February 18, 2006 - Great Diving News For Alabama!! - Read about it here ===>>>> SUCCESS

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June 13th, 2010

Hello Divers,

We have a lot of trips, training and specials to let you know about.  As you are receiving this newsletter, Spencer and Mark are taking a group of over 20 divers to Panama City, FL. Also my dad, Steve, just left with several of our divers for another Gold seeking adventure diving the Bering Sea in Alaska.

Closer to home, what is at the top of everyone's mind is the current oil spill disaster in the Gulf. We have still been having trips to the Gulf every week and have not seen oil yet but we know it is there. The trips that we have scheduled for Orange Beach, AL have been changed to Panama City, FL. Yesterday, booms were set up across Perdido Pass and it is closed except for outgoing tides. Also, oil has been spotted there as far to the east as Pensacola, FL so for now we will not be diving out of Orange Beach.

The following trips and classes have spaces available.

 

 

July 9-11, Panama City Spearfishing
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Panama City and during Red Snapper Season. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel.

Aug. 6-8, Offshore Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be taking another group to dive some of the off shore wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step if you are interested in some of the off shore, less dived sites. This is the same vessel that we charter on our inshore trips. This is also a good opportunity for you guys to get your wreck diving certification.

 

March 12-19, 2011 Utila, Honduras Live Aboard
We had such a great Spring Break trip this year we have decided to book the brand new Utila Aggressor! This year we spent the week diving off of Utila and Roatan. The boat we used was fantastic but this year we will be
using the new flagship of the Aggressor Fleet. The diving is easy, fish life is abundant and the food is excellent. This will be a great family trip. Let us know right away if you are interested.

Continuing Education
June 26, 9am Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take  pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any
Nitrox dive.

 

 

Specials
Free Airsource Upgrade Instructions:
Between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010, SSDS is proud to offer a free Airsource upgrade ($230 value) when an Aqua Lung Family BC and Regulator, a Suunto comter, and any scuba training course is purchased from Southern Skin Divers Supply.

Also, we have a couple of Ikelite DSLR housing packages with strobes on sale. For more info give us a call.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL.35222
205-595-3052

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May 13th, 2010

Hello Divers,

I am sorry it has taken me so long in getting you the latest in what's happening. We have been diving every weekend and since our last newsletter we have certified a couple of dozen open water divers. Currently we have 9 students in our stress and rescue class. We have also had multiple trips to Panama City, FL, a wreck trip on the Oriskany and a big live aboard trip to Belize. My sister, Paige kept a journal from our Belize adventure for this newsletter and we will get to that later on. Right now I want to let everyone know that we are still diving our weekend trips to the Panhandle of Florida and the Alabama Gulf Coast. The Oil Rig disaster off of Louisiana has not affected the waters where we dive yet and we have not canceled any of these trips for the next few weeks. We will let you know if there are any changes in the near future. As you read this newsletter we are currently diving the opening weekend of the Alabama Spear fishing Association's Red Neck Riviera Spear fishing Tournament. It is not too late to enter this 5 week contest and I look forward to seeing you on the water.

Trips
May 21-23, Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately for this weekend.

June 25-27, Offshore Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be taking another group to dive some of the off shore wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step if you are interested in some of the off shore, less dived sites. This is the same vessel that we charter on our inshore trips. This is also a good opportunity for you guys to get your wreck diving certification.

July 10-17 & 17-24, Grand Cayman
This is a land based trip to the East end of Grand Cayman. We are staying in brand new oceanfront condominiums each with their own private balcony and all the comforts of home. The East End of Grand Cayman offers world class scuba diving, being renowned for pristine reefs and breathtaking wall diving. You will be diving from custom built dive boats awaiting at the end of the dock, just a step away from your room. This trip includes 6 days of boat diving, Car rental, ocean side barbecue one night. We are accepting deposits now. This trip will sell out fast.

 

 

 

Training

May 22, 9 AM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

The following is Paige's recollection of our recent Belize trip

I have been hearing about diving liveaboards since I was a little girl. This April on the Aggressor III in Belize I finally found out what all the fuss is about. The Yacht was gorgeous with many floors to enjoy. One floor included a hot tub which I did not let go to waste. Upon arrival we divers set our gear up in the space which would be ours for the rest of the trip. We set up our gear next to our dive buddy's. I had an excellent dive buddy for the week. He was just as excited as me about the trip. Neither of us had ever been on a live aboard. We were like kids and the Sea was our candy store. Our eyes would get big and light up when amazing underwater creatures crossed our paths. We saw fat white spotted toadfish that make grunting sounds and hide underneath coral. Graceful spotted drums, which are many people’s favorite fish due to their rare beauty, were on this trip. We saw green morays, octopus, barracuda, lionfish and puffer fish on some of our adventurous night dives. I spotted a clearish white Christmas tree worm on a day dive. Out of all the places I've dived, Belize is the only location where I found this intriguing tiny creature.

One of our dive guides Jody can break dance on the sea floor. He is an awesome and knowledgeable guide. He would put creatures in my hand and write down what they were on an underwater slate. He handed me a brittle star. Jody showed me a social feather duster that sucked itself in when touched. I stayed close to Jody on the dives because he could find the hiding places of beautiful things. On one dive Jody left my side like a bolt of lightning. He had noticed an enormous spotted eagle ray and was going to get a closer look. It was quite a beautiful and graceful sight to behold. I wish somebody had got it on camera. We also dove the famous Blue Hole on this trip, check!!! I only skimmed the surface of this underwater cave but my dive buddy and I saw some huge deep blue parrotfish, queen angelfish, and a tiny purple and clear shrimp which were all noteworthy.

Captain Marc, Juan, Jody, Yanis and Randy took care of our every need on this trip. They showed us all such and amazing time. There were towels in the shape of swans on our beds the day we arrived. Chocolate kisses were placed on my pillows every day. Warm towels, hot chocolate and water were on hand after our dives. This crew spoiled us rotten. I've never logged so many dives on one trip before. I started the trip feeling out of shape and ended it feeling like superwoman. We all had a bar to hang our suits on and a bin for our dive gear. There was a tank of water for cameras and a separate one for other equipment. It was super easy getting ready for each dive. The two ladders on the back of the yacht were very large and easy to get up. We also had two hot water showerheads at the end of the boat which we could use to freshen up between dives. There were even hairdryers in our rooms, for all you ladies wondering out there.

Yanis and Randy were our extraordinary chefs on this trip. Some of the impressive desserts they created for us were baked Alaska, Banana Foster and Banoffee pie. The Banoffee pie was a mixture of bananas and toffee and tastes similar to our banana pudding. We had mangos, papayas, waffles, pancakes and fried jacks, a favorite pastry in Belize, for some of our breakfast meals. Tortilla soup was scrumptious. One night they even prepared Thanksgiving dinner for us.

Towards the middle of our trip we went to Long Caye Island. There we saw the famous red-footed boobies. There appeared to be thousands of these beautiful birds perched in the tops of trees on the island. We could see many of them from the top of the tower. There were also large iguanas, lizards and other animals on this beautiful coconut filled island. We brought the chefs to the island with us and all had cheeseburgers in Paradise that afternoon.

On Friday our group split up and went on land. The majority of people learned about Belizean history at the beautiful Mayan ruins. However, six brave and crazy people in our bunch chose to go zip lining in the jungle. Jonathan, Clinton, Rick, the two Denises and me were up for the challenge. Denise, my brother’s brave wife, volunteered to go first. She made me proud zooming down that line like a pro. Clinton was so comfortable up high that he filmed us and himself while on the zip lines. I think Jonathan loved zip lining the most. He couldn't wait for the next zip line to be higher and faster than the one before. He even had zip line theme music playing on his iPod. We had leather portions on our gloves in case we needed to slow down our momentum on the zip lines. Everybody did superb on the zip lines with the exception of one person, me. My rope stopped halfway through two different zip lines. On one of the zip lines I was in the very middle of the zip line over a very high drop off dangling in the jungle until the guide sent me a bag to grab and pulled me in. The next zip line I stopped short on I grabbed the line and pulled myself in. We were all supported by strong harnesses and cords. But trust me if your stuck out there in the middle your not letting go of that line. Zip lining is an adventure most of us excelled at and I am happy to have made it through.

We had a party thrown for us by the Captain and crew the last night on the yacht. The Captain gave some real stand out characters among us awards with pictures worthy of framing. Everybody had a good time at the party and most of us hit the town that night. The next morning Rick ,the Denises and I walked around the city souvenir shopping and saw some beautiful carvings and artwork. I could not have asked for a better group to experience my first live aboard with and I will never forget this amazing trip of a lifetime.
Here are some photos from the trip.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL.35222
205-595-3052

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April 14, 2010

Hello Divers,

We have a nice treat for this newsletter. Two of our divers are contributing their accounts of their recent diving experiences. First, John Watson contributed his dive log and some excellent photos of our weeklong trip over spring break aboard the Utila Aggressor, what a wonderful trip.

Secondly, Austin Alexander attended commercial diving school at the International Diving Institute in Charleston, South Carolina and graduated top of his class. Way to go Austin! Austin is also going up to Alaska for 2 months this summer with my dad Steve to dredge for gold in the Bering Sea, I hope he doesn't start missing the warm waters of the Cooper River too much. I was also lucky enough to do 30 dives over the last 30 days, I wish I could keep that pace all year. We are also currently having a BC sale where several models are $100 off.

Here is John's dive log from Utila:

Spring Break 2010 - Bay Islands, Honduras - Utila Aggressor

Friday, March 12
We left Birmingham late Friday afternoon. Phil and Grace Carroll gave me and Anne Yuengert a ride from the One Federal Place parking deck downtown, where Phil, Anne and I work. Phil’s big Toyota SUV was loaded to the gills with our gear. Some bad traffic just across the Georgia line confirmed our judgment that it was best to drive to Atlanta the day before our flights, to give us plenty of time in case of traffic problems.

Saturday, March 13
The day started early, as the gang all made their way through the spring break crowd at the Atlanta airport separately, and gathered at our gate on the international concourse. The introductions were made, though many of us already knew each other from previous dive trips. Our flight to San Pedro Sula on the mainland in Honduras was notable only for the fact that Delta charged outrageous prices for food on the flight. San Pedro Sula is a modern, clean airport, especially for Latin America. Kris from the boat greeted us and guided us through the airport. It took the airport folks a while to decide that we didn’t need to pay the departure tax for our flight to Utila, unlike the many other groups Kris had meet for the same flight. That was fine with us. We experienced quite a time warp when we saw the twin-engine turboprop plane which was to take us to Utila. There was apparently no way that all our dive gear would fit in its cargo bay, so the last several seats were filled with bags, and we held our carryon luggage in our laps. The plane smelled a bit like jet fuel, but the flight proved to be uneventful and after about 45 minutes of flying over pineapple and banana plantations and beautiful blue water, we touched down on Utila’s daylight-only asphalt landing strip. We were greeted by a small pickup truck for our bags and the smallest van I have ever seen, which took a couple of trips to get us all to the Utila Aggressor.

My only previous liveaboard dive trip was to Belize. Utila makes Belize City look like downtown Manhattan. There is a narrow, single lane road that runs along the waterfront, with plenty of four wheelers and motorcycles, but rarely a car. The dock doubled as an industrial and fuel dock, but the Utila Aggressor was welcoming. Those of us who made the first van ride from the air strip (it does not qualify as an airport) quickly discovered the beer cooler on the upper deck (loaded with the very adequate brew, known by the color of their cans as the “green” or the “blue.”) I tried one of each, then settled on the green can beer for the rest of the week. We then grabbed our preferred places on the dive deck and unloaded our dive gear bags, which were whisked off for storage out of sight for the rest of the week. Once you put your BCD on a tank, that’s it for the week; the tank is filled right there at your seat (with your gear locker underneath it) after each dive. Pretty sweet.
 

I was not tempted to leave the Aggressor to sample the nightlife of Utila, but some of the gang ventured off to explore and grab a bottle or two of adult beverages not provided. (Local beer, wine and soft drinks came with the trip). We enjoyed the first of many wonderful meals prepared by Candy (the cook) and served by John (the steward) and the rest of the crew. A short after-dinner orientation session let us know what to expect of the diving. The Aggressor stayed moored to the pier in Utila for the night, and I figured out how to get my 51 year-old bones into the top bunk. It was so much easier when I was a kid!

Sunday, March 14
The time change to daylight savings time in the U.S. shouldn’t have had much impact on us in Honduras, where they don’t use daylight savings time, but it did. I thought it was pretty early when the Aggressor cranked up, but only learned later that the Captain’s alarm clock “sprang forward” by itself and that we were a full hour ahead of schedule. Apparently the crew ran to the bridge, thinking there was an emergency when the engines started up early. My wristwatch dive computer changed itself too, leaving me up on the dive deck anxious to start my diving and wondering where everyone else was. The typical schedule on the Utila Aggressor was coffee and continental breakfast (cereal and breakfast rolls) at 7am, full hot breakfast starting at 8am, and the first dive at 9am. Two dives in the morning, lunch, the third dive at 2pm, followed by a fourth dive, dinner, then a night dive. The Aggressor fleet’s motto is “Eat, Sleep, Dive,” for good reason.

Our first dive site was “The Great Wall,” a wonderful reef with a wall that drops dramatically down to the Cayman Trench. The visibility was 100+ and the seas were calm; a perfect first dive site. It was my first open water dive with my new camera housing, so I spent an inordinate amount of time fiddling with it (something that would continue for several days, until I worked the kinks out and learned how the camera worked). On the second dive I saw a spotted eagle ray and a veritable “Christmas tree worm” farm. After lunch, the boat moved to the Canary Bank, another great site with more great visibility. I got some great pictures of a tiger grouper, several of a highly camouflaged scorpion fish, and a Nassau grouper. Some of the others saw Wrasse Blenny’s, West Indian Sea Eggs and bunches of Bluebell Tunicates which looked lovely as they swayed around in the swell caused by the sea. After dinner we moved to Spanish Bay for our night dive. The water was murkier here, but we had a great dive: octopus, toad fish, spotted moray eel among others. It is a great feeling to come out of the water to a hot fresh water shower, a warm towel, and a got mug of cocoa. I slept well after five dives.

Monday, March 15
After the usual hearty breakfast, we dove CJ’s Drop Off twice on Monday morning, back on the north side of Utila, next to the Great Wall. This is another great site, and the excellent visibility stayed with us. We saw a good sized barracuda and a sea turtle, but the real hit of the day was a red hind which literally bit off more than it could chew. An unfortunate trumpet fish was the victim, but once it had the trumpet fish, the red hind discovered that it was too long to swallow. The red hind tried for quite a while to our amusement, but eventually gave up. Someone eventually had mercy on it and cut the (now long dead) trumpet fish into more appropriate chunks, which the hungry red hind devoured.

After lunch, during which we made the trip back around the cay islands, we settled at Jack Neal Point for the afternoon. We were moored in deep water and swam to the north to the shore. It wasn’t quite as clear here, but it was a photographer’s paradise on the shallow reef. I got pictures of two lobster, several blennies, a lizard fish lurking in the sand waiting for an unsuspecting meal to happen by, a crab, and several Pederson shrimp. Several of the others saw a Yellow Stingray buried in the sand, a Quilfin Blenny hiding under a ledge on the wall, a Brown and white Longsnout Seahorse. The highlight was a Flying Gurnard who was using his tiny fins to forage around looking for food. Our night dive at the same spot was led by Nestor, a great guide. I borrowed Spence’s new backplate and wing bcd, and fell in love with it and his LED flashlight. The wildlife highlights were several lobster out looking for food and a seahorse. Another fine day, another five dives, and no problems falling asleep.

Tuesday, March 16

Captain Jay cranked up the engines in the wee hours before daylight (about 3:30) as we headed out to the Coco sea mount. Unfortunately, the weatherman lied to us, and the seas were rough enough to make everyone a little uncomfortable and to cause the Captain to head for nearby Roatan. I woke up to watch the sun rise, but after we made the turn north to Roatan I headed back to my top bunk for a few more minutes of rest. We dove Mary’s Place, a guided drift dive with Al (from Manchester, England) and Kris (from Wales, UK) with the best swim-throughs I can recall. Some of the canyons go down to almost 100 feet. I photographed a grouper at a cleaning station being cleansed of its skin parasites by a whole army of tiny cleaning fish and shrimp. Our second morning dive was the West End Wall, where Nestor led a long swim highlighted by squid and lobster. This was a very pretty dive, with nice formations of Deep water Gorgonians which feed on nutrients brought down by the ocean currents.

The afternoon dives were at the Eel Gardens, a great spot on the southeastern tip of Roatan, just off a resort with a nice beach. The site gets its name from the “gardens” of garden eels in the deep sand just below the boat’s mooring. Somehow I ended up at the end of the dive with Nestor, along the wall. I spied a spotted eagle ray and pointed it out to Nestor, who was videotaping. Unfortunately it turned away. We were then distracted by a turtle making a meal of a sponge along the wall. I got some good photos of the turtle, and was a little perturbed and puzzled when Nestor grabbed me by the fin and pulled me away from the wall. Then I saw why. The eagle ray had circled around and was headed right for us. It passed right between us, with me firing away with the camera and Nestor videotaping. It was a great dive. I was just about whipped after 13 straight dives (and a lack of sleep due to our rough crossing from Utila). I loaned Spence my camera and took off the late afternoon dive. I apparently missed seeing a Long Lure Frogfish, a spotted eagle ray and two Hawksbill Turtles. Despite being on the boat, I also missed a school of dolphins which Tyler and Alex got to chase in the tender and swim with. Spencer did quite well with the camera, particularly given the fact that he didn’t know to use the viewfinder.

Roatan is completely different from Utila. It seemed full of cruise ships, and the ocean was crisscrossed with brightly colored fishing boats pulling inflatables with people riding, and falling off. The diving was great though, maybe better than Utila. After another wonderful dinner, the whole group was pretty tired, and when Captain Jay asked who was going on the night dive, no one raised their hand. I was glad, and hit the sack early.

Wednesday, March 17
We started off the day on Wednesday with a great before-breakfast dive on the wreck El Aguila. This wreck, originally sunk as an artificial reef for diving near Utila, then moved to its present location near Roatan, is now broken into three sections. As we hit the water around 8am, we were greeted immediately by several large grouper acting unusually unafraid of divers. They followed us to the wreck, where the reason for their boldness became apparent when Kris began sharing bits of food with them. The next thing we knew, a large green moray eel had joined the melee seeking its share. We all got to be as close to the moray as we wanted, as it was free swimming and seemed to like to rub up against divers and get stroked. After the food was gone, it stuck its nose in the plastic jug the food had been in, as if to “lick the bowl.” Toward the end of the dive, Mary found a lion fish, a gorgeous invasive species that is rapidly spreading across the Caribbean and Atlantic seaboard and causing a lot of damage with its voracious appetite and poisonous spines. Apparently released from salt water aquariums, this western Pacific Ocean native does not have many natural enemies here. The sites we dove in the Bay Islands are all marine preserves with no fishing allowed, but there is an exception for lionfish. Spence ended up with this one on the end of his knife, which is a shame with such a pretty fish, but absolutely necessary to protect the native reef ecology. Given the poisonous spines and the size of the knife, it was also either very brave on Spence’s part, or very foolhardy, or both. This was a great dive and a lot of fun for everyone. Breakfast always tasted good, but after a nice dive, it was great.

Things just kept getting better as our second dive was at Dolphin Caves. As the name implies, these shallow swim-throughs look a lot like caves, or like the cenotes of the Yucatan. We saw tons of young lobster in the walls, several spotted moray eels and much other wildlife. We also saw why the caves are called “dolphin” caves when we came across the skull of a dolphin. Legend has it that dolphin come here to die, for some unknown reason. In any event, another great dive.

The weather began to turn bad for us in the afternoon. We did manage to get in one dive at Half Moon Bay, a site with a great wall. We swam against the current, then drifted lazily back to the boat. The lion fish population was also decreased by one more, which someone spied hiding in a crevice in the wall. Discretion being the better part of valor, the Captain elected to seek shelter at Coxen Hole, the capital of the Bay Islands, and our scheduled 4th and 5th dives of the day were cancelled due to wind, rain and rising seas. However, after dinner Tommy and Courtney Williams, Al and I accompanied Nestor, a Roatan native, to a quaint little local watering hole named the Breeze Bar, where Nestor’s beautiful wife met us. We sampled some more of the native beer out on a deck with a gorgeous view of the seashore before the rain drove us inside. We were the only tourists there. The Breeze Bar was fully equipped with a black light and a spinning disco ball, the likes of which I’m not sure I’ve seen since the 70’s.

Thursday, March 18
Sharks! Another pre-breakfast dive at Cara a Cara (“face to face”) was, for me at least, one of the highlights of the trip. This site has a mount where local dive operators feed the sharks. We were there bright and early, before the local boats arrived and while the sharks were still looking for breakfast. Al gave me some tips on how to get good photos of the sharks and, just as promised, after a couple of minutes they began coming by in ones and twos, and then as many as three or four at a time. They were well-fed Caribbean reef sharks, mostly in the 6-8 foot range. They weren’t aggressive, but you could tell they were accustomed to divers and were curious about whether we were going to provide any handouts (which we did not). This is in contrast to most of the other sharks I’ve seen while diving, which (aside from nurse sharks and when spear fishing is involved) seem very anxious to get away from divers. It was a wonderful experience to see these graceful, powerful creatures in their element. Al and I hung back to take a few last pictures when the rest of the crowd moved away from the mount to return to the boat, and the sharks showed up in force then. There were about ten schooling around for a minute or two. Al told me later that he thought maybe they thought the two of us were there to feed them, and he was pretty insistent that it was time to go. People who have seen my pictures have asked if I wasn’t scared, and I know it sounds like I’m bragging or crazy, but I really wasn’t. I don’t think anyone else was, either. You’d just have had to been there, I guess.

After another welcome hot breakfast, we followed up the shark experience with a dive at Caribe Point. This was a drift dive over a wall. The Aggressor dropped us all off, then picked us up after the dive. Everyone does their safety stop and surfaces together, the boat comes by to windward, and everyone grabs onto the dinghy line trailing behind the boat and takes their turn coming aboard. This takes some skill and effort, but everyone did great and there were no problems at all the few times we did drift dives in this manner. Caribe Point has lots of fan corals, and I spent most of my time looking through them for seahorses (without much luck). I also saw another lion fish (I think this one got away from our ill-equipped fishermen), some lobster, shrimp and crab. Some of the others saw a massive Remora hanging around a Barracuda, a Batwing Coral Crab and some really small Slender File fish hiding next to a Common Sea Fan. Another great dive. (Beginning to sound like a broken record, aren’t I).

After lunch we dove Calvin’s Place twice, then once again after dinner. The wind and current had the boat lying off this comparatively shallow reef so we had a short swim in and out. There were many yellow headed jawfish in the sandy areas, and plenty of other sea life. We saw a large eye toadfish and a harlequin pipefish, among others. My night dive, however, was spectacular. Nestor suggested earlier that I hang around him and we’d get some more pictures. I did, and we ended up on the opposite side of the reef from most of the rest of the crowd. We spent a good bit of the dive looking for something worthy of a few photos, with only fair results. Then, all at once, and in one tiny spot, we found a lobster out hunting for dinner, a scorpion fish, a huge sea urchin, and a pink colored seahorse about six inches long. Nestor had Grace’s video camera, and we spent some time taking turns trying to get some good pictures of the seahorse, in particular. It was great, though, because while he was filming the seahorse, I could take photos of the toadfish, or lobster, or whatever, and vice versa. Eventually the seahorse left its sheltered position, and we got some great shots of it. Heading back to the mooring a large spotted filefish that appeared to be dozing took issue with me taking its picture, and got pretty aggressive with my camera. (I found out later that I was not the first diver it had a run-in with that night; some of the rest of our group had irritated it earlier). The highlight, however, was yet to come. Nestor discovered a very large lobster hiding out under the boat’s huge concrete mooring block. When it came out of its hole, it attracted the attention of a very large octopus, which was either very aggressively protecting its turf from the lobster, or was interested in a lobster dinner. It was like something out of a Godzilla movie. The lobster and octopus had it out with each other, kicking up quite a mess, with me firing away with my camera the whole time. Finally, while doing my safety stop back at the boat, I saw and photographed a baby long arm octopus, which was attracted by the light from the boat. It was only about 2-3 inches long at most, but made a great photographic model. When I came out of the water after that dive, I was about as excited by the dive as any I can recall. I was too excited to be cold. I’ll remember that dive all my life.

Friday, March 19
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Our last dive of the trip was the Principe Alberto, a wreck with a nice wall nearby. This was a really nice dive to finish up the week, although after the excitement of the dives the previous day, it was a little anticlimactic. We found a Bridled Burr Fish, Scorpion Fish and lots of Yellow headed Jawfish popping in and out of their burrows in the sand. After the dive we headed back to the pier at Roatan and most of the group headed off for some zip lining adventure. We started at the top of the mountainous ridge down the center of the island, and a couple of hours later stepped off on the sandy beach on the opposite shore from where we’d started. I felt like I had just gotten the hang of it (I either came into the platforms too fast or not fast enough) when it was over. It was all worthwhile to see Courtney in the “superman” (face first, arms spread) configuration, with one of the guides behind her to slow her down. Several folks took a short tour to see the white-faced monkeys, but I opted for a cold beverage instead. Nestor met us at the shore in the dinghy, and ferried us in small groups out to the waiting Aggressor for the trip back to Utila.

We didn’t realize until the end of the trip that this was Al’s last week on the Aggressor. He’s off for some time back in the UK and then (following his girlfriend) off to Montreal for a while. He was a great dive instructor and guide, and really helped me with my photography. One of the things that really stood out about this trip was the quality and helpfulness of the crew. They were exceptional. Back on Utila, we had a cocktail party on the sun deck of the Aggressor, and then the crew went off to bid Al a fond farewell. Most of our group had dinner at a surprisingly nice Italian place, with some joining up with the crew at a bar across the street afterwards. I’m not sure when they all got in, but there were some slow-moving folks the next morning.

Saturday, March 20
We got all packed and ready to go, and saw our bags off in the same tiny pickup that had brought them from the airstrip the week before. There was a bit of a delay in getting us to the tiny landing strip, and we were beginning to get nervous about making our plane back to Atlanta. It all worked out fine, though without much room for error. The turboprop’s captain spent a long few minutes studying all our baggage before loading it up, as before, in the back seats of the plane. At first I wasn’t sure what the difference was, then it dawned on me that the runway at San Pedro Sula was much longer than the strip at Utila, and he was trying to figure out whether he could take off with us and all our gear. We made it off without any problems, though (greased by several prayers, mine included). The flight back to Atlanta was uneventful. Clearing customs in Atlanta was, as usual, frustratingly slow. You line up to get through passport control, wait on your bags, claim them, walk them through customs, redeposit them, line up to clear security again, take the train to the terminal, wait on your bags again, and then wait on the bus to take you to your car. There must be a better way.

Everyone made it safe and sound back to Birmingham. Twenty-two dives in a week, loads of good pictures, several great new friends and wonderful experiences with old friends. I want to do it again.

John Watson

Here is Austin's log:

I attended the International Diving Institute in Charleston, South Carolina. The course lasted 4 months. IDI has an extensive curriculum and the training is very demanding, both mentally and physically. Every
morning at 6:45 a.m. my classmates and I began our day with rigorous physical training. This consisted of a swim in the Cooper River 375 yards down river and then back. (Keep in mind, the Cooper is a tidal
affected river so we would have to fight against a significant current one way. Those of you who go on the river trips know how bad that current can be.) This was followed by another 30 or 40 minutes of top
side physical training. During our “freshman” month, we did this twice a day.

Our actual class day started at 8 a.m. Each and every day was different and presented new challenges. One day we might be in the classroom studying physics, physiology, mixed gas, or dive medicine. Then the next day we may be training for penetration dives, burning/welding underwater, mounting pipes, driving the hyperbaric chamber, or doing staged projects. These projects included things such as inspection of piers where we had to put ourselves in the place of a diving company and offer a proposal and a detailed report on the actual inspection. We had underwater burning and welding projects were we had to cut pieces of pipe underwater using a torch with a burning rod. These torches use electricity and high pressure oxygen to burn
underwater. In the rods we used there are strips of metal and one magnesium rod all inside of the actual burning rod. When burning, the end of these rods would burn at 10,000 degrees F, very little room for error. After cutting pieces of pipe we would then weld them to other structures that had been placed on the bottom of the river. The most grueling part of our training was the offshore survival. We were required to do several drills involving life rafts, evacuating a ship, and doing all these things under stress and a time frame. After all that was done we then had to dress in our underwear and nothing more, then tread water for 20 min. in our wet tank which was 42 degrees F. We were tested on every subject studied and graded on our underwater projects. We were required to pass with a minimum score of 75. For the midterm and final, there were no retakes. A week before graduation came a big highlight of our training and really our last physical test we would endure there, a hyperbaric chamber ride to 165ft. They wanted to make sure everybody could withstand the effects of nitrogen narcosis
that is a side effect of breathing air at depth. I started training on November 2, 2009 with 13 people and graduated top of my class on March 10, 2010 with 8 classmates.

Austin Alexander

Trips

April 24-May 1, Belize Liveaboard
We are down to just one space available for our Belize Liveaboard. This is the same luxurious vessel that we used last June. We expect the same high quality service, diving crew and food and I am sure those of you that go, will not be disappointed. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving. We are also offering a $400 discount for every person on this trip.

June 25-27, Off shore Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the off shore wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately for this weekend. This is also a good opportunity for you guys to get your wreck diving certification.

June 25-27, South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat. This trip is a great opportunity to earn your underwater navigation and limited visibility certifications.

July 17-24, Grand Cayman
This is a land based trip to the East end of Grand Cayman. We are staying in brand new oceanfront condominiums each with their own private balcony and all the comforts of home. The East End of Grand Cayman offers world class scuba diving, being renowned for pristine reefs and breathtaking wall diving. You will be diving from custom built dive boats awaiting at the end of the dock, just a step away from your room. This trip includes 6 days of boat diving, Car rental, ocean side barbecue one night. We are accepting deposits now. This trip will sell out fast.

Classes

May 8th & 15th Stress and Rescue Course
Stress is a major contributor to rescue situations and diving accidents. Through this course you will learn accident prevention, as well as how to handle problem situations if they occur.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two - four days in which you will participate in academic and in-water sessions in the pool and in the open water. As a prerequisite for certification you will also earn CPR & First Aid certificate during this course.

DIVER STRESS & RESCUE SPECIALTY COURSE Content:

* What Is Stress?
* Stress In Diving:Causes And Prevention
* Detecting And Dealing With Stress
* Accident Management
* Skills Needed To Deal With Panic And Rescues
* Conditions That Complicate Rescues

Let's go diving!

Spencer Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL.35222
205-595-3052

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

March 11, 2010

Hello Divers,

Since our last newsletter Spencer has returned from a group trip to Crystal River, FL. They were snorkeling with the Manatee and diving in the Rainbow River as well. The divers were able to interact with a lot of Manatee and here are a couple photos from the trip.    

       

   

 

 

 

Paige and the manatee.

 

As you are reading this, Spencer is getting ready to take another group diving. This time we have privately chartered the Utila Aggressor Live Aboard. Spence and the group are hoping to dive with the Whale Sharks around this Bay Island off of Honduras. Several of our divers are bringing their new cameras so hopefully we will have some good shots from this trip.

We have in this newsletter several trips with availability. If one or some look good to you, give us a call and put a deposit on it to hold your spot. They are filling up fast.

Trips

April 24-May 1, Belize Liveaboard
We are down to just two spaces available for our Belize Liveaboard. This is the same luxurious vessel that we used last June. We expect the same high quality service, diving crew and food and I am sure those of you that go, will not be disappointed. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving. We are also offering a $400 discount for every person on this trip.

May 21-23, Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately for this weekend.

June 11-13, Orange Beach Spearfishing
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach Alabama shooting off some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. This is right after the start of Red Snapper season. Also, during this time the Alabama Spearfishing Association is holding their 6th annual Red Neck Riviera Spearfishing Tournament. If anyone diving with us wants to participate they will be able to. Spear fishers that are diving from their own boat are also encouraged to sign up. Just go to www.alabamaspearfishing.com and print an application for this tournament. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with. There will also be lots of prizes given away to participants at the awards ceremony on June 19. This is a five week contest from May 15 until June 19 and now is the time to enter.

June 25-27, South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

June 25-27, Offshore Wreck Diving, Panama City
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the offshore wrecks off Panama City, FL. Most of the time these sites don't receive as much diving pressure as the inshore ones. The result is usually seeing more big fish. These sites are loaded with Goliath Groupers, stingrays, turtles and other things. By this time last year, we were seeing lots of Whale Sharks and hopefully this year will have some of the same.

Training
 

April 3 9AM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.


May 8th & 15th Stress and Rescue Course
Stress is a major contributor to rescue situations and diving accidents. Through this course you will learn accident prevention, as well as how to handle problem situations if they occur.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two - four days in which you will participate in academic and in-water sessions in the pool and in the open water. As a prerequisite for certification you will also earn CPR & First Aid certificate during this course.

DIVER STRESS & RESCUE SPECIALTY COURSE Content:

* What Is Stress?
* Stress In Diving:Causes And Prevention
* Detecting And Dealing With Stress
* Accident Management
* Skills Needed To Deal With Panic And Rescues
* Conditions That Complicate Rescues

As many of you know Mark Tant is known as one of the best underwater photographers in the area and has been for many years. Leesa Rogers, one of our divers, has taken several of his photos and turned them into her own creations. Here are a few of her paintings from Mark's photographs. Nice work guys.

Let's go diving!

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Feb 11, 2010

Hello Divers,

As you read this newsletter, it is turning cold again here in Birmingham. Spencer is currently taking a group south to Crystal River hoping to escape the cold and find some Manatee. In January, SSDS had a booth at the Birmingham Boat Show. We had several divers there helping us promote diving. We want to say thanks to Hope Key, Rick Dennis, David and Monica Brantley, and Barry, Theresa and Jeremiah Bates for their help during the boat show.

Spencer Phillips and Mark Tant took a group of 28 to Bonaire over New Years and one of our divers (Denise Bearden) wrote about her experience from this trip. Denise has been diving for many years throughout the Caribbean and Pacific and this is her recollection from New Years in Bonaire.

Amazing Bonaire
The Island of Bonaire is a wonderful place to dive, but our New Years trip to Bonaire was an exceptional experience. Every time someone inquires about our trip the word that flows out is AMAZING. It was one of the most unique and special New Years ever. Around 11:30 P.M. many of our group donned dive gear and entered the crystal, warm Caribbean waters from the dock at our Sand Dollar Condominium Resort. A night dive is always exhilarating, but this dive was especially so because we would be ushering in a new year.

Little did we realize the Bonarian passion for fireworks. A frequent visitor informed us later that New Years is the only time fireworks are shot on the island and we discovered that people contribute greatly to the fireworks economy. We had been hearing firecrackers and “bombs” for a couple of days and heard through the grapevine that the Sand Dollar and our neighbor hotel Buddy Dive were going to have a fireworks war New Years Eve. WOW! And did they. As we sat quietly on the floor of the Caribbean Ocean, colors burst on the surface of the water like a giant kaleidoscope. It was mesmerizing – breathtaking – a memory embedded forever shared with special friends. Oddly, I noticed a large, brilliant, white florescence that was constant, not changing as the hues of fireworks. It was a full moon glimmering on the surface – a blue moon, as rare as our experience.

As we ascended, the beautiful hues were still bursting in the sky so we inflated our BCs, floated in the water, and continued to watch the amazing display. WOW! What a spectacular New Year memory!

This was just one of the many great dives in Bonaire – Red Slave, Angel City, Oil Slick, Ole Blue, Karpata, and others. Just grab some tanks, hop in the truck, and go. That’s the beauty of this marine preserve with shore diving. Every dive held a new treat: Spotted Eagle Ray, turtles, a family of squid, green, spotted, and sharp-tailed eels, huge corals and tube sponges, and myriad species of fish. Bonaire is noted for having the greatest abundance and variety of fish and is often ranked number one in top ten lists of the best places to dive. They have an annual fish viewing contest charting 100+ species in a single dive. Now that’s a variety of fish!

It was so unusual to see Christmas decorations in the warm Caribbean weather. A fifty foot Christmas tree stood in the center of town adorned with wrapped presents for ornaments. Fake snow (an oddity for a Caribbean island) was scattered at one store entrance with a snow covered decorated Christmas tree. While eating in shorts and T-shirts at Buddy’s Restaurant by the sea we observed above our heads a decorated Christmas tree hanging upside down. By far, the most unusual Christmas tree was at Jibe City made of driftwood covered with strings of colorful lights.

Speaking of colors. Pink flamingos dotted the waters in the National Park. Driving south, towering white pyramids of salt were reflected in the surrounding pink water as you looked left while green, blue, and turquoise waters shimmered to your right. Gorgeous! These pink waters were tinted by the same red algae that caused the flamingos to turn pink. The colors of the obelisks, such as the red obelisk at Red Slave, was a sobering reminder of the sad history of slave trading on Bonaire centuries ago.

By far, one of the best parts of the trip was sharing with friends and making new friends. We had a surprise birthday party for one of the trip leaders – Spencer. Meals at the delectable local restaurants were filled with laughter as the day’s experiences were shared. It was fascinating to hear the stories of others’ dives and adventures including wind surfing and land surfing and to just meet our new diving comrades. Divers are the most fun and interesting people.

Diving in Bonaire on New Years was definitely a new experience and I am so glad we chose to go on the trip; it was AMAZINGLY more than anticipated. Now we are gearing up for Belize and look forward to another great dive adventure!

Here are some of Mark Tant's photos from the Bonaire trip.

       

 

Upcoming Trips

April 9-11, Oriskany, Orange Beach, AL
Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

The Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. She was put down in May 2006 and now rests in 212 ft of water approximately 23 miles offshore. The top of the tower starts at 68 ft and there is plenty to see above 100 ft, perfect for recreational diving. There are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive so call us for more info.

April 16-18, South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

April 24-May 1, Belize Liveaboard
The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for April is almost sold out. There are only four spaces still available. This is the same luxurious vessel that we used last June. We expect the same high quality service, diving crew and food and I am sure those of you that go, will not be disappointed. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving. We are also offering a $400 discount for every person on this trip.

May 14-16, Orange Beach Spearfishing
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach Alabama shooting off some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also, during this time the Alabama Spearfishing Association is holding their 6th annual Red Neck Riviera Spearfishing Tournament. If anyone diving with us wants to participate they will be able to. Spearfishers that are diving from their own boat are also encouraged to sign up. Just go to www.alabamaspearfishing.com and print an application for this tournament. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with. There will also be lots of prizes given away to participants at the awards ceremony on June 19. This is a five week contest from May 15 until June 19 and now is the time to enter.

Training
Jan 30th 9 am Enriched Air Nitrox at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Jan 5, 2010

Happy New Year Divers!
 

We have a lot of trips, training and other dive news to let you know about, Before we get into all of that we at Southern Skin Divers Supply want to say thank you to all of our customers that did business with us in 2009. This has been a very tough year for most businesses and the dive industry in general is also hurting everywhere. In the past three months, three more dive stores in Alabama have closed down. We are grateful that you have chosen to spend your hard earned money with us for your diving. Together I know you will join us in anticipating a better 2010. We have a lot of diving opportunities in the next five months and we hope to see you on some of these.

For 13 years in a row, SSDS has had a booth at The Birmingham Boat Show. We will be there again from January 21-24. Please come by our booth if you attend the event this year. Also, if any of you want to help us recruit new divers at the show, give us a call at The SCUBA School.

Trips
January 15-17 Spear fishing in Panama City, FL
We will primarily be hunting Grouper this time of year. The water is still going to be cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Mangrove Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. Our private charter for this winter weekend adventure is one of the nicest spear-friendly vessels in the panhandle.

February 12-15 Manatee, Crystal River, FL Trip
The water is a constant 72 degrees here year round. This means that in the winter it is considerably warmer than the ocean, so there will be a larger congregation of Manatee in this area. We have chosen a holiday weekend to enable kids to participate in this encounter with these giant mammals. This should give us plenty of time to have two long days of snorkeling and diving in Crystal River as well as some of the nearby springs.
 

March 13-20 Utila, Honduras Live Aboard

For a few years we have wanted to charter this vessel during Spring Break but it has always booked up too fast. Primarily because it is during the middle of Whale Shark season. Well, we got lucky on this one and we have the whole boat reserved. Other than the Whale Sharks, we will also see wrecks, breathtaking walls and Sea Mounts. This boat features deluxe accommodations with private bathrooms for each berth. The crew is there to make sure you have a completely stress free vacation. All meals, snacks and beverages are included as well. Spring Break usually sells out fast so give us a call if you are interested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 24-May 1 Belize Live Aboard
This is the same boat we took this past summer. Everything was great from the diving, the boat, the accommodations to the food and crew, we have decided to do it again. Diving is unlimited from this vessel and we will spend this week exploring Turneffe and Lighthouse Reefs as well as the mystical Blue Hole. A nice finishing touch to each night dive is a warm towel on the dive deck followed by a hot chocolate or a Bailey's Irish Creme, your choice.

 

Training
Jan 30th 9 am Enriched Air Nitrox at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?
 

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

Dive News

We at SSDS also would like to thank Governor Bob Riley for his service to the people of Alabama. Governor Riley has been a friend to the divers of Alabama. A few years back we had a several year legal fight with The Alabama Historical Commission that intensified once two of our divers were arrested in the public waterways. Governor Riley is also a diver and was very instrumental in removing the Director of this agency as well as many others. Also he saw to it that we were able to have the regulations rewritten and that specifically no permit would be required for recreational diving in the public waterways of Alabama. To this day it has remained so. My sister, Paige, who works here at The SCUBA School along with another one of our divers, Holly Manning, attended the Governor's Christmas Ball at the Mansion to personally thank the Governor. Governor Riley said it was his pleasure and he looked forward to diving with us when he is out of office. Well Governor, we look forward to having you.

The Birmingham News outdoor sports writer, Mike Bolton, wrote an article a couple of weeks ago that might mean a lot to some of you who spearfish in the gulf. In this article officials from the Federal Wildlife Fisheries Service recognized that the Red Snapper are healthier than they ever have been, in fact there are more than were ever expected. This means that the limits might possibly be increased or at the very least the season extended from the very weak 75 day window that we currently have. To read this encouraging news go here:
http://blog.al.com/outdoors-alabama/2009/12/bolton_red_snapper_assessment.html

Not all of the dive news is encouraging. In California there has now been imposed a moratorium on dredging. Dredging is the type of diving that my dad, Steve and my brother, Spencer do for gold every summer in Alaska. The Public Lands for the People (PLP) with support from the Gold Prospectors Association of America (GPAA) now have a lawsuit against the state of California to protect our freedoms. The PLP supported Alabama divers when we were fighting for our rights here and now we need to support them in theirs. What happens there will affect what happens nationwide.

To check out these organizations go to www.plp2.org and www.goldprospectors.org

We try to keep our finger on the pulse of anything dive related to keep all of you readers of our monthly newsletter informed. Not every diver is interested in gold dredging, or fossil & relic diving or spear fishing. But what divers do have similar interests in is access to public lands. We don't want that access taken away. That is not a conservative or liberal or democrat or republican thing. It is just about freedom. My dad and I went to a fund raiser supporting Bradley Byrne for Governor. Mr. Byrne was a senator when we were fighting to rewrite the regulations for the anti diving law from 2003-2005. He was a supporter then. He then told us to come and see him if any of our divers had any trouble gaining access to the public waterways again. I hope we don't have to but if we do, I hope he is the Governor.

If you want to learn more about Bradley Byrne go to: www.byrneforalabama.com If you decide to make a contribution say that you are a diver and that you are concerned about access to your public waters and lands. Remember, they belong to you.


Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Dec 8, 2009

Hello Divers,

Now is the time to come to SSDS and take advantage of the Christmas specials. We are getting deliveries several times a week with the latest in equipment and accessories. The Ikelite compact video housings have been big sellers this year for the diver that thinks that they already have everything.

 

 

Also, we just received another large shipment of the new Ocean Rhino Spearguns including their brand new pink model. We are not kidding. All of these guns are 10%-15% off until the end of 2009. Remember, you can even try one in the pool before you buy.

There are also special prices or offers on all Suunto dive computers here. Every wrist computer that we sell as well as the Cobra is $150 off until Dec. 15 and all Gekko computers come with a free set of water shoes when purchased from SSDS.

We are also still offering $100 off our most popular buoyancy compensator, the Pro QD until 2010. With the purchase of a BC, regulator and computer each diver qualifies for a free Air Source 3 power inflator/second stage combo.

Trips

 

Dec 11-13/2009 Flounder trip, Panama City, FL
A couple of weeks ago our Flounder trip was one of the most successful ones ever. Every diver easily went home with their limit and we are looking forward to another two days to search for Flounder this weekend. Again the SCUBA School is privately chartering one of the nicest dive vessels in PC. It also has hot water showers and an enclosed area to warm up between dives for when it is cooler above and below the surface. Call us soon if you want to go.

 

 

 

January 15-17 Spear fishing in Panama City, FL
We will primarily be hunting Grouper this time of year. The water is still going to be cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Mangrove Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. One of the nicest and spear friendly vessels in the panhandle will be our private charter for this winter weekend adventure.

February 12-15 Manatee, Crystal River, FL Trip
The water is a constant 72 degrees here year round. This means that in the winter it is considerably warmer than the ocean, so there will be a larger congregation of Manatee in this area. We have chosen a holiday weekend to enable kids to participate in this encounter with these giant mammals. This should give us plenty of time to have two long days of snorkeling and diving in Crystal River as well as some of the nearby springs.

April 21st - May 2nd, 2010 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group to dive off one of the largest liveaboards in the world. About half of the spaces on this trip are taken so let us know soon if you are interested. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Nov. 12, 2009

Hello Divers,

We are getting into the holiday season at SSDS and we have a lot of gear and trips on sale that you might want to give a diver for Christmas. Before we tell you about that, we need to let you in on a few other things that have happened lately.

We were blessed with good weather and diving conditions all season until about 4 weeks ago. Then it turned bad and you have probably noticed that most of our weekend trips to Florida and South Carolina have been postponed. This happens sometimes unfortunately but the weather always dictates our diving. It is much better to cancel a trip than to travel all that way and have a miserable time. We have a couple of trips over the next few weekends and then we will start over in Jan of 2010 with our regular weekend travel.

Southern Skin Divers Supply has just returned from the annual dive industry trade show (DEMA) in Orlando. Every year we attend to meet face to face with various equipment, travel destination, and agency representatives to try and get the best quality product for our members. This year SCUBA Schools International invited SSDS to their social. There were several hundred industry representatives in attendance to witness six instructors from across the country earn the highest honor a recreational SCUBA instructor can attain. Our very own Spencer Phillips, has now been recognized as an SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor. Those of you that know Spencer, or that read this newsletter, know that he dives several weekends a month and has since he was a little boy. When you have been diving that frequently for so long, the dives add up once you are in your early 30's like Spencer. The Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor award cannot be purchased. A candidate must be nominated by multiple members of the Foundation as well having a documented training log of thousands of dives and thousands of courses taught. Spencer is also one of the youngest instructors ever to receive this honor. We were all very proud to be there for his award.

Upon returning from Orlando, SSDS received a call from the Sheriff's Department about a recovery dive. Southern Skin Divers Supply is the headquarters for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Dive Team. A thief had burglarized a home and stolen valuable property belonging to the owner. While running from the local law enforcement, the thief desperately tried to swim off with the loot. He had to ditch everything in order to prevent his drowning. Once he was apprehended, we were called in to try to recover all of the victims belongings. Our team worked very well together using our new OTS communications equipment, as well as having some good help from the local Police Department. It was very satisfying to recover all of the items stolen (guns, gold watches, cash, jewelry, coin collection and other valuables) and return them to their owner on site.

 

                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Specials

SSDS has a large inventory right now and we have specials on most gear in time for your Christmas shopping. Our most popular buoyancy compensator for the past 4 years, the Aqua-Lung Pro QD, has a $100 Christmas discount from now until the end of the year. This is a great BC and with this sale price even better. Every wrist Suunto computer as well as the Cobra air integrated hose mount computer is $150 off and if you purchase a BC, regulator and computer you will get an Air Source 3 second stage/power inflator combo. You can even try any and all of this equipment here in our pool before you buy.

 

Not only is SSDS the local distributor for Ocean Rhino Spearguns, but we can also offer training, options and even a pool to practice in. All of the guns in stock now are 10% to 15% off until the end of the year.

We are also your underwater photography headquarters featuring Ikelite and Sealife products. SSDS is a full line dealer for both of these companies and that enables us to provide an excellent warranty and knowledge of most of their products. Right now we have stocked multiple high quality point and shoot camera packages from both companies as well as some high end DSLR systems and a couple of High Definition video packages that would make great gifts for the diver that already has almost everything.

Flip Ultra & UltraHD (2nd Gen) Video Cameras

Dive into underwater videography with this incredibly compact and simple to use combination. The Compact Video housing is high quality, built to last, and backed by Ikelite's long-standing reputation for excellence. A full line of accessories allows you to really get creative with your underwater video.
All camera controls are fully functional through the housing and depth rated to 200ft (60m). Easy open latch and drop in camera loading make set-up a breeze.
Includes a 1cc tube of silicone lubricant, vinyl lanyard and removable UR/Pro color correcting filter for tropical blue water settings.

 

      Where we going next??

January 15-17 Spear fishing in Panama City, FL
We will primarily be hunting Grouper this time of year. The water is still going to be cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Mangrove Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. One of the nicest and spear friendly vessels in the panhandle will be our private charter for this winter weekend adventure.

February 12-15 Manatee, Crystal River, FL Trip
The water is a constant 72 degrees here year round. This means that in the winter it is considerably warmer than the ocean, so there will be a larger congregation of Manatee in this area. We have chosen a holiday weekend to enable kids to participate in this encounter with these giant mammals. This should give us plenty of time to have two long days of snorkeling and diving in Crystal River as well as some of the nearby springs.

April 21st - May 2nd, 2010 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. About half of the spaces on this trip are taken so let us know soon if you are interested. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Oct. 30, 2009

Hello Divers,

We are about to close out our April 21-May 2/2010 trip to Truk Lagoon. We do still have a few spaces left on this once in a lifetime trip to Micronesia. In the next few days we are going to let go the airplane tickets that we have reserved that are not spoken for. More than likely, the price for the airfare will rise after that so now is the time to tell us if you ever want to see Truk. You will also get enough frequent flyer miles on this trip for a free airplane ticket anywhere in the continental US. Once we depart in 2010 on this trip, five years will have passed since our last time there so this is not a trip that we do every year or so. Don't miss it.

Thousands of miles from the frantic pace of big cities, Truk Lagoon offers an unparalleled variety of dive experiences. Once a stronghold for the Japanese Imperial Navy, now captures forever the destruction of a very powerful military force. In their stillness these wrecks are covered in a kaleidoscope of colorful tropical fish and corals. Beyond these ghostly wrecks lie the reefs and atolls of Micronesia. The underwater beauty is breathtakingly exquisite and unimaginably prolific. Huge soft corals and sea fans with vibrant colors and schools of Pacific tropical fish create constant movement in an ever changing marine environment.

 Here are some of Mark Tant's pictures from the last trip to Truk.

Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call.

Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL. 35222
205-595-3052

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Oct. 7, 2009

Hello Divers,

Since our last newsletter we have been busy         teaching open water students and this coming up weekend, Spencer and Mark will be certifying them in Panama City, FL. Our upcoming wreck trip, the Flounder trip and the Bonaire trip that the two of them are taking are already sold out but we do have some other trips with availability. Mark and I will be offering some continuing education later on this month and in November. And speaking of Mark, he has been employed with the City of Hoover's Police Department as a Crime Scene Investigator. After 25 years of service with Hoover, Mark has retired. I know what you are thinking, and yes he is that old. Now that he is retired, he will be teaching at SSDS even more with me and Spence and taking divers on our weekend trips often. He is the proud owner of a new Canon DSLR camera with an Ikelite housing and strobe and now with the time, I could see him taking some more magazine cover quality shots soon.

Here is a picture from Mark's retirement with Chief Derzis.

Upcoming Trips

October 16th-18th Orange Beach, AL Spearfishing
This will be the last trip of the season for spearfishing off the Alabama Gulf Coast. We have been able to dive with a lot of you doing this type of diving this year. Our spearfishing team, The Tourists, just finished competing in the four week Orange Beach Spearfishing tournament and came in second place in the team award as well as winning several individual awards and even a little money. This weekend we will be diving in the same area where these fish were taken. We have a house rented as well as a privately chartered vessel. The water is still warm and conditions are good so let's go one more time before it gets too cold.

Joe and Forrest with tournament winning fish

November 13th -15th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we did just last weekend. It was one of our most productive trips here in a long time and we are going to try and do it again. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. We are going to try and have a couple of boats and dive in two different rivers this time. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

                       

April 21st - May 2nd, 2010 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. About half of the spaces on this trip are taken so let us know soon if you are interested. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call.
Continuing Education

Oct 31st 9am Enriched Air Nitrox at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

Oct 28th, Nov 7th, Nov 14th Stress and Rescue Course
Stress is a major contributor to rescue situations and diving accidents. Through this course you will learn accident prevention, as well as how to handle problem situations if they occur.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two and a half days in which you will participate in academic and in-water sessions in the pool and in the open water. As a prerequisite for certification you will also earn CPR & First Aid certificate during this course.

DIVER STRESS & RESCUE SPECIALTY COURSE Content:                   

* What Is Stress?
* Stress In Diving:Causes And Prevention

* Detecting And Dealing With Stress
* Accident Management
* Skills Needed To Deal With Panic And Rescues
* Conditions That Complicate Rescues

New Equipment and Specials
We are currently having a sale at SSDS on all Cobra, D4, D6 and D9 computers. It is an in store rebate taken at the counter so if you are wanting to upgrade or need a backup computer, now is a good time. Also we have started selling the new Ikelite underwater housing for the Flip Ultra HD camera. Both of these would make great Christmas gifts for many divers.

Flip Ultra & UltraHD (2nd Gen) Video Cameras

Dive into underwater videography with this incredibly compact and simple to use combination. The Compact Video housing is high quality, built to last, and backed by Ikelite's long-standing reputation for excellence. A full line of accessories allows you to really get creative with your underwater video.
All camera controls are fully functional through the housing and depth rated to 200ft (60m). Easy open latch and drop in camera loading make set-up a breeze.
Includes a 1cc tube of silicone lubricant, vinyl lanyard and removable UR/Pro color correcting filter for tropical blue water settings.

 

Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL. 35222
205-595-3052
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Sept. 10, 2009

Hello Divers,
We have a lot of trips to let you know about in this newsletter but before we do that we should tell you about some of the recent happenings. As most of you know, we continue to have trips every weekend year round with weather permitting and this year we have been fortunate to have good weather mostly. A couple of weeks ago one of our group trips were diving out of Orange Beach, Alabama and a Whale Shark with about 50 Cobia swam between some of our divers. Frequently, Whale Sharks are still being seen throughout the Panhandle so get down there if you can. One of the trips that you could see these magnificent creatures on is the shallow water wreck trip like Mark has been taking divers on every month. Here are some shots from previous ones.

 

 

Spencer and Steve just returned from another Bering Sea gold diving trip near Nome, Alaska. They had a great time in Nome this summer and are looking forward to next year. Following his return from Alaska, Spencer was off to Panama City, Florida with a group of new divers continuing the over 56 year tradition that Southern Skin Divers Supply started, certifying our divers in the Florida Panhandle.

 

 

 

Meanwhile,
Forrest has been taking spearfishers competing in the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament that is currently underway until Sept. 19.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for what's coming up.

October 23rd - 25th Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way Mark will get some great photos of everybody. We might even be fortunate enough to see some of the Whale Sharks that have been hanging around. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately for this weekend.

November 13th -15th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

November 20th - 22nd Panama City, FL Flounder trip
We have privately chartered one of the newest dive boats in the area for our annual Flounder trip. Once we were able to take 180 fish in two days and although that was the best, we still usually do very well. This is the best time of year for Flounder. The Flounder are usually in the 30 to 50 ft range in the sand around structures. This is a great trip to learn to spear fish. A speargun is not necessary, a pole spear and bag work best. We will take what we catch on Saturday to the Captain's Table restaurant for them to prepare it for us. We should all have plenty to carry home on Sunday.

December 27th, 2009 - January 3rd, 2010 Bonaire
The Island of Bonaire has perhaps the best shore diving in the Caribbean. No cattle boat diving here, in fact it is not necessary to even set foot on a boat unless you want to. The shore dives are clearly marked and with the unlimited diving package that we have, you may dive as frequently as you wish. Included in this package is round trip airfare on a direct flight from Atlanta to Bonaire, oceanfront condo accommodations, truck rental, breakfast daily, unlimited air diving and Nitrox diving if you are Nitrox certified. Spencer and Mark will be running this trip so give us a call at The SCUBA School for more details.

April 21st - May 2nd, 2010 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call. Here is a link to some of Mark's photos from our last trip to Truk ==> TRUK

Southern Skin Divers Supply

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Aug. 13, 2009

Hello Divers,

Before we let you know about all of the new things happening at The SCUBA School we want to tell you about a great opportunity to dive the Gulf Coast right now. Every day we get calls from friends in Panama City, Orange Beach and other places along the panhandle about Whale Sharks! They are showing up daily all over the panhandle so now is the time if you have ever wanted to see a whale shark. We have had a great season so far with mostly calm seas and very clear water and now with the frequent whale shark experiences, it is hard to beat the Gulf Coast diving right now. This weekend, Mark Tant, is taking 15 divers on a private wreck charter in Panama City for two days hoping to see one of these "largest fish species in the sea". Nobody really knows why they are here now or for how long they will hang around the area so whether you go with us or not, take your camera and go diving.

 

 

Spencer and Steve have a few more weeks left before they return home from Alaska. As most of you know, the two of them have been diving 17 years in a row near Nome, Alaska in search for gold.

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Trips

August 21st -23rd Spearfishing, Orange Beach, AL
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach, Alabama. We will be shooting fish on some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also included in this trip are the entrance fees to the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament and a t-shirt. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with. Check out alabamaspearfishing.com for more information about this tournament.

September 11th - 13th Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way Mark will get some great photos of everybody. We might even be fortunate enough to see some of the Whale Sharks that have been hanging around. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a class on the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately for this weekend.

October 2nd - 4th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

December 27th, 2009 - January 3rd, 2010 Bonaire
Just yesterday, we purchased air plane tickets as well as condominium accommodations and rental trucks for a group after Christmas to Bonaire. The Island of Bonaire has perhaps the best shore diving in the Caribbean. No cattle boat diving here, in fact it is not necessary to even set foot on a boat unless you want to. The shore dives are clearly marked and with the unlimited diving package that we have, you may dive as frequently as you wish. Included in this package is round trip airfare on a direct flight from Atlanta to Bonaire, oceanfront condo accommodations, truck rental, breakfast daily, unlimited air diving and Nitrox diving if you are Nitrox certified. Spencer and Mark will be running this trip so give us a call at The SCUBA School for more details.
 

Continuing Education

Sept. 5th 9am Enriched air Nitrox at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

September 23rd, 26th and October 3rd - Stress and Rescue Course

Stress is a major contributor to rescue situations and diving accidents. Through this course you will learn accident prevention, as well as how to handle problem situations if they occur.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs three days in which you will participate in academic and in-water sessions in the pool and in the open water. As a prerequisite for certification you will also earn CPR & First Aid certificates during this course.

DIVER STRESS & RESCUE SPECIALTY COURSE Content:

* What Is Stress?
* Stress In Diving: Causes And Prevention
* Detecting And Dealing With Stress
* Accident Management
* Skills Needed To Deal With Panic And Rescues
* Conditions That Complicate Rescues

 

 

Spearfishing Equipment
Our divers that travel with us know that I teach and take people spearfishing a couple of weekends a month year round. Recently SSDS has started selling a couple of pieces of equipment that will enhance a spear fishers ability to get fish. The first piece is a custom made camouflage 3mm wetsuit for spearfishing. This is the warmest 3mm suit I have ever worn, as warm as any 5mm I have ever owned. It has glued and blind stitched seams with reinforced stress areas. This means that it is a true closed cell suit. You can even test it by holding it closed on one end and blowing it up like a balloon. If the air can't get in and out, neither can water. Your body will warm the water and since there will be almost no exchange in water, it will insulate you keeping you warm dive after dive. It also has tire flex knee pads and a cocking pad to keep bruising to a minimum when loading your gun. We also are dealers for the brand new Ocean Rhino Spearguns below.



Ocean Rhino RX Series Spearguns
These are very durable guns suitable for hunting around the artificial reefs of our area. The Rhino liner protects the gun when bumping against the structure you are on and being a wood gun makes for a quieter shot. It also comes with a commercial muzzle that keeps the shaft straight and makes it more accurate when fired. There are also many upgrades that can be added later on down the road to truly customize this gun for changing conditions. Come see me at The SCUBA School so I can show you these exciting pieces of spearfishing equipment.

Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL. 35222
205-595-3052
www.ssdsupply.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

July 12, 2009

Hello Divers,
Since our last newsletter a lot of training has taken place at The SCUBA School.

Also, we have just returned from several group dive trips. Spencer and seventeen of our divers spent a week on a private chartered Live A Board in Belize. It was a wonderful trip with great diving, excellent food and a great time had by all. Here are some photos from the trip that were taken by Brandi Baugher.

       

Mark took a group wreck diving in Panama City, FL and was one of the first groups to dive the newest wreck "The Red Sea" in P.C. While down there, the group saw multiple Goliath Groupers, some in the 300 to 400 lbs. range. Here are some of Mark's shots from the trip.

   

 Steve is busy spending his 17th summer dredging for gold in Nome, Alaska. I am sure he will have some great stories and hopefully a lot of gold when he comes home in September.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forrest has been busy taking divers every other weekend spearfishing off the Alabama gulf coast. Speaking of diving off the Alabama gulf coast, now we have a tool to help us predict sea conditions for some of the diving in this area. For years we have had to rely on a weather buoy anchored 68 miles south of Dauphin Island in almost 800 feet of water.

The conditions oftentimes are different closer to shore where the bulk of diving and fishing is done. We are now using the data from a new buoy 12 miles south of Perdido Pass, so the next time you are planning a trip to be on the water off the Alabama gulf coast go to www.wunderground.com/MAR/buoy/42012.html to see the data from that buoy.

 

 

All of us at Southern would like to wish Bill Tant a happy 80th birthday which he recently celebrated with a lot of the divers from Southern's early days. Bill started Southern Skin Divers in 1953 and is a pioneer in scuba diving and a living legend. He is the one in the middle.

 

 

 

Upcoming Trips

July 17th -19th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

August 14th -16th Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way Mark will get some great photos of everybody. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle that we have chartered privately for this weekend.

August 21st -23rd Spearfishing, Orange Beach, AL
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach, Alabama. We will be shooting on some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also included in this trip are the entrance fees in the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament and a t-shirt. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with.

Training

July 23, 4PM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

Give us a call.

Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052
www.ssdsupply.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

June 11, 2009

Hello Divers,

The past few weeks we have been training divers 5 days a week here at The SCUBA School. As most of you know, every weekend we offer at least one group trip somewhere for divers to go on once they are certified. Just last weekend, Spencer was certifying a group of students at the St. Andrews State Park Jetties and they had a special treat; they had about 50 Cow Nose Rays swimming with them in the shallow water on Sunday.

A week earlier Spencer took a group on our South Carolina river trip and one of our friends found a beautiful Native American spear point while another one of our other divers found an incredible clay smoking pipe with a females likeness carved on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Forrest has been taking multiple groups competing in Alabama's longest spearfishing tournament to date. To read more about spearfishing go to these links: www.tomh2o.com & www.alabamaspearfishing.com
 

 

This upcoming weekend Spencer is taking a group of 18 divers to Belize to do a week's worth of live-aboard diving while Forrest has another group spearing off the Alabama Gulf Coast. What we are saying is there is a lot of diving going on right now so let us know if you want to go.

 

 

 

 

 

Trips

June 26-28 Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
This weekend trip Mark will be taking a group diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way I think Mark will take one of his nice cameras and get some great shots of everybody. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle that we have chartered privately for this weekend.

July 10-12 Spearfishing in Panama City, FL
Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper as well as Red Snapper, Black Snapper, Triggerfish, Cobia and Amberjacks. Mark will also have a group of divers at the Springs and Jetties so we will try to all meet up at the Captain's Table restaurant in St Andrews for some of our fresh catch. We have a good selection of the newest Ocean Rhino Spearguns available at The SCUBA School right now so if you need a new gun come see what we have. We also have some high quality gun bands and spear tips for your guns that you already have and have a new heavy duty polespear capable of handling big fish as well.
 

July 17-19 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

 

Training
July 23, 4PM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

July 22, 25 and Aug 1st Stress and Rescue Course
Stress is a major contributor to rescue situations and diving accidents. Through this course you will learn accident prevention, as well as how to handle problem situations if they occur.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two - four days in which you will participate in academic and in-water sessions in the pool and in the open water. As a prerequisite for certification you will also earn CPR & First Aid certificate during this course.

DIVER STRESS & RESCUE SPECIALTY COURSE Content:

* What Is Stress?
* Stress In Diving:Causes And Prevention
* Detecting And Dealing With Stress
* Accident Management
* Skills Needed To Deal With Panic And Rescues
* Conditions That Complicate Rescues

Let's go diving!


Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052
www.ssdsupply.com

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May 7, 2009

Hello Divers,

We have been very busy at the Scuba School with lots of open water classes and continuing education. We also have 2 sold out international trips coming up, one to Cozumel and the other to Belize. We are also planning our super trip for next April to Truk Lagoon in Micronesia. On this trip we have our own private liveaboard and crew. This trip has some of the best diving around and is the best wreck diving in the world. Forrest and Spencer's dad Steve is leading this trip and is an expert on this area. He has been there 6 times and is very familiar with the area. We will have more information on this trip in upcoming emails. Here is a link to some of Mark Tant's photos from one of our previous trips.  ==>>  Truk

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department dive team has also have been training at the Scuba School with their new full face masks with underwater communications which enables the divers to talk with each other and with the surface crew. This will be a very helpful tool for the blackwater conditions that the dive team usually experiences. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department dive team is the first in the country to have the OTS Guardian mask and Southern Skin Divers Supply can order these for other dive teams out there.

 

 

 

 

OTS Guardian full face masks with underwater communications

 

Trips
May 22-24 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                    Perfect old beer bottle

           Sandwich time between dives

May 29-31, Orange Beach Spearfishing
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach Alabama shooting off some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also, during this time the Alabama Spearfishing Association is holding their 5th annual Red Neck Riviera Spearfishing Tournament. If anyone diving with us wants to participate they will be able to. Spearfishers that are diving from their own boat are also encouraged to sign up. Just go to www.alabamaspearfishing.com and print an application for this tournament. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with. There will also be lots of prizes given away to participants at the awards ceremony on June 27. This is a six week contest from May 15 until June 27 and now is the time to enter.                                             Orange Beach Spearfishing

June 26-28 Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

 

 

 

                      Morrison Springs

Training

May 13th, 4PM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

June 10,13 and 14th Stress and Rescue Course
Stress is a major contributor to rescue situations and diving accidents. Through this course you will learn accident prevention, as well as how to handle problem situations if they occur.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two - four days in which you will participate in academic and in-water sessions in the pool and in the open water. As a prerequisite for certification you will also earn CPR & First Aid certificate during this course.

DIVER STRESS & RESCUE SPECIALTY COURSE Content:

* What Is Stress?
* Stress In Diving:Causes And Prevention
* Detecting And Dealing With Stress
* Accident Management
* Skills Needed To Deal With Panic And Rescues
* Conditions That Complicate Rescues

Give us a call

Spencer Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, Al. 35222
205-595-3052
www.ssdsupply.com
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April 2, 2009

Hello Divers,

Well things at The SCUBA School are off to a fast start for spring having already certified a lot of divers. We are currently teaching five days a week getting ready to complete another group in the next three weeks. We have several group trips in the near future to let you know about and on a couple of them, we need to know right away if you are interested. Before we get into that, we need to give you an update on the Spring Break Cayman Islands Liveaboard that we just returned from. Every Spring Break, Southern Skin Divers Supply, takes a group trip somewhere in the Caribbean for a fun week of family diving. Spring Break is one of the few times of year that the entire family can dive together, especially if you have kids that like to go on dive trips with other kids. This trip ended up being the best Spring Break trip we have ever done.

 

After a 2 hour and 35 minute direct flight from Atlanta we were met at the airport in Grand Cayman by a representative of the Liveaboard that we were diving with to assist us with luggage and to transfer the group to the vessel. Once on board the group was introduced to the crew that would be taking care of us for the week followed shortly by some of the best barbeque I have ever had. This week we were blessed with excellent weather and diving conditions, enabling us to dive up to 5 dives per day on Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and over 15 dives on the world famous Bloody Bay Wall section of Little Cayman. The visibility was often 150 feet and with most of the dives starting in around 20 feet of water, it made for an easy week of stress free diving. The crew treated us spectacular taking care of every possible need instantly. All of the meals were superior and plentiful and even between dives there were freshly made snacks just to hold every one over until the next big meal. I can't say enough good things about the overall quality of this dive trip so instead I'll just let you know that we are already planning to do another one almost exactly like this one, next Spring Break, March 13-20/2010. If you are interested, please contact us for more details.

Here are some additional pictures from the trip.

Upcoming Trips -    (details on the Trips & Travel link)

April 17-19 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

April 24-26 Spearfishing in Panama City, FL
Grouper season just reopened on April 1st. The water is still going to be a little cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Black Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. Spencer will also have a group of divers at the Springs and Jetties so we will try to all meet up at the Captain's Table restaurant in St Andrews for some of our fresh catch. There is a good selection of spearguns at The SCUBA School right now so if you need a new gun come see what we have. We also have some high quality gun bands and spear tips for your guns that you already have and have a new heavy duty polespear capable of handling big fish as well.

May 30-June 6, Cozumel Mexico
We have just set this trip up and have limited availability. If you have never experienced drift diving, you need to give Cozumel a try. Upon descent divers follow a guide along the reef allowing the current to carry you along effortlessly. The boat you dive from either follows the group's bubbles or the guides surface marker device attached to a reel. Upon surfacing the boat is there waiting on you so there is no long swim back to the boat. This trip includes RT airfare from Birmingham to Cozumel, oceanfront hotel accommodations (double occ), breakfast daily, taxes and airport transfers, and 5 days of 2 tank boat diving. The cost is $1275 per diver. We also have different prices for non divers, children 12 and under, and triple occupancy as well. This trip is soon so please give us a call if you want to go.

June 13-20/2009, Belize Liveaboard
The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is almost sold out. There are only two spaces still available. This is a very luxurious vessel almost exactly like the one we just returned from in the Caymans and we have booked the whole thing. We expect the same high quality vessel, diving crew and food and I am sure those of you that go, will not be disappointed. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

June 26-28 Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City.
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

April 8th, 4PM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

March 5, 2009
 

Hello Divers,

We have some good news to tell you about first thing in this newsletter. Morrison Springs near Ponce de Leon, Florida is now open for diving again. Southern Skin Divers took a group of almost two dozen divers to dive this opening weekend of the springs. This was the first big group of divers to dive there since the grand opening and Forrest and Spence were met at the gate by our original founder Bill "Cap'n SCUBA" Tant. Bill wanted to see the divers like so many thousands and thousands of divers he brought from Birmingham to dive Morrison Springs since he found it in the 1950's.

Bill was on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday Feb 26 signing autographs and doing interviews for television and newspapers. Diving conditions are pretty much the same once you are in the water. Changes topside include outside rinse station for gear and showers, restrooms, the covered pavilion has new picnic tables with charcoal grills, two floating platforms with ladders and a long wooden walkway extending into the water. No longer do divers and boaters have to squabble over the same area to enter the water. A boat launch has been built down river keeping boaters from launching and idling over divers heads.

 

March 11, 2009 Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

Upcoming Trips

March 21-22 shore and entry level boat diving, Panama City
Spencer will be taking another group on some shore diving and boat diving. This is a good trip for newer divers wanting more experience. We will be diving some of the shallow water inshore wrecks in Panama City. Also, if it has been a few months since you have been in the water or if you just have cabin fever, come go with us.

April 3-5 Spearfishing in Panama City, FL
Grouper season will open on April 1st so we are going the first weekend in April. The water is still going to be cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Black Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. There is a good selection of spearguns at The SCUBA School right now so if you need a new gun come see what we have.

April 17-19 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

April 24-27, Oriskany, Orange Beach, AL

Southern Skin Divers Supply will be diving soon from one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Panhandle area. We have chartered this boat along with its crew for the entire weekend. Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

The Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. She was put down in May 2006 and now rests in 212 ft of water approximately 23 miles offshore. The top of the tower starts at 68 ft and there is plenty to see above 100 ft, perfect for recreational diving. There are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive so call us for more info. Passport diver price is $525 for wreck diver certification and processing fees, two nights in a hotel and two days of offshore wreck diving including one day on the Oriskany. If you don't want the certification, it is $450 for both days of diving and two nights in a hotel.

June 13-20/2009, Belize Liveaboard

The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is almost sold out. There are only two spaces still available. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

Mark Tant is Officer of the Year

Mark Tant has grown up in the SCUBA business. He has been an instructor at one of the original SCUBA Schools in the country (Southern Skin Divers Supply, Birmingham, AL) and in over 29 years of teaching, has certified over 2000 divers. In 2008 Mark was recognized at DEMA as a Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor. And although Mark is a very accomplished diver and instructor, his full time career for the past 23 years has been a Police Officer with the City of Hoover, Alabama. Detective Tant is a Crime Scene Investigator and is the departments primary latent examiner and a member of the Police Department's Special Response Dive Team. For a few months he has been working with a new fingerprint technology that allows an examiner to do a fingerprint search in minutes that would have previously taken months or even years. Because of this, many cases have been solved recently for the City of Hoover as well as other surrounding areas. On February 19, 2009 Detective Mark Tant was recognized as the City of Hoover's Police Officer of the Year. Congratulations Mark!

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February 4, 2009

Hello Divers,

Before we let you know about some of the upcoming news here at The SCUBA School we want to thank the volunteers that helped us at the Birmingham Boat Show last week. Every year Southern Skin Divers Supply has a booth at the show and many volunteers have helped us get the word out about diving to future divers. While at the show this year we saw hundreds of former students proving that the Boat Show has been a valuable recruiting tool and we appreciate everyone that has helped us there.

And speaking of a recruiting tool, Southern Skin Divers Supply has had forty people this week participate in a free SCUBA Experience. Having instructors that work here five days a week, a pool on site and all of the required equipment, enables us to offer this service to people that want to try it first with no financial obligation. This is a great time of year to do this before we start training most of the day and have trips every weekend. If you know someone that is on the fence about diving, send them our way to try a free SCUBA Experience.

Upcoming Trips

April 24-26 - Oriskany Wreck Trip, Pensacola / Orange Beach

Southern Skin Divers Supply will be diving soon from one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Panhandle area. We have chartered this boat along with its crew for the entire weekend. Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

 

 

 

 

The Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. She was put down in May 2006 and now rests in 212 ft of water approximately 23 miles offshore. The top of the tower starts at 68 ft and there is plenty to see above 100 ft, perfect for recreational diving. There are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive so call us for more info. Passport diver price is $525 for wreck diver certification and processing fees, two nights in a hotel and two days of offshore wreck diving including one day on the Oriskany. If you don't want the certification, it is $450 for both days of diving and two nights in a hotel.

June 13th -20th 2009 - Belize Live-Aboard

We are down to four spaces left on the Belize Live-Aboard we are taking this Summer. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

 

In late January, Forrest and Spencer took a group of divers spearfishing out of Panama City, FL. The seas were calm, it was warm outside and visibility was good to great on all dives. We were able to fill the cooler with Red Grouper, Gag Grouper, Black Snapper, Triggerfish and Lobsters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the sites we went to was a real shipwreck and a famous one at that, The Tarpon. I say real because most of the wrecks that people dive on in the Gulf are actually artificial reefs that were stripped and placed there for fishing and diving. The Tarpon went down in a storm in 1937 and since has been named a State of Florida Underwater Archeological Preserve, so no artifact collecting here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Southern Skin Divers Supply were the original divers to start the diving on The Tarpon in the 1950's with Bill Tant and to this day, the anchor is on display for all to see in St Andrews.

 

 

 

 

We are also doing an open water certification trip the last weekend of February to Panama City. Any of our members are welcome to tag along if you want to do some diving. The first day will be to the freshwater springs and on Sunday we will dive the jetties at St. Andrews park.

Come see us!

Southern Skin Divers Supply

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