Scuba diving becoming popular sport in W.Va.

[Zach]

Scuba diving becoming popular sport in W.Va.

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — When West Virginians want to participate in an outdoor adventure, the obvious activities come to mind: whitewater rafting, rock climbing or skiing.
But the co-owners of X-treme Sports in Beckley think another outdoor activity will soon make a big splash in the Mountain State.

“Scuba diving is really growing in popularity,” said owner Alan Floresca. When he and Jim Holt took over the shop ten years ago, everything in it revolved around scuba diving.

“Instead of just scuba we expanded to snow skiing, snowboards, inline skates, wakeboards, mountain bikes, remote-controlled cars and other extreme sports activities,” he said. “Scuba diving seemed to drop off and getting good instructors to teach it in West Virginia was almost impossible.”

Recently, local diving legend Ken Parent moved back to the state, and is now offering scuba diving instruction.

“We offer the certification classes here (X-treme Sports) and the pool training is done at the local YMCA,” Floresca said.

Parent said he plans to teach and promote scuba diving in the state as a tourist attraction.

“West Virginia offers great scuba diving opportunities, but it is rarely promoted by state tourism officials,” he said. “I have a dream to show young people how scuba diving changed my life. I want others to be able to realize their dream and passion for scuba diving.”

There are plenty of places across the state that are great for scuba diving: Lake Stephens in Beckley, Summersville Lake, Mount Storm Lake, in Bismarck, and the Gauley and New rivers.

“Summersville Lake has been called The Little Bahamas of the East,” Parent said. “Its predominately all rock and has a maximum depth of about 380 feet. The visibility underwater is incredible.”

While Parent said being under water can cause some people to experience anxiety, its something everyone should at least experience once.

“At least one dive in a lifetime is worth it just to experience the feeling of weightlessness under water, the closest we could come to experiencing the non-gravity of space,” Parent said.

For more information call X-treme Sports at 255-2664.