SCUBA Diving Always High on First Couple’s Vacation Agenda

Maybe it’s not so fitting that a man named Keel would find himself in the water.

Though Brooks Keel readily admits he was not fond of the water, he and his wife, Tammie Schalue, started SCUBA diving in 2000. After logging more than 100 dives, they became certified instructors in 2001 and now take every opportunity to dive.

“This was something that Tammie wanted to do,” Keel said. “She always has loved to be in the water and had wanted to learn SCUBA diving. I was petrified of water.

“We were at a conference in Maui and at the hotel they offered what they called a resort course,” he said. “Basically you get together with a dive instructor and he gives you a preliminary education in what SCUBA’s all about. He gets you in the pool with the dive gear and you swim around and, if you’re okay with that, he takes you out one-on-one in the ocean on a short shore dive.

“I thought I’d at least do the pool part of it,” he said. “So, I went through that, got in the pool, blew bubbles and swam around and thought that was pretty cool, but I didn’t really want to go out in the ocean. I went back to the hotel room and Tammie went out with the dive instructor.

“I was sitting there reading a book while she was out SCUBA diving, and when she came back her eyes were the size of saucers. She was just bouncing off the walls. She said, ‘Brooks you gotta do this! You gotta do this!’ So I said, ‘Alright, I’ll do it.’

“Fortunately, we had an instructor who was just fantastic,” said Keel. “We went out and as soon as I got underwater, and especially with an instructor with whom I was really comfortable, it was just the most fantastic experience I think I’ve ever had.”

Then he met an octopus.

“Octopi are very territorial and the instructor knew where all the animals were,” said Keel. “He reached under this little rock and pulled out an octopus and put it in my hand. What he wanted me to do was to put my hand up with the octopus in it so he could take a picture. When I did, the octopus went ‘Wham!’ right on my face. I looked like something out of the movie ‘Alien’.

“Tammie laughed so hard she flooded her mask.

“It was such a great experience and it was something that Tammie and I could do together. We got certified the following February,” said Keel. “We loved it so much we went straight through from that point to be divemasters and then instructors.”