Dive into the deep

Courtesy of Robert schuster

Second-year construction engineering major Angela Moore and fourth-year bioengineering major Hannah Ogden show their UT pride while scuba diving in Key Largo. The students went as part of a trip the DiveUT scuba dive club took this March.

When you think of northwest Ohio, you don’t usually think of scuba diving — but a University of Toledo student organization wants to prove that even here, it’s doable.

How do you scuba dive without an ocean nearby?

Toledo isn’t near a coast, which begs the question — how is scuba diving possible when there aren’t any oceans nearby?

According to DiveUT Vice President Jessica Lashley, a fifth-year double majoring in psychology and nursing, an ocean isn’t necessary to scuba dive. Any deep body of water will do, including the Great Lakes, springs, quarry lakes or even a pool.

“You can dive shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, depending on visibility of course,” Lashley said. “There are a lot more places than people think. If you’re not near an ocean, some states and places have springs with these huge underwater caverns. They’re beautiful.”

Who can join DiveUT?

Lashley, who has been a part of DiveUT for the last five years, said the club is mainly for UT students, but is open to people from the community, who often work with them.

According to Lashley, most people think scuba diving is an unachievable sport because of the cost and people’s fears of diving. However, Lashley said it’s more of a leisure sport than people realize.

What if I can’t swim?

“A lot of people think of it as strenuous, and they’ll say ‘oh, I can’t swim,’ but you really don’t need to be a good swimmer to be a scuba diver,” Lashley said. “A lot of your controls are with inflating and deflating your BC, the vest that you wear. The vest fills with air and you can release the air and it controls if you go up and down.”

The BC vest, or buoyancy compensator, is an inflatable vest worn by a diver that can be automatically inflated to help control buoyancy, according to the online scuba glossary, Dive Adventures.

Isn’t it too cold to scuba dive here?

Despite the extreme temperatures in this region, the weather doesn’t put too much of a damper on the club’s diving ventures, which often take place in a pool or an outdoor quarry.

“You can scuba dive up here when it’s cold given the right conditions,” Lashley said. “You can dive in different types of suits, so if you were to dive in a dry suit, you wouldn’t actually get wet in the suit and you can dive in any range of temperatures that you would get in Michigan or Ohio. You can technically still dive, but you have to get extra certifications for [dry-suit diving].”

In fact, over winter break, the club will be diving at the Bonne Terre Mine in Missouri, a national historic site and the world’s largest fresh water dive resort.

“We’re going to an abandoned mine shaft that’s all lit up and it’s got all the equipment down there, all the mine carts and everything,” Lashley said.

Where can I get training and gear?

The group is affiliated with Aqua Hut, a scuba diving company on Reynolds Road that offers expert scuba training and has certified over 10,000 divers in Northwest Ohio over the past 30 years. Because the group isn’t always on campus, Lashley said they have to work extra hard when advertising.

“Aqua Hut is our dive shop with all the gear we need,” Lashley said. “We have actually used the ROTC pool for our tri-dives that we have every now and again that are open to anybody for $5 and they can put on the gear and jump in and swim around and have fun.”

Courtesy of Robert schuster
One of the six DiveUT students who went on a scuba diving trip in Key Largo explores the underwater world.

What else does DiveUT do?

Lashley said though there is a lack of competitions in this area, they did partake in a record-setting event last spring.

“We broke the world record for the longest continual dive by a group of divers in a contained environment, which was pretty cool,” Lashley said. “There are events that we have out of the quarries, like a huge breast cancer dive every August and other charity dives that our group goes to.”

How expensive is it?

One of the main concerns students often have is the cost to scuba dive. However, Lashley said that getting scuba certified through DiveUT saves a lot of money.

“If you’re going to get certified somewhere in Toledo, you’re going to look at about $1,000, but with us, it’s only going to be about $300 so it’s a huge discount,” Lashley said.

Because they have their own instructor, Lashley said the $300 fee is well worth it in the long run.

“The $300 covers the certification class and the check-out dives, which you do two at the quarry after the class to see how you do in a bigger body of water,” Lashley said. “If you do fine, then you’re all set for life, and you never have to take another class again.”

In addition, Lashley said that once certified, members can save more money by renting gear through Aqua Hut. There are no other costs except to buy your own gear or to take additional classes, something Lashley said some people choose to do if they want to turn scuba into a career, such as being an instructor.

What if I pay for the class, but find out I don’t like scuba diving?

Lashley believes there is a large student interest for scuba diving, but that they don’t realize it’s possible and they are afraid of the expenses involved.

“Nobody wants to waste their money,” Lashley said. “If someone was really concerned about that, I’m sure the instructor could arrange something to get them to try on the gear and get in the pool. I think during the classes, if you really hated it in the pool, you could get your money back and drop out.”

What do current members think?

The cost had no influence on second-year construction engineering major Angela Moore’s decision to join the club.

“My brother started this club when he was a UT student, and I am happy to say it’s still going,” Moore said. “My whole family scuba dives and we love it!”

According to Lashley and many other members of DiveUT, the club is like a family who loves introducing students to a new, exciting environment.

Robert Schuster, a fourth-year majoring in environmental science and the president of DiveUT, is also excited about the club.

“I have been in this club for a while now, and I love introducing students to scuba diving,” Schuster said. “Our group works really well together, and when something needs to be done, we always pull together to see it through. Couldn’t ask for a better team.”

How can I learn more?

For more information about the club, visit their Facebook page at DiveUT-Scuba Club.