Dick Bonin
Co-Founder of SCUBAPRO
Dick
grew up in Chicago, excelling academically, graduating cum laude
from both high school and college. Well rounded, he thrived in the
sports world as well. While still in high school he was a member of
the City Champion swim team and was a Boxing Champion. He earned a
college athletic scholarship and was the Boxing Champion and All
Conference Football.
Dick Bonin is one of the most famous Navy UDT/SEALS and equipment
manufacturers in diving. Bonin got his start as a Navy officer
assigned to some of the earliest UDT/SEAL teams. He was Submersible
Operations Officer active in demolition and testing the latest dive
gear for the Navy.
Upon
leaving the Navy in 1956 he went to work for a dive shop in Chicago.
He soon took a job with Swimmaster, which led him to the West Coast.
They sold rubber products only, with the famous “Duck Feet”
diving fins being quite popular with the military.
While at Swimmaster he met Jack Prodanovich of the Bottom
Scratchers, which was one of the first dive clubs in the
United States, started in San Diego. He saw the custom spear
guns Jack was making and, inspired, Bonin went on to make
the first American Spear Guns which proved to be very
profitable for Swimmaster. He also introduced the first
flexible snorkel and other innovations.
He went on to do experiments in the silicone mask while
still at Swimmaster. However, the chemists he was working
with could not get it pliable or clear enough. He tabled the
idea for the time being, but later |
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resumed work on the mask at SCUBAPRO. The company had their own
rubber plant which was of great aid in the refinement of the
silicone mask, which Bonin finally marketed as the “Hypo-allergenic
mask.” The mask gained popularity in 1977 when the motion picture,”
The Deep,” came out. The movie featured Jacqueline Bisset wearing
the silicone mask. It supplied more light to the actress’ face for
filming. Now virtually every dive mask is made of silicone.
In 1959 Bonin was called upon by the owners of Sportsways to run the
company which was struggling at the time. There he met up with
engineer Sam Lecocq and together they went on to design and market
single hose regulators, making them number one in the country in
popularity.
Bonin was then approached to head up a new subsidiary of Healthways
called SCUBAPRO, which was to produce diving gear to be sold only in
professional dive stores. There he formed a partnership with dive
legend Gustav Dalla Valle who later, for one dollar, bought the
rights to the name SCUBAPRO when Healthways went bankrupt. To the
day he died Gustav always joked that he paid too much for the
defunct company’s name.
It was January 3, 1963 that they opened the doors of SCUBAPRO with
just Gustav’s $20,000 European credit line. Bonin surrounded him
with the smartest engineers he could find and pushed his Research
and Development Department to produce the next great piece of diving
equipment that would be the envy of every diver.
Gustav knew a lot of manufacturers in Europe. The first mask they
brought over was a Squale mask. They continued by making their first
piston
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regulator from which they developed the famous MarkV
regulator. Beauchat, a good friend of Gustav, was making Jet
Fins, and asked Gustav if they could sell them for him in
the United States through SCUBAPRO. Dick took some to a
scuba show and immediately sold all of them. Later the next
week he was discovering the fins were classic. He was
embarrassed that he did not know. From that day on, he
insisted that Research and Development and himself do a
thorough inspection and test on every item they produced
before introducing it to the public. He would never again
market a piece of equipment without knowing it inside and
out. He went on to form a panel of dive experts that would
try the products before selling them to
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the
general public. This reputation for quality propelled SCUBAPRO to
the number one position of dive equipment manufacturers in the
world.
It was one of the greatest success stories in diving. Bonin and
Gustav went on to build the company into the premier brand of dive
equipment. Against Bonin’s wishes Gustav sold the company to Johnson
Worldwide Associates. Gustav was retired and went on to become the
successful owner of a winery in the Napa Valley. He later died of
cancer at 76.
Bonin continued as President of SCUBAPRO and continued the growth of
the company until 1993 when he retired. Dick has always held a high
standard of excellence in business and quality of product. He now
lives with his wife in Huntington Beach, California. And SCUBAPRO
continues the professional legacy to this day.
Some of Dick Bonin’s Accomplishments:
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The Diving Hall of Fame
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NOGI Underwater Society, Distinguished Service
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YMCA Safety Contributions Award
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LA County Lifetime Achievement Award
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Platinum Pro 5000
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DEMA Recognition of Service
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One of the Original Founders of Underwater Manufactures
Association, now known as DEMA
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Founded Ocean Futures “Dedicated to the Sea around Us”

Dick
Bonin and Gustav Dalla Valle at SCUBAPRO's 25th Anniversary in 1988
Our
thanks to Dick Bonin and Fathoms Magazine
About
Us
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