the scuba equipment in the West U pool, and learning the first rule of scuba. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but the next inevitable step was signing up for Open Water Scuba classes so I could go on the Cozumel trip that December. And buying all my equipment. Oceanic Ventures made it so easy. I could not have chosen (and still can’t) between Buoyancy Compensaters, Air Delivery System’s or computers. I trusted their advice, and I really liked the idea that they had a lot of experience with the equipment they sold, and they believed in it for all levels of diving.

Open Water Scuba Training with Oceanic Ventures

I had a great time in the Open Water Scuba training with David and Alex. It was hard for me to clear my mask, but eventually I figured it out. It was hard remembering all the steps for sharing air, or the out-of-air ascent. But I did it! The Cozumel trip was fantastic. I did my open water dives there with Alex as my instructor, and it was so much fun! He was so calm, and knowledgeable, and encouraging. I could see it was going to take some time for me to get really comfortable with my buoyancy, and the breathing, but I was plenty comfortable enough to enjoy the diving, and the Oceanic Ventures group was so wonderful. All those experienced divers were so encouraging and helpful to the brand-new,” baby diver.”

Scuba Diving in the Solomon Islands Susan Long and Ann Keibler
Scuba Diving in the Solomon Islands with Susan Long and Ann Keibler

David had let me know in the  Open Water Scuba training that he was the first Oceanic Ventures student to get 100 dives in a year. That sounded like a challenge to me, and I like challenges! Also it was quite clear after the Cozumel trip that the more experience I had, the more fun I could have as a diver. So I set myself the informal goal of getting 100 dives in a year. In order to keep diving through the winter, I started drysuit training and bought a drysuit. I started Advanced Open Water Scuba training, if for no other reason that it was more diving experience! I went with Oceanic Ventures to St. Croix, Belize, Cozumel, and then to Grand Cayman in August! (Donna and I did get to do a few dives on our trip to Costa Rica.) By the time I got to Grand Cayman, I had achieved the 100 dives, between the trips, the training, and being a fun diver at Blue Lagoon and 288 Lake.

Where I Am Now…

So what about all the concerns I had, and my husband had? Well, first off, safety is obviously the first priority at Oceanic Ventures. Now that I am diving, I wonder how people got themselves into those situations in those scary dive books. Of course, mistakes can happen, but most of those incidents are inconceivable on an Oceanic Ventures trip. Yes, diving is expensive, and I have a LOT of stuff. I am still dealing with how to organize it and where it all needs to go between trips. Oh well! The experiences I have had as a diver, and the friends I have made, have been more than worth it.

Scuba Diver Susan Long Diving in Fiji
Susan in Fiji

I love being a part of the Oceanic Ventures “tribe.” It feels like home. I am very impressed with the emphasis on safety and professionalism at Oceanic Ventures. Ann and Eric Keibler run a tight ship, with little room for error, but lots of room for fun. It is easy to have fun when you have confidence in the trip leader, the dive location, the divemasters, and the choice of dive sites. And you get to go play with your dive peeps!

My husband has put up with all this graciously, taking me to the airport and kissing me goodbye as I go off on my next diving adventure. I am so happy to report that since his retirement last August he has become a certified scuba diver, and we are going on our second trip to Cozumel with Oceanic Ventures next month!

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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.

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Scuba Divers Enjoy Wade's Crawfish

Crawfish Chef Wade Sparks
Chef Wade finally gets to sit down and enjoy some crawfish.

The secret is the garlic and the butter at least that is what Wade was overheard saying this weekend at Wade’s Cajun Crawfish Boil down at 288 Lake.  Whatever the secret mix of ingrediants were, everyone on hand said that his crawfish were the best they haever eaten!  And this was from some “professional crawfish eaters.” Wade kept the pots going with sack after sack of crawfish and with a seperate pot of Gumbo cooking away.

The group sat down to cold tea (& a few beers), warm crawfish, corn, muchrooms, garlic and hot gumbo over rice.

In addition to the crawfish boil, Alex had a group of Advanced Open Water students and Vernon had some Dry Suit Students.  The divers had a great time with a lunch break in between.  Steve Soulen wven had time to set the First Dive Cache in Texas. A really fun weekend — Thank’s Wade!

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Local Texas Scuba Diving – Reveille Peak Ranch

Quarry at Reveille Peak Ranch
The Quarry
Off the beaten path is a little known dive site in Texas.  It is just four hours from Houston, in the Texas Hill Country.  This site, the former home to the Dixon/Southwestern Mining Company is an open seam graphite mine.  Once the site of large draglines and steam shovels, it is now a water filled oasis in the heart of the Llano geological uplift.  This crack in the earth is filled with rising ground water, a natural spring and rain water and prneudes a natural habitat for a small number of fish and turtles.  You will find most of the fish in the shallows among the hydrilla plants that occupy the first ten to fifteen feet of water.  Below that, there are relatively shear walls or granite, marble, limestone, sandstone infused with graphite.  It is this graphite which makes the deeper depths. Interesting.  The bottom is covered with black sand and sparkling graphite.  But, this dark bottom and the orientation of the body of water make the deep parts of the seam as dark as a cave dive – little to no natural light can be seen at the bottom.   And the bottom is relatively deep with depths ranging from seventy to one-hundred feet.

Aside from the opportunity to try out your new diving lights, the quarry prneudes you the opportunity to use your hoods, gloves, heavy wetsuits or a dry suit.  The water temperature in the quarry was a brisk 71 degrees at the surface to a much colder 56 degrees at the bottom.  But, with all of these variances, there comes a treat in Texas – visibility!  While the first twenty feet had a slight green algae induced hue, the visibility was a respectable fifteen to twenty feet but drop into the cold, dark part of the quarry and the visibility grows to 40 to 50 feet.  Of course, at this part of the quarry, your light is the limiting factor.

Pavilian at Reveille Peak Ranch
The Pavilian at Reveille Peak Ranch

This quarry sits in the middle of a outdoor enthusiasts dream location, the Reveille Peak Ranch.  Designed by owner Vol Montgomery, as a place where you can enjoy activities away from the hustle and bustle of the city but not give up all of the conveniences.  The central feature is a large pavilion with ponds, pools, a commercial kitchen and a bar, perfect for any company sponsored function.  It overlooks a manmade lake stocked with bass and pearch so the fishing is active and the fish are large.  The fact that the Ranch operates a hook and release program and also feeds the fish makes them larger than you might find in a natural lake – of course this is Texas and we only have one natural lake so who cares.  This is a mecca for mountain bikers with miles of trails with different skill level challenges.  There are walking and hiking trails with a new nature center under construction.  Kayakers and paddle boarders will also enjoy the small lake which has trees sticking up from the depths to add to the paddling practice.

Tent Campsite
Tent Campsite

The Ranch also has camp sites scattered around the pavilion area that prneude for tent camping or RV camping with electrical hook-ups for both 30 amp and 15 amp hook-ups.  There are warm and cold water showers for both and toilet facilities near the Pavilion so you don’t have to go too native.  The staff at the Ranch are on hand to help you find your way or to make suggestions.  Andrea is the diving coordinator for the Ranch with John, a former mountain biking circuit rider, is on hand to help coordinate things.  Vol is also on the property to make sure things run smoothly.

The Ranch staff can also host other activities for groups including skeet shooting, children’s activities and obstacle course events. 

While there are some motels and guest cabins nearby, our group of explorers, which dwindled from twelve to six, all stayed and camped at the Ranch.  Ann loves camping so this was just up her alley.  Of course I am not really a tent camper anymore so my solution was to rent a small teardrop camper from a local dealer here in Houston.  It turned out to be the perfect match for the weekend with a comfortable bed and a nice place to prepare food.  Remember our motto here at Oceanic Ventures – local diving is a Barbeque interrupted by diving and as David likes to say, it is all about the food.  Wade brought steaks, potatoes and fresh cord for Saturday’s post dive dinner and I brought two nice bottles of wine to go with it.  I also had a surprise – homemade ice cream, made on site.  Of course it was not the most appropriate dessert because the temperatures dropped to a brisk 48 degrees.  But in my mind, ice cream is perfect any time.  We built a nice fire and shared dive stories and adult beverages until one-by-one we began to fade and drift off to sleep.

The scenery of the Ranch make this a perfect escape for divers and non-divers alike.  The diving, while cold, was interesting and fun.  The geology underwater is interesting with the graphite seams in the formations sparkling in the light.  Navigation is easy since the quarry runs north to south and there are no known caves or major overhangs.  Surface intervals are relaxing with a deck near the campsite or on the floating dock.  There are also hiking trails around the quarry if you feel you need more exercise.

One note for divers – the quarry is not open to the public.  To dive here you must go with a dive store, like your friends at Oceanic Ventures. 

Dive Mom's Birthday BashHow did we enjoy the weekend?  Well, Oceanic Ventures has decided to throw Dive Mom and birthday bash up at Reveille Peak Ranch on 26-28 April 2013 (i.e. this coming April).  Everyone is invited to the party and if you are interested in renting a teardrop trailer contact Charlie at hitchandgoadventures.com ahead of time and let him know you what one just like ours (we have already put in a reservation).  But don’t worry; Steve Soulen will be coordinating the tent campers and the ever present campfire! 

So, mark your calendars for April 26-28 and plan on joining us for a VERY fun weekend!

See More Photos from the weekend on our Facebook Fan Page or by clicking here.

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New Scuba Diving Staff

Dive Guide Open Water
It was a busy weekend!  It was an open water weekend with great results!
 
Saturday was Stress & Rescue day with Bubba Alex being found all over the lake without his buddy.  He seemed to find himself, stuck in the boat, laying on the bottom, panicking on the surface, running out of air numerous time.  Throughout it all, Bill, John, Mike and Chris kept dragging him back to shore and helping him get ready for his next dive.  I think they were ready to tie him up and leave him on the bottom by the time it was done.  At one point Bill turned to John and asked, isn’t this the same fool we just rescued from the boat?  Where is his buddy?  I am thinking that his buddy knew what kind of diver he was and left for the day.
 
Congratulations guys for putting up with us and finishing your Rescue course.
 
 

Bubba Alex & His Other Brother Madison
Bubba Alex and his other Brother Madison getting ready for a lead dive.
On Sunday, Bubba Alex and his other brother Madison showed up to go diving and the new Dive Guide Candidates were now tasked with rescuing them.  Additionally, Bill and Steve were tasked with taking them on several lead dives around the lake.  And, wouldn’t you believe it; they couldn’t stay together during those dives either!
 
After it was all said and done, Bill and Steve survived leading these wonderful divers around and in the process completed their Dive Guide and Dive Master programs.  And, we would like to take this opportunity to welcome Bill Fuqua and Steve Soulen to the Oceanic Ventures staff as our newest Dive Masters!  Welcome to the team!!!
New Dive Masters
Bill Fuqua, Madison Lee, Eric Keibler, Alex Witschey, Steve Soulen