After 67 years in business, Copeland’s Dive Shop on South Padre Island Drive is closing its doors, marking the end of an era for Corpus Christi’s diving community.
Jim Copeland and his wife began the business out of their love for scuba diving. In 1957, they started a local dive club, but with no dive shops available, they relied on a local construction company to refill their scuba tanks.
The Copelands bought an air compressor and built a trailer-mounted scuba filling station in 1958. In 1961, they opened their first dive shop at 6 Points before moving to the Padre Island Drive location in 1970…