The Local Dive Shop (LDS) Texan Scuba

Why is it that the local dive shops (the LDS to use diver's lingo) think they are above everyone else? What ever happened to customer service?! My friend and I booked our Nitrox and AOW through Texan Scuba in Huntsville, TX. I had originally used them for my open water certification, they are right by Blue Lagoon. Their class prices are not extremely competitive but they do embrace online teaching which works better with my schedule. We picked the DPV, S&R, and night dive as our elective dives. I thought since they provided the DPV for the DPV dive and the lift bag for the S&R dive, they were going to provide the lights for the night dive. Maybe it was my mistake to assume this but it did seem reasonable. When we got to BL I was confronted by Phil, the owner of Texan Scuba and parts of BL. He decided to take me outside to "talk about it." He went on to lecture me about having to buy my own equipment, how shop loyalty is important, how online retailers will not service your equipment, and all in all, how much he just did not care about customer service. Let me say this, if he wants to give me a lecture about all that as if I was a 16 year old kid with no life experience, I simply will not have it. I deal with rude people all day long, I dive with my own equipment including a thousand dollar datamask, and in my bank account I have enough money to buy out his store. The reality though is that THE ONE THING LDS HAVE THAT ONLINE RETAILERS DO NOT IS THE FACE TO FACE COMMUNICATION AND GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE, however, if you are going to be rude to me, you just lost that advantage and I will never spend a penny in your store and I will tell all my well off friends to do the same. That is exactly what happened with Texan Scuba. I have at least 6 friends who are interested in diving but I am just going to tell them to go elsewhere.

This is unfortunately a problem that plagues many dive shops across the country based on what I am reading online. I understand that this is a difficult time to have a small business, but the business practices of LDSs are antiquated. I do not imagine that dive shop owners shop locally for all their food and housewares, everything in their house is not made in the USA which would greatly help the local and country wide economy. In the perfect world, this would be true. But in the real world, grocery stores have the better price or at least are more convenient. It is easier and cheaper to buy a TV stand at Target rather than having the local carpenter do it. LDS owners, why should I pay double and put more money in your pocket if I can find the exact same dive gear online at half the price? Plus, you treat us like a car salesman would with scare tactics and BS. You have to adapt! Do not feed me this line that it is because of the manufacturers that the prices are fixed. Most of the online retailers have physical stores just like you, the gear they are selling did not fall off a truck and magically appear in their stores, they are doing something that you are not and you have to figure it out or go out of business. Before someone starts to tell me that we need LDSs, my question is do we really need them? Oh, we need them to service our gear? Wrong, you can send your gear to several reputable places online, pay less, and have your gear serviced better. That's right, better. Here is a reality check, most LDS take a 1-2 DAY course to service your gear from the manufacturer. They know how to take it apart, put the new parts in and give it back to you. Read on the message boards how many LDS have screwed up with the life support equipment you put on... A lot. Most online service agencies have a physical shop that you can drop off your gear if you prefer, they have taken a 1-2 WEEK course on servicing all types of regulators and gear. I have had a hard time finding anything negative about the online service shops. I am sure it is out there but cannot find it. The reality is that you are putting your life in the hands of a stranger with either option. There is no advantage to servicing with the LDS that I can see. Oh, we need them for classes? I have to say, John with Texan Scuba is an excellent instructor. But if Phil is going to be rude, then I just will not take classes from them, no matter how good the instructor is. Credentialing agencies will eventually realize that LDS are the front face of their agencies. Hopefully they will require lessons in customer service. If not, I think they will start allowing freelance teaching. They are not going to go out of business because a bunch of idiots with no idea of customer service are not selling their product correctly. Based on my experience with Texan Scuba, I think I am going to move on and give NAUI or SDI a try.

Important lessons for LDSs. Be nice, treat your customers with respect. Maybe lend them those dive lights and if they like how they work, sell them to them. That's an idea... Put the product in the customer's hand. Be competitive with your pricing, your online competition can do it, with the amount they are selling they are obviously getting it from the manufacturer, figure out what they are doing. Adapt.

Blue Lagoon, Huntsville, TX

This weekend my former roommate Chris and I got to dive in Blue Lagoon, about 10 minutes north of Huntsville, TX. This is where I originally got certified through Texan Scuba.

You get there by taking exit 123 off I-45, going through a semi paved semi gravel road. They open at 8am on the weekends and stay open until six. Camping is available over the weekend and non divers swim at their own risk. Prices are a little high for gear and entry:
$16 entry fee per person
$13 initial air tank rental and $8 refill
The rest of their gear is listed on their site.

Blue Lagoon is actually 2 lagoons. We dove lagoon 2 first. They state that max depth is 25-30 feet,  in reality it is 20-25 feet. Visibility was about 10-12 feet. We found two boats and an aircraft carrier. Yes, I did say aircraft carrier. It was about 3 feet long! The bottom of the lagoon consists of silt that if touched will quickly limit visibility. There are bouys throughout that mark large platforms and any point of interest. For the first 3 hours, we were the only divers at this lagoon. It was great to practice skills such as buddy communication, compass navigation, buoyancy control, and try out any new gear.

Lagoon 1 is pretty similar to lagoon 2 except slightly larger. It is also the lagoon of choice for dive schools. By the time we dove lagoon 1, visibility was about 5-8 feet. We swam right by a larger, what appeared to be sail boat and missed it. Also, we believed there was a bridge under the water but we had a hard time making out more than a  couple feet of it.

We managed to make five dives at Blue Lagoon in about 6 hours. While the price is slightly high, the people are nice, the gear is good (except we changed out the o-ring on one of their tanks), and their facilities are clean. Definitely a nice place to dive if you are in the area.

Things my wife and I learned about shore diving

1. Rocks... lots of them. From very big to very tiny, they are annoying and painful. We bought full foot fins split fins because they were much more affordable than the strapped kind. We quickly learned that neoprene socks do not provide enough padding to walk on the dreaded rocks. The solution: I placed a zip tie around the elastic of each one of our water shoes with enough slack to form a loop. I then bought a double sided long clip from my dive shop and placed it on the lowest BCD D-ring. We would walk into the water with our water shoes, take them off, put the fins on, then clip the shoes to our BCDs. Once clipped, we would tuck them in our BCD waist band so they were out of the way and wouldn't drag. When we were done with the dive, we just did the reverse.
2. Weight belt. My wife and I were very excited to have weight integrated BCDs. For the first two days we struggled to get our very heavy BCD/tank/regulator/integrated weights on our backs and navigate the rocky terrain and long walks until we got in the water. By the time we got there, we were exhausted. Much too much work before the dive even started. Once in the water, we loved the weight integration. Getting out was another tiring ordeal. The last couple days we switched to a weight belt. The walkout was much better switching the weight from our shoulders to our waist and at the end carrying the weight belt in our hand made the whole process much more enjoyable. Leave weight integration for the boat, weight belt for the shore.
3. Tarps are awesome. Use it to protect your rental car seats and trunk.
4. Snorkeling. Expect long swim outs in some of these placed, snorkeling will make the time pass quicker.
5. Assemble your gear at the dive shop and transport it assembled. That way if you have a long drive you can just jump out of the car, throw your gear on and dive, plus you are at your freshest when assembling and testing it. Make sure that you lay your tank down when transporting it and do not pinch your hoses.
6. Take a cooler with drinks, I mean water!
7. Watch for fishing lines and boat lanes. If in doubt, deploy a buoy.
8. This is for the newbies out there. If the water is warm, then cold, then warm, then cold, etc it's more than likely a current. It can happen in as little as 10ft of water and can change rapidly, like when you swim out and back.

Things I learned about SCUBA diving with cleft palate and lip

I was born with a complete cleft palate and lip. After fourteen surgeries, I still have a small connection between my mouth and nose, an under bite, and a large deviated septum blocking my whole right nare. SCUBA diving, based on the amount of dependence on external breathing equipment seemed like an impossibility, but it is not. Here is what I have learned so far:

1. Clearing your mask is no easy task. While this is a problem for most other divers as well, clearing a completely flooded mask takes a bit of effort. First off, learning with a low volume mask is the way to go. My SCUBA instructor John taught me that. The Oceanic shadow is a great example of one. Second, the more you tilt your head back, the easier it is to clear. Third, it may take more than one breath to clear your mask. I clear what I can with the first breath, cover my nose because water will enter my nose and go into my mouth due to the connection, take a breath in and clear with my second breath. This can also be applied to your mask being removed. Cover your nose while breathing underwater without a mask. During slow exhalation through your nose, sit the mask on your head and cover your nose. Take a breath in, while slowly exhaling through your nose place the mask in the appropriate position and partially clear it with the remaining breath. Repeat the above procedure to finish clearing your mask. This is just my technique and what works for me. Every person will b different, find what works for you and practice, practice, practice!
2. Fogging your mask is going to be common. I found these neat fog wipers on Amazon that I will review at a later time, they make your dive so much more enjoyable.
3. Mask fit. It is hard for someone without a history of cleft palate or lip to find a properly fitting mask. Definitely try before you buy and make sure you take your regulator with you so you can try it on with it in your mouth and test the seal. 4. Regulators should not be a problem. You can buy mouthpieces that can be customized to your bite. A definite consideration.

While diving may be seen as daunting, it is not. It is by far one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done and recommend it to everyone. If you have any questions, just post a comment and I will get back to you!

Oceanic Shadow Mask

Oceanic Shadow Mask
www.oceanicworldwide.com
Retail: $79

Low volume, frameless mask with neoprene head band. Very easy to clear, great field of view. Folds compactly. Comes in 2 size options: regular and mini with two skirt color options, black and frosted. My go to mask and I love that the neoprene head band is standard.

Oceanic Datamask HUD

Oceanic Datamask HUD
www.oceanicworldwide.com
Retail: $1099

The Oceanic Datamask HUD is a luxury item that will make you feel like a nerd and a NAVY SEAL at the same time. The integrated computer is feature packed, the mask has a great feel, the wireless integration a nice feature. However, it is prone to easy fogging which means the loss of the computer and your pressure gauge, difficult to see in shallow water or even deep water with high light density. While bulky and not necessarily a low volume mask, in the water, the mask is comfortable.

The Mask
Double skirted with soft silicone, forms a nice seal around the face. Side view window on the left allows for a wide field of view out the left. Computer on the right side limits the peripheral visibility between the 3 and 6 o'clock region. Solid silicone strap.

The Computer
Feature packed including: air/nitrox, freediving and gauge mode, tissue load bar graph, flight time remaining, surface interval, estimated air time remaining calculated every 30 seconds, pressure gauge, audible programmable alarms and backlight. Easy user battery replacement. Easily visible inside the mask, however, facial features may limit visibility of units (a problem found on message boards as well). In shallow water or bright environments, the right lens may need to be covered with hand in order to read computer which makes completely hands free operation not possible. I had this problem at 30ft in the Caribbean. The LED screen is just as prone to fogging as the rest of the mask. This leads to the loss of visibility of the pressure gauge and the computer. The only way to remedy this situation is to partially flood your mask and clear it.

Wireless Integration
Since I bought mine on eBay, it came with an Aeris transmitter. This was not a problem as you can program the mask to receive signal from either brand of transmitter. It has a range of about 3m but propulsion vehicles may interfere with the signal. Battery is easy to replace and transmitter easy to install. There is an adapter that can be purchased online that allows 1 HP port to be split into 2, allowing a standard pressure gauge and the wireless transmitter to be placed on one transmitter. It works really
well.

Final Thoughts
Very neat computer and mask. Great for when visibility is limited and deep dives. Having a backup gauge may prevent you from having to flood your mask or abort a dive to be able to read your gauge.

The Dive Caddy Gen 2

The Dive Caddy Gen 2
www.divecaddy.net
Retail: $300
eBay: $140

This backpack can surprisingly hold all the gear for a short SCUBA vacation. Once the other bags are packed, I can definitely see how 3 days of necessities can all be placed into one neat system. The trade off is that it takes very careful packing in order to not have big bulges in awkward places and to make sure none of the gear gets pinched or damaged. Having just returned from Curaçao where the airline attendants placed every carry-on bag in their measurement frame, I doubt that anything more than the backpack can be carried on as one piece.

The Main Backpack

1. Left compartment: 3 straps, a double zipper, and breathable mesh keeps this compartment secure. It is also the compartment that will rest on your back. I placed my 3mm XL Cressi shorty as the base of the bag from top to bottom. My water shoes were placed at the top, my Oceanic datamask in the middle, snorkel vertically along the inside wall, and a beach towel along the top of everything, folding it at the bottom for extra padding. Everything compresses nicely with the clips.
2. Middle compartment (the BCD compartment): 5 straps across and a 2in strap from top to bottom. I placed my XL Aeris EX200 without the integrated weight holders, empty pockets, and completely emptied of air. It compacted it very nicely and held it securely. The individual smaller clips do not seem sturdy on their own and sometime pop open when clenching the system down, but as a unit they are very effective.
3. Right compartment (the fin compartment): the fin caddy held my XL TUSA Xpert Full Foot Split Fins, Mares Rover 2 regulator, octopus, LP BCD hose, and Aeris wireless transmitter in an easy carrying system that can be deployed independently. The shoulder strap is a nice addition to the fin caddy and the mechanism to hold the fins is designed for all types of fins (split, full foot, strapped, etc). The compartment itself holds the loaded fin caddy vertically and is secured with a 2in strap that has an extension. The outer lower corner has a zipper that allow long fins to stick out.
4. Folding and compressing: the regulator is compressed between the fins and BCD. My concern is damage to the regulators or hoses. I wrapped my regulators in neoprene socks and when folding, made sure none of the hoses were being pinched. The left compartment is folded onto the fins providing more padding for the regulators. The three large outside straps and two small trim straps seem to hold everything nicely in place. The bag does not rest as a perfect rectangle, however, it is easy to carry and everything seems safe. The other attachment bags will hold everything else and this bag definitely allows for creativity when packing.

Final Thoughts

In my opinion it does do what it says it does with regards to gear and necessities for a three day trip. I highly question whether a fully assembled system can bypass the increasingly vigilant airline attendants but I believe that the backpack itself, with all your essential scuba equipment can work as a carry-on. I would love to know if anyone has recently been able to carry a fully assembled system onto a plane. The retail price point seems a little high but it is the only bag that I am aware of that can be compacted into such a small system. The online videos are very helpful for packing and avoiding bulges. A "quick pack" diagram would be nice. Definitely a consideration if compactness and efficiency are high on your list and the $300 price tag does not bother you.

Curaçao

This was my wife and my first dive trip. We were newly minted PADI open water divers. We had done one dive beyond our certification class and that was mostly to test out our gear. We chose Curacao mostly for their reputation as an excellent shore diving island, outside the hurricane belt. We packed our regulators in a case, padded our computers and goggles with our wetsuits and neoprene socks, and stored them inside our carry on. Along with a change of clothes, important papers, and snorkel, we were at about 20 lbs. BCD and fins as well as toiletries and all the other non fragile SCUBA gear including all our clothes went into an oversized duffle bag to be checked in.

On arriving to the airport for our very early morning check in, we discovered several very interesting airline policies. We were allowed to check in two bags for free which surprised us because this was the time of increasing baggage fees.  Our duffel bag weighed 60lbs. Well over the 50lbs limit for a free bag. (Of note: many websites suggest that you check in curbside, they are more likely to let several pounds slide and can save you the $100 fee the desk attendant wanted to impose for an overweight bag. A $10 tip to the curbside attendant may be worth it but not always an option for a 6am flight). We threw our wetsuits and toiletries into a foldable backpack and took our fins out of the bag to come down to the acceptable weight. Checked in the backpack and hoped that all would arrive.

Our flight was uneventful and arrived in Curacao around 2pm. Luckily our luggage arrived as well! We quickly discovered the high 80 degree weather with very high humidity. It was instant sweating. Customs moved slowly and we claimed our bags after clearing them. It was a bit of a walk to the car rental area in the hot sunny day. After another wait we were assisted. We opted for a Kia Picanto that can comfortably carry two people and gear (of note: most of the cars on the island are very small, for 3+, an SUV seems like the way to go). We elected both optional insurances and for 5 days with unlimited miles came out to $323. It was another walk to another desk in the heat where we finally picked up our car. They did not have any GPS available to rent but I had saved a map of Curacao to my Nexus 7 for offline use, it was a lifesaver as you do not need an internet connection and the GPS chip can help you navigate. The speed around most of the island is 40km/hr with it increasing to 60-80 km/hr around the main loop. (of note: look up traffic signs for Curacao as they are very different than American signs).

Atlantis Dive Resort

After a little navigating, we found our home for the next week. A one bedroom apartment overlooking their little cove and house reef. It was right next to the Boase luxury resort and had gated parking for apartment residents. The apartment was on the second story, extremely (impeccably) clean, with a balcony and chairs to sit out on the patio. The bedroom is by the door, followed by the bathroom (shower only, the only mirror, and dim lighting) followed by a functional kitchenette, living room with tv (cable in all different languages) and the balcony shotgun style. The apartment was comfortable but one of my only complaints of the apartment is that their website does not mention that you only get a certain amount of electricity per day and it depends on the size of your apartment. We were told it was mostly enough electricity to run the AC in the bedroom (the only unit in the whole apartment) at night and other basic needs. It would cost an additional $0.50 per kwh. As mentioned earlier, Curaçao was very hot and humid and by what I am used to in Texas, the rest of the apartment was unbearably hot. This was very unfortunate because of the beautiful view and the tv were both in the living room. They told us that trying to cool the apartment would be very taxing on the AC unit and would be expensive. I placed the provided fan by the bedroom door blowing out, turned down the AC all the way and blew the cold air into the rest of the apartment. It costs about $10 a day to do this and cooled down the apartment to the high 70s which was bearable. They also have a flow through water heater in the bathroom that makes the water hot but has to be flipped on with a switch. There is a small safe in the room that you program with your own code. A couple other things about the resort itself: 1. their cancelation policy is very strict and there is no forgiveness if your trip gets messed up for whatever reason.  2. The staff is polite and efficient when approached, they are not very personable or very good with the hospitality aspect of their business with regards to Americans. 3. Their facilities were awesome and gear prices reasonable.

The Atlantis House Reef

There were two entry points. One was right in front of the Atlantis resort, between some large boulders. The other was to the right of the Atlantis resort, on the other side of the pier there was a rubbly beach. Both can be accessed publicly in between the Atlantis and Boase resort. Entry between the boulders resulted in several steps with the last step being in about 3 feet of water and several feet out. The water was very calm in the cove, the trade off is that it is cloudy and for two days while we were there, there was a sport fishing boat parked in it. We did see a lion fish, urchin, and several schools of large fish in the cove. It was about 15 ft deep at the most. At the point there was a tree that marked the entrance. There was normal size waves at the point and the wall started about 30 feet beyond that. Swimming around the point towards the beach yielded much clearer water but fishing off the rocks is common and lines could be found in the water. Visibility was about 50 feet and a depth of about 20 feet. Coral was sparse but we did see a large puffer fish by the rocks where the fishing took place. Boat traffic was moderate around the point, a buoy is definitely recommended. The wall in this area we were told drops to 240 feet. We found this reef much more enjoyable to snorkel rather than SCUBA. The beach entry was very rubbly and extends about a third of the way into the pier.

Porto Marie

We actually ended up diving this reef more than we expected. The eastward reefs were a little more rough and their entries more rubbly than this reef. Playa Kalki was quite a bit further of a drive and we did not particularly care to stay that far from Williamsted especially with this being our first dive trip. This was about a 20 minute drive from Atlantis but well worth it. It was slightly crowded during the weekday and can get really crowded over the weekend. Once at their entrance, you can go right into their parking lot or straight down the ramp. The dive shop (very helpful), a place to setup your gear, showers, changing room and restroom are on the right and bar on the left of the ramp. You can drop off your gear and go to park. Tanks were $9. There's a map of the double reef where you set up your gear. We entered the water next to the pier. Small surface waves were present but the beach entry consisted of sand and small stones. Our first dive we swam straight out and dropped to 20 feet about 90 feet from the pier. Visibility was 80-100 ft for all our dives. Beautiful mushroom coral, brain coral, and tubular coral with large schools of fish. Despite the semi crowded beach, the diving was solitary with the occasional encounter with other groups. We saw a couple eels hiding in the coral but overall this was a really pleasant newbie dive. The second dive we decided to go left of the pier. We did not see much coral and decided to submerge. We were right at the second wall, there was a path that bypassed both reefs and you ended up at the wall in 100 ft water. We reoriented to the right and soon found the reef and some lovely diving. The setup of this reef is a swim out, a reef, a drop to 30-60 ft that's a sandy bowl and a second reef followed by a much more dramatic dropoff and deeper water. There's eels, squid, parrotfish, and pretty much every other Curacao sea creature at this reef. On our third dive we snorkeled to the buoy and descended, swimming to the right. We swam in the bowl and enjoyed as both reefs came together. You can rent a key and locker at the bar for about $1.20 with a $7 deposit. There is a charge to use the beach and their facilities but we were never charged even though we offered to pay both days. Well worth the drive!

Tugboat (the one on the eastern side of the island)

Our last day before flying, we decided to do snorkeling. Having read a lot about tugboat we decided to head that way. If you pull up the satellite image of Curacao on Google maps, you will see what appears to be a large ship anchored at the site. Once we arrived there, the big ship was definitely there and we swam about 60 feet from it. In no way was it threatening and it actually blocked a lot of the waves. There was a dive shop there but it appeared to have been closed for a while. There were some large stones in the area with some grabble, but once at the water it was mostly sand. We snorkeled to the left along the cliff and right before the wall was the tugboat. It was in about 10 feet of water and very awesome. Some divers do dive the site but we felt that it would be wasting a tank to SCUBA such a shallow wreck and it gave us something to do on the last "no dive" day. You pass several beaches that can be snorkeled or dove, Curious2dive was in this direction.

Other SCUBA shop interactions

We emailed several shops ahead of our trip so that we could better plan it, this is our limited experience with them:
The Dive Bus- extremely friendly, good English and very responsive to emails. Helpful posts can be found on several message boards on the internet. A very good website with reasonable prices. Several of my emails resulted with them directing me to their website which was a little frustrating because I believed the information I needed was not there. They were more than helpful with follow up emails and emailed me several times before the trip to see how we were doing. Much appreciated!!!!
Curious2Dive- very responsive to emails and also sent an email about a week before our trip to see how we were doing. I believe that they may be the only dive shop on the island that actively take disabled divers out. Very friendly!

Shopping

Prices can be expensive. They have no cows on the island so keep that in mind when buying meat products. Shopping is done at grocery stores or warehouses. The one across from Atlantis seemed pretty similar to most stores in the States. Check expiration dates!

Gas

You get gas by prepaying the attendant at the window. The pump will stop once the amount is reached. Yellow is unleaded. For our KIA Picanto, driving 5 days, we used half a tank which is about 15 liters and $25.

Currency

The Nafl ("Florine") and ANG ("Guilder") is about 1.75 per $1.

Car Rental

We rented our car from Avis. Just about every rental place is at the airport but Avis was the only one that stated you can do an after hour return. After calling all the companies, it seems to be true. To return the car, you drop it off in one of the spots that you picked it up in, lock your keys in the car and you are done. To keep the car clean, we bought a tarp and draped the inside whenever we went diving.

Of interesting note, we were told lion fish is a specialty on the island. We went to PAMPUS by downtown, where the big parking lot is. While I was nervous eating it, it was delicious, very well prepared, and I am still alive. The red snapper was also good.