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Scubaland Adventures

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By Eric Pulsifer Friday, 26 June 2009

Many Austinites will take to the lake this summer in an attempt to stay cool, but for divers, any time of year is ideal for hitting the water.

“There’s so much to see underwater; it’s very peaceful and relaxing,” Scubaland Adventures manager Jennifer Aschermann said.

Underwater photography is one of many training courses offered at Scubaland Adventures. Courtesy Jennifer Aschermann

Opened in 1988, Scubaland is a full-service dive shop that also offers training and diving expeditions around the world. Aschermann’s husband, Rob, is the company’s president.

“Diving is like a great equalizer,” Rob said. “When we’re in the water, everyone is a diver. People that wouldn’t normally intermingle become best of buds when diving.”

While diving may not be as prevalent a hobby as cycling or jogging in Austin, it has proven popular enough for Scubaland to host year-round dive classes and a local dive club with hundreds of members across Central Texas.

“You’d be surprised how many divers there are around here. Just look for the diver down flag,” Aschermann said, referring to the white-striped red flag diving aficionados often have as a bumper sticker.

For those seeking certification, beginner courses last about a week and consist of classroom sessions, training in the pool at Scubaland’s north location at 1001 W. Anderson Lane and several open water dives.

“A lot of people are a little nervous going in to it. We don’t usually breathe underwater,” Aschermann said. “That’s why we start out in the pool and go nice and slow.”

Training starts out with newcomers getting a feel for breathing with an air tank in the shallow end of the pool before moving onto swimming. They also learn simple hand signals for communicating underwater.

After a basic beginner’s course, a novice diver is ready for open water diving. More advanced classes are also offered, such as underwater digital photography and technical training.

Diving locally might seem difficult due to murky water, but there are several nearby dive spots with a good amount of visibility. Aschermann points to the clear waters of Aquarena Springs in San Marcos and the Comal River in New Braunfels. Dive parks around Texas are also available with sunken objects and trails for divers to explore.

Map showing location of Scubaland Adventures For those willing to travel to the coast, Rob said the Gulf of Mexico has one of the healthiest reef systems in the world, oil platforms to explore and a variety of aquatic life, such as whale sharks, hammerheads and sea turtles.

“It’s one of the easiest adventures you can have,” Rob said. “You don’t have to travel. You can see something right in your backyard that most people will never get an opportunity to see.”

Aquatic expeditions

Travel Masters, a company started by Scubaland founder Mike Coker’s wife, Vickie, handles all group travel arrangements for the business. While most trips are based around scuba diving in exotic locales, some expeditions are land based — such as polar bear watching in Canada.

2009 Scubaland group trips