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Editorial- Castle Rock Newspaper October 2004

At a recent convention of the SCUBA diving industry a speaker from Colorado was asked where most people in his state went to dive: his answer was “the airport”. It has always been an interesting fact that Colorado, a land-locked state has the 5th highest number of certified divers in America. I believe the reason for this is our population’s love of the outdoors, fun & exciting sports, our desire to travel and our fascination with the 3/5th of our planet that is under water.

Shelley Hyland and Rob Offenhartz have recently returned to Colorado after 10 years living in Austral-Asia (Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Australia) where they have been diving the reefs of South East Asia and Australia. Their goal to open a SCUBA/Snorkeling center has been realized with the recent grand opening of Planet Scuba. The retail center will focus on sharing their knowledge of the underwater environment by offering diver education, dive travel and gear for the water enthusiast. Rob, a PADI master instructor will be offering bi-weekly slide presentations and talks on the aquatic environment. Programs are offered to train new SCUBA divers as well as advanced training for certified divers. Special programs include training for families, youths and those with physical handicaps. Shelley is an internationally acclaimed under-water photographer who will be offering programs in photography along with classes in fish identification and the underwater environment. Rob stated, “Although many of us are aware of the environmental problems within the rain forests, not many of us know of the challenges facing the coral reefs”. Global warming, over-fishing and a growing world’s population threaten a fragile eco-system that could “disappear” within the foreseeable future. Planet Scuba’s mission statement includes a corporate goal to help protect the reef’s and underwater realm by introducing new enthusiasts to the underwater world, educating the dive community to the challenges the reefs are facing and leading groups to discover underwater destinations. A percentage of each dollar earned by the dive shop is donated to Project Aware-a non-profit international organization dedicated to protecting the marine environment.

SCUBA diving initial training will be offered in the warm waters of the Castle Rock Recreation Center pool with continued training at destinations including Mexico, Hawaii, the Caribbean and local options. Group trips have been scheduled to Papua New Guinea, Australia and Micronesia as well as Cozumel, Kona and the Cayman Islands.

Planet Scuba will be forming a Douglas County Dive Club and invites all those interested to stop by the shop (703 Wilcox Street) or e-mail us at planet.scuba@earthlink.net.

 

 

Business Section: Daily Star
November 5, 2004
By Kiki Nichols
Staff Writer

Diving into a new sport has never been easier, or more environmentally friendly with Castle Rock’s Planet Scuba.

Open since Sept. 1, Planet Scuba’s mission is to teach clients dive training and techniques as well as educate scuba enthusiasts about one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems: coral reefs.

“My goal is to educate people here about what is happening to coral reefs - they are disappearing at an alarming rate. I hope that by getting more people into the water they will get interested in what’s going on down there,” said Planet Scuba Proprietor Rob Offenhartz. Offenhartz and his partner, Shelley Hyland, are passionate about diving and coral reef preservation because of their extensive dive experiences around the globe.

“We just returned to the states in July after spending the past three years diving off of Western Australia,” said Offenhartz. Before that, the diving team spent time diving in other exotic locales like Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Micronesia.

After having a baby two years ago, Offenhartz and Hyland decided settling down in Colorado would provide proximity to family as well as a business opportunity.

“Colorado is the fifth highest state for diver certification per capita in the nation. We hope the shop will succeed here,” said Offenhartz.

Planet Scuba is a full service PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) diving center specializing in all levels of SCUBA instruction from new divers to instructors. Planet Scuba will also feature trips to the great reefs of Austral-Asia, offering both land-based and live-on-board adventures.

“We want to share the amazing diving spots that are out there,” Offenhartz said.

Planet Scuba even enables customers to start diving today with the PADI Open Water Diver Program, the most popular dive-training program in the world. In addition to in-water instruction and classroom sessions, Planet Scuba customers can help save the coral reefs every time they purchase products and gear in the shop.

“A percentage of each dollar earned by the shop is put into Project Aware for reef conservation,” Offenhartz said. Project Aware’s mission is to conserve underwater environments through education, advocacy and action.

Offenhartz is in the process of forming a Douglas County Dive Club, which he said he hopes will be a success with locals. The club will offer social events as well as group travel.

“Once a month we will feature a program called Reef Speak. We will show slides and get speakers to talk about ecology and biology on the reefs. Hopefully we will get more people involved in diving this way.”

Planet Scuba is in Castle Rock at 703 Wilcox St., Suite D. You can e-mail them at planet.scuba@earthlink.net or call them at 303-688-1551.