Aquasea Underwater Products is also known as Aqua sea and Aqua Sea Products, having started in 1969 by John and Lyn McConnell making underwater housings for cameras and also strobe units for cameras be they in a housing or for waterproof cameras such as the nikonos range of cameras.
Aquasea has since 1969 been making underwater video lights, HID, underwater lights, diving equipment, dive lights, dive torch, underwater video, underwater lights, underwater lighting, underwater video lighting, dive torch, dive torches, dive light and dive lights for well over 30 years.
Aquasea has diversified into the following areas:
Wetsuit repairs modifications, for surfing scuba triathalon canoeing sailing and a variety of other sports. We also make custom ’cover’ etc for such items as Laptop computers, camera lens, cameras, horses feet (yes) that’s a funny one we thought too. We fix broken zippers, common amongst surfers who run down the beach using the zipper pull tab to help get their suit on in a hurry. We also do a daily surf report for realsurf reporting on the conditions at Cronulla north Cronulla the wall elouera wanda greenhills voodoo boat harbour bate bay. As a result of this activity we have been asked to stock the triplex and xcel brand of wetsuits which we are starting to. Myself, I use a triplex 2mm steamer with titanium lining during summer and when I go overseas. I am currently using a triplex 5mm steamer, glued and double blind stitched for winter. I am impressed with the warmth of the suit, Lesley has put a ‘fly’ in for me, and by comparison to my buddy divers using their drysuits—I’m not cold but their not happy chappies, ha ha for me.
Hookahs, for years now we have sold and serviced the 12 Volt hookah systems known as Powerdive. They are made in Australia. Aquasea carries the full range of models on display at our Taren Point premises. Have a look in our website and view all the models.
Underwater lights and underwater torches, we make high powered lights for the scuba diving and photography consumer. We also repair a variety of lights from other companies. These include alpha ocean graphics treble subtronic subatec dive rite oms halcyon ikelite underwater kinetics nite rider, you name it we fix it. We make up battery packs to suit anyones lights and even power tools etc laptops cordless phones and even old printers, turn around time is normally 1-2 weeks. We make bubble arms so that our customers can mount lights on a baseplate to photograph objects with their underwater lights. These can be single underwater lights or even double underwater lights. Customers with older style video battery packs for their underwater lights can get their batteries replaced (even improved) so that their investment in their current technology is not lost.
Scuba diving, although we don’t teach basic scuba anymore we do refer the open water inquiries to Shiprock Dive Ph: 0400-DIVERS.
We sell the Power Dive 12 Volt diving system, that allows people to breathe underwater without the need for scuba tanks. The reasons for people using these units varies from just snorkelers (having fun) to boaties and yachties wanting to clean their hulls on a regular basis without scuba or have the equipment ready should the need arise ‘out to sea’ where they might need to get under the boat to say untangle rope on a propeller etc to free the boat from an obstruction.
We have a small dive club known as Club Narcosis. Which is for our friends being mature divers who love diving wrecks etc etc. However for all the other divers around there are already any number of dive clubs in the shire that cater for divers who want to dive in groups ’large or small’ (Shiprock Dive, St George Scuba Club at Sydney Airport, and Port Hacking Divers at Miranda RSL), there are regular dives on Saturday Sunday and mid week as well, no one goes without a buddy. We don’t hold people’s hands, we refer them to qualified divers and groups so that they can get out there and ’dive’, isn’t that how you get to be a better diver—by diving?
We travel to Australian dive locations as well as overseas. In the last 2 years alone we have gone to Vanuatu Solomon Islands Borneo Malayasia Guam Truk Palua. Here in Australia we have gone to the Solitary Islands including Pimpernell Rock, Cairns Townsville Coffs harbour South West Rocks Terrigal Forster Shellharbour Nowra Jervis Bay Montague Island Bega.
We have several groups of divers who like ’twisted metal’ and ’rust buckets’, these include the President Coolidge, Yongala, Truk lagoon, Caterthun, Kelloe, Woniora, Tuggerah, Undola, Bega, William S Dawes. So you can see we can’t hold peoples hands.
We dive ourselves and work Mon-Sat so we dive every Saturday and Sunday and during the week when we can, if you see me diving sometimes I can be carrying up to 6 dive lights for testing.
If people need to rent gear on a Saturday, they can return it on Monday, we won’t be here at the shop Sunday except to refill our tanks. We don’t charge for the Sunday.
You won’t find only one brand of gear in our shop. We are not a ’concept’ store, we don’t force you to buy one brand, never have, never will.
We sell most brands: MARES SCUBAPRO DIVE RITE CRESSI SEATEC UWATEC SUUNTO etc etc. When you come into our shop, we ask YOU questions about your diving intentions, we don’t want you coming back saying it doesn’t fit etc etc etc. We want to know what type of diving you have done and where you are going with it, what you like and don’t like about diving-your gear etc.
Our prices are not expensive, shop around, we provide honest advice on the gear we sell, because we use it ourselves we know what we like and don’t like. We repair all brands of gear so we get to see what works and what doesn’t, if you want to see what brands we wear, just ask us, and why we chose the various brands. EG I have 2 computers, not the same brand, 1 on my wrist and 1 in my console (different horses for different courses).
Our customers live mainly in the Sutherland Shire, Cronulla Caringbah Miranda Kirrawee Taren Point Sutherland Como Jannali Bonnet Bay Illawong Sylvania Wanda Elouera Oak Park Woollooware Gymea Yowie Bay Engadine Heathcote Waterfall Rockdale Sans Souci Ramsgate Brighton Kogarah Carlton Oatley Port Hacking Bundeena Georges River. From all over the place.
We sell cameras and housings, mainly Sony and Olympus, digital cameras and digital video as well. We set them up for photography to suit the customer. Underwater housings we either use the Sony or Olympus housings, but if its video we would recommend the Ikelite range as they are the best value housings on the market and rated to over 60metres plus you can see inside them at any time.
There are various charter boats in Sydney, however we do use SEATAMER down at Dolans Bay wharf (Wally’s wharf) at the end of Port Hacking Road (South), go to www.seatamerdive.com and login and book your self on a dive, its that easy. This is Sydney’s most comfortable and friendly charter boat, with an experienced captain and decky, a great dive and food aplenty afterwards (thats unusual!). The captains’ a qualified diver of many years, he doesn’t have to pull up and ask the divers already in the water ‘if this is the dive site’.
Well that’s my 5 minutes of fame, I’ve dived well over a thousand dives since 1982. I’ve had one or two awkward moments, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Even my 2 kids are both qualified divers. I dive with a small select group of divers that I have known for many years—we take the ‘mickey’ out of each other at every opportunity - keeps you sane. If I don’t dive with my dive buddy Robyn Gray then I dive alone. We are essentially ‘reefies’ who also dive ‘wrecks’, not the other way around. I like to look at the flora underneath as well as merge with the fish life. Personallly I like to dive anywhere from 5metres to 70metres, so long as its diveable and safe to do so. BTW try reading ‘THE LAST DIVE’ it may save your life one day.
I could tell you about the day we saw 3 sunfish, but that would be going on and on and on … Leo Hillyer.
