Copeland’s Dive Shop
What do you do when you have a love for diving and there are no dive shops or even places to fill your scuba tanks? If you are Jim Copeland, you learn all you can about scuba diving and start one in your home. Jim had a love for submarines and underwater adventures in high school. His interest in submarines led him to scuba diving and snorkeling. “I was an avid snorkeler down at the Bayfront where you couldn’t see anything, but you took what you could,” Jim says.
At the age of 18 in 1956, Jim Copeland married his child bride Saundra who was age 14. The two of them took up an unknown sport at the time called scuba diving. Jim couldn’t afford scuba gear, especially new scuba gear. “I found used scuba gear in the local hock shop for fifty bucks, which was a lot of money back then,” Jim recalls. He taught himself scuba and soon had other friends join him.
In 1957, divers had to use a local construction company to fill their air tanks; a process that took a couple of hours. A company moved in that could fill air tanks quicker, but Jim suffered air poisoning during a deep dive in Lake Travis. Jim decided to build a trailer-mounted air filling station. He soon began selling good air that everyone wanted.
Inevitably, people had masks that would break, and they would ask Jim to sell them his used scuba equipment. Jim sold his used gear and replaced it with new gear he obtained in Houston; this led to Jim selling new equipment from Houston. With his compressor trailer in the front yard of their rented house, Jim didn’t know that his $50 investment and pursuit of good quality air had launched Copeland’s in 1958.
Since Jim worked nights for the highway department, Saundra answered the door for divers wanting equipment or tanks filled at four in the morning while also caring for their baby. Soon dive equipment filled every nook and cranny and Saundra put her foot down. When Jim suggested installing a showcase in the living room, Saundra recalls, “I told him ‘no’ on the showcase, and we were either getting in or out!”
Jim opened a retail store in Six Points, and he recalls the importance of friends and help that came along the way. Shortly after opening, someone burglarized him not just once, but again two months later. Banks demanded insurance that no one would underwrite to restock. Jim was in trouble, but friend Dick Bradley used his influence to get his insurance company to insure Jim.
Life moved on and soon Saundra hauled all three kids to run the store in the morning; Jim ran the store in the afternoon and gave scuba lessons in the evenings and on weekends. In 1963, their fourth baby was born, and Jim left work with the highway department. When Copeland’s started making and selling surf boards, they outgrew Six Points.
Left After nearly 65 years, Copeland’s and the marriage of Jim and Saundra exemplify strong commitment, tenacity and dedication. Daughters Denise and Debbie work in the shop; Jim still enjoys diving, trains instructors, and still works at Copeland’s. | Courtesy Mike Carlisle Right The dive shop inside Copeland’s | Courtesy of Copeland’s Inc.
In 1970, Jim bought Copeland’s current location on Padre Island Drive. Jim held his grand opening less than a week before Hurricane Celia hit, which completely flattened both businesses on either side but left the new Copeland’s location completely intact. Saundra has Wisconsin roots and loved snow skiing. But unlike diving, you could not purchase any snow skiing gear in Corpus Christi. Jim was looking for a winter business to cover the new overhead, so in 1970, Copeland’s also grew into a full-service dive and ski shop.
After 66 years, daughters Denise and Debbie are taking care of the dive and ski shop. Jim still works at Copeland’s, enjoys diving, and trains instructors. Copeland’s and Jim and Saundra’s marriage exemplify strong commitment, tenacity and dedication.
Copeland’s is celebrating over 65 years in business and stands tall as “Texas’ Oldest Dive Shop.”
