Scuba diving in Lubbock may seem unlikely, yet one shop in the Hub City has become the mooring line for locals to begin their underwater adventures.
Chad Seay and Rachelle Seay own Southwest Aqua Sports, 3909 N. Frankford Ave., a shop where people have become certified divers for decades. It's also home to a local swim team, classes, a pool with a section that goes 16-feet deep and training for first responder dive teams and life guards.
"It's actually a lot easier to get certified than people think," Rachelle said. "If it's something that you have wanted to try, do it. It will absolutely change your life, and it'll be the most amazing experience you've ever had in your life."
How Southwest Aqua Sports scuba started in Lubbock
During their honeymoon, Chad and Rachelle tried scuba diving. Chad loved
it immediately, and it took Rachelle two years before she started to enjoy it. One day, while eating at Chili’s on Slide Road, they saw a for lease sign at 5116 58th St. C, where Lone Star Oyster Bar is now.
“Chad said that’d be a great place for a dive shop, and I remember telling him we are not opening a dive shop in Lubbock, Texas,” Rachelle said. “We have to drive four hours for water. That’s crazy. And I thought over it and a couple days later, I called the landlord.”
That call led to 15 years at that location and renting the pool at a retirement home. Around 2016, they moved to their current location with two indoor pools and a dive shop.
“People in Lubbock go places,” Rachelle said. “They love living here, but they want to escape Lubbock. They want to escape the dirt, the heat or the ice apocalypses that we’ll have occasionally.”
Some of those travelers want to go scuba diving, and that’s where Southwest Aqua Sports comes in. The team has PADI-certified instructors to help people learn how to scuba and get certified ahead of their trips.
“They want to get certified so they can go play,” Chad said. “If you go to do it at a resort, you’re going to spend two to four days testing and doing work while everyone else is playing. And it’s generally way more expensive (at a resort).”
Southwest Aqua Sports also trains:
- Local lifeguards.
- First responders.
- Safety dive teams.
- Levels of diving from beginner to extreme.
Along with diving, classes and the retail shop, Southwest Aqua Sports also offers multiple trips a year. Those include a Zombie Dive in Balmorhea around Halloween, monthly trips to Balmorhea or Blue Hole, and summer trips. These trips have taken local divers to Granada, the Philippines and other tropical locales.
How does someone become a certified diver?
In order to get open water certified, people can sign up online or in person with Southwest Aqua Sports. A link to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors will be sent, so future divers will need to make a free account and then get started on the e-learning. There will be a 20-question test, followed by getting into the water at Southwest to go through skills.
“If you’re not ready, we’ll tell you we need to go through this again,” Chad said. “That’s not an extra charge. We keep working with you until we feel comfortable that you’re ready.”
After that, Southwest Aqua Sports takes divers out to a location, usually Balmorhea or Blue Hole, for two days to do four training dives.
“Once you’re done, you’re done and you can dive for the rest of your life,” Rachell said. “We go to Balmorhea or Blue Hole once a month, so people keep diving."
People can keep up with Southwest Aqua Sports at southwestaquasports.com, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Alana Edgin writes about business for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Got a news tip? Contact her via email at aedgin@lubbockonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Scuba diving in Lubbock is easier than you think
