By Scott Smith
smith@newsroom.byu.edu
Students of BYU's new scuba diving program became certified divers Thursday night, Oct. 5, by successfully finishing their open water diving tests in The Crater.
The Crater, located at the Homestead Resort in Midway, Wasatch county is a natural warm water spring, deep enough to allow scuba diving.
Jim Simons, an open water dive instructor for Water World Divers, the dive school teaching the scuba classes for BYU, said The Crater is the only place of its kind.
It is 65-feet deep and constantly 95 degrees, Simons said.
'From the outside, the crater is an odd-looking mound. It is kind of out of place,' said Cori Smith, 25, a graduate student from Park City, Utah.
Dive students enter The Crater through a tunnel in the rock.
Once inside The Crater, Smith said the small opening in the top of the dome makes it feel like you are in the crater of a volcano.
'It is kind of dark and eerie, but also exciting to be able to dive in such a unique place,' Smith said.
Thursday's dive was the culmination of several weeks of class. Students of the scuba program have been attending class at Water World Divers in the University Mall and diving in the Provo Recreation Center Pool since the beginning of fall semester.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, students made the first three of five certification dives in The Crater.
Simons said the requirements for certification involve five dives spread over two separate days.
The first day of certification took students to 20 feet where they practiced several required skills.
The first dive allowed students to get used to being deeper than ever before, said Marc Larson, an open water instructor for Water World Divers.
Also, Larson said the students were tested on various skills such as clearing their mask of water while under water and methods of retrieving the regulator if it was knocked out of their mouth.
Larson said the second dive had students remain on the surface and test snorkeling skills.
During the final dive on Oct. 5, students were tested on the necessary survival skill of sharing air if someone was low, or ran out of air while under water.
In the final two certification dives on Thursday, students practiced other survival skills and took some free time to swim around The Crater.
Jon Schmitt, 24, a senior from Provo, majoring in public relations, said he took the class for fun.
'Even if I don't get to use it much ... it is still an experience that enriches your life,' Schmitt said.
Scuba classes are offered through the Department of Physical Education during second block and during Winter Semester. Students wishing to take the class can register for the Winter Semester class through the AIM system, or can contact Water World Divers to find out if there is room in second block classes to add.