VALDOSTA — Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy and everyone does it a little differently. Some open online stores, while others open brick-and-mortar storefronts.

Some go all in and invest their lives into a new venture, while others start a new business as something to do on the side. Regardless of the type, entrepreneurs help drive the local economy.

Dave Stone, owner of Southern Ocean Sports, has been scuba diving since he was 7 years old. His father owned a dive shop, so Stone said he would steal diving equipment from his father and go diving at Holly Creek in Chatsworth.

Eventually, his parents caught on and gave Stone a lesson he would never forget.

“My dad got tired of catching me and, he was already a dive instructor, so he taught me,” Stone said. “It’s been my passion ever since. It’s magical down there.”

In the summer of 1995, Stone became a certified instructor before attending Valdosta State University on a football scholarship. But the scholarship didn’t pay him any money, so he worked at SOS as a college student.

“As an athlete you didn’t make any money, so it was hard to buy food or go out,” he said.

At the time, SOS was owned by retired Tech. Sgt. Ed Hileman, Stone said. Hileman opened the store in 1986 as he was leaving the military because he saw there was a need for a quality dive shop in Valdosta. Hileman had been diving since the 1960s.

Hileman added skateboards to the shop in the 1990s to fit the skateboard craze hitting the nation.

Stone continued to work for SOS after college. He bought the store from the Hileman in 2008.

Stone said when he purchased the store there were more than 700 dive shops in the country. As of November 2017, there were roughly 140 dive shops in the nation. The recession hit dive shops especially hard because it is a leisure sport.

Now “land-locked Valdosta” is “one of the oldest dive shops in the U.S.,” he said.

Stone said the sport has experienced an uptick during the last year or two. He has heard approximately 60 stores have opened in the last year.

“We are a leisure sport; we are an expendable sport, so it’s been a really cool boost in the last year and a half in what we do here,” he said.

Before the economy picked up, Stone said the store stayed open mostly because of his and coworkers’ work on reality television.

“The biggest blessing came to us in 2009 when the History Channel started filming the show ‘Ax Men,’” he said. “The show ran until 2016 out of the dive shop. All of our portion of the show was filmed out of here.”

Stone said he enjoyed his experience on “Ax Men,” but started new shows to showcase some of the other work he does.

“Now we have two television shows filmed out of here called “Underwater Empire” on Amazon Prime Video. And another show called ‘Destination Scuba,’” he said.

“Underwater Empire” is an extension of “Ax Men” and “Destination Scuba” is a show about people diving in exotic locations.

At the store, Stone offers more than dive equipment, he teaches scuba diving to individuals 10 years old and up and he is an instructor trainer. His certification allows him to teach divers to become instructors.

“I teach the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office dive team and the Lake Park dive team,” he said.

Outside of water sports, the shop still sells skateboards and fills carbon dioxide containers for paintball guns and kegs, Stone said. He said owning the shop hasn’t been easy, but he does it because diving is his love. “It’s a passion. It’s a love,” he said.” I’ve eaten a lot of Ramen noodles waiting for the next pay check to come in.”

Southern Ocean Sports, 1607 N. Ashley St., is open 10:30 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call (229) 244-4084. 

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.