WET & WILD : Women Dive Into Scuba and Add Splash of Color

Back in the 1960s, black was the main color in scuba shops. There were black wet suits, black fins, black masks and black snorkels--the color favored by macho men who gathered with huge spear guns to discuss the day’s catch.

Today, interspersed with the black, are splashes of shocking pink and powder blue; feminine-looking diving vests color-coordinated with rubber booties.

In 30 years, however, more than the colors of diving have changed. Scores of women have come into a sport dominated by men. And their presence has transformed an activity once centered on competitive game-hunting into a family-oriented sport primarily focused on aesthetics and the environment. In short, it has become what one longtime participant describes as a “more civilized” pursuit.

“In the old days,” recalls Sally Santmyer, owner of three Orange County scuba shops, “I couldn’t establish my authority. I’d walk up to a customer, and it was like I was invisible.”

Today Santmyer and others like her act as teachers and role models.

“When we used to have a class of 10 students,” Santmyer says, “even one woman was unusual. Now I have classes which are almost all women.”

She estimates that as many as 20% of the divers in Orange County today are women.

The change had its beginnings in the mid-1960s, Santmyer says, when hundreds of young male students--encouraged by the federal government’s new emphasis on environmental concerns--took on the sport intent on becoming oceanographers. Few of them ever became that, but many remained in diving and, a decade or so later, started bringing their wives and daughters into it.

That trend has had an impact on the sport diving industry in the past several years. Dive gear has taken on fashion overtones such as color-coordination. Manufacturers have produced smaller, woman-sized, scuba tanks, as well as wet suits tailored to the female form. And in recent years, family dive vacations--including luxurious, fully equipped boats--have taken the place of rugged all-male weekends spent roughing it in primitive environs.

Female divers are more relaxed and less competitive, Santmyer says. They “aren’t under any obligation to prove anything.”

She also says women tend to be more cautious, setting realistic parameters and staying within them. As a result, Santmyer says, the diving community in general has slowed down; instead of being obsessed with jumping in first, diving deepest, staying longest, covering the most ground and spearing the most fish, divers--many of whom now dive in mixed pairs--tend to take their time, observe safety rules, stay within a comfort zone and do more sightseeing than spearfishing.

Sam Miller, a local chiropractor who’s been diving Orange County waters for 43 years, says women have improved the sport. “Most assuredly they make good divers,” he says. “They are well-organized, follow the rules and make (considerate) diving buddies.”

As a result of women’s involvement, Miller says, diving has become a “much gentler sport. It’s much more comfortable. It’s become civilized.”

That seemed to describe the mood during a recent weekend at one of the county’s most popular diving spots, Diver’s Cove in Laguna Beach. “I like diving a lot,” said Wendy Keeler, 17, a Huntington Beach resident who earned a diving certificate two months ago with her father and brother. Since then, the three have gone diving regularly. “You’re able to see the underwater world, and it’s good exercise,” Keeler said. “It gets you away from the problems of the world.”

Said her dad, Jim Keeler, 46: Despite the new pink and blue wet suits, “down there everybody looks the same.”