Chester, VA Outdoor Activities

Modeled after video games, scenes from famous movies, and real-life wars, SplatBrothers Paintball Park's outdoor fields challenge first-time and returning players alike with obstacle-cluttered terrain that change early and often. Players can duck for cover in a school bus, ice-cream truck, or disco van, surprise opponents hiding in a chicken coop, or lead attacks from more than 40 bunkers strewn across a spool-littered field. They can also sneak through a trapdoor to climb to the top of a three-story tower, which looms above a field the size of two football fields or 200 one-yard models of football fields.

In between gaming scenarios such as capture the flag and freeze tag, players reload and rehydrate in the Welcome Center, where visitors test their aim at the target range, watch bouts from the viewing area, or feast at picnic tables. Along with private weekday and public weekend games, SplatBrothers Paintball Park hosts tournaments, scenario games, and monthly big games based on pop-culture staples such as Angry Birds and The Walking Dead.

Bahamas native David M. Hay spent his youth exploring the world of underwater wrecks while on dives with his father. Laura Schild Hay became enamored with sea creatures at an early age. David fervently kept up with diving, racking up nearly 6,000 logged dives working as a dive instructor and assisting West Virginia State police with underwater criminal investigations. Laura, on the other hand, cultivated her love for biology by breathing regularly and earning a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology. She rekindled her passion for marine life in 2000 when she learned to scuba dive in northern California. Two years later she wandered into a Maryland dive shop seeking diving opportunities, where dive instructor Dave escorted her into the seas and, eventually, down the aisle.

Along with David W. Hay, the diving duo founded Atlantis Divers in 2005, where their certified team coaches beginners, fallen dolphins, and advanced ocean explorers alike. In addition to public safety training by Public Safety Diving instructors, who currently serve on police- and rescue-dive teams, Atlantis Divers educates pupils with 10 scuba classes. There, instructors abet apprentices with courses focused on managing dive emergencies and learning how to prepare wreck dive equipment.