Do the winter blues have you feeling blah? Are you ready for some sun, sand, water, and fun? Well… Have you ever tried SCUBA Diving? I can’t promise the sun and the sand, but we can help you with the water and fun! How? Oh gosh, I’m so glad you asked, it makes my job easier!
Tag Archives: Pool
Tank Talk 3 (Chuck)
Good coffee morning, or iced tea, or soda pop, or whatever you’re drinking. I’m working on my coffee but you can join me with any drink you want.
I don’t get all excited by wetsuits, normally, although I’ve spent a lot of time in one lately. I’m going to have to tell you about 2 new products SCUBAPRO has come up with that I can get excited about.
The first is the SCUBAPRO “Definition.” I’ve used both the 3mm and the 5mm. First, they have a heat shield lining that does a good job of keeping you warm, and in all the diving I have done with both, I’ve remained very comfortable. But that’s not what excites me. What excites me is how easy it is to get in and out of the wetsuit. Normally, I wear SCUBA socks to help get wetsuits on, but with these, they just slide on… at least easy for a wetsuit. It’s even easy for an “old man” like me. Continue reading
June Extreme Dive Club Meeting – 2018
Guys, some days you have a Dive Club Meeting and other days you just have fun! Both ways are just as much fun as the other!! I would say this meeting was all about the fun and comroderee. Two dates to make sure you mark on your calendar:
- June 23, 2018 – Annual Underwater Safari Hunt
- July 5, 2018 – July Extreme Dive Club Meeting
Otherwise, if you want to update your calendar, refer back to the May Extreme Dive Club Meeting Minutes!
Now, let the fun begin!
Flashing Lights Aren’t so Scary Anymore
Picture this, you’re driving down the road. Minding your own business. Then… Red lights in your mirror. Oh-oh, what did I do wrong? Let’s face it, that’s the thought most of us have. After this past winter and spring though, I’m developing a new appreciation for the Firemen, Police, and Sheriff’s of Benton County Arkansas the more I work with them.
Benton County Dive Team
Late last year the Benton County departments signed up 40 students for open-water classes. Classes began as early as January of this year. Justin, Grady, Dan, Doug, and I have been working with 40 of these friends since then. We had to start with open-water classes – which are still going on. Continue reading
Try SCUBA
Here we are toward the end of January and I’m here to tell you, it’s cold outside. Oh, that may not be new news if you’ve walked out your door any at all in the past couple weeks. What I’m actually here to tell you is even though we had to call off the New Year’s Day Dive, our 2018 dive season is in full swing.
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Two Saturdays ago we had our first Try SCUBA of the year. It was a chance for old and new divers alike to get their feet wet warm waters. It may have been a swimming pool, but needless to say, we were still diving. We had the Boyscouts join us as well as other potential divers and already certified divers. It was a fun and productive day.
While Grady, Dan, Chuck, Mark, Tori, and I were off at the pool with the Try SCUBA group, Deb was back at the shop teaching class. When the Try SCUBA session was over, then it was time for the pool class portion of the classroom. Deb has 2 new students along with 2 refresher students.
So all of this to say, our SCUBA season is off to a good start. In just a few short weeks the first group trip of the year will be headed to Cozumel. Happy Saturday and we’ll let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy!
You Want to Become SCUBA Certified… Now What?
You want to become SCUBA certified, now what? As a dive instructor, the thing that I most enjoy is seeing new divers come out of the water with a mile long smile, realizing what they have just accomplished. But the question is,
What does it take to become an “Open Water SCUBA Diver?”
First, you must sign up for the class. Come by Extreme Sports SCUBA to sign up for the course and fill out waivers and file folder. While you are here, you will set-up classroom and pool schedule. Don’t let that word “classroom” scare you off! At the time of sign-up, you are given “homework,” an open-water manual and knowledge questions to take home and read and answer at your own convenience. Again, don’t let that word homework scare you off. It’s not scary, promise.
There are five chapters,
- Underwater Environment
- Physics/Physiology
- SCUBA Equipment
- Skills Development
- Planning Your Dive.
After this is complete, you will come in for 2 classroom sessions. Each of these sessions are about 3 hours in length. Then, time for your 2 pool sessions. However, we will schedule more sessions if needed, and don’t feel bad if you feel you need more time in the pool. We want you to feel comfortable and we want you to succeed. The pool sessions take about 2 1/2 hours.
Remember: Our goal is for you to become comfortable in the water and be able to perform all the skills with ease.
Keeping SCUBA in the Family
Drake Weston turns 18 today, Happy Birthday to you.
And today’s blog post is about Drake.
What is it like to teach a family member to SCUBA dive?
When you have a family that is in the SCUBA business, you end up at one time or another teaching another family member to SCUBA dive.
Drake, grandson of Grady and I, grew up around SCUBA. With a father and grandparents as instructors, it was known that eventually, he would learn to dive as well. He started out using a Sassy (surface assisted youth unit) when he was around 5 years old. He even got to use it in Cozumel. Continue reading
173 and Counting
July 2003 I got my first introduction Into the world of SCUBA diving. Mask on, check. Breathy thingy, Check. Depth, 15 foot, I really don’t know, I didn’t check the gauges. Wasn’t really even sure you needed to check gauges. Water temperature warm. But at 15 feet in a lake my first time experiencing diving, I decided I was done. SCUBA diving was not for me.
Later that evening my daughter was getting her introduction to SCUBA diving. Hers was in the swimming pool at Big Bobber resort in Shell Knob. Danielle loved it. She was at the bottom that pool for over an hour, having the time of her life. After that, there was a brief discussion with my wife. I was informed one of us was going to dive with Danielle and it was not going to be her. Using my deductive powers of reasoning I figured out if it wasn’t going to be my wife, then it looked like I was going to learn to SCUBA dive.
How Often Should I Dive?
I am now an open-water certified SCUBA diver, how often should I dive?
The answer: the more the merrier. Diving is like a lot of other sports – The more you practice, the better you become at diving. The better you become at diving, the more your comfort level increases. The more comfortable you become, the better diver you become. Plus, you want to keep up with the skills you learned in class.
One of the most important skills a diver has is being a good dive buddy to your dive partner. Unless you are a solo certified diver, you need a dive buddy. This is a safety issue as you may be required to assist your buddy in times of need (i.e. air sharing, emergency accident, or entanglement, etc).
The more you dive and the more your comfort level increases, the better all-around diver you will be.
Continue reading