Scuba diving is a sometimes overlooked adventure that is available here in North Iowa.|
Scuba diving is a sometimes overlooked adventure that is available here in North Iowa.
“It’s one of my things on my bucket list,” said beginner scuba diver Nancy Prohaska, from Garner.
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“It’s one of my things on my bucket list,” replies beginner scuba diver Nancy Prohaska, from Garner.
Nancy started taking lessons with Don and Carrie Brown, owners of North-Central Iowa (formerly known as North Iowa Scuba) out of Rockwell. They have been diving since 2004. Don became an instructor in December of 2009 and Carrie in January of 2010. They are both part of PADI trained, which stands for Professional Association Diving Instructors.
They do most of their teaching in Des Moines, but for their North Iowa students they practice in the pool at the YMCA and at Rockwell. They practice at Big Blue for open water training.
The students use Don and Carrie’s equipment. The new students are required to purchase a mask, fin and snorkel package. The cost of the package is around $100. The tanks that they use weigh 46 pounds when full, and they also use lead weights since the suits they wear tends to bring them to the surface. They have rental equipment; more information on that can be found on their web site http://www.northiowascuba.com or you can email them at niascuba@gmail.com.
The rest of the students were from Des Moines. Alex Thompson, an Advanced Student, Mark Chappelle, Jeff Miller and Mike Morse, all Dive Masters, and John Ayers, a Open Water Diver. The steps to go through are: Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Dive Master, Assistant Instructor and Instructor. After that you can advance as far as you want to go.
Don and Carrie also offer Discover Scuba Diving. This is for people who are curious about scuba diving, but not quite sure how involved they want to get into it. For $50, they will take you diving at the pool in Rockwell or the YMCA and give basic scuba diving instructions.
Both Don and Carrie are members of the Iowa Underwater Search and Rescue. They have had a couple cases around North Iowa. Their most recent was the tragic drowning of a teenage boy in Clear Lake over the Fourth of July weekend.
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