Ocean First Divers will be CLOSED on Saturday, July 4 and Sunday, July 5 for the 4th of July weekend.  We apologize for any inconvenience and will resume normal business hours on Monday, July 6.

We hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!

Please join us for a homegrown social event on June 18.  Graham & Amy will be showing their photos and video from OFD's recent dive adventure to Cocos & Malpelo Islands!  This was one of our most memorable trips, filled with incredible shark and dolphin action! Don't miss out on this fun evening!

Rules & ways to enter:

We look forward to seeing your amazing photos & video!

Ocean First Divers will be closed on Monday, May 25 in honor of Memorial Day.  Visit our booth at the Boulder Creek Festival from 11am-7pm.

Have a nice holiday!

Ocean First Divers is proud to present the brand new Ocean First Swim Academy.

We offer:
- A holistic approach to teaching swimming
- Student: Instructor ratio is a maximum of 4:1
- Proven lesson guides and clearly defined goals
- Indoor private 86 degree heated pool

Group lessons: Mondays and Wednesdays 9am-12pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays 3-6pm
Half hour lessons are $20 each.
Our group lessons are based on age and ability: Infant, Youth (ages 3-5), and Progressive (ages 6-14)

Private lessons are available for ALL AGES!  $60 per hour.

Click here for more information.

Call us today (303-444-7234) and get in the pool.

Who: Shawn Heinrichs, Founder and Executive Producer of Blue Sphere Media
What: FREE social night presentation
Where: Ocean First Divers 3015 Bluff St, Boulder, CO 80301
When: Thursday, May 21 at 6:30pm

Conserving Through Ecotourism in Indonesia

Conservation in one of the poorest places on earth requires creativity, commitment and community engagement. In this presentation we explore the strategy and practicalities of establishing a marine protected area in Raja Ampat, located in the heart of the Coral Triangle. Through HD video segments we will explore vibrant reefs teaming with incredible schools of fish and highly unusual marine life. We will also look at the threats facing these reefs and discuss the strategies employed to address them. You will leave having glimpsed into one of the most pristine and diverse marine ecosystems on earth and gained insights on the opportunities and challenges to protecting it.

Don't miss this amazing presentation. This event is FREE. Light appetizers and drinks will be provided.
Prizes will be raffled off as well. Please call 303-444-7234 or email us to RSVP.

Can't wait to see you there!

Ocean First Divers is proud to host John Weller for our FREE social Thursday, April 23 at 6:30pm at Ocean First Divers.  John has spent the past several months diving in Antarctica and taking stunning underwater and topside images.  He has been working to establish a marine preserve in the Ross Sea, one of the last untouched places on earth.  Please join us for this amazing presentation.

Light appetizers and refreshments will be served and prizes raffled off!

RSVP to 303-444-7234 or email us.

Ocean First Divers is having our free monthly social on Wednesday, March 11 at 6:30 pm. This month we are proud to host Dr. Mel Cundiff from the University of Colorado. Dr. Cundiff is an expert on marine ecology. He will be doing a presentation on the mollusk (i.e. octopus, snails, squid, etc). Don't miss this entertaining and educational topic! Refreshments will be served and prizes raffled off.

For one dexterous octopus, an attempt at a great escape turned into a great flood Thursday at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California.

The female California two-spotted octopus swam to the top of her tank, disassembled a valve with her powerful arm, and released at least 200 gallons (757 liters) of seawater into nearby exhibits and offices.

The foot-long (0.3-meter) creature remained in her tank and survived her ordeal. But the aquarium's brand-new floors weren't so lucky.

Such high jinks are typical of the invertebrates' still unexplained smarts, experts say.

"Octopuses have a wonderful combination of intelligence, tremendous manipulative ability, curiosity, and strength," said Jennifer Mather, a psychology professor at Canada's University of Lethbridge who has studied cognition in octopuses.

"So the result is that everybody who has ever kept octopuses has a string of stories about how octopuses can go where they want in aquariums."

Unbelievably Brainy?

Many octopuses show behavior that suggests curiosity, consciousness, and even a sense of humor, said Eugene Linden, author of the 2002 book The Octopus and the Orangutan: More True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity.

In one instance, an octopus given a slightly spoiled shrimp stuffed it down the drain while maintaining eye contact with its keeper, Linden said.

Wild octopuses have also been found to maintain "homes" and can remember where they've been in their neighborhood, pointing to a sort of self-awareness, Lethbridge's Mather said.

But it's hard to directly prove that octopuses are intelligent.

A smart animal that has the lowly clam for a cousin already "flies in the face of conventional wisdom of where you look for intelligence," Linden said.

Also, many scientists believe that intelligent beings are social, learn from others, and need a long lifespan to accrue brainpower. Octopuses live only about a year and are solitary animals.

"It's enjoyable to think that nature doesn't always follow our rules [when] it decides to create an intelligent being," Linden said.

Fast Decisions

The University of Lethbridge's Mather suggests octopuses may have evolved braininess to cope with a highly complex environment—usually coral reefs—where they must make lightning-fast, life-or-death decisions.

For example, the animals are extremely flexible, able to fit their boneless bodies through tiny cracks. Some species can change color in a thirtieth of a second.

(Watch a video of an octopus squeezing through a one-inch hole.)

As for the crafty cephalopod in Santa Monica, aquarium staffers have rigged her tank with clamps and tape to thwart future getaways, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But, as Mather pointed out, there "isn't an awful lot [that will] stop them."

If you enjoyed this article, then come join us for our free monthly social on Wednesday, March 11 at 6:30pm at Ocean First Divers.  Dr. Mel Cundiff from the University of Colorado will be giving a presentation on the mollusk (i.e. octopus, squid, snails, etc.).  Refreshments will be served and prizes given away.

Package includes:

ScubaPro MK25 1st stage and S555 2nd stage regulators

ScubaPro R390 octopus

Uwatec SmartCom dive computer with compass and quick disconnect

ScubaPro Glide Plus BCD

Package price:  $1,828   (Regularily $2,376)

But hurry, we can only offer this special price on our in-stock items.

Scubapro package flyer.pdf

Aqualung Budget Deal:

Passport BCD, ABS octo, Suunto 2 gauge console, Titan regulator: $816.75 (regular price: $1,089)

Aqualung Supreme Deal:

Passport BCD, Air Source 3, Suunto Gekko computer, Titan regulator: $996 (regular price: $1,132)

Aqualung Deluxe Deal:

Pro QD BCD, Air Source 3 OR Legend Octopus, Suunto Vyper 2 gauge computer, Legend regulator:

$1,791 (regular price: $1,990)  ** Pearl Ladies BCD is also available.

There are also a few of the Vytec & D4 Holiday special packages still available:

Vytec w/ transmitter, zippered logbook & download software: $999

D4 w/ zippered logbook & download software: $650

Purchase any AquaLung regulator from us at Ocean First Divers and instantly receive up to $100 OFF!

All regulators with a retail price of $500 or more receive $100 off, and all regulators with a retail price of less than $500 receive $50 off.

Now is a great time to purchase or upgrade your own gear.  Stop by to check out the top of the line Legend ACD or the newly redesigned Titan LX.  But hurry, this offer expires on August 31,2009.

On Tuesday, January 27th at 6:30pm we will be hosing our monthly social here at our store.  This month, we will be showing beautiful images from the Maldives taken by divemaster and professional photographer Moosa Hassan.  Mantas, whale sharks, and stunning reef vistas best describe the incredible diving in the Maldives.

Refreshments will be served and prizes given away!

Join Ocean First on Sunday, January 25 for fun in the pool with drysuits!  Justin Balaski from Whites Drysuits will be our guest for an afternoon testing out the latest in drysuit technology.  This is NOT a certification course but will give you an opportunity to see how buoyancy and diving techniques change in a drysuit.

When: January 25 from 11am - 1pm

Where: Ocean First Diver's pool

Please bring your certification card, mask, fins, and snorkel, and any SCUBA gear you own.

NO CHARGE.  CERTIFIED divers only.

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Global Dive Operators Receive Environmental Honors

Project AWARE Foundation honors dive operators around the world who display commitment and excellence in their efforts to protect underwater environments within business operations and their community.

Project AWARE Foundation Chairman, Dr. Drew Richardson recognizes the importance of the scuba diving community taking its part on protection of global ecosystems. “The Environment Achievement Award is about rewarding vision, excellence and pursuit of conservation. More importantly, this award ensures the enjoyment of underwater environments for future generations," states Richardson.

Ocean First Divers is the ONLY only dive shop in the world to have earned this award every year running.  We operate in an environmentally responsible manner and demonstrates an outstanding commitment to conserving underwater environments through education, advocacy and action.

ECO Operators and Official Partners are committed to sustainable business practices and pledge to follow the ECO Operator guidelines.

Special holiday hours at Ocean First Divers:

December 24: 10am - 5pm

December 25: Closed

December 31: 10am - 5pm

January 1: Closed

Happy Holidays!

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/12/10/the-world-needed-to-see-what-i-was-witnessing/

I broke the surface having just completed the last day of diving on some of the most incredible reefs I had ever seen. Floating in the deep blue waters, I looked around and surveyed the dozens of forest covered limestone islands that surrounded me.

This was truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. I was filming the reefs in Raja Ampat off the western tip of Papua in Indonesia, one of the most remote and biologically diverse marine ecosystems on the planet.

Cruising back to our camp, we noticed a small fishing boat anchored in a shallow lagoon within the protected area. Curious, we decided to investigate. As we drew near, we made a grizzly discovery. On the blood soaked deck, covered with buzzing flies, were dozens and dozens of shark fins that had recently been sliced off of small reef sharks.

Looking into the water, an odd shape at the bottom caught our attention. Immediately we identified it as the body of a shark. It took all my willpower to control my feelings of anger and frustration. And then I recalled, where sharks should have been abundant on every protected reef, we had not seen sharks the entire week. Now it was clear why. It was also immediately clear what I had to do.

The world needed to see what I was witnessing.

Flipping my video camera on, I documented the gruesome reality of what lay strewn before me: the fins, the blood, the flies, grisly contradictions to these magnificent surroundings.

Loading my camera into my underwater housing, I threw on my snorkel gear and slipped into the water. Below me strewn across coral reef were a dozen, dead juvenile reef sharks rolling gently with the current. Descending down, my stomach turned as I saw the blood seeping from wounds where their fins had been. These beautiful sharks had been ruthlessly sliced and thrown overboard to drown, killed just for their fins.

After filming all I could stomach, I returned to the boat. Enraged, I wanted to do something. Certainly this reckless harvesting must be illegal. Our guide Andy then informed me that the fisherman had presented a legal shark fishing permit which for $30 granted him the right to fin sharks for 30 days. Quick math revealed 10 sharks per day times 30 days, or 300 sharks for $30.

Ten cents a shark!

This was the price for the life of each of the juvenile reef sharks below me on the reef. But what was the cost on the marine ecosystem and the local community that depended on it?

Something changed in me that day, something that would grow inside and drive me to dedicate my life to ending the short-sighted destruction of marine environments and first and foremost, by halting the shark fin trade.

So much of what I have learned about the oceans, I have learned while diving and filming. Much of what we watch, read and hear about marine life is only a shadow of the reality. For many people, the closest they come to this world is a seafood restaurant or sushi bar.
Take sharks for instance, one of my favorite subjects. We are taught to believe sharks are mindless killers, that even a drop of blood will send them into a feeding frenzy and that most species of sharks are “man-eaters”.

These myths couldn’t be farther from the truth. I have drifted with schools of over 500 hammerhead sharks and watched as 100 reef sharks formed hunting packs at night. I have knelt within touching distance while a dozen bull sharks, some more than 1000 pounds and 11-feet long, fed on fish. In all my dives with sharks, I never witnessed a deliberate attempt by a shark to injure or kill.

Sadly, however, I have also watched sharks disappear from the oceans. Sharks were once plentiful, but they have effectively vanished from all but a few remaining sanctuaries. And even within these “sanctuaries” they are being systematically targeted and killed for their fins. Fins!
Fins make up less than 3-5 percent of a sharks’ total mass, the other 95 percent is either thrown back in the ocean or used as a cheap by-product. Only small strands of cartilage from the fin are used, the rest discarded as trash. These cartilage strands are boiled and used as a flavorless thickener, like thin noodles, in a watery soup flavored by chicken stock. Shark Fin Soup.

Once popular on special occasions among the ultra-elite in Asia, the recent economic boom in China coupled with intense marketing by the shark fin trade, has fueled an explosion in demand for the soup.

More than 100 million sharks are killed every year primarily for their fins. In the past 20 years, many of the great shark species populations have been reduced by more than 90 percent. If nothing changes, sharks are hea
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Click here to retrieve the November 2008 Newsletter

The latest video creation from Bob Ross will be our feature presentation this evening. Ocean First Divers traveled to the remote destination of Komodo National Park in Indonesia, September 2007 and enjoyed some incredible diving. The biodiversity in the Komodo region of Indonesia is simply unreal. Please join us for a fantastic night of virtual diving!

As always, refreshments will be served and prizes given away!

Save big on Suunto's Vytec hoseless computer and the D4 wrist computer this holiday season. Both computers are being offered at unbelievable prices. The Vytec with transmitter, zippered logbook, and software package only $999! The D4 with zippered logbook and software package only $695!

These deals are only offered through the end of the holiday season so don't wait! Inventory is limited.

 Click here to open your September Newsletter.

Always wanted to dive in the kelp beds with sea lions in chilly California waters? Become a drysuit diver and enjoy comfortable, easy diving in cooler temperatures! This specialty course can be completed in 2 days: one night of classroom & pool and 2 open water dives. Ocean First Divers has brand new drysuits from Whites, ready for you to check out! Call us today for more information.

Ocean First Divers has some great summer specials on regulators and BCDs! Check out these deals:

Package Deal #1:

Buy any 1st stage, 2nd stage, and gauges and get $100 off Aqualung's Legend Octopus! (while supplies last!)

Package Deal #2:

Buy any Seaquest BCD and get an AirSource for FREE! (while supplies last!)

Click here to read your Newsletter

Ocean First Divers partnered with Ecologic Designs to provide reclaimed wetsuits for the manufacturing of Eco-conscious products. Ecologic Designs uses the neoprene for their line of bags and soft goods. OFD initiated the partnership by creating a wetsuit trade-in program whereby customers could bring in old wetsuits and get a credit towards the purchase of a new suit. Ecologic Designs added their own incentive and is offering 15% off their product line for anyone participating in the trade-in program. Old suits are then collected and donated to Ecologic Designs for the manufacturing of Eco-conscious products. OFD recently expanded the program to include the other local dive shops, helping to ensure that almost all old neoprene in the Boulder diving market is reused. Have an old, worn out wetsuit? Thinking of upgrading to Thermaprene? Do your part and drop off your old suit at your local dive shop and keep neoprene out of landfills. For more information on Ecologic Designs and their Eco-conscious product line, visit http://www.ecologicdesigns.com.

Click here to open your February Newsletter

Global Dive Operators Receive Environmental Honors

Project AWARE Foundation announces Environmental Achievement Award Recipients.

Project AWARE Foundation honors dive operators around the world who display commitment and excellence in their efforts to protect underwater environments within business operations and their community.

Project AWARE Foundation Chairman, Dr. Drew Richardson recognizes the importance of the scuba diving community taking its part on protection of global ecosystems. “The Environment Achievement Award is about rewarding vision, excellence and pursuit of conservation. More importantly, this award ensures the enjoyment of underwater environments for future generations," states Richardson.

Ocean First Divers, the only Colorado Dive shop in 2007, and the ONLY only dive shop in the world to have earned this award every year running.  Ocean Fist Divers operates in an environmentally responsible manner and demonstrates an outstanding commitment to conserving underwater environments through education, advocacy and action.

https://www.projectaware.org/shares/EcoOperators/

The Boulder Green Building Guild is an association of building professionals dedicated to promoting healthier, resource-efficient homes and work places. They strive to advance the craft of green building, supporting environmentally-responsible endeavors, providing effective volunteer opportunities and being a focal point for communication on green building. On November 17th, Ocean First Divers joined the BGBG with the unified vision of empowering people to build healthy, resource-efficient communities. Most people spend over 90% of their time indoors and oftentimes these environments can be more polluting than the outdoors because of building materials and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals used in product manufacturing. Buildings that follow the green building guidelines use healthier paints and building materials and adhere to stricter gas emissions and ventilation requirements to help improve indoor air quality. Additionally, green building uses far less resources. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Center for Sustainable Development, buildings consume 40% of the world’s total energy, 25% of its wood harvest and 16% of its water. By following certain sustainable development guidelines, Ocean First Divers looks to improve the indoor quality at our facility while reducing our carbon footprint.

Ocean First Divers kicked off the new era in style with the largest single event ever held in the shop’s 23-year history. On owner Graham Casden’s 30th birthday, The Dive Shop had an open pool with the latest gear from Atomic, Aqualung and Mares, the Boulder Fire Rescue held a demonstration on their dry suits and local diving equipment, representatives from Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth” came to give presentations on the environment, the Latin band Onda played three sets in the parking lot, volleyball reined outside and we had a storewide sale to help introduce our Canvas Bag and Carbon Offset Programs. The day was a tremendous success as the Boulder community experienced the first glimpses of what Ocean First Divers will become.

Three days before Ocean First Divers’ Grand Opening, the company adopted a Canvas Bag Program to promote the use of cloth bags and reward our customers for using an environmentally friendly alternative to paper and plastic. When a customer spends $100 or more at OFD, they receive an EcoSpun cloth bag that they can use at any retail outlet or grocery, as well as 2% off any additional purchases at OFD when they bring the bag back into the store.

The Cloth Bag Company’s EcoSpun canvas bags are made from post-consumer, recycled soda bottles made into fiber developed by Wellman, Inc. and each comes tagged with the certification of Scientific Certification Systems as the standard by which all other recycled fibers will be judged. Wellman collects used plastic soba bottles, shreds them, melts the chips and spins the result into a fiber that is woven into cloth. The Cloth Bag Co. takes this material, which is five times as expensive as cotton, and sews it into bags, creating the opportunity to reduce overflowing landfills by making the ecologically correct choice.

Each EcoSpun bag keeps five 2-liter plastic bottles from ending up in a landfill. Over the last two years, 8 BILLION bottles were kept out of landfills from recycling by Wellman, saving 1.3 million barrels of oil and eliminating 749,000 tons of harmful emissions. A single year of these recycled bottles is enough energy to power a city the size of Pasadena, CA for an entire year! Do your part and carry bags made from trashed soda bottles that would otherwise end up in landfills.  For more information on EcoSpun bags, visit http://www.clothbag.com/Bags/bags.html

“The new owner of a Boulder scuba-diving shop aims to reduce the environmental impact of the excursions it organizes to take divers beneath the seas.

Graham Casden, who recently bought Boulder's venerable Scuba Joe dive shop and tour operator, plans to add solar panels to the shop, remodel the facility with recycled materials and buy enough carbon credits to offset the emissions of all the planes, boats and automobiles used in the scuba trips it organizes.

The environmental consciousness is a way to tap the loyalty of area divers concerned about the deteriorating state of the seas. It's also being done out of a sense of responsibility to the planet and the hope that the scuba industry will follow its lead, Casden said.

"We want to make companies that aren't doing this stuff an anomaly," said Casden, a Boulder resident.
On June 2, Casden's 30th birthday, the shop officially will change its name to Ocean First Divers and throw a grand opening party.

Casden arranged to buy the dive shop at 3015 Bluff St. months ago. Since then, he negotiated the purchase of the 7,500-square-foot building for $950,000.

The sale of the Scuba Joe store comes four years after its founder, David Cain, died on a dive trip to an island off the coast of Colombia. His son Michael Cain and widow, Linda Cain, owner of the Cain Travel company, took over.

Casden, a California native who became immersed in diving over the past decade and was a Scuba Joe regular, one day asked store manager Amy Christopher and educational director Bob Ross whether the shop's owners would sell.

Talks developed, and the transformation of Scuba Joe — with Christopher, Ross and the rest of the six-person staff staying on — will be complete with its "re-launch" next month.

Casden's purchase comes at an interesting time for the industry.

Scuba diving has struggled to regain its strength following the national decline in travel after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The number of new divers picking up the sport nationally has shrunk, according to the Boulder-based Leisure Trends recreation and sports market research firm.

The lean times sparked consolidation in the $726-million-a-year industry, said Jason Gee, director of retail sales tracking for Leisure Trends.

Shops in Colorado have largely avoided the industry troubles, he said.

Gee suspects it's because shops in land-locked Colorado have always had to work harder to hold divers' interest, and that makes them better at it, he said.

The shop's impact could be widespread, he said.

Ocean First Divers, like Scuba Joe, is one of the few dive shops that trains other scuba instructors. Ross said the store plans to ingrain the importance of an environmental consciousness in its curriculum for diving teachers, who then hopefully will pass it on and help keep the undersea world healthy for future divers.

"We want to do this for a long time, not just a weekend and then it's gone because we spoiled it," Ross said.”

For the complete Daily Camera article, click on the link below.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/22/with-an-eye-to-the-environment-scuba-shop-going/

After deliberating for weeks on a number of different Xeriscaping ideas for the dirt lot in front of the building, management decided to go with the only real option for The Dive Shop…a beach volleyball court. Requiring no water or maintenance and providing endless hours of entertainment, the court seemed like a natural addition to our island vibes. We’re also in the process of putting together a friendly tournament for our customers and local businesses. So if you’re in the area, stop on by and check out all the bump set spike action.