NEPTUNE DIVE AND SKI
Your full service scuba dive and snow ski center in Augusta, Georgia
Serving the Central Savannah River Area since 1960, Neptune Dive and Ski is your premier, full service, sporting goods center specializing in SCUBA, snow ski, and swim. We are conveniently located off Washington Road next to Lake Olmstead.
Neptune features complete lines of quality SCUBA diving equipment and snow ski apparel, accessories, and service, and our exciting selection of specialty swim and cruise wear and accessories. We also have a full line of snowboarding clothing and hardware. We have an air and NITROX fill station for SCUBA tanks. WE SELL FUN - for the whole family! And remember, we service everything that we sell (and most of what you got anywhere else!).
At our indoor pool facility, we offer Red Cross certified swim lessons for children and adults, and comprehensive recreational dive instruction. Our professional SCUBA instructors are certified through the SSI - Scuba Schools International dive agency and provide entry level through advanced recreational SCUBA training. Referrals from other agencies and college credits are also available.
Stop by the shop and meet our knowledgable staff, as well as fellow divers and skiers. We'll give you a tour of the facility, answer your questions, introduce you to new friends, and show you the level of customer service that makes Neptune your go-to place for scuba and ski!
Dive Travel: West Palm Beach and International
For 2024, Neptune will take divers to West Palm Beach for the Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day weekends. The 2024 schedule is here. Remember, these popular trips fill up fast.
Our international trips to Roatán have been so successful that by popular demand we went back AGAIN in June 2024. Then, there was ALSO an amazing trip to Cozumel in July. These trips sold out quickly.
Neptune offers scuba training, travel, and equipment - plus much, much more. For the Ultimate Dive Experience, visit the shop and come join the fun!
Dive Travel: Mini-trips in 2024-2025
Neptune is justifiably famous for doing things large, like taking 95 people to Roatan, or reserving an entire resort in Cayman Brac for 2 consecutive weeks in 2018, or taking more than 100 people to Cozumel in 2019. The always-popular West Palm Beach trips take a couple of dozen divers to sunny south Florida several times a year.
Neptune can also advise you on setting up smaller-scale mini-trips, including specialty trips.
We're gauging customer interest in the following potential trips - stop by and let us know your interests, and we can put a mini-trip together for you and your friends:
- Ginnie Springs
- Kraken Springs (Dive Georgia) (a quarry north of Atlanta)
- Lake Jocassee (South Carolina)
- Lake Keowee, The Hot Hole (South Carolina)
- Fantasy Lake Scuba Park (North Carolina)
- Blue Water Park (Alabama)
- Pensacola - The Oriskany, the world’s largest artificial reef, and other wrecks (AOW, nitrox divers only, minimum 4 divers)
- Pompano Beach - Shipwreck Park (RSB-1, Lady Luck, Okinawa; others)
- Key Largo - The Spiegel Grove and other wrecks (AOW, nitrox divers only, minimum 4 divers)
- Charleston - the Cooper River (AOW; blackwater fossil diving in strong current)
- Riviera Beach - Blackwater night dive in total darkness! (Experienced divers with great buoyancy skills)
SSI Open Water Diver Training at Neptune
For scuba, Neptune has regularly scheduled SSI Open Water Diver (OWD) classes, and private training for those whose lives don't fit into a regular schedule. The open water training dives for the winter and early spring classes take place at Ginnie Springs. Once the lake and river are warm enough, the open water training (checkout) dives are there. Check with the shop for details.
| Monday-Thursday PM (6pm) OWD Class | New class starting soon! |
| Saturday AM (8:30am) OWD Class | New class starting soon! |
Open Water training dives (checkout) for the early 2024 classes were at Ginnie Springs, Florida. Now that it's warmer, the sites for training dives are Clark's Hill Lake and the Savannah River.
Join Us for Open Water Checkout Dives
Certified divers are welcome to come along. Checkout dives are usually at Clark's Hill Lake on a Saturday, and at the Savannah River on Sunday AM - or at Ginnie Springs, depending on dive conditions. Check with the shop for location and dates.
Try Scuba
If you're not sure whether scuba diving is for you, SSI offers Try Scuba, a short pool session that allows you to experience what scuba training is like. By registering at the SSI website, you can also get a free preview of the online academic teaching program.
Neptune Offers Online Dive Training
SSI offers many courses that can be completed online, without pool sessions or checkout dives.
Online training is done via the DiveSSI app, or at the DiveSSI.com website.
SSI's Blue Oceans program is free.
SSI and Neptune offer several classes that have no pool sessions, and no open water checkout dives. There is a registration fee, and each has a final exam. These include:
- Science of Diving
- Marine Ecology
- Fish Identification
- Coral Identification
- Shark Ecology
- Sea Turtle Ecology
- Manta and Ray Ecology
- Marine Mammal Ecology
- Marine Invertebrate Ecology
See below for more about many of these courses.
SSI Diver Continuing Education at Neptune
Are you a certified diver looking for continuing education? Are you ready to earn the Advanced Open Water and Master Diver recognitions? Neptune offers a wide range of SSI continuing education classes regularly and on demand. These include Nitrox, Boat Diving, Deep Diving, Navigation, Night and Limited Visibility Diving, Diver Stress and Rescue, React Right, and other specialty courses.
Some of these, like Science of Diving and the full range of the SSI Marine Biology courses, including Blue Oceans Supporter, Marine Ecology, Shark Ecology, Manta Ray Ecology, Sea Turtle Ecology, Fish Identification, Coral Identification, Manta and Ray Ecology, Marine Mammal Ecology, and Marine Invertebrate Ecology are ideal for wintertime study - they're online courses with no pool sessions or open water dives required. Neptune also offers refreshers for folks who want to review and polish their basic dive skills. For more information, see here and drop by the shop for a tour and details of the many available training and continuing education opportunities.
Check with Neptune about 2024 dates for:
- Nitrox
- Navigation
- React Right (2-3 nights of class and skill training)
- Diver Stress and Rescue (Precounsel briefing/checklist at Neptune before first class; 3 class/pool sessions, 2 day OW checkout)
When there is interest, there will be Nitrox, Navigation, React Right, and Diver Stress and Rescue classes. The open water training dives for Navigation and Diver Stress and Rescue are held at the East Dam dive site at Clark's Hill Lake. Familiarity with this site is an absolute must, so get out there and go diving!
Trey showing the class how to gear up.
First time on SCUBA in Neptune's pool!
Take the SSI Master Diver Challenge in 2024
Is 2024 the year for you to earn the Black Belt of Diving? This is SSI's coveted Master Diver rating, the highest rating there is for a recreational diver. Getting your SSI Master Diver card shows that you have the knowledge, skills, and experience to set a positive example for other divers. To reach this pinnacle of achievement, you have to have at least 50 logged dives, have completed 4 specialty courses, and in addition completed the Diver Stress and Rescue course. All SSI Master Divers certified between 1 January and 31 December 2024 will be entered into an SSI drawing for an Aggressor trip for 2 to the Turks and Caicos!
The SSI Blog
To keep up with what's going on in the world (literally) of Scuba Schools International (SSI), visit the SSI Blog.
In memoriam - Nick Young
With broken hearts and profound sadness we share the passing of our beloved Nick Young on June 27, 2024. There aren’t enough words to convey the magnitude of Nick’s presence in the scuba diving and snow ski community and the void he leaves. Always available with advice, wonderful stories and the truth you needed to hear, Nick was a friend and dive buddy to all. We welcome your fond memories to be shared with friends and family.
A PIECE OF CAKE
Jean Posey, a long-time friend of Neptune Dive and Ski, provides cookies for our dive trips. She has her own amazing bakery, "A Piece of Cake," located on Washington Road in Ashley Square, across from the old Monterray's. Call 706 922-2000, or stop by! (Jean does awesome wedding cakes!)
They that go down to the sea in ships,
that do work in the great waters;
these have seen the works of the LORD,
and His wonders in the deep. (Psalm 107:23-24)