Past Club Meetings (on-campus)

15 April 2009

We had guest speakers from the Cache County Sheriff's Search & Rescue Dive Team! They talked to us about public safety diving, and showed us some of their gear! Watch video below (42 minutes).

25 March 2009

We talked about dive gear: specifically, how to buy it inexpensively. We also gave a report of our recent trip to California.

25 February 2009

We met and watched Monterey Shore Diving. We also discussed our upcoming trip to Monterey.

28 January 2009

First club meeting of the Spring 2009 semester. We gave an overview of several Utah Dive Sites (powerpoint) and gave a trip report from some diving in California (Palos Verdes) that our club president did over winter break. We also discussed our upcoming trip to dive the kelp forests of Monterey, CA.

19 November 2008

Last meeting of the semester. Informal discussion. We distributed a few dive magazines we had (recent issues of "Dive Training" courtesy of Aquatic Adventures in Clearfield).

05 November 2008

Josh Thornton (club member and Dive Addicts instructor) talked about tech diving: what it is, the training and gear required, and more. Video below.

Tech Diving Presentation by Josh Thornton

15 October 2008

Doctor Jim Davis, the head of the campus health center (and active diver!) gave a presentation on diving medicine. Video available below.

Diving Medicine Dicsussion with Doc Davis

10 September 2008

USU Scuba Club Opening Social for the 2008-2009 school year. Members brought along dive pictures to share, and told some great stories about their recent diving adventures. We gave a trip report from the club trip to California earlier this summer.

16 April 2008

We discussed and made plans for our summer Monterey trip. This was the last club meeting of the semester besides a potluck dinner for those that were coming with us to Monterey (right before the trip).

26 March 2008

We learned about some of the common critters of the pacific ocean: algae, invertebrates, fish, and more. The slideshow is available below for viewing online. Also, check out our list of references for identification of Pacific coast marine life (pdf).


5 March 2008

We talked about the effects of diving on the body: nitrogen, oxygen, dive tables, computers, breathing gases other than air, and more. We reviewed the use of dive tables for planning safe dives. 12 members attended. No video taken.

13 February 2008

Due to the extreme weather and school cancellation, we had a relatively small turnout for our club meeting (a dozen people). We skipped the planned discussion of scuba gear and just chatted. No video taken.

11 February 2008

Certification course organizational meeting. 14 People signed up for an open water scuba diver certification course with Hans Parkin, a local scuba instructor. Cost: $200 for certification, plus admissions fees of approximately $50.

16 January 2008

Our first meeting. We had over 50 people in attendance! We discussed what scuba diving is, how to get certified, and gave an overview of the gear used for scuba diving.

You can watch an archived video of the meeting below (click on the play button). If you missed the meeting, it'll fill you in on what we talked about if you want to spend an hour watching it. We'll try to do this for all club meetings.

16 January 2008 (56 minutes)

The video can also be watched at Google Video: Low quality | High quality

Past Club Dives

26-27, 29 June 2009: Advanced Scuba Course at Blue Lake, UT and Twin Lakes, ID

Four club members completed their advanced scuba certifications with Hans Parkin/Cache Scuba School. Four dives were done at Blue Lake (Underwater Navigation, Night Diving, Peak Performance Buoyancy, and Deep Diving), and one at Twin lakes (Search and Recovery). Visiblity was about 8 feet at Blue Lake, and 15-20 at Twin Lakes. Water temperature was about 75-80 at Blue Lake, and 65 at Twin Lakes. Fish (primarily Bluegill and Largemouth Bass) were seen at both sites. Pictures and video available here.

2-8 May 2009: Southern CA (Laguna Beach and La Jolla)

We had a nice trip to dive around Laguna Beach and La Jolla, California. Four club members participated. We left right after finals ended. Diving highlights: swimming with bat rays, sea lions, and a moray eel. Besides diving, we also visited Sea World, the Birch Aquarium, and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center. See more info here.

7-14 March 2009: Monterey, CA

We spent a week diving in California. We stayed at the Lone Oak Lodge, and toured the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamber while we were there. We did 13 dives during the week (M-F). Our deepest dive was to 76 feet, our longest dive was 55 minutes. Visibility was between 15 and 50 feet during the week, and average water temperature was about 53°F. We saw plenty of marine critters. See our trip detail page for more information, and a link to our pictures.

20 Sep 2008: Bear Lake, UT

We went diving on the east side of Bear Lake, at Cisco beach. We dove Saturday morning, although a few of us went up Friday night to camp there. Several members rented gear from Hans Parkin. The water was about 53 degrees at depth (70 feet), warmer near the surface. Divers reported seeing several types of fish: carp, trout, and sculpin. Depending on depth, visibility was about 15 feet.

17-25 May 2008: Monterey, CA trip

Fabulous (and not-so-fabulous, thanks to record winds) diving on the California coast. Pictures available here. See our Monterey Trip Report for more details.

22 March 2008

We joined Hans Parkin and his students from Cache Scuba School and dove at the Homestead Crater. The water was warm (over 90 degrees) and deep (~60 feet), and visibility wasn't bad (about 25 feet). Several club members attended.

26 January 2008

Our first (recent) club dive was held Saturday, January 26th, 2008, from 2pm to 5pm. Cost: $8 or $28. We met at Camperworld (Belmont Hot Springs), in the larger of the two ponds there. The dive was for certified divers only. Admission to Camperworld was $8 (for certified divers), and rental gear was available for an additional $20. The water was murky (~5 feet of visibility), but really warm (my dive computer said 90 degrees). An instructor was present to assist with gear setup and answer questions. This was an easy dive, and a good refresher for some club members that hadn't been in the water in years. Seven club members attended. See pictures here.

27,28 December 2007

Okay, so it wasn't much of a "club" dive, but the club president and his wife dove in Malibu, CA over winter break, and have some great pictures to show off! It was his first time using his underwater camera, and some of the pics look good! See photos here.


Other Activities

4 February 2008

Discover Scuba. Cost: $25. We had a "Discover Scuba" experience with Hans Parkin (Cache Scuba School), which allowed club members (not yet certified) to get experience with scuba diving without committing to a certification course. It includeed a short lecture, instruction in the pool (in scuba gear), and a little play time at the end. We were in the pool at the Sports Academy in North Logan. 9 club members participated. See pictures here.

15 November 2007

Discover Scuba. Robert Schmidt (our faculty advisor) helped organize this event with Lowell Huber (Blue Water Scuba of Logan) at the Municipool. See photos here.