Recreational diving adds to lake, ocean experiences

by Paul Schreiber

SBJ Reporter

pschreiber@sbj.net

It was adventure and the early 1960s television program "Sea Hunt" that inspired Don Peterson to learn diving in 1964. For $34, he received his scuba certification at John The Diver, a long-time, now defunct, dive shop operating at Table Rock Lake.

Peterson says while the thrill is still the same, the price has gone up since '64.

Today, somewhere between $200 and $300 will get someone an open-water certification from an area dive shop. This fee regularly includes 20 to 30 hours of classroom, pool and lake instruction, learning materials and equipment usage. It excludes gear, such as mask, snorkel, fins and boots.

Louis Chapman, owner of Scuba Sports, operates a 3,500-square-foot dive shop at 1196 Highway 248 in Branson and a service shop at Table Rock Marina at Rock Lane Resort. His location's 12 instructors certify between 400 and 500 students annually at $250 a head through the Professional Association of Dive Instructors.

Chapman forecasted 2004 revenues at about $500,000, and he said his client mix runs about 70 percent tourist and 30 percent local. Roughly 20 percent of his sales come from technical divers using special blends of mixed breathing gases, such as Tri-Mix or Heliox mixed gases, for deeper dives, he said.

Peterson, who owns 26-year-old Aquasports Scuba Center at 5601 S. Campbell with his wife, Vickie, said 2003 revenues were about $1 million. Revenues split about one-third instruction and two-thirds equipment, he said, adding that "somebody who wants to dive will spend $300, but their equipment is going to cost them $1,500 to $3,000."

Aquasports' 12 instructors certified 560 students in 2003 through Scuba Schools International, he said.

Obtaining an SSI open-water certification through Aquasports runs between $250 to $300 and involves about 30 hours of training, Peterson said.

Peterson decided to open Aquasports in Springfield versus an ocean-side location based on competitive advantage. "You can go to Florida and there's a dive shop on every corner. It's like Chinese chicken places here in Springfield; they're everywhere down there."

Diving was all about adventure for Rick Hughlett, owner of Rick's Automotive, who's been certified since 1989. One unexpected benefit has been the long-time relationships he's made. "You make friendships that just last forever," he said. "You share a whole new dimension of life."

Retired Kickapoo High School girls' basketball and volleyball coach, Sue Schuble, said her decision to learn diving 15 years ago came when she was searching for new life experiences. For Schuble, diving and dive trips in particular, gave her the chance to get away from the stresses of coaching and teaching.

The quality and extent of dive opportunities in Missouri vary. Diving in lakes south of Table Rock Lake including Norfolk, Bull Shoals or Beaver in Arkansas are typically better due to their typography and bottom composition, said Steve Walls, the one-man operation behind Steve's Scuba at 3633 S. Bedford. Walls certifies about 40 students a year.

Peterson agreed. Bull Shoals and Beaver lakes were his favorite dive spots citing clear water, plentiful fish and low boat numbers. He added, however, Table Rock Lake's water conditions have improved and are as good as they've been in 20 years. He said Swan Creek can be good for snorkeling, especially when the water level is up in the eight to 10-foot range.

Lakes north of Table Rock tend to have a muddy, more silted bottom and thus reduce visibility, Walls said. Wall has been training students in scuba for more than 20 years through the National Association of Scuba Educators' system. His course runs about 20 hours and costs $225. When not teaching scuba, he works as a corrections officer at the U.S. Federal Medical Center.

Deep water diving in Table Rock Lake is always good, said Peter Wessels, owner of Port of Kimberling Scuba. Floating sediment and particulate matter from runoff is problematic nearer the surface, but "the deeper you go, the clearer the water is, except for the light," he said. Visibility with a light can be up to 60 feet at depths below 40 feet, he added.

Table Rock Lake is home to a number of diving haunts. While residential structural remains are gone from the floodplain since work on Table Rock Dam was completed in 1958, foundations are visible in places, Wessels said. Also, sunken boats like the Zebulon Pike, also called the "General" and a runabout, the "Minnow," can be explored in depths ranging from 40 feet to 120 feet.

The old Kimberling Bridge, which used to span the White River, is another Table Rock Lake deep-water dive, Wessels said. The steel structure's apex rises to about 90 feet below the surface with the bridge road about 130 feet down, he added. The lake overall is about 230 feet deep, but there are holes dipping to 300 feet below the surface, he said.

On the other end of the Missouri diving spectrum is Bonne Terre Mine, a system of lead mining shafts near Brighton. They were first dug commercially in 1869 by the St. Joseph Mining Company and closed in 1961. Peterson dove the mine before it was opened to recreational divers in 1981 and said it's a dive for those who like clear water at a chilly 58 degrees. It required a dry suit.

While work as a scuba instructor is a logical career for those interested in diving, there are occupational opportunities that can be lucrative, albeit difficult and dangerous, Peterson said. Commercial divers do underwater welding, pipefitting and other industrial duties on everything from off-shore oil rigs to construction projects.

There are also possibilities for underwater scientific research, said Donny Hamilton, president of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and head of the nautical archaeology program at Texas A & M University

There were 32 applicants to the 2004-2005 underwater archaeology program and 12 were admitted, Hamilton said. Institute of Nautical Archaeology has conducted underwater excavations on sites ranging from Byzantine shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea to a Revolutionary War ship, the Defense, sunk in Penobscot Bay, Maine.

The tedious, exacting procedures of underwater archaeology are not to be confused with treasure hunting, Hamilton said.

"It's against the professional ethics of archaeologists to be involved in any project where artifacts are sold," he said. Archaeologists who work with salvage hunters will likely permanently damage their academic reputations, while destroying the possibility of future jobs in either academia or with the government.

Still, the prospect of spotting the sunken timbers of a centuries-old shipwreck is heady stuff, Hughlett said, having dove the ruins of a Spanish Galleon off the Virgin Islands. It's surprises like that, as well as the plethora of ocean life that makes each trip new, he said. "Every single dive is different. You're going to see things you never saw before."