First Scuba Camp a Success

Our first scuba camp is complete and it was a huge success! Thanks to Mark and Mel for running a great camp, and congratulations to all the campers who are now one step closer to being scuba certified! We hope to see all of you in a training dive weekend very soon.

Scuba Camp is an awesome program for kids to learn to Scuba Dive. If you are interested in learning more about scuba camp, click here.

Play Hooky With Us in Ocean City This Thursday

Play hooky with us in Ocean City this Thursday! We've set up a Thursday charter to go out and do some diving and have some fun - take the day off, join us and start the 4th of July holiday weekend in style!

Click Here to Sign Up to Dive on Thursday July 2nd

NEW TRIP!! - Bonaire March 2010

Atlantic Edge has added a trip to Bonaire in March of 2010 to our travel schedule! This is going to be a cool trip - focused on making the travelers into Master Scuba Divers. Master Scuba Diver is the highest recreational ranking PADI offers - in order to acheive this status you must have Advanced and Rescue Diver certifications and 5 specialties. On this trip we will offer Rescue and a few specialties during the week, so you can come, do some great diving and get some awesome training! We will be staying at Buddy Dive - one of Bonaire's nicest and most diver-friendly resorts!

Click Here to Learn More About This Trip

Scuba Dive in the National Aquarium in Baltimore with Calypso the Sea Turtle

Meet Calypso the Green Sea Turtle, one of the many friends you can dive with at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Calypso was found cold-stunned in Northport, Long Island, NY in November 2000. About a month into rehab in Long Island the turtle developed a secondary infection in the left front flipper joint and the flipper had to be amputated. These types of infections are not uncommon in cold stunned turtles. Calypso was deemed non-releasable by USFWS, as s/he was one of the first sea turtles to undergo surgical flipper amputation in rehab in this region. At the time, not a lot was known about the survivability of surgically amputated sea turtles in a natural environment. Calypso was later transferred from the original rescue organization to the National Aquarium, Baltimore.



Calypso loves divers and is very curious - s/he'll come right up to you and take a look and sometimes even surprise you by giving you a little *kiss*!

Lionfish - Not Just for Breakfast Anymore!

Across the diving community a lot has been said about the lionfish invasion. Pacific Lionfish on this side of the world pose a potential threat to the reef system as we know it - they are voracious predators, able to decimate a reef in a matter of weeks. Nothing hunts them naturally, so they are multiplying in numbers at a fast rate.

Atlantic Edge and others are sponsoring dive related trips to collect, study and analyze lionfish. We as a dive community are in a position to help solve this problem by collecting lionfish and helping the scientific community understand more about them.

Now, there is another solution on the table - eating them! More and more has been said about eating lionfish - they are tasty, healthy, and by eating them we help solve the problem of them eating everything else! Click Here to read a recent article on the virtues of eating lionfish.

Local Diving Spot - Hydes Quarry

A lot of people ask us about local diving spots in the DC/Baltimore area. Given that we are relatively landlocked (aside from the Bay, which presents only a few diving opportunities), there are a few spots that are good for a fun day of diving. If you want to get wet and enjoy a day out in the sun, check out Hydes Quarry in Westminster, MD. Hydes has been set up pretty much exclusively for diving- it has some nice easy entry points, a few good sunken attractions like a sailboat and a school bus, and tons of fish!

Entry into Hydes is $20 for the day for divers. Make sure to bring your c-card and your gear, as there is no dive facility there so you're on your own once you get there. Hydes is managed by the folks at Undersea Outfitters in Westminster. They are friendly, if you have any questions about the Quarry they're helpful.

It isn't quite the Caribbean, but in a pinch it'll do! Click Here for Directions to Hydes Quarry.

Cool Article on Sharks

If you like sharks, check out this article - its pretty cool:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090622/sc_livescience/sharkskillerstrategyrevealed

2nd Annual Ocean in Focus Conservation Photography Contest

Marine Photobank and Project AWARE Foundation are teaming up once again to bring you the 2nd Annual Ocean in Focus Conservation Photography Contest on June 8, World Ocean Day. We challenge ocean lovers worldwide to submit their most compelling marine conservation images to this one-of-a-kind photo contest. This summer, point your lenses in a different direction to tell the true stories of our ocean's health and share your story with us and the rest of the world.

Click Here to Learn More

(photo credit Steve Spring, Reef Rescue)

Getting Ready for a Busy Weekend of Diving

Another busy weekend of diving.... Learn to Dive classes in Bethesda and Roxborough, dives at the Aquarium, and Captain Jeremiah has three days in a row of full charters in Ocean City. There's plenty of diving going on, why aren't you diving?

OC Dive Boat - Special Charter Updates

We have two special charters on the OC Dive Boat for the weekend of June 27/28:

June 27- On June 27th, we will be heading offshore to the African Queen and the Blenny. These are two of the most famous wrecks off Ocean City. The Blenny is an intact WWII sub and the African Queen is an old wreck with LOTS of life. Both are awesome spearfishing sites.

Click Here to Sign Up for the Blenny/African Queen on June 27th



June 28 -
On June 28th, we are offering dives for a special price of only $100!!

Click Here to sign up for June 28th dives for only $100

Sunfish Off Of Ocean City

Last weekend Capt. Jeremiah and the crew of OC Dive Boat saw a sunfish while out diving. This is just an example of all the cool stuff you can see out there! Check out the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXj_YVhEouk

We're seeing great stuff every weekend - come out and dive with us! Click here for more info.

Atlantic Edge Has Two New Instructors!

We are happy to announce that we have to brand new instructors at Atlantic Edge. Mary Robinson and Jeff Wilson, both of whom have been long time Divemasters with us, completed their insturctor courses over the weekend. Congratulations, Jeff and Mary!

Want to teach Scuba yourself? Click Here to learn more about our Instructor Development Course.

Congratulations to Benoit LeGros, Our Newest Divemaster!

Congratulations to Benoit LeGros, who has recently been certified as a PADI Divemaster. Benoit has been working on his Divemaster internship through the winter, but now his paperwork is in he's official (well almost, pending the PADI seal of approval). Great job, Benoit!

Want to become a divemaster, too? We have a great training program - click here to learn more about becoming a divemaster.

New Shark Tooth Trip Scheduled for October

One of the hottest trips around lately has been the shark tooth trips to the Gulf Coast of Florida. The tooth beds there are shallow, in reasonable visibility, and are abundant with teeth.

These trips have been so popular that we're scheduling our THIRD trip, for Oct. 8-11. Collecting teeth is really cool - its fun to be underwater with a purpose in mind, and you can really wow your friends and family with some of the teeth you'll find. These are fossilized teeth, some of them megalodon teeth that can be 5'' in length or longer!

If you're interested in finding out more about the trip, click here.

Request for Scuba Gear Donations

Montgomery County Fire/Rescue Captain Lee Silverman, who has been instrumental in supporting the Public Safety Session at the Training Academy and Capt. Rick Steer are preparing to travel to Haiti to continue their mission to develop a Water Rescue Team for the island nation. the men and women firefighters of Haiti are extremely dedicated but have very little in the way of resources to perform their tasks. Many people take Scuba classes or snorkeling classes and then for any number of reasons put the gear in their basement and never go back to using it. That gear could potentially save lives in Haiti. If you have any snorkeling and/or Scuba gear you can make a tax-deductible donation through the Florida International Volunteer Corps. This agency has been instrumental in arranging for training in numerous islands in the Caribbean and specifically Haiti. Any individual that has gear to donate: Scuba masks, snorkels, swim fins, weights and weights belts, BCDs, primary and secondary regulator stages, scuba tanks, gear bags, underwater lights, dive knives/cutting devices, or PFDs etc. should contact Captain Silverman to arrange to have it picked up. lee.silverman@montgomerycountymd.gov

July 5th- Dive and Picnic to Benefit the Coral Restoration Foundation

On July 5th we'll be sponsoring a fun day of diving and goofing off at Hydes Quarry in Westminster, as a benefit for the Coral Restoration Foundation. Tickets will be $25 for divers, $15 for non divers and will include rentals of tanks and weights (for the divers only, of course) as well as a picnic lunch of burgers, hot dogs, drinks, snacks etc. All proceeds will be donated to the Coral Restoration Foundation.

Shake off the July 4th party the night before with a fun day at the lake with us! Get out, meet some of your fellow divers and have some fun, all for a great cause.

Click Here to Learn More About July 5th Fun Dives to Benefit the Coral Restoration Foundation

Coral Restoration Foundation Coming to DC Aquarium

One of the coolest ocean related non-profits out there is the Coral Restoration Foundation, run by Ken Nedimyer. We have worked with Ken in the past to bring divers down to work on his projects, which is not only fun to work on but has the promise of turning around the downward spiral the world's coral reef system seems to be on. Ken grows and transplants live coral to the living reef, reestablishing portions of the reef that are in decline.

The plan is for the Coral Restoration Foundation to get an exhibit at the National Aquarium in Washington, DC. More on this later, but this would be great for those of us that live up here to be able to get a first hand look at what Ken and the CRF are doing.

Check Out Shark Trust Wines

Divers and Wine Afficianados alike - check out Shark Trust Wines. Their mission:
'Our goal at Shark Trust Wines is to bring great wine from around the globe to your table while actively spreading the message about the need for shark conservation and making it easy for people to make a difference through the donation of 10% of our profits. '

What a cool way to support ocean conservancy- by drinking wine!

Happy Diving,

--Trevor