The Texas Clipper
A 473-foot warship turned luxury liner turned maritime training vessel — reefed in 2007 and now Texas's premier dive site.
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South Padre Island, Texas
American Diving
South Padre Island's original dive center. One shop, one boat, one captain. Forty years of memories on the Gulf of Mexico.
Established 1985 · 2025
Est. 1985
Born from the Deep
In 1985, Captain Tim O'Leary made a decision. He walked away from the commercial diving industry — the offshore contracts, the saturation dives, the technical work — and opened a sport diving center on a barrier island at the southern tip of Texas.
There wasn't much there. A stretch of Gulf Coast that most of the country drove past without stopping. Waters that serious divers didn't talk about. No dive community to speak of.
Tim built one anyway.
What followed was forty years of introducing divers of every level to the beautiful, demanding, and genuinely rewarding waters of the Gulf of Mexico. From first-time open water students to technical wreck divers pushing depth limits — American Diving trained them all, equipped them all, and took them all offshore.
Diving the Gulf of Mexico is not for sissies.
Tim O'Leary knew that better than anyone.
He also knew it was worth every bit of the effort.
The Captain
Captain Tim O'Leary
Tim O'Leary didn't just run a dive shop. He was — and remains — one of the most credentialed technical divers in the United States. A USCG 100-Ton Master, former NAUI Technical Operations Director, and co-author of thirteen manuals on decompression science, Tim brought world-class expertise to a small shop on South Padre Island and shared it with anyone willing to show up.
He holds a B.S. in Zoology from Texas A&M, has dived the North Sea, Mediterranean, South Pacific, Asia, and throughout the Americas — as both a commercial diver and a technical instructor trainer. He taught closed circuit rebreathers for military applications. He contributed to the NAUI RGBM decompression tables. He is a member of the Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society and an Admiral in the Texas Navy.
When American Diving said "when you are given the go ahead, you are not just certified — you are qualified," they meant it. Every briefing, every certification, every dive carried the weight of that experience.
- NAUI Technical Operations Director
- NAUI Course Director
- USCG 100-Ton Master
- Commercial Diving Instructor
- IANTD Mixed Gas Instructor
- DAN O2 Instructor Trainer
- Diving Medical Officer
- PSI Inspector Trainer
- 13 decompression manuals
- Admiral, Texas Navy
Captain Diane O'Leary
Vice President and Instructor, Diane O'Leary was a deep gas diver on both open and closed circuit systems — a NAUI Instructor Trainer, NAUI Technical Diving Instructor, and USCG 100-Ton Master in her own right. She was the first woman to dive the USS Perry on a deep gas expedition. Diane holds a B.A. in Journalism from Arizona State University and speaks German, Spanish, and English.
The Vessel
The M/V Diver I
The Diver I was the heart of American Diving's operation — a 50-foot USCG inspected vessel built for serious offshore work. Air-conditioned cabin, indoor and outdoor seating, fresh water shower, onboard restroom, and a dive platform positioned inches above the waterline for easy entry and exit.
She went to the Texas Clipper. She went to the Aquarium. She carried open water students on their first ocean dives and technical divers on deep gas expeditions. And in 1988, when the dive calendar had a slow stretch, she carried something else entirely.
1988
How the Dolphin Watch Was Born
In 1988, during a slow stretch between dive charters, Tim O'Leary did what any resourceful captain does — he improvised. He took visitors out on the Diver I to watch dolphins in the Laguna Madre.
It was supposed to fill time.
It didn't stay that way. What started as a side hustle on a dive boat became one of South Padre Island's most beloved activities. The dolphin watch grew, evolved, moved to a dedicated vessel, and eventually became its own operation.
That offhand decision in 1988 is now the main event.
"American Diving is The Original Dolphin Watch on South Padre Island." — American Diving, since 1988
Snorkel trips and dolphin watches continue today under The Original Dolphin Watch — the same waters, the same spirit, the same commitment to showing people what lives just offshore.
40
Years in Operation
1985
Year Founded
9+
Named Dive Sites
136
Feet to the Clipper
Forty Years of Gulf Diving
American Diving built a dive portfolio unlike anything else on the Texas Gulf Coast. Explore the sites that defined a generation of Gulf divers.
Rigs & Wrecks
Iron Islands, named wrecks, jack-up rigs — four decades of diving the underwater landscape of the Gulf of Mexico.
Explore the sites →Guided Snorkel Tours
Still running. The snorkel trips that American Diving pioneered in the Laguna Madre continue today under The Original Dolphin Watch.
Book now →The Adventure Continues
The dive operation is closed. Tim has earned his retirement — forty years on the Gulf deserves nothing less. But the water is still there, and the Diver I is still running. Snorkel trips on the Laguna Madre continue at The Original Dolphin Watch.