OUR STORY

After nearly half a decade of experimentation, Bill Barada starts selling the first drysuits. 

The film version of Disney's, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” featured suits made by Aquala. All actors and stunt divers were equipped with suits for location filming in the Bahamas, as well as studio shots in California.

New York City Police Department's first dive team is equipped with Aquala made suits.

Bill Barada sells Bel-Aqua to Swimaster and the Aquala name comes to life. 

1961 Verne Peckham was stationed at McMurdo Antarctic station as a laboratory director for Donald Wohlschlag of Stanford University’s Department of Biological Sciences. Early cold-water pioneers like John Bunt, Carleton Ray, Elmer Feltz and David Lavallee all used the Tunnel -Entry Aquala Suits to explore this amazing place. Read more here. 

Using a motorcycle helmet, and stainless steel components crafted by himself, Joe Savole develops the first lightweight deep sea diving helmet. His design would revolutionize commercial diving helmets, and he chose Aquala suits to dive his new design.

Aquala is aboard the world's first commercial lockout-diving bell, the Purisima. Launched off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, the Purisima would pave the way for deep sea saturation diving techniques still in use today.

Gilligan's Island, Season 2, Episode 7. Gilligan has to dive to recover a trunk from the bottom of the lagoon... Aquala was his choice.

The US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) chooses Aquala for their scientific research teams.

Aquala has such a strong presence in commercial diving that Jacques Cousteau's US Divers, contracts with Aquala to provide suits for their Commercial Equipment Diving division. Aquala builds suits for US Divers for use with lightweight fiberglass helmets, as well as traditional heavy dress, copper and brass helmets.

Veteran golf ball diver, George Wilby, purchases Aquala and moves it from California to Florida. Under his leadership, Aquala tunnel-entry suits become the trusted diving suit of professional golf ball divers (known as Ball Hawks) throughout the Southern, Central, and Eastern United States.

At the Johnson Space center research facility, NASA tests Aquala suits for space shuttle rocket booster recovery teams. The suits pass with flying colors and are used beneath flame proof foil suits to protect divers from rocket fuel.

John Meehan of Rye, New Hampshire purchases Aquala, and moves operations to the New England coast. John, an accomplished surfer, expounds upon Aquala's California surfing heritage and brings famed East Coast surfer, Peter Panagiotis (Peter Pan) aboard. Aquala private labels surfing suits for Pan's Watershed Surf Shop, and New England surfers now surf comfortably throughout the winter.

2000: In the 1960s, '70s and '80s Aquala diversifies into surfing, sailing, hunting and fishing suits. The non-diving suits, while meeting a need, were not the foundation Aquala was built upon. Ty Alley realizes this, takes his passion and knowledge of diving, and purchases Aquala. Under his direction, Aquala now becomes exclusively the US's oldest diving suit manufacturing company. 

After years of studying archival photos and interviewing surviving stunt divers, Pat Regan of Vulcania Submarine, recreates the diving systems from Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea". This is the first time fully functional "Leagues" diving rigs have been created since the original filming in 1954. Aquala joins the project, being the original supplier of the rubber suits, and the systems are dove at the Kapoho tide pools to document and prove their functionality.

Explore how we are moving forward with a new chapter in our history.