Fresno Bee Article

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Chris Tostenson, center left, leads a dive class at Bob's Dive Shop in Fresno. (Kurt Hegre / The Fresno Bee)

There's an incredible world waiting beneath the waves. It's a place loaded with beauty and adventure. For those seeking escape from the clamor of modern city life, diving offers a quiet, weightless serenity. And if it's an adrenaline rush you crave, you can find that in the ocean, too, perhaps as close as a set of long antennae waving from inside a hole in the rocks.

"When you're under water, you are weightless," says Donald Robinson, 71, of Lemoore. "You can move up or down or side to side with little or no effort. And you constantly feel this sense of discovery in this new environment."

He likes to dive in the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast near Santa Barbara and Ventura.

"Out there," Robinson says, "you can find kelp forests that are truly like forests. There are stands of kelp up to 100 feet high. It's like wandering through what amounts to trunks of kelp. I feel like an 8-year-old. That's a big part of the attraction of diving. It keeps me feeling young."

Robinson, director of a medical clinic in Tulare, dis- covered scuba diving 45 years ago and has traveled the world in search of underwater adven- tures. He has done warm-water diving in the Caribbean and has explored Truk lagoon in the Western Pacific, regarded as the world's foremost graveyard of sunken ships.

Truk was a major Japanese military base during World War II. During an attack by American forces in 1944, more than 70 ships were sunk. Today, divers come from around the world to explore the ghostly remains lying on the bottom of the sheltered lagoon.

Inland appeal

Although the landlocked central San Joaquin Valley primarily is known for its agriculture and arid climate, scuba diving has become a popular recreational activity for Robinson and scores of other area residents.

Some of the finest cold-water diving opportunities in America are just hours away by car on the Central California coast near Monterey.

A diver feeds stingrays near Grand Cayman. (Donald Robinson / Special to The Bee)

For those willing to travel farther, diving opportunities abound in such places as the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, Belize, Hawaii and the South Pacific.

Brian Kempe, a computer programmer from Fresno, makes about 100 dives a year, primarily in the Channel Islands and the Monterey area.

"There's a deep canyon that comes up and touches the coast near Monterey," says Kempe. "That's where our cold water comes from. But the cold water also brings a huge variety of marine life."

Kempe enjoys observing creatures of the deep and hunting lobster and halibut.

"One time, I caught a lobster that had a 2-foot shell," says Kempe. "He was 4 feet long with the length of his antennae.

"These are not gentle creatures. You grab them, and it's like trying to hold onto somebody's moving fist. You know you're in for about a 10-minute struggle."

Kempe also likes to pet tor- pedo rays, a practice that most people would find shocking. The torpedo ray is able to generate a strong electrical shock to defend itself or to stun its prey. The jolt isn't strong enough to seriously hurt a human, but it can be unpleasant. "I like the electric handshake," says Kempe.

Safety first

Although he doesn't shy away from a little playful interaction with an octopus or torpedo ray, Kempe takes no risks when it comes to diving safety.

On every dive, he carries backup equipment for each component of his breathing system. He began this practice after he lost his mouthpiece and regulator in 42 feet of water one time and had to surface rapidly.

A different type of underwater hunting appeals to Jay Price of Clovis.

"I take a lot of photographs," he says, adding that he likes to take pictures of colorful clown fish and sharks. "If you sit in one place and look, you'll be amazed at how much life there is in a square foot of the ocean floor." Price developed a fond- ness for stingrays during a trip to the Cayman Islands. He happened to be diving near a spot where fishermen were cleaning their catch.

"The rays swarmed around like pet dogs," he says. "If you have food, they'll eat out of your hand. They feel like crushed velvet."

Price and his wife, Lisa, discovered scuba diving during a vacation trip to the Virgin Islands in 1990. "We took a resort course and fell in love with it," says Price.

After returning to Fresno, Price took a comprehensive course offered through a dive shop to earn his certification. Lisa Price also is a certified diver, as are the couple's two children, Courtney, 19, and Taylor, 16.

Fish warily swim by a coral reef near Cozumel, Mexico. (Donald Robinson / Special to The Bee)

Jay Price says a typical diving vacation is both exhilarating and relaxing.

"When you're under water, the only thing you hear is your bubbles," he says.

"We usually spend about five days diving [from a boat]. We'll start at 8 in the morning and go until about 1 p.m. Then we'll take a break and maybe make a shore dive in the afternoon.

"We also like to make a couple of night dives. There is a whole different group of crea- tures that only come out at night. One time in Bora-Bora, I saw a moray eel that was 6 or 7 feet long and as big around as a basketball."

Growing popularity

According to a 1998 study by the Leisure Trends Group of Boulder, Colo., nearly 26 mil- lion Americans have tried scuba diving at one time or another and 8% of Americans consider themselves active divers.

Scuba diving began as a male sport in the 1950s and 1960s. But in recent years, men and women have been learning to dive in equal numbers.

"Of every seven divers we train, I'd say three are women," says Michael Sahakian, presi- dent of Aqua Sports dive shop in Fresno.

Native Fresnan Michel Roberts has been diving since 1990. Although she and her husband, James, now live in Portland, Ore., they return to the Valley at least once a year for some diving on California's Central Coast.

"I love the adventure and traveling to exotic places," she says.

"Learning to dive was more involved than I thought it would be, but I was glad because I wanted to feel safe. The physical part was easy, but the book work was more than I expected."

Roberts has a 2-year-old son, Benjamin. "When we went to Yap, we took him with us and hired a nanny to watch him while we went diving," she says. "I can't wait until my son is old enough to start diving."

Recent advances in equipment have made diving easier and more comfortable, says Blair Jensen, owner of Underwater Excursions dive shop in Visalia.

"People used to think only a Navy frogman could do this sport," says Jensen. "But today, you don't have to be a super swimmer or in super physical condition to go diving, as long as you know your limitations.

"There's a huge interest in diving in the Valley. Some months we'll do three trips to the coast and take 10-12 people per trip."

Equipment upgrades

Technological advances such as the buoyancy control device and computerized air management system have made diving easier and safer, says Ed Salamone, co-owner with his wife, Mary Tostenson, of Bob's Dive Shop in Fresno.

The buoyancy control device eliminates extra exertion by keeping a diver weightless and buoyant under water, he says.

Computerized instruments keep track of how much time a diver has spent at each depth and spells out when a diver needs to surface as well as what his rate of ascent should be.

"The computer also tells you how long you need to stay out of the water before you can dive again," says Salamone.

Before computers, divers had to keep track of how long it was safe to stay underwater at a certain depth with a watch and Navy dive tables. Now the computer does all the calculating and warns divers accordingly.

Breath of life

Diving can be dangerous for those who do not respect the physiological effects of breath- ing air under increased pres- sure, says Michael Lynch, a Fresno internist and scuba diver.

Divers breathe compressed air that is about 80% nitrogen, says Lynch. The pressure of this air doubles at a depth of 33 feet below the surface and triples at 66 feet. The greater the pres- sure, the more nitrogen will diffuse into the blood and tissue.

As a diver comes to the surface, pressure decreases and the nitrogen forms bubbles. If the dive has not been too deep for too long and the ascent is gradual, tiny nitrogen bubbles work their way out of the body without any problems.

But if the ascent is too rapid, says Lynch, the smaller bubbles turn into larger bubbles that can block blood flow and lead to joint pain, paralysis or stroke. This condition is called decompression sickness or the bends.

Even divers who appear symptom-free when they emerge from the water need to be careful. Lynch says people who travel to the mountains after diving or try to fly home too soon after a diving vacation may experience decompression sickness. The increase in altitude, with its decreased air pressure, can accelerate the release of excess nitrogen in the body and produce illness.

Lynch says divers should wait 24 hours after their last dive before flying or traveling to the mountains. He also recommends prospective divers get a medical clearance from their doctors before taking up the sport.

Full-service dive shops offer diving classes, equipment and organized trips to destinations on the California coast and faraway vacation spots.

Diving isn't a cheap sport. Lessons cost $200-$225, and it typically takes eight to 10 sessions over four weeks to complete.

Basic equipment starts around $1,100 but can cost many times that.

Group diving trips can range from less than $100 for day trips on the coast to $2,200 per person for eight nights and nine days in Fiji.

The reporter can be reached at gkeeler@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6383.