Down Under Dive Shop

Down Under will be closed D ec. 24th  through Jan. 4th , for the Christmas holiday. We will reopen at 10 a.m   Jan. 4th . Have safe and Merry Christmas. See ya next year.

It's that time of year.  Down Under's Black Friday clearance sale is here!  Make your holiday shopping list for that diver in your life and get ready!  Are these deals good? No, these deals are great.  With Down Under's Black Friday sale, you will save on every item including accessories,air tanks, BCDs, Dive Computers, Regulators, Wetsuits, Dry Suits, Fins, Cameras and much more.Check out all the Black Friday deals below. You can find something (and a great deal) for the diver (or yourself) on your list. This year's Black Friday Sale is going to big so get here early before someone snatches up that piece of gear that you've had your eye on.  Remember these deals are for this Friday only 10:00 AM while supplies last. All  Wet Suits   15% to 25% Off!  All Bags and Travel Gear  15% to 25% Off!  All Fins 25%-*50% Off! *Huge Savings when added to a package! BCDs  10%-15% Off! *Huge Savings when added to a package! REGs   10%-15%

Welcome to Wakatobi Dive Resort, a remote and exclusive resort located in an Indonesian archipelago blessed with the planet’s most pristine and prolific tropical reefs. Immerse yourself in a symphony of marine life among healthy, colorful coral seascapes and an incredible array of creatures of all shapes and sizes. It’s all here, in one place...called Wakatobi. Be our guest in a resort built by divers for divers who are able to appreciate what Jacques Cousteau called “probably the finest diving site in the world” – a view since echoed by the testimonials of hundreds of divers from all over the world. The Adventure Begins Only A Few Steps From The Resort’s White Powder Beach where a lush drop-off stretches along several distinct dive sites. Lionfish, clownfish, rays, batfish, crocodile fish, jawfish, ghost pipefish, waspfish, schooling jacks, turtles, mandarin fish, leaf fish and several species of pygmy seahorse inhabit a reef resplendently abloom with life. Just ar

Well it was another awesome weekend in the Gulf of Mexico.   If you were off planting food plots or watching football, you really missed out. Wednesday, the Down Under Crew went on a mission to make the Whiskey Wreck a no boating zone.  By the end of the week we were getting reports of Mantas and all sorts of rays visiting our little wreck. . We enjoyed a great dive on the Notch Barge we had zero jellies and zero current.  Water temp was 81.  It was awesome being stormed by the huge schools of amberjacks.  It was also exciting to see a that sandbar shark come and check us out on the safety stop. Navy Tug was amazing as always with its 100' viz and one of the biggest loggerhead sea turtles ever. The USS Liberty Ship Allen put on a show.  This historic vessel was loaded with life blue angels, bar jacks, barracuda, mackerel, blue fish, snapper, and the list goes on.  We also ran a few quick trips out to the Southwind Barge viz was 40' to 50' and

Down Under Dive Shop staff placed "No Boating Buoys" on the Whiskey Wreck today. We all know the joys of a safari hunt dive for our old favorite beach dive, the Whiskey Wreck.  Well those days have come to an end.  The State of Alabama and City of Gulf Shores have deemed it a navigational hazard and charged us anchoring the markers on the out skirts of the wreck. Mitch and and a crew of Down Under's Divemasters located the borders of the wreckage (over 200' long 10' to 14' depth) and anchored four hazard buoys on the wreck.  Mitch says the wreck is in the middle.  Boats must now follow the regulations imposed by the State's markers. For info on what the markers mean click the link: http://www.outdooralabama.com/boating/buoys.cfm Map Divers wishing to venture out to the wreck are still required by law to have a personal 14" dive flag or SMB with dive flag and surface within 50' of it while in state waters. For more info on beach diving

Howdy gang, If you've were in the Gulf this past week then you know what I'm about to say is true. Viz was awesome! We had some of the best conditions ever out on the carrier.  100' plus viz.  The YDTs and Petes Tide were equally putting on a show.  How about those big Sandbar Sharks.  Sweet! This weekend we saw lots of tropicals  and an octopus or two on Nu' Barge. Navy Tug put on a show with tons of fish and even a  bull shark at the end of the dive. We topped off the week with a triple dip at Three Mile Barge.  Most of the crew claims to have never witnessed viz like that before on the old barge. We hosted a Fish Id clinic where the winner, Open Water Student, Lance Olsen won a pair of Polarized Ocean Reef Sunglasses for Identifying the most fish correctly.  He should probably keep it a secret that he is a marine biologist. First Open Water Dives: Lance Olsen, Will Johnson, Michael Perkinson, Phillip Garder, Frank Selesky, Luke Caden, Jena Rush, and

Hi Team, After multiple conversations this week about the same topic (Enriched Air Nitrox Diving) I thought it would be useful to resurrect an old column  that we used to do back in the day of snail mail and actual paper newsletters, The Instructor's Corner.  These brief articles covered general knowledge and our techniques on topics such as local beach diving and how the pros do it, safe and general computer diving, practices, boat diving, spearfishing and so on.  Some of these articles have even been published in the past like Beth's mask clearing made easy in Dive Training Magazine and Bryan's & Hugh's tip's from the pros in PADI's Sport Diver Magazine. OK, first off I am not a physicist or anything of the like.  Matter of fact I am an artist so numbers and math are all goofy in my head anyway, but if I can learn this stuff anyone can. If you are not Nitrox Certified then hop over to the e-Learning page and lets get er done.   ***Click Here

Our underwater realm has lost one of its most passionate ambassadors and role models, PADI Instructor Harlon R. Smith Jr. I will never claim to have been Harlon’s best friend. I only met Harlon at the end of 2005 through a mutual friend and long time dive buddy, Tom Velie. The first thing that I noticed was his infectious smile and great attitude. Harlon had a way about him. He was very easy to be around and everyone flocked to him. Including me. He had that quality of leadership that all we Scuba Instructors desire. I remember thinking this guy would be a great instructor. After dragging Harlon around the various wrecks in the Gulf of Mexico for a year, I finally coerced a “at the time” very prone to motion sickness, Harlon to follow me on a trip involving small planes, small boats, and bouncy conditions in a third world country in Central America. I mention this because when I met Harlon at the destination it was the only time he didn’t have his smiley face, because of the af

Greetings Divers, Welcome to Down Under’s news update. Firstly, congratulations to all our new divers! Down Under  congratulates the following divers on completing their  PADI Open Water Diver Course; Camile, Luca, Emily, Madeline Berbuesse, Meghan Hymel, Claire Wise Carver, Daniel Adkins, Brian Adkins, Shaul Zislin, Garrett McBay, Dion McBay, Matt Dobbs, Trevor Smith, Austin Smith and Ryan Ashley. PADI Advanced Open Water Divers: Bruce Nelson, Nicky Fontaine, Tyler Sundie, Jason McDaniel, and Leigh Harper. PADI Rescue Divers: Jon Christian, Bud Howard, Lane Farrar, and Chris Loefler. PADI Deep Divers John Miller, Brian Adkins, Dirk Pehacek, Bud Howard and Lukas Kaplan. Sidemount  Divers: David Zicarrdi and Eric Parker Diving the Gulf has been sweet this Month! When the weather is throwing a tantrum the Gulf has been calm and viz great.  Nu’ Barge has been 50’ on