Written by Chris Manning.
Special thanks to Henry Aschner, the Scubadillo Dive Club President for his enthusiasm, cooperation, and passion for the sport of scuba diving.

Approaching their 25th year, the Scubadillo Dive Club is one of the largest and most active dive clubs in Texas. Dedicated to Ocean Conservation, and promoting safety and education in SCUBA diving, the Scubadillos donate thousands of dollars annually to charity groups such as The Dallas Aquarium, Save the Manatee Club, and The Coral Reef Alliance. Their mission is to provide a place for divers of all experience levels to congregate, network, and socialize. The Scubadillo Dive Club fosters a community of local divers intent on furthering the sport of scuba diving. Monthly meetings focus on diver education, dive destinations, techniques, and the marine environment.

Monthly Meetings
Monthly meeting are held the first Thursday of every month at the Midway Point Restaurant, located at the southwest corner of I-635 and Midway Road in Dallas. Meetings start at 7:30 p.m., but early birds can catch the social hour at 6:30. This is a great way to meet new dive buddies and share your latest adventure! Each month features interesting guest speakers on a variety of diving and conservation-related topics.

The Dillos Diver
The “Dillo Diver” is their monthly newsletter, featuring information on upcoming events, travel and diving articles from members, and safety and training articles. Another monthly feature is “Who’s Diving and What’s on Sale”, which keeps members up-to-date on dive trips and sales from the local dive shops. I found this to be an excellent resource, especially for gear junkies like myself!

Diving Activities
The Scubadillos have regular dive trips to area lakes as well as an annual blue water journey to Cozumel. The summer lake dives are well planned, emphasize safety and education, and share a common thread of camaraderie. Each year they host theme dives, such as an underwater Easter Egg Hunt, a Hawaiian Luau, and a couple of River Clean-up adventures. To top off the year in October, they hold an underwater pumpkin-carving contest! These weekend dive trips provide the opportunity to get better acquainted with fellow Dillos, camp out at local parks, and win cool prizes.

Charitable Causes
The Scubadillo Dive Club is a non-profit organization, and supports the environment that affects the diving community. In addition to Earth Day activities and river and lake cleanups, each year the Scubadillos contribute to organizations such as The Dallas Aquarium, Coral Reef Alliance and Save the Manatee Foundation.

Education and Environmental Conservation
The Scubadillo Dive Club is dedicated to education and ocean conservation. They work with several local dive shops to provide opportunities for Dallas divers to continue their diving education. Their members also participate in river and lake cleanups around the state to help keep our waterways clean and protect the area wildlife.

Social Activities
And when they are not getting wet, the Dillos offer plenty of “land-based” activities for members to connect with one another. They have monthly happy hours at different club venues and restaurants around the Metroplex, as well as an annual fund-raising Crawfish Boil in April. The annual party-barge, complete with swimming and barbecue and their Christmas Ball ensure that members are entertained year around.

For more information on the Scubadillo Dive Club, please visit their web site at www.scubadillo.org.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 at 10:29 pm and is filed under Dive Clubs, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.