July 26, 2025 – August 2, 2025 CDT
Technical Dive Charter to see the Deeper wrecks in the lagoon
Technical Dive Charter to see the Deeper wrecks in the lagoon
If you missed the January Club Aquarius Social Club meeting, you missed a fun and entertaining discussion of underwater archaeology using the Bajo de la Campana shipwreck as the backdrop. Dr. Staci Willis talked about her first experiences as an underwater research assistant and the adventures and mis-adventures she had while on the project. She laughed with everyone when she talked about her instruction on operating the air lift “…you open this valve to start the lift and you close it when you want to stop it; do you have any questions?” She had fun reliving her adventures while elucidating everyone on how a typical excavation works.
I am sure some of the forty or so divers would like to participate on a project for fun. Of course, she said that the volunteer spaces were small becasue of the need to utilize graduate students on the excavations but jokingly said “…if you donated a large sum to help fund the project, you can be assured of a position.”
Dive Mom also had fun giving out the $30.00 gift cards (in celebration of our 30th anniversary). Of course, the cards had a tight time limit — use them by January 31st!
We really want to thank Sean Beck and the staff at the Backstreet Cafe for making it a fun evening — and did I mention that the food was wonderful! And we also need to give a special thank you to Barbara and Steve Jurbala for helping us remember how much we love the Backstreet Cafe and for calling Sean to help arrange for the meetings. And no Club Meeting is complete without the help of Zaide, Coad, Meagan and the other staff members that help make these evenings a success.
Be sure to join us for future Club Aquarius Social Club Meetings. You can find a complete schedule of the meetings here.
If you missed the Club Aquarius Social Club meeting last week, you probably missed the announcement of an exploratory trip to the Coral Sea aboard the Spirit of Freedom. This trip includes a rare opportunity to visit to the SS Yongala, Australia’s largest shipwreck. During this trip we will be visiting a number of sea mounts not visited by dive boats and operators. We will be exploring them for the first time and we will even have the opportunity to name at least one of the sites we visit! There are a limited number of available spots (both Eric and Ann have signed up to lead this trip) so now is the time to reserve your spot.
We will be publishing more trip information in January but you can always send Dive Mom a note to find out more before then. You don’t want to miss this opportunity!
Are you interested in unexplored shipwrecks lying hidden on the ocean’s bottom just waiting to be discovered? This is Dr. Staci Willis’ passion and this past summer she and a team of investigators explored a portion of the coast of Albania looking for some potential excavation sites. For more than six days she and her fellow researched dove on various sites from 15 meters to 24 meters (50 feet to 80 feet) in an area around Corfu Chanel.
Their investigatory dives were successful and they will be returning next summer to start an archaeological dig on one or two of the sites.
Dr. Staci Willis is currently a Professor of Anthropology at Houston Community College and the Co-Principal Investigator of the Albania Ancient Shipwreck Project. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a Ph.D. in Anthropology, specializing in Nautical Archaeology, in 2016. In addition to her most recent work in Albania, Dr. Willis has also participated in a number of other underwater excavations, including a 7th-century BC Phoenician shipwreck off the coast of Spain, a 1st-century wreck in a river of northern Italy, and and 1st-century wreck in the Indian Ocean off the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
Staci will be discussing her work and these dives at the January 17, 2019 Club Aquarius Social Club meeting.
We just finished a great dive on the Fumitzuki. Susan had her first real decompression dive with Steve and me. You know multiple stops, free swimming and 15 minutes.
The viz on this dive was not great and it was worse everywhere Jim and Jess were. They exhibited no finning technique. To make things worse Jim is still wearing those force fins that just generate silt on their own.
The weather has been mostly overcast with some wind in the afternoon which made some of our earlier diving a challenge. It has made the light underwater a little flat.
Holland had a rough first day — she flooded one of her strobes. The Captain loaned her one of his and she is going to take a class from him on wide angle photography. Not a bad exchange. Today went better for her.
Steve is having fun. He was the only one who did the night dive last night and will probably be the only one tonight. A diver after Ann’s own heart.
Our next dive is on the Shinkoku Maru. We will be here for the rest of the day. Steve and I will be starting on his penetration dives on this wreck. Steve is feeling lucky.
Oceanic Ventures, Inc
5808 Newcastle Dr.
Houston, TX 77401-3214
USA
Phone: 713-523-DIVE (3483)
eMail: divesafe@oceanicventures.com
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Ann really took her time helping to fit my niece with her first mask and fins. We so appreciated the personal attention, and we loved that she was open to talking about dive certification, but she wasn't giving us the hard sell. We live out toward Tomball but would happily drive back here vs. going to a nearby competitor simply for the service.
They gave been wonderful all the way. My son started in Scuba Rangers and now we are both certified; thank you for taking care of us!
I loved the course!
They are great with children!
I will never forget diving with my teen aged son for the first time. Thank you for the memories.
Eric is a real ambassador for the rebreather world. Thanks for all of your hard work.
I really enjoyed my Technical Diver Course and I learned a lot.
Best Dive Shop I've ever used. I've been diving since 1984 and you will not find more talented staff anywhere else. They are small, family owned and service oriented #1. You get personal service from start to finish from people who actually dive all over the world. I've taken simple to advance courses from them and the trainers are excellent. Dive trips are well organized to unique locations and always fun. This type of depth of knowledge is very difficult to find, especially in Texas.
Great dive shop with wonderful instructors to share your passion for the underwater world. They have fun for the whole family from kids diving programs through advanced diving. Checkout their scuba diving vacation to some of the best diving in the world. I really like the Diva dive vacation to Grand Cayman.
I have been to many scuba stores in Houston and this one is by far the best. Most scuba stores have a couple of salespersons who will show you one of the 40 types of fins and 10 types of regulators that they have in stock and immediately try to sell these to you. Most of these same stores really cater only to people just getting certified. Oceanic ventures has a very different business model. While they do have an inventory, it is not as large as other stores. The difference is that they really try to foster a dive community. It works. People come back again and again. Further, unlike many stores, they teach just about everything possible. If you want to teach your child how to snorkel, they teach that. If you want to learn how to dive 350 feet down on a rebreather using helium gas mixes and several additional scuba tanks, they teach that. They teach everything in between. Not many stores do that. Additionally, the staff is very knowledgeable about all the equipment they sell. You will never get an "I don't know about that" type of answer.
People choose their friends carefully just as they should choose their adventure partners and Scuba Diving Instructors. Oceanic Ventures is the premier scuba dive shop in Houston, Texas, and the Southwest because of our exceptional service and our sense of adventure. In talking with our clients and friends, people choose us for a number of reasons such as: Passion – We love what we do and we want to share the beauty and excitement of the underwater world with everyone we meet. Caring- Our clients tell us they love us because we truly care about people and strive to make their scuba diving experiences safe, fun and enjoyable. Professional – Our staff members are the … [Read more …]