Shop Talk

Divemaster Class

7 months 4 weeks ago

We're starting up a Divemaster class within the next month. The proposed schedule is every Sunday 6-9pm for eight weeks. If anyone is interested, contact us. We'd love to have a big class and it should be a lot of fun.

Divemaster is the first professional level dive certification. For this course, you will learn a lot about theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the water. You will also learn how to lead groups by assisting instructors in Discover Scuba and Open Water classes. Becoming a Divemaster will empower you to be a role-model in the scuba diving community and in other aspects of life. This training is where you will multiply your knowledge of "everything diving."

Prerequisites for the class are 40 dives, a Rescue Diver certification and you have to be 18 or older.

Go Pro Night - Thur 9/15 @ 6pm

8 months 2 weeks ago

Join us for an informational session with the instructors and crew at Avalon Dive Center to find out how to become a professional dive bum!  Becoming a dive professional will change your life.  You will learn more about the divemaster and instructor programs, network with other professionals-meet recent divemasters and hear stories about other Avalon alumni who are living their dream!  Below are some videos 

Register today!

 

Mitigating Negative Impacts of Recreational Divers

11 months 3 days ago

           Laura Stanley, a divemaster candidate at Avalon Dive Center, is currently studying coral health at the graduate level. She wrote a scholarly article this past year (2010) that is to be published in Coastal Management in the near future. The article addresses concerns about declining reef health worldwide and how conservation efforts can do more harm than good. In the article, Laura proposes a set of criteria that must be followed to ensure positive effect on reef health when recreational divers participate in conservation activities. A summary of the article along with the general findings is presented below.

Coral reefs are complex and beautiful ecosystems that provide a bounty of services and products for human use and enjoyment. Coral reef monitoring is an important tool for effective resource management. Collecting reef data is arduous because there are so many reef sites throughout the world and a limited number of individuals trained in data collection techniques. Organizations that collect data, which is made available to management agencies and the public, help to solve this problem. Three organizations exist that mobilize volunteer resources for conservation programs. Using recreational divers, these programs utilize a standardized protocol for collecting data. While methodology is outlined for data collection, there are no guidelines for mitigating the adverse impacts caused by recreational diving. Reef Check, Project Aware, and REEF are compared to determine which program best minimizes negative effects....

Logging Your Dives Online

11 months 1 week ago

 

Two weeks ago I completed my eleventh dive, but when I went to log that dive in my book, I didn’t have any more pages. So instead of getting more pages or a new book, I decided to start logging my dives online. I found a website called Dive Login.

 I made a free account and profile. To start logging dives you choose a dive site first. Since no one using the website has been diving in Virginia, I made some new sites that I’ve been to. On a map I labeled and described the sites I’d been to and then entered the rest of the information for the dives.

It was pretty cool to be a pioneer and put dive sites in Virginia on the map. There are lots of sites all over the world that only handfuls of people know about. If you use a website such as this one, you can share the wonderful or not so wonderful places you’ve been diving. It’s a good way to keep track of your dives, especially if you’re like me and you forget to log them until you’re at work or in class the day after. Logging online makes it easy and convenient. If you’re looking for a new, more interactive way of recording your experiences, then a website like Dive Login is a great option.

By: Raini Ott

Crews to blast bridge over New River

11 months 2 weeks ago
New River Bridge Blast

FAIRLAWN -- When a contractor blows apart a defunct highway bridge over the New River -- scheduled to happen Tuesday -- scuba divers such as Scott Sanders will be rooting that the fallout misses a nearby diving hole.

Sanders, owner of Blacksburg's Avalon Dive Shop, trains new divers 50 feet upstream from the $15 million Peppers Ferry Road bridge project, a long-awaited traffic measure between Radford and Christiansburg.

He takes divers into a depression in the river bed that drops to 42 feet, versus a normal water depth of 15 feet in that area.

With its rock ledges and walls, fishes and submerged trees including a giant, fallen sycamore, the depression is a one-of-kind attraction for Southwest Virginia divers, he said. The spot extends from about 50 feet upstream from the bridge to about 750 feet upstream from the bridge -- outside the construction area beneath the bad bridge span but close enough to raise the alert.

"There's just some really gorgeous underwater scenery," Sanders said. "It's a great training site."

Sanders is hoping to find the hole and surrounding area undisturbed after the demolition and wants divers to be able to continue using a boat launch that doubles as a construction staging area beneath the bridge. Sanders said the launch is used weekly during warm weather to access the diving hole, which has attracted 30 divers at a time.

Virginia Department of Transportation officials said they have no reason to expect either of two scheduled blasts to harm the diving attraction. They expect to close the boat launch on VDOT property on the west shore from time to time during the three-year construction job; they did so this past week, and the launch may be closed for a...

Grand Opening party on Friday April 8

1 year 1 month ago


Join the Crew as the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce facilitates a ribbon cutting at 2401 South Main Street. This event will start at Noon, so bring a friend and help us spread our passion for scuba and the underwater world. There will be snacks and refreshments for all and some nice door prizes for the lucky. Please let us know if you will be here by liking us on facebook and responding to this event.

Store Opening!

1 year 2 months ago
Avalon Dive Center outside


The Avalon Dive Center is now open for business!