DallasDivers.com recently visited Carrollton’s International Scuba and our own videographer Chris Hinkle shot and put together video highlights of the tour. Thanks to Patti Stewart and Rich Thomas of International Scuba for rolling out the red carpet and giving us the star treatment. And if you happen to be in the Carrollton area, stop by International Scuba.

About International Scuba:

Since opening in 1998, International Scuba has attracted a loyal following from the local dive community. Located in Carrollton, International Scuba is a full-service scuba shop and dive training center. With a wealth of certified instructors, an on-site, heated training pool, and two classrooms, one “wet” (i.e., adjacent to the pool) and one “dry”, International Scuba is well equipped to meet the training needs of any diver. As a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center, they offer classes for beginners all the way to master instructors, and for the technical diver they offer the entire cirriculum of TDI courses. In addition, they are a retailer of the industry’s top lines, offer equpiment service, and travel to local and exotic destinations.

Contact Information:

• Address: 2540 Marsh Lane, Suite #128, Carrollton, Tx 75006
• Phone: (972) 416-8400
• Web site: International Scuba

DallasDiver’s video specialist, Chris Hinkle, will review the Equinox Pro8 Underwater Housing/VX2100 combination and share his experience with the parent company, WNRS. A forthcoming review will feature photos, footage, and feedback - from initial order to follow up service. Hinkle will share his experiences and thoughts regarding procuring, maintaining, and handling a professional underwater video housing. Since Chris is a professional videographer, it will be interesting to follow his work as he ventures underwater! Look for a full review sometime in March.

Written by Chris Manning
The Flippers Dive Club is affiliated with Blue Dolphin Scuba in Frisco and offers local divers many great opportunities to expand their dive skills. The club sponsors monthly dive events, offering the local diver a chance to dive various sites across Texas and beyond. They also offer dive trips to exotic locations around the world. Monthly meetings can feature guest speakers and industry-experts discussing engaging topics and providing an educational forum for divers of all skill levels. The president of the club, Lisa Matasso was kind enough to agree to an interview to discuss the Scuba club from Frisco.

Q1. When was your dive club formed, how many members do you have, and what was the motivation behind starting the club?
A1. Flippers started April of 2004. We have 83 active members and another 88 members who still are on our roster to receive emails. The group was started by Blue Dolphin Scuba to have a group of quality divers that enjoy hanging out together. It is great to be able to go to the lake for the weekend and know that you can always find a dive buddy.

Q2. How long have you been diving?
A2. I have been diving for about 8 years.

Q3. What got you interested in the sport?
A3. Some people I was working with at the time were going to Cozumel for a dive trip and had an odd number of people and needed another buddy. So, I got certified in February and did my check out dive in Lake Travis and froze. It was worth it when we got to Cozumel. I have been hooked ever since.

Q4. Who was your most interesting guest speaker over the years?
A4.We have had several great speakers. We had Dr Jeff Stone who is a Hyperbaric physician at Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. We then got to tour the chamber. We also had Randall Cook who is an ice diver and we got to hear all about his dives to the arctic.

Q5. When are your club meetings and what is the format?
A5.Our meetings are the second Tuesday of each month at Campisi’s resturant at the corner of Dallas North Tollway and 121. We meet for happy hour at 6 and the meeting starts at 7pm. We usually start with a speaker and end with club business and raffle items.

Q6. What local dive facility does the group typically dive at?
A6.We are associated with Blue Dolphin Scuba in Frisco and we dive many area locations. We go to The Colony Aquatic center to play with new gear, and also play games. We play a mean game of underwater Monoply!

Q7. Do you offer dive trips and if so how many trips a year do you take?
A7.We take a lot of trips throughout the year, some with Blue Dolphin Scuba. Each summer we rent a house boat and spend a 4 day weekend around July 4th. We went to Arkansas to lake Ouchita this past summer. It was such a beautiful lake. We also had a group that went to The Galapagos Islands! What a once in a lifetime experience.

Q8. What is the most common misconception about diving, especially among beginners?
A8. I think the most common misconception for new divers is that they will feel claustrophobic underwater. It is such a free feeling to be floating along with all of the peaceful sea life.

Q9. What does your dive club bring to the table that is unique among Dallas dive clubs?
A9. I think we have so many activities to choose to participate in. We go tubing down the Guadalupe, we raise money for Charity, we just have an amazing group of people.

Q10. This is your opportunity to promote your club to our readers.
A10.We have such a great group of diverse people. We do so many non-diving activies such as Texas Hold’em nights, parties, fundraisers, etc that there is something for everyone. We have several non-divers that hang out with us because we have such a fun time. We have a wonderful Christmas Party planned this December at The Tribute Golf Club in The Colony, we would love to have new people join us. You can find all the information on the Flippers website.

Thanks to Lisa Matasso for taking the time to answer our questions and for a great attitude.

DallasDivers.com is not affiliated with the Flippers Dive Club or any other local dive club. We exist to promote the sport of scuba diving in the Dallas area.

Written by Chris Manning
Thanks to Mark Gray for sharing his images, tips, and stories with DallasDivers.com.

Mark Gray is not a Dallas diver. He is dive enthusiast who lives in Australia and happens to take some of the most engaging macro images of marine life that I have run across in some time. If you want to check out his work, head over to the image gallery. I interviewed Mark to discuss his diving background and get some tips for capturing great underwater images.

Q1. Tell us about yourself. Where do you live? How do you make a living (i.e., what is your “day job”)?
A1. I live near the popular coastal town on Byron Bay, which is located at the most Easterly point of the Australian mainland. I have lived in the area for the past 23 out of my 32 years. I currently work at Returned Services League Club, which is to be compared to the legion in the USA. I also work part time at the Byron Bay Dive Centre as a DM/guide.

Q2. How long have you been diving?
A2. I was always interested in the ocean and the life it contains. As a child remembering watching old TV adventure shows with Jacque Cousteau, Ben Cropp, Ron and Val Taylor. I was either on the water surfing or under the water spear fishing from an early age.

Q3. What got you interested in the sport?
A3. About five years ago I had a checkup with my local doctor and I enquired about my ability to go scuba diving as I had problems with my hearing as a child. My doctor told me there was no reason not dive. So shortly after while on holidays in Cairns (gateway to the Great Barrier Reef) I completed my OW and AOW certification after a total of 11 dives.

On my return home I went to one of the local dive shops (Byron Bay Dive Centre) as asked about dive club and wanting to more diving. It was the start of the busy time of year and one of the owners offered free dives if I helped around the shop. So I grabbed at the opportunity to give more dives in for nothing. During this time I racked up a fair bit of diving and completed my Rescue as well as my SSI Dive Control Specialist and started to guide other visiting divers to the famous Julian Rocks Marine Reserve, which is classed as one of Australia’s top 10 dive sites. Great mix of tropical and temperate waters with awesome range of marine life, from macro to the annual migration of Humpback whales.

Q4. How long have you been doing uw photography?
A4. It wasn’t long after my introduction to diving that I picked up a digital camera for the first time and bought a underwater housing to document my underwater adventures to the otherwise land locked family and friends. It was a Cannon A40 with huge 2 mega pixels and 256m-memory card. At the time it was my pride and joy and started off something, which I quickly started to fall in love with. I would buy magazines and read books all about the art of taking photos underwater and I guess I still do today.

Q5. What kind of equipment do you have?
A5. I wasn’t until recently (6 months ago) I jumped from a pro-consumer camera into the world of dSLR’s. I purchased a Nikon D80 which was accompanied with a new Ikelite housing and port. The Nikon was then matched to the two Ikelite ds125’s, which I already had. It wasn’t long after that I found that I needed specialized lens and ports for all my different styles and subjects, which I didn’t need when I had my point and shoot compacts. I quickly purchased a Nikkor 60mm Macro lens and matching Ikelite flat port and this was the start of my collection of lenses for underwater.

Q6. Were you a photographer before becoming a diver?
A6. I was basically flying blind at first where I didn’t know and F-stop from a bus stop. I started to look at the professional shots printed in international magazines and especially took note of the information of each shot that I liked the look of (i.e. Nikkor 60mm, ISO 100, 1/80th and f-22). It gave me a point to start from and with the skills already obtained with my little compacts it started to give me more and more constant results.

Q7. Your work has such vivid color. Are you doing any enhancements in Photoshop? If so, what are your keys to leveraging PS for
uw photography?
A7. Every dive I had the same lens (Nikkor 60mm) and every shot was based on a macro subject. This is why I have many good results on close ups. That’s all I had to use. It didn’t take long before I started to get results from every dive. In poor visibility, the macro lens is the only choice to have.

I preview my shots as well as my histogram and adjust my f-stops accordingly. I would try as much as possible to capture a subject the same way as film photographer would and take my time in getting into a good position, close as possible, with the only difference is that I have a few hundred shots available and not just 36. Its then you notice the difference in the quality of the lens. The ability to focus and the speed it focus made the little compacts I have used before seem very slow. But when you look at the cost of a good lens it is most likely to be more expensive than the compact camera itself.

Q8. You seem to excel at shooting closeups of marine life. How much of that success is equipment vs. technique?
A8. Shooting with a dSLR but using a film photographers style reduced the amount of off the cuff shots and wasted time spent on trying to get the shot of the year. But it wasn’t long before I was introduced to Photoshop 7. This came about from meeting a young lady who used to work in fashion magazine and it was her job to make everything more bold and beautiful so to speak. She basically gave me a crash course in Photoshop and still to this date I know very little about it and really require doing a course on it in the near future. I only really adjust the image levels, colour balance and sometimes the brightness and contrast. I try and get the best image first than try and repair it with Photoshop. I must admit that after learning a thing or two with Photoshop it made me go back through all my old images taken on the point and shoot and repairing them to a much better standard than before. It was like a whole new collection of images.

Q9. What are your favorite locations to shoot?
A9. I am the first to admit that I live and dive in a very special area. Julian Rocks Marine Reserve is a relatively small area but with a huge variety of different marine life. Diving the area up to 10 times a week helps a lot also. Knowing the site like the back of your hand makes such a big difference as it also helps you relate to other divers with the same knowledge. Biggest bonus is that when something very rare turns up everyone tells you exactly where it is.

The area changes a lot through out the year from cold temperate waters in winter to warm tropical waters in late summer. It is not uncommon to go for dive and find 10 different species of Nudibranch for your macro work and have a dozen Leopard sharks eager for you to take their photo and while all this is happening you can hear the mating song of the bull Humpback Whales in the background.

My other favorite location to date is Tulamben in Bali, Indonesia. It was my first real introduction to “muck” diving. My first thought was “There is nothing to see here”. Then slowly my eye trained onto the weird and wonderful critters. Sea horses, Moth fish, Harlequin Shrimp, Mantis Shrimp and Nudibranchs all of which I have never seen before.
Indonesia and PNG are on my list to go back to. So much diving and so little time/money.

Q10. What are your favorite photos in your collection?
A10. The shot with the Loggerhead coming down with the sunbeams is an interesting shot. The Loggerhead Turtles are residents of Julian Rocks and I believe there are about a dozen of so in the area. This particular Turtle found great interest in my camera and after this shot was taken he decided that he wanted to know what a Olympus c7070 would taste like. If you have seen these turtles ate you know how powerful their jaws are and would easy make a big mess of a camera underwater.

Q11. Any interesting encounters with marine life?
A11. One of my favorite shots is the shot of the couple diving with the sun beaming behind them. I remember that day, as it was one of my best dives at Julian Rocks. I was guiding my friends Christine and Lynden on a day which there was no current, 30m Vis, Grey Nurse sharks, Loggerhead Turtles. It was like every marine creature was having a Sunday afternoon get together. I happen to turn around at the end of the dive and take some shots for my divers with a compact I had. I couldn’t believe the shots I pulled off. It was all jag.

Q12. What is the greatest misconception about uw photography?
A12. Guess this is the biggest misconception with underwater photography, as you don’t need a camera setup worth thousands of dollars to get a great shot.

Written by Chris Manning

My enthusiasm for diving is becoming contagious as evidenced by my 21 year old daughter’s recent interest in the sport. Since she lives in Frisco, I called Blue Dolphin Scuba to get her enrolled in their PADI discover scuba class. Since I had already sent my son through their program, I knew Blue Dolphin Scuba was an excellent choice.

Blue Dolphin Scuba conducts their classes in The Colony at the Aquatic Center on S. Colony Blvd., another reason to choose Blue Dolphin, especially if you live in The Colony like I do. Teaching the class was David Frazier, a PADI dive master and Blue Dolphin sales associate. Frasier has been diving for over 40 years and is a certified PADI Dive Master and Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) Leader.

For a $40.00 investment, my daughter received one-on-one instruction in a large swimming pool with all equipment included. They even let me get a free tank fill and observe the course, which was cool. While at the shop, Kevin “Guppy” Guthrie, who was performing the fill on my tank, noticed that I had a faulty O-ring and promptly replaced it. Thanks Kevin! Emily was shown how to flood and clear her mask, breathe without a mask in place, equalize, and fine-tune her buoyancy to achieve that great sensation of being weightless.

All in all it was a great experience, and a great opportunity to share my love for diving with my daughter in a safe environment. Between my experience in OW certification and seeing my two older kids go through the Discover scuba program, I can highly recommend Blue Dolphin Scuba and any course they offer. It was a great experience and David Frazier equipped my daughter to take the next step and take her OW class.

Special thanks to David Frazier, Kevin “Guppy” Guthrie, and Blue Dolphin Scuba for a great day at the pool.

You can visit Blue Dolphin Scuba’s web site for more details or stop by and check out their store.

DallasDivers.com is not affiliated with Blue Dolphin Scuba or any other local dive shop. We exist to promote the sport of scuba diving in the Dallas area.

Written by Sebron Snyder
Lone Star Scuba’s Dallas location is tucked away in a quiet shopping center just south of 635 on Preston Road. The large SCUBA sign atop the building guided me to a parking spot at the front door and then in a typical Pavlovian fashion, the Scuba Pro signage gave me the warm fuzzy feeling that quickened my pace into the shop.

I have visited Lone Star Scuba on numerous occasions and it is always therapeutic to go to dive shops to feed the equipment “jones”, even when you don’t buy. Once I entered the store I immediately began checking out gear. For a small shop, the selection is effective and their choice of top brands says something about their shop. The layout of the store is smart and the Palapa/Tiki cash register is a nice touch. A small classroom located in the back rounds out the facility.

While I was there, a student dropped by to finish up Nitrox training. We all stood around and talked shop. This is where I really saw what Lone Star is about. It’s all about getting us back to where we all came from. What is it about hydrogen and a couple of atoms of oxygen that makes us all so happy? After a few minutes, Randy Diercoff, the shop’s director, arrived and we discussed all things scuba.

Q1. How long has your dive shop been in business?
A1. Lone Star Scuba got started back in 1988 out in Fort Worth by Manny Montoro. A few years after that the Dallas location opened. I came on at the Dallas location in a very round-about way. But once I came on here things really took off for me. I can’t say enough about how Lone Star has allowed me to come in and develop as a diver and to impart that knowledge to all our customers. Our Fort Worth shop is a twin to this operation with equal services and training.

Q2. How long have you been diving?
A2. Well, I decided to take a Scuba Class while at Texas A&M back in 1984 because my family was taking a trip to Cozumel. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, shortly after that I had a really bad car accident. Once I recovered, diving became a very comfortable and welcoming place. It is still great therapy for me.

Q3. What got you interested in the sport?
A3. The family trip! Well, it’s a good way to get those Physical Education credits out of the way.

Q4. As a diver, what level of certifications do you hold?
A4. Well, I have over 97 plus certifications and specialties. That includes Padi Dive Master and Master Diver, Naui Course Director and TDI Advanced TriMix Instructor Trainer. Lone Star has been great at supporting the staff and myself when it comes to certification and dive proficiency.

Q5. What kind of training does your shop offer?
A5. We’ve got six instructors on our rolls and we offer all types of training from Open Water basic to Technical diving. One thing I would like to tell you about us is that we are very hands on. I have the ability, as director, to customize your training. Not everyone has the same needs or skill level. After my accident I really understood that. We find the ways to train you safely and effectively so that your diving can be fun and safe.

Q6. What local dive facility do you take students for OW training?
A6. We don’t have a pool here on site but we do use the Saint Marks campus pool. We’ll do open water training at Clear Springs when appropriate and we’ve used Aquarena Springs if weather conditions are unfavorable here. As a standard Austin’s Lake Travis is always on our list.

Q7. Do you offer dive trips and if so how many trips a year do you take?
A7. Yes, presently we are up to about 20 for the year when you include Flower Gardens and that’s about our year average. So, we’re a bit ahead for the year! Tech trips to Fort Lauderdale is a new thing that I am really happy we are doing. There are some great wrecks down there.

Q8. What is the most common misconception about diving, especially among beginners?
A8. Okay, here comes the silly answer. Most people think they are going to be breathing pure Oxygen. Oh, also people think bowling is safer than Scuba. Go figure!

Q9. What does your dive shop bring to the table that is unique to the Dallas dive scene?
A9. What sets us apart? Well, we really get involved with you. Everyone is different that comes through that door. We treat you that way. We support all the major agencies; Naui, Padi and TDI. Along with extremely personal service we do offer Nitrox and Trimix fills.

Q10. This is your opportunity to promote your shop to our readers.
A10. We’re proud of what we do here; we service and train everyone with that thought in mind. You come to the shop and we take the time to make your experience worthwhile. We offer some of the best gear on the market to include Scuba Pro, Poseidon, Halycon OMS Mares Uwatec , Oceanic and Mares. We provide equipment servicing, tank inspection, equipment special orders and some of the best services in the local area. Oh, I think we are the most centrally located shop in Dallas. Being a block of 635 and mid-way between the Tollway and 75 has its benefits. Besides there is a great Chinese Restaurant next door.

You can visit Lone Star Scuba’s web site for more details or stop by and check out their store.

Thanks to Randy Diercoff and Lone Star Scuba.

DallasDivers.com is not affiliated with Lone Star Scuba or any other local dive shop. We exist to promote the sport of scuba diving in the Dallas area.

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.

Review by Chris Hinkle

This book has something for everybody. If you are new to scuba, you will embrace this book and curse your open water certification organization for not making it mandatory reading. If you are a seasoned professional or technical diver, your experience and wisdom of the sport will be reflected in its pages. And if you’re somewhere past your open water, headed into advanced (or possibly your first resort dive), you will inhale volumes of professional safety insight with each case study.

The book begins with a chapter entitled “Scuba 101,” which presents itself as an excellent primer to the sport of scuba diving. To a new student, this chapter alone is worth the price of admission. The reader is treated to a decent length read on terminology, training agencies, the various levels of A to Z scuba training, cave and wreck diving, explanations on nitrox and trimix, what decompression diving is, exposure protection considerations, BCDs, tanks, regulators, personal dive gear, dive tables, dive computers… truly a wonderful exposure to what scuba diving is, where its at, and where its headed.

Beyond this, the book is broken down into individual case studies… real diving emergencies (with names changed to protect the innocent) illustrating how individuals handled their respective situations. Each chapter is a different story. Each story is comprised of four main components.

1. A hook paragraph, offering a glimpse of the emergency in full progression, with an invariable cliff hanger ending. This is a very compelling writing style. The full gravity of the each situation spear heads that chapter. Since self preservation is an instinct, you keep reading. Smart.

2. The full length story. What I liked… they talk about the divers involved and their backgrounds, levels of training, and mindsets (attitudes) before their accidents. This makes it very real when you read it. I went in thinking, “this can’t happen to me.” I came out thinking, “yes, it can happen to me.”

3. A summation section entitled “Strategies for Survival,” in the form of bulleted points containing an expert constructive critique on what could be done differently in each situation.

4. Technical Focus Boxes (covered in more depth below)
I really can’t say enough good things about this book. The case studies were very digestible in size, the writing is done well, and the structure is smart. You can read only the main body of each case study and glean the most important safety morals dealing with that section. However, if you want more technical information, the author has provided it in the form of focus boxes… brief, but very informative, boxed sections of text, photos, and diagrams dealing with more technically-oriented subject matter relevant to their respective case study. This speeds up the reading considerably, allowing the diver to better tailor her learning needs.

What I disliked about the book: While the stories were many and covered a wide variety of situations, the book left me wanting more… A larger format, more stories, more illustrations, color photographs, fewer filler photographs/more relevant photographs.

What I liked about the book: I truly enjoyed the formatting… light reading that fits well with today’s hectic schedules. I appreciated the range of the book. From budding beginner to pioneering rebreather, I see this book as an indispensable safety manual for any dive library.
[ratings]

Written by Chris Manning.

After visiting their excellent dive facilities yesterday, I added a new gallery for Athens Scuba Park. The images were taken with my SeaLife ReefMaster Mini using the optional wide angle lens. Images were subsequently enhanced in Adobe Photoshop. All in all, it was one of the best days of local diving I have had recently. Athens Scuba Park has much to offer the Dallas diver and will be featured in an upcoming article.

Written by Tim Ralston. Originally published in the August 2007 Newsletter of InternationalScuba.com. Published by permission of the copyright holder.

The light dawn rain gave way to a calm overcast after our 55-minute ride. We were the only boat in sight. Just four divers and one huge wreck – the USS Oriskany. Sweet!

The aircraft carrier (pronounced o-RIS-kuh-ny), launched as WWII ended, served in Korea and Vietnam. Hollywood cast her with Van Johnson (Men of the Fighting Lady, 1954), William Holden (The Bridges at Toko-Ri, 1954), and Robin Williams (What Dreams May Come, 1998). But on May 17, 2006, she became a living memorial, resting upright in the sand 20 miles south of Pensacola. At 911 feet long, 157 feet wide, and over 150 feet tall, she’s the largest ship ever sunk as an artificial reef. (For a brief history, go to the Wikipedia Web Site.)

I’d booked the trip through MBT Divers. Most Pensacola dive shops run scheduled charters through independent captains and most boats are small (six or less divers). I was a last minute “walk on” with Capt Ron of the Pensacola Dive Company.

Two tech divers in our foursome planned a single dive to penetrate the hull and hangers below 130 ft. Ben (my buddy) and I followed a more typical recreational plan: two dives to the carrier’s island (control tower). A 30% Nitrox mix would allow a brief visit to the flight deck (130 ft) without compromising safety. Currents on the wreck are usually light and visibility runs at least 60 ft.

For the first dive Ron met us on the flight deck. We entered the island’s base through a starboard hatch. Working our way in slow circles upward, we explored cabins, crew stations, a head (with its facilities intact), stairways, flight control tower, and the bridge, emerging near the radar mast base at 60 ft. In a year the wreck hasn’t accumulated much growth, but sea urchins have flocked to a new home. Large octopi snuggle in beam ends. Arrow crabs are holding conventions in the companionways. We returned to the line for a slow ascent.

After an hour surface interval, we descended a second time. Now we concentrated on the external populations of the wreck. Yellowtail Snapper and Jacks schooled along the island. Spotfin Butterflyfish, Tangs and juvenile Queen Angelfish
grazed the open deck. Seaweed Blennies played sentry in the deck stanchions. A 4 foot long barracuda
circled just beyond arm’s reach. A juvenile Blue Tang even declared war on my gloved
hand. (That Fish ID course was worth it, Patti!)

Old Glory and the POW/MIA flag furled and unfurled slowly in the current at the yardarm. Bottom time exhausted, Ben and I headed slowly up.
By 2:30 we were back at the shop – and straight into a Barcelona film documentary about the Oriskany’s impact on tourism. (Somewhere in Spain my face is famous.) Wasn’t unusual. Earlier this spring MBT Divers had hosted charters for divers from as far away as Korea and Brazil!

Souvenirs in hand, I returned to great accommodations (with an MBT discount) at Suburban Lodge Extended Stay, a mere
half-mile from the dive shop.

Since my wife and daughter don’t dive, we continued exploring Pensacola’s other attractions. Down the road at NAS Pensacola are the lighthouse and forts. The National Museum of Naval Aviation (free admission!) needs its own day! (I know because my wife reluctantly accompanied me early one afternoon and had to be dragged out as they shut the doors!) Then there are great beaches, super restaurants, the historical districts…

You know, I think I need to go back. Real soon.