With the University of North Georgia’s Dahlonega campus being in the mountains, scuba diving is not an activity that appears to be readily available. That has not stopped students from coming together and sharing their passions for exploring the depths of the sea elsewhere. 

UNG’s Scuba Club is a student organization that was established in 2016. Its mission is to provide members with skills, gear, knowledge and a sense of community to those who are interested in deep-sea diving. The club welcomes students who are new to scuba diving and those who have experience and are looking to add to their dive log. As a club member, students can earn their scuba diving certification to go on annual or semi-annual dive trips together. The Scuba Club has been on trips to places such as Destin, Pensacola, Morehead and Blue Springs. 

Vicente Narvaez, a senior accounting student, is the president of the Scuba Club. Narvaez said he initially heard about the club through advertising on campus and through friends who ran the club. Narvaez took on a leadership role during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. 

“The club started to die during the pandemic and there was not a lot of interest,” Narvaez said. “The ex-president graduated, and I wanted to take her place and run it for myself.” 

Since the pandemic, the club has had a stronger following and been on a handful of diving trips.

Narvaez said this year the club will vote on what trip they want to embark on next once enough of the divers are ready.

“I believe more people should know about [the club] since it is interesting, fun and very opening to certain people who would overlook it. [Scuba diving] allows you to travel to another world essentially without leaving earth.”  -Vicente Narvaez, President of UNG’s Scuba Club 

The club meets every week on Thursdays at 4 p.m. in Young Hall on UNG’s Dahlonega campus. Click here for more information regarding UNG’s Scuba Club.