About
the owners
Founders
and designers of the Athens Scuba Park are
Calvin Wilcher, Shannon Wilcher, and their
son Alex.
The Park was dreamed up because of the love
for scuba diving and not having a clear,
close place to dive, so they built one.
Calvin, The President of Athens Scuba Park,
Inc. holds a Master Instructor Rating, with
a background in heavy equipment and sales.
Shannon, The Vice President, holds a Master
scuba diver trainer instructor rating, with
a background in communications.
They strive to give all scuba divers,
snorklers, and guests the clearest, safest
place to to practice their skills and
promote diver education.
They also provide the other training
agencies, ie: scuba shops, and individual
private instructors a place to train their
students.
Their GOAL:: IS CLEAR WATER, CLEAN
CAMPGROUNDS, WARM SHOWERS, CLEAN RESTROOMS,
AND FRIENDLY SERVICE.
Dive In
With a location convenient to Dallas/Fort
Worth, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, the
park has gained popularity with divers for
its excellent water clarity. The underlying
clay, which had been mined for bricks, has a
low pH level that keeps algae from growing,
and the spring-fed waters boast an average
visibility of 35 feet that can peak at 70
feet.
Along the shore, 9 entry-exit docks launch
divers toward 33 attractions that run the
quarry-kitsch gamut from the first Greyhound
bus that country singer Ray Price toured in,
to the Take Two, a triple-deck houseboat
once used as a party barge by Clint
Eastwood's film crew of The Dirty Dozen.
Airplanes, motorcycles, boats and VWs round
out the menu of playful quarry attractions,
offering divers hours of enjoyment and
underwater photographers a wide variety of
unusual backdrops. Trains that occasionally
rumble down the nearby railroad tracks send
eerie sounds and vibrations reverberating
through the lake, adding an air of
otherworldliness for divers, especially at
night.
The lake varies in depth from 24 to 35 feet
and the park facilities, are designed for
maximum safety and enjoyment for
divers. There are no boats, jet skis,
fishermen or, for that matter, anything that
can entangle or cut you. Seven carpeted
underwater platforms provide a safe area for
underwater training. Look around while
you're here. From the beach volleyball court
to the full-service dive shop, you'll be
amazed at what's been done to the place.
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