His love of the ocean began in 1955 after reading an article about underwater exploration in Popular Mechanics. Following his first scuba experience, Bob became obsessed with the water, becoming one of the earliest underwater photographers on the West Coast, and establishing the Underwater Photographic Society of Northern California in 1966.
When Bob realized that the diving and photography equipment at that time didn’t meet his needs, he set about developing his own. He did this while attending school for business and engineering and working at Standard Oil to support his young family. In 1966, Bob opened the Anchor Shack dive shop in Hayward, California, and began developing underwater camera housings, strobes and hand lights, which was the jumping off point for his company, Oceanic. By 1976, the Oceanic product line had completely developed, ultimately turning Bob and the Oceanic brand into leaders in the scuba diving community. Over the course of his lifetime, Bob founded many companies including American Underwater Products, Pelagic Pressure Systems, ROMI Enterprises and the renowned scuba diving brands, Oceanic, Hollis, and Aeris. Bob wanted everyone to experience scuba diving, and gave thousands around the world the opportunity to do so.
Beyond his companies…
Using his experience, Bob helped create an underwater saturation system in 1978 for the Andrea Doria shipwreck. The system attached to the wreck at a depth of 240 feet for up to seven days, allowing divers to explore the wreck for several days without having to swim to the surface. Bob also logged more dives than anyone on the wreck, and in 1981 served as the underwater photographer for the nationally aired film “Andrea Doria: The Final Chapter”, which detailed the team’s goal to recover the bank safe from the famed sunken Italian ocean liner.
Bob was also responsible for leading some of the first dive trips to Cozumel, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Belize, Yucatan Peninsula and the Galapagos. He also led tours to the remote destination of Papua New Guinea, where he later built a family home and destination dive resort for other underwater enthusiasts.
Early in his career, Bob was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Underwater Parks and Reserves (California State Parks Department), where he assisted in exploring the coastline and identifying future areas for preservation, including Point Lobos, La Jolla and the Salt Point State Park. Bob also served as Historical Diving Society’s USA President and advisory board member.
Over his career, Bob received many awards and achievements including the NOGI Award, the DEMA Reaching Out Award, and was an inductee of the Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. And throughout all his professional success, Bob’s greatest achievement was his family, including his four children, nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, with which he shared his passion of the ocean and traveled the world with them.
An incredible resume, and incredible person, and for his enormous contributions to the California (and worldwide) diving scene, it is an honor to award Bob Hollis posthumously with the California Scuba Service Award.
