Diving Recreationally As Active Duty Army

[Zach The Diver]

Good evening- what are some of the good (and common) PCS locations that have enjoyable diving? I learned to dive while at JBLM.

Mostly interested in Army installations but I’d be willing to hear from the other branches as well.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Good evening- what are some of the good (and common) PCS locations that have enjoyable diving?

Awesome. Enjoyable diving is quite subjective.

I also learned to dive at Ft. Lewis (what JBLM was known as back in the day) in 2002. I signed up for lessons at The Northwest Adventure Center. I offer what I hope will be good insights for you. The first three will be where I have been assigned, and then I'll follow with some places that I know offer access to diving. I'm not fully updated on what some of the Army installations have changed their names to. So I'll just use their names when I was on active duty. I did 20 years and retired from the Army in 2019 (20 years was more than my fill of fun and BS).

Besides Ft. Lewis and the Puget Sound...

1. Schofield Barracks (and/or Ft. Shafter). All the Hawaiian islands offer scuba in one way or another. Oahu offers the best IMO in both shore diving galore and boat diving. Maui and the Big Island offer great diving also. You can probably get access to Lanai via some dive shops on Maui. You'll have to do your homework for diving off Molokai. My dive shop on Oahu, Island Divers Hawaii (they changed ownership; I don't know what the new name is), sometimes offered overnight charters to dive Molokai. You can hit up MWR or Leisure Travel Services for lodging options on the Big Island for less money than a typical tourist. Oahu is a great place to get technical dive training and certification because the conditions are ideal for training. I did my gas blending and tech certs while there. Hawaii tops it all when it comes to Army installations with access to scuba diving.

2. South Korea. There is diving off Jeju Island to the south of the Korean peninsula. Not the greatest diving but something different. Getting stationed at Camp Humphreys or Camp Walker will get you access to Korea diving. I dived Jeju Island in month of May; water temps were mid-60s. But the big ticket is access to diving areas such as Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, many of the Pacific islands, etc.

3. Military District of Washington/Ft. Myer/Ft. Belvoir/Ft. McNair etc. Maybe some installations like Ft. Lee or Ft. A.P. Hill. While not the most coveted dive destination in the world, you will have access to Atlantic Ocean diving options and quarries, lakes, and rivers on the East Coast. I found a non-profit based in Maryland called Institute of Maritime History (IMH) who I volunteered with. Their specialty was archaeological diving to survey wrecks in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay. If you want to level up on your diving skills and are confident then give them a try. You will encounter blackout conditions in which you can't see past your mask, mud, strange submerged things, entanglement hazards, bull sharks, flesh eating bacteria called Vibro vulnificus. It's better to dive solo than with a buddy because you'll just lose your buddy in the muck and darkness. You will all enter as a group, but after descent you'll all get separated. Quite challenging conditions but all your dives are free of charge with IMH!

Other places that will give you decent access to diving:

1. The Presidio of Monterey, California. Access to great diving at Monterey Bay and conditions similiar to Puget Sound.

2. Fort Stewart, Georgia. Easily within reach of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary off of Savannah, Georgia.

3. Ft. Rucker, Alabama. Striking distance to all the diving in Florida panhandle and south Florida.

4. Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. The best draw is Morehead City, North Carolina to dive the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

 

[VsubT]

Ft. Drum in upstate NY has the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario nearby. Both have great freshwater wreck diving.

Lance

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Ft. Drum in upstate NY has the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario nearby. Both have great freshwater wreck diving.

Lance

Nice one! I totally forgot about Ft. Drum and the diving around there!

 

[Zach The Diver]

Awesome. Enjoyable diving is quite subjective.

I also learned to dive at Ft. Lewis (what JBLM was known as back in the day) in 2002. I signed up for lessons at The Northwest Adventure Center. I offer what I hope will be good insights for you. The first three will be where I have been assigned, and then I'll follow with some places that I know offer access to diving. I'm not fully updated on what some of the Army installations have changed their names to. So I'll just use their names when I was on active duty. I did 20 years and retired from the Army in 2019 (20 years was more than my fill of fun and BS).

Besides Ft. Lewis and the Puget Sound...

1. Schofield Barracks (and/or Ft. Shafter). All the Hawaiian islands offer scuba in one way or another. Oahu offers the best IMO in both shore diving galore and boat diving. Maui and the Big Island offer great diving also. You can probably get access to Lanai via some dive shops on Maui. You'll have to do your homework for diving off Molokai. My dive shop on Oahu, Island Divers Hawaii (they changed ownership; I don't know what the new name is), sometimes offered overnight charters to dive Molokai. You can hit up MWR or Leisure Travel Services for lodging options on the Big Island for less money than a typical tourist. Oahu is a great place to get technical dive training and certification because the conditions are ideal for training. I did my gas blending and tech certs while there. Hawaii tops it all when it comes to Army installations with access to scuba diving.

2. South Korea. There is diving off Jeju Island to the south of the Korean peninsula. Not the greatest diving but something different. Getting stationed at Camp Humphreys or Camp Walker will get you access to Korea diving. I dived Jeju Island in month of May; water temps were mid-60s. But the big ticket is access to diving areas such as Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, many of the Pacific islands, etc.

3. Military District of Washington/Ft. Myer/Ft. Belvoir/Ft. McNair etc. Maybe some installations like Ft. Lee or Ft. A.P. Hill. While not the most coveted dive destination in the world, you will have access to Atlantic Ocean diving options and quarries, lakes, and rivers on the East Coast. I found a non-profit based in Maryland called Institute of Maritime History (IMH) who I volunteered with. Their specialty was archaeological diving to survey wrecks in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay. If you want to level up on your diving skills and are confident then give them a try. You will encounter blackout conditions in which you can't see past your mask, mud, strange submerged things, entanglement hazards, bull sharks, flesh eating bacteria called Vibro vulnificus. It's better to dive solo than with a buddy because you'll just lose your buddy in the muck and darkness. You will all enter as a group, but after descent you'll all get separated. Quite challenging conditions but all your dives are free of charge with IMH!

Other places that will give you decent access to diving:

1. The Presidio of Monterey, California. Access to great diving at Monterey Bay and conditions similiar to Puget Sound.

2. Fort Stewart, Georgia. Easily within reach of Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary off of Savannah, Georgia.

3. Ft. Rucker, Alabama. Striking distance to all the diving in Florida panhandle and south Florida.

4. Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. The best draw is Morehead City, North Carolina to dive the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

Very informative! Currently at Rucker (nowadays Novosel) and been hitting some of the local springs and Gulf wrecks when I can. I’ve done some diving out of Oahu and Kona on personal leave and it was incredible.

I heard there is some diving in Korea off of the east coast (of course it has to be the side away from Humphries). Apparently it’s really difficult to get off the peninsula for leave nowadays because of the force posture requirements.

As for Drum, I have heard that the diving up in the Great Lakes area is fantastic. The cold freshwater environment preserves wrecks very well.

I also learned to dive through MWR at the Northwest Adventure Center. Unfortunately the program has been shut down indefinitely following a fatal diving accident back in 2022.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Unfortunately the program has been shut down indefinitely following a fatal diving accident back in 2022.

Dang. I looked up the incident and read some about it. How unfortunate.

 

[Zach The Diver]

Dang. I looked up the incident and read some about it. How unfortunate.

Yeah, it was a sad situation. I only got certified with them the year before so it was pretty unsettling news.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

Currently at Rucker (nowadays Novosel) and been hitting some of the local springs and Gulf wrecks when I can. I’ve done some diving out of Oahu and Kona on personal leave and it was incredible.

I looked up Novosel. Besides being a MOH recipient, he gave up his rank as lieutenant colonel in the Air Force to become a warrant officer in the Army. He must've loved military aviation!

I wish I took the time when I was stationed at Schofield Barracks to dive out of Kona especially to do the manta ray and pelagic night dives. Those are items that I will have to return to Hawaii to do.

FYI there is lodging available at Duke Field should you ever need it. Duke Field is located just off of Highway 85 between Crestview, Florida and Eglin AFB. Trying to find lodging at Eglin is next to impossible, at least for me, and many of the commercial hotel options around the Destin area are downright nasty. Duke Field usually has availability of clean rooms.