Austin Area Newbie Diving

[downunderjenn]

Yo! I'm a DIT at Deep Blue Scuba, finishing my DM course this weekend. We are beginning our Wednesday night dives for the summer when there is interest. Diving off the Kiss my Splash is $10 a head, heaps of fun, and good experience.

For the comment about the newbie, well, yes, we've been getting the shop arranged. There are a whole heap of old salts around there, though. Ralph and Thom are excellent divers and people.
I would challenge you to challenge them with scuba knowledge if you doubt. James is a newbie, just got his Advanced OW, but he's an awesome guy. We have a couple of other people that run the shop and may not know how to answer your questions, but they will certainly refer your questions to the rest of us.

I will be launching a blog for Deep Blue to answer any Deep Blue questions we have (cross our fingers). So, come on in, and I'll talk you up, and perhaps see you on the boat. I toured the shops in Austin when I moved here from Dallas and found two that I liked from my experiences. Tom's Dive and Ski, a NAUI shop, are friendly recreational divers that I go through for the Flower Gardens. Deep Blue Scuba was where I advanced my training, and continue to learn every day.

Also, when I'm not on the boat or doing a scuba trip somewhere, I go to Mansfield Dam.

Jenn

 

[PurduEE]

I will be launching a blog for Deep Blue to answer any Deep Blue questions we have (cross our fingers).

Completely off-topic, but you should really just use one of the free php forums that are out there. Forums, like scubaboard, work better for question/answer issues, IMHO. Are you doing this in conjunction with the Deep Blue webpage, or would this be a blog on a separate server/provider?

Check out www.phpbb.com. It requires php and mysql, but so will most bloggers. It's also completely free and dead simple to setup.

 

[ae3753]

Jenn, congrats on your DM! Impressive.

Diving off the Deep Blue Scuba boat sounds like it can be a lot of fun. Will try to drop by the shop to get more details.

And I second PurduEE's recommendations of phpbb. Used it a couple of times and it's very easy to set up. If you need help setting it up, let me know. Just PM me.

 

[rlowe]

Jenn,

Is the North location in the Gallery Oaks Plaza on 183? I went by there the other day and it was all closed up. Had a posting from the landlord preventing locksmiths from opening it up.

 

[downunderjenn]

The North store is open. Just a glitch in the mail system for the rent check, but it's all squared away. Our North store is new, just opened, so running through the opening challenges, but getting there fast. The South store is very established. We even have a dive bird. She yells out dive dive dive when people pass by.

I'm a graphic designer and am always looking for projects and design solutions. I wanted to create a blog that had the hierarchy and customized needs for the shop, but I really value the resource you gave.-the site would not conflict with scubaboard; it'll be on the deep blue site. Ralph designed their site.

Thanks, all.

 

[Harvdog]

The new guy will answer any general questions he can, but believe me he won't try to BS you to satisfy his own ego. 9 times out of 10 he will refer you to the more experienced staff to seek your answers. Properly done, this sport rocks!! But the serious nature of diving also requires in-depth knowledge of the sport and the newbie knows that. He knows enough to help you fit a fin or mask or hell, even ring up some anti-fog drops. Don't worry though, I (oops) he has earned quite a bit of experience here in Lake Travis and Cozumel and has completed his Advanced Certification and is working on his Rescue Qualifications at present. Unless your talking about someone else, and in that case, delay my last