Athens Scuba

Complete Your PADI Certifications Right Here in Georgia!

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April 7, 2022 – April 10, 2022

We have planned a trip to Panama City from April 7th-10th FOR CERTIFIED DIVERS ONLY.

Sample picture of one of the dive boats that the dive shop uses
  • Panama City is the wreck diving capitol of the United States!
  • There are lots of options for in- and offshore dives around Panama City.
  • It’s a perfect opportunity to earn a PADI Advanced Open Water or Specialty certification.
  • The water temperature is a wonderful 75 degrees this time of year. 
  • Aside from diving, Panama City offers plenty to do without any spring breakers when we’re there!
The Hampton Inn Panama City
  • Accommodations will be at the Hampton Inn Panama City Beach.
  • We’ll be diving with a great dive shop, Divers Den, which is located very close to the hotel.
  • The dive shop requires Advanced and Nitrox certification to participate in the off-shore dives.
  • Athens Scuba will offer Nitrox classes before the trip and the Advanced certification can be earned on the trip.
The pool deck at the Hampton Inn

Itinerary:

  • Thursday – Drive to Panama City and check into hotel, Hampton Inn Panama City Beach
  • Friday – Check in at the dive shop, two in-shore dives
  • Saturday – three off-shore dives
  • Sunday – two off-shore dives and drive back home

The 4 Day Package includes:

  • 3 nights at the Hampton Inn Panama City Beach with breakfast included based on a double occupancy
  • 7 boat dives, including Nitrox tanks
  • Tanks and weights

Total price is $875

For information about single occupancy, certifications, gear rental and special requests, please email ben@athensscuba.com

Hampton Inn Panama City Beach

2909 Thomas Dr
Panama City, Florida 32408 United States + Google Map
View Venue Website

$875

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April 29, 2022 – May 1, 2022

We have planned a trip to the Florida Springs from April 29th to May 1st.

Sample picture of Blue Grotto
  • The Florida Springs trip is everyone’s favorite weekend getaway in the winter.
  • The water is always 72 degrees and crystal clear. 
  • This trip is available to Students for their open water checkout dives.
  • It’s also great for divers who didn’t dive for a while and want to get back into it.
  • This is a great beginner diver trip with easy diving at springs like Devil’s Den, Rainbow River, Blue Grotto or Ginnie Springs.
Sample picture of Ginnie Springs with crystal clear water

Itinerary:

  • Friday – Drive to Florida and check into Hotel, Gainesville FL
  • Saturday – Dive at a spring in the AM, Lunch, Dive Rainbow River in the Afternoon
  • Sunday – Dive at a spring in the AM, head home

The 3 Day Package includes:

  • a 3 tank dive trip over two days
  • all dive fees
  • state park fees
  • tanks and weights
  • 2 nights at a hotel in Gainesville, FL (based on double occupancy) included.

Total price is $385

For information on single occupancy, extra dives and other special requests, please email ben@athensscuba.com

Gainesville, FL

4225 SW 40th Blvd
Gainesville, Florida 32608 United States + Google Map
$385

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November 4, 2022 – November 6, 2022

We have planned a trip to the Florida Springs from November 4th to 6th.

Sample picture of Blue Grotto

For convenience reasons we decided to stay at the Blue Grotto Dive resort in Williston. The resort features simple cabins, with AC/heat, and private bathrooms. The price includes the bunk option. Double bed and cabins with a kitchen can be booked for a small extra fee. The main reason we prefer this option is, that we are right at the dive site and save hours of driving over the weekend, compared to the next closer option that would be in Gainsville, FL.

We’ll bring a grill and have a divers community dinner on Saturday.

  • The Florida Springs trip is everyone’s favorite weekend getaway in the winter.
  • The water is always 72 degrees and crystal clear. 
  • This trip is available to Students for their open water checkout dives.
  • It’s also great for divers who didn’t dive for a while and want to get back into it.
  • It’s perfect for the diver that wants to keep up the skills and comfort level over the winter month.
  • This is a great beginner diver trip with easy diving at springs like Devil’s Den, Rainbow River, Blue Grotto or Ginnie Springs.
Sample picture of Ginnie Springs with crystal clear water

Itinerary:

  • Friday – Drive to Florida and check into cabins at the Blue Grotto Dive Resort
  • Saturday – Dive at a spring in the AM, Lunch, dive Rainbow River in the afternoon
  • Sunday – Dive at a spring in the AM, head home

The 3 Day Package includes:

  • a 4 tank dive trip over two days, that includes a night dive for all certified divers, that can count for a future Advanced Open Water certification
  • all dive fees
  • state park fees
  • tanks and weights
  • 2 nights at the Blue Grotto Dive resort in Williston Florida on double occupancy base

Total price is $339

For information on single occupancy, extra dives and other special requests, please email ben@athensscuba.com

Blue Grotto Dive Resort

3852 NE 172 Ct
Williston, Florida 32696 + Google Map
$339

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Open Water class October 2021

We all had a blast last weekend at Lake Jocassee! We wrapped up the summer lake season with a great PADI Open Water Diver class. The water was the warmest of the the whole season, under water visibility was great and we welcomed two BRAND NEW PADI OPEN WATER DIVERS. We had lots laughter and 4 fantastic check out dives.

As usual we spread the check out dives over two days. This time we decided to drive back an forth, as we had the Saturday morning and Sunday later morning dives. Lake Jocassee is only 1 hour and 40 minutes from Athens and the drive, once coming off I85, is scenic and enjoyable. We got very lucky with the weather all weekend and dive conditions were as good as you can imagine in a lake.

Thanks to the great organization by our friends from Scuba Shop Spartanburg, the boats were ready and well prepared for our trips. The dive sites are only 10 minutes from the dock and after finishing all our skills on each of the dives, we had plenty of time to explore the divers and interesting under water world of Lake Jocassee.

We are proud to have certified our partners from the Georgia Aquatic Center in Watkinsville and that they are so exited about scuba diving.

Both of our freshly certified PADI divers will join us on our trip to St. Croix in the end of this month.

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Group DIVE Trip to St Croix

Athens Scuba is excited to announce that we set up our first dive group trip. From November 28th to December 5th we are going to St Croix in the US Virgin Island. 

This will be a fun and relaxed getaway that is great for newly certified divers and experienced divers alike!

St Croix is an uncrowded and beautiful island, that offers great reef- and wall diving, from shore and from boat. It is US territory, so no passport is needed and travel restrictions for COVID are easier to manage than many foreign countries.

The trip includes accommodations at Holger Danske Hotel, diving and rental cars (cars will be provided on a shared basis with designated drivers).

The hotel is conveniently located for diving, dining and a great time while being on your dive trip. There is an on-property restaurant and lots of other options around. The hotel has different room options.

We included the standard room. You have the choice between the one (King or Queen), or two bed (double) setup.

We can also accommodate checkout dives, refresher courses, and some specialty courses on this trip, please inquire separately for any course options.

Everyone at Athens Scuba is very excited to go on our first dive trip with a group and we can’t wait to introduce you to the fantastic underwater world surrounding St Croix. 

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First PADI Open Water class

July 25th marked a big day for Athens Scuba. We finished our first PADI Open Water Diver class at Lake Jocassee. 

We had 4 wonderful students who joined us and put their trust in Athens Scuba to get PADI certified. 

Every student opted for our Classic (City) Package for this class, studied via PADI eLearning and completed their knowledge development before we started the weekend check-out dives at Lake Jocassee.

A week earlier, we met at the Georgia Aquatic Center for pool training and PADI skill development. On July 15th and 16th we completed all of PADI’s skill requirements and got everyone comfortable in the water.

We met again July 24th at the lake to do our Open Water Dives 1 and 2. After we finished, we headed back to the Dive Shop for debrief paperwork and a great night hanging out together.

All of our students and Ben, our Athens Scuba PADI instructor, stayed the night at the camp ground at the Lake Jocassee Dive Shop, operated by The Scuba Shop, Spartanburg, SC.

The next morning we were back on the boat, where we had our gear stored from the day before. All skills were finished early in the day and we had enough time to explore a few of the many sights that the Lake Jocassee Dive sites have to offer.

After the dives were finished and all PADI certification requirements were more than met, we went back to the Dive Shop, finished up all paperwork and headed back to Athens.

We all had a great weekend, laughed a lot, welcomed four BRAND NEW PADI OPEN WATER DIVERS to the diving community and had a fantastic time at the beautiful Lake Jocassee.