By Cate Hill

Let’s face it: Scuba diving isn’t for everyone. Sharks, eels, drowning, difficulty breathing, various swimming capabilities required, the deep blue sea, thalassophobia. 

But if you love the idea of swimming around with colorful fish, turtles, and corals in exotic locales, scuba diving might be for you.  

There are several organizations that offer dive certification courses, but the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is the most popular and recommended organization for dive certification in the world. Twenty-seven-million divers, and counting, have been certified through PADI’s program. PADI Open Water Diver Emily Krak says, “The hope is that if we can get people passionate about diving, then we can inspire people to care about the ocean.” 

As members of the dive community, PADI certified divers are “committed to unifying divers around the globe who share a passion for adventure and love for the ocean.” The opportunity to see first-hand what life underwater looks like is truly a gift, and because PADI recognizes this, they teach and encourage divers to do their share and protect ocean life when diving and to support environmental efforts. 

PADI offers its open water diver certification course to anyone ten years and older who can swim and who is in good physical health. The certification process is broken up into three phases, each of which further develops the skills needed for someone to dive safely. 

The first phase is known as “Knowledge Development” and can be taken at dive shops that offer a classroom setting, or, most commonly, through PADI’s eLearning course. The online option is popular because it allows individuals to learn the material on their own time independently through a series of videos, reading, and small quizzes. To assess that individuals have successfully learned scuba diving basics during Knowledge Development, a final assessment, or test, needs to be completed by each individual.  

My brother Jack Hill (‘22) and I completed phase one of our certification with PADI’s eLearning system. While PADI eLearning proved to be the easiest, quickest, and most convenient option for us, we both underestimated the necessary time commitment to complete the online learning. Although the course appears to take only a few hours, in actuality it takes much longer. It is important to take your time to learn the information properly and assess your knowledge throughout the eLearning course. I strongly recommend not saving this process for the last few days before you plan to complete the remainder of the course, like my brother and I did.

The second phase, “Confined Water Dives,” is usually taught in a pool or a shallow body of water. During this phase, individuals learn essential skills for diving, such as how to use the equipment and safety procedures, with a certified dive instructor. It is important that individuals  train and practice these skills until they feel confident. My brother and I are very close, so we found this phase to be fairly easy because we were able to work together or side by side for many of the tasks.   

The third, and final, phase of the certification course is “Open Water Dives.” Individuals must successfully complete a minimum of four open water dives led by their PADI instructor. During these four dives, individuals practice skills taught to them during the second phase, in addition to exploring the underwater world. With ocean access not convenient for many individuals, this phase of the course can also be done in local bodies of water, such as lakes and quarries. This was my brother and I’s favorite phase of the PADI open water diver course. After hearing numerous amazing dive stories from our parents, we were more than eager to see what diving was like for ourselves. 

A travel or vacation destination may also be used to complete the third, and sometimes second, phase of the certification course. In order to do so, an individual must contact a PADI dive shop at their destination and be registered to finish the remainder of the course. 

After all three phases of the course are complete, an individual becomes a PADI-certified scuba diver for life. The open water diver course, along with many other PADI courses, is validated by many institutions to count towards college credit. In the United States, 25 different PADI courses are recommended as college credit by the American Council of Education’s (ACE) College Credit Recommendation Service. 

There are several local dive shops in or near Richmond that offer PADI open water diver certification courses. The Dive Shop on West Broad Street is the most highly recommended dive shop in the area, according to Yelp, but another option close to Richmond is Tri-City Scuba, located in Colonial Heights.

For over 30 years, instructors at The Dive Shop have helped certify new divers through the PADI certification course, as well as teaching numerous other PADI courses, such as the Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver courses. Divers at The Dive Shop work with their customers’ specific needs and will offer to make and teach courses for individuals that don’t see their desired course on the website. 

When registering for the PADI open water diver course through The Dive Shop, an individual is required to have a mask, snorkel, fins, and dive boots, in addition to the requirements already put in place by PADI officials. The Dive Shop starts the course with each individual through PADI’s eLearning. Once completed, individuals ready for phase two of the course will learn and practice skills in a local pool, such as the YMCA. Phase three will be continued at Lake Phoenix, located about an hour south of Richmond. Here, individuals can complete their certification while diving in Virginia’s own scuba park. Alternatively, individuals may decide to complete phase three at the dive site of their choice with a referral. 

In addition to offering classes, The Dive Shop offers various dive trips, as well as gear purchasing and repair. Organized trips allow both new and experienced divers to enjoy a planned dive excursion led by trained instructors. Trip destinations range from the Florida Keys, to Turks and Caicos, to St. Lucia, and so many more. The dates, prices, travel details, and other important information about each trip can be found on The Dive Shop’s website. 

My father Corey Hill, a senior project manager at design engineering and planning firm Kimley-Horn and Associates, became scuba certified in November 1997. Back then, PADI didn’t hold the same popularity and leadership in the dive world that it does currently. My father used a different scuba diving organization, Scuba Schools International (SSI), to achieve his open water diver certification. 

His instructor, William Tate, taught him the first step of the course in a classroom setting at Aquatic Adventures, located in Fairfax, Virginia. Since then, Aquatic Adventures has become a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Dive Center. In total, the course took approximately six weeks to complete, with phase one taught in a classroom at the dive shop, phase two at a local pool, and phase three at Millbrook Quarry in Haymarket, Virginia. 

My father completed phase three, the open water dive part of the certification, in 52 degree water with a visibility of less than a foot, and he remembers that, “It was pitch black, freezing cold, and I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.” Because of the cold water, my father remembers every student, including himself, wearing 6 mm-thick full-body wetsuits, complete with a hood, gloves, and booties.  

My mother Catherine Hill, an attorney and current Secretary Treasurer for the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners, was scuba certified through a class at the University of Richmond in July 1987 by her instructor Norris Eastman. The course was taught through a scuba organization called the National Association of Underwater Instructions (NAUI). 

Similar to my father’s experience through the certification process, my mother completed phase one in a classroom setting at the university, phase two in a local pool, and phase three in a quarry in Gum Springs, Virginia.  

In our 21st century experience, my brother Jack and I were fortunate enough to complete our PADI open water diver certification course with Great Adventures Bonaire at their dive shop in Harbor Village, located in Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands, in March 2019 during our family’s spring break trip.

The clear blue waters and beautiful ocean life of the Caribbean strongly contrasted everything my parents had told us about their open water dives during their certification experience. Bonaire is a small island that is part of the ABC island chain (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) located off the coast of Venezuela. Bonaire is known for its excellent scuba diving, snorkeling, and preservation of marine wildlife. 

In addition to snorkeling and scuba diving, the island offers many activities, such as windsurfing, kayaking, hiking, and cycling. Bonaire is a relatively flat island with few volcanic formations. The island is surrounded by coral reefs teeming with life and friendly people that take good care of the habitats. My family focused our time on the island around diving. 

While diving in the waters of Bonaire, I noticed that locals had begun to grow a coral garden. They were part of the Harbor Village Reef Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Bonaire that devotes their work to preserving coral reefs around Bonaire. In addition to putting together projects, HVRF raises funds to support the preservation of marine wildlife and works to create partnerships with other organizations. 

I was able to see their work specifically on growing Staghorn Coral, which plays an important role in reef-building in locations all across the Caribbean. Unfortunately, populations of Staghorn Coral have been significantly reduced over the last few decades due to rising ocean temperatures, and the species is now critically endangered. 

Coral is an animal, meaning it cannot make its own food; instead they use their branches to gather food from the water surrounding them. Coral are made of thousands of polyps, which are small, soft-bodied organisms that produce hard outer skeletons made of limestone. Together, the polyps make a coral structure that attaches itself to rocks or other skeletons. Most coral contain algae within their tissues. There, the algae is protected and is able to help the coral by getting rid of waste and creating organic products necessary for corals to grow and survive. Coral is divided into four main groups: fringing reefs, barrier reefs, patch reefs, and atolls. Bonaire’s reefs mainly consist of fringing coral reefs. 

As explained in National Geographic’s article “Staghorn Coral,” the species has a “particularly low resistance and tolerance to bleaching and can take even longer to recover than other species.” In addition, Staghorn Coral is prey for some predators, such as the Crown-of-Thorns starfish. 

Global warming has increasingly been a factor in the destruction of coral reefs and ocean life around the world. Due to climate change, overall ocean temperatures have continued to increase each year. The increase in water temperature has led to disastrous effects on many coral environments, because it leaves the coral bleached. 

Coral bleaching is a condition in which coral continues to live, but the coral is without its major food source and is at higher risk for attack from stresses and disease. It can be caused by higher ocean temperatures, pollution, overexposure to sunlight, and even extremely low tides. When these factors affect the coral environment, algae within the tissues of the coral will leave, and coral without its algae will turn white.

HVRF is a leader when it comes to preserving and restoring coral reefs. They operate with a unique system of electrified reefs, combined with coral transplantations. Their coral garden, located in the water just in front of the Harbor Village resort, consists of coral trees and frames that are tended to by diver masters from Great Adventures Bonaire. The frames and trees, made from metal rods, provide structure to which new Staghorn coral can grow on and around. Divers tie on branches of live Staghorn coral to the frames and watch as the branches grow over time. The resort offers classes on how to properly maintain a coral garden and allows its guests the opportunity to learn and take care of the corals. 

My experience diving in Bonaire was breathtaking. Before entering the water for my first open water dive, I can remember having mixed emotions. On one hand, I was confident and knew that I was ready for my first dive. On the other hand, I was nervous because I didn’t want to fail at something that my parents both love so much. But, before I knew it, I was underwater and was loving every second of it. 

Having snorkeled on many family vacations before, I was familiar with some of the ocean life I came across. However, seeing the same creatures and coral from a diver’s point of view was eye-opening. I felt as though I was inside an aquarium, but bigger. After that first open water dive, I was hooked.

Although some of the creatures were familiar to me, I was able to see other creatures that I had never seen before. For example, on my second open water dive in Bonaire, my dive master pointed out an orange seahorse. I had never seen one in the ocean before, and my mom, a diver of over years and 250+ dives, could only recall seeing one once or twice. 

Over the course of the week we spent in Bonaire, my family and I went on six dives, and on each dive we saw beautiful fish and coral. Some of my favorite creatures that we saw include an octopus that turned blue when moving from one patch of coral to the next, sea turtles, sea anemones, porcupine fish, queen angelfish, filefish, both green and spotted moray eels, a honeycomb cowfish, and a spotted drum.  

Since that trip, we have also had the opportunity to dive in Grand Cayman of the Cayman Islands. Because Grand Cayman is also located in the Carribean, we saw much of the same ocean life as in Bonaire. However, as my parents say, “You see something new on every dive.” This was true for me in Grand Cayman. In addition to seeing a spotted eagle ray, a nurse shark, and a school of squid, we saw several Spanish lobsters hiding under a patch of coral. My family and I had seen lobster before on our dives, but the Spanish lobsters were a new sighting, with their vibrant color and spots. 

Not only were there many colorful fish and other creatures at the dive sites in Grand Cayman, but the dives sites themselves were some of the most beautiful I have seen. One dive site, known as “Big Tunnels,” allowed us to swim through narrow tunnels between beautiful coral formations. Another, called “Ghost Mountain,” led us around a tall coral structure and brought us to nearly 100 feet deep. Lastly, at “Ore Verde,” my family and I were able to swim around the remains of a ship that was originally a transport ship for the U.S. Army and later transformed into a banana boat, but in its final years was believed to be used for smuggling drugs.