In 1958 Jim Copeland, at the age of 18, married his child bride Saundra age 14. The two of them took up a very new sport at the time - scuba diving.

In 1957 they stated a local dive club called the "Pescadores Dive Club" Texas only had two dive shops at the time, Village Sporting Goods in Houston and Dallas Mays Co. in Dallas. The only way to get a tank filled was to take it to a local construction company, Beck and sons and it took about two hours to get a scuba cylinder filled with a small compressor.

Jim set up training program for his friends to learn how to dive. At the time no certification agencies had been established so Jim sent a training outline to Los Angles County Park and Recreation to be approved. He then began issuing his own card "Coastal School of Scuba Diving" certification card. Saundra gave birth to their first born son later that year. In 1958 Jim and Saundra purchased an Ingersol-Rand #3321 bare compressor and built a trailer mounted scuba filling station, and began selling air and scuba equipment from their home. Jim still worked for the highway dept., which left Saundra behind to answer the door at all hours for divers wanting equipment while caring for the baby.

In 1959 baby no. 2 came along (that's me) and by 1960 Y.M.C.A. became the first organized certification scuba diving training, the very first certification course by the Y.M.C.A. was held in Chicago and the second in Dallas. Jim and one other diver were certified to teach instructors at that course. Then baby no. 3 came along and the dive shop moved from their home to a retail location at sic points. This was the same year N.A.S.D.S. certification was established, later to be merged with the certification agency S.S.I. While the dive shop relocated from home to a retail shopping center, Copeland nursery also had to relocate from home to the dive shop as well. The front counter had a very large deep drawer which when left open made a very comfortable crib. Saundra took care of 3 kids while Jim worked for the highway dept. and taught scuba lessons in the evenings and on weekends.

In 1963 baby no. 4 was born and soon after Jim quit the highway department. Copeland's moved from six points location to Padre Island Drive in 1970 weeks before hurricane Celia hit, completely flattening both businesses on each side of Copeland's but left us completely intact. I am sure there were many guardian angles working that day. One of the businesses that leveled was a plumbing company. The foundation was raised on one side to create a ski slope for training called Padre, later to be torn down in 1997. Another fatality of hurricane Celia surfboard plant which was completely leveled by the hurricane. The plant never rebuilt and Copeland boards no longer manufactured.

1970 was also the year snow skiing was introduced to Corpus Christi by Copeland's. In 1991 Jim purchased an 85' dive boat, The Adventurer. This was not Saundra's idea however and the boat sold in 2000 after an ad ran in the paper stating - "Boat for sale due illness…my wife is sick of it."

Today two of the four children are still working in the shop (myself and Debbie). Jim still dives and trains instructors. It's now 2008, Copeland's and the marriage of Jim and Saundra is still going strong.

Copeland's is celebrating 50 years in business and stands tobe "Texas' Oldest Dive Shop." Copeland's sincerely Thanks You for supporting us - Your local Dive & Ski Shop.

Written by Denise Copeland