Michael Zimmerman is taking a dive for love.

After nearly drowning as a child – and harboring a longtime fear of water – the retired U.S. Navy serviceman is learning to scuba dive. His newfound underwater expertise will come in handy when he and his wife, Debi Zimmerman, visit Oahu this fall to celebrate 20 years of marriage and explore undersea life.

“I’ve been all over the world, and I want to experience Hawaii,” he said. “It’s going to be exhilarating.”

Zimmerman is one of hundreds of people earning diving certifications this year through a half-dozen schools stretching from Spokane to Coeur d’Alene.

People pay about $225 to learn to maintain buoyancy, breathe on a regulator, use equipment and equalize ear pressure. Summertime finds the schools packed with people preparing for trips to warm-water destinations, such as Hawaii, and training to explore local rivers and lakes. The shops also sell gear and scuba diving excursions.

Landlocked Divers in Spokane Valley is running full classes, said owner Mike Lusco, adding, “I would say right now we’re probably two or three times busier than what we would be in the winter.”

As co-owner of Atlantis Aquatics in Spokane Valley, Randall Kendall has noticed that diving is gaining popularity.

“They’re seeing it on TV, and now they want to go and try it for themselves. We have a broad array of customers,” Kendall said, adding that a lot of the customers are 22 to 45 years old.

Last Thursday, Zimmerman, a 43-year-old north Spokane resident, was among nine Scuba Center of Spokane students doing practice dives at the YWCA’s swimming pool. The masked group hugged the pool floor, learning to clear water from inside their goggles, and control buoyancy, under the watchful eye of shop owner and instructor Jamie Mankin.

“He’s very comfortable,” Zimmerman said of his instructor. “I’ve already told him my fear about water, and they’re willing to take their time with me.”

Students study in a classroom at the north Spokane school and practice pool dives before trying full dives in area lakes or hours away in coastal waters. Classes run one day a week for a month, and the school trains about 150 to 200 students annually, Mankin said.

Jereme Carr, 30, became certified through the school three years ago. He likes the sport so much he spent $1,500 on equipment and dives twice a month with friends.

“Most of the people are certified and just want to get wet, basically. It’s calming and soothing. It’s just so quiet,” said Carr, who lives in Spokane Valley.

Half the 100 or more divers trained at Coeur d’Alene’s Divers West Inc. each year are interested in local lakes, and a few of them get together periodically, said store manager Shane Steube. “We do a weekly dive together, and we usually go diving on Lake Coeur d’Alene or somewhere close.”

Some schools offer free or discounted dives so people can determine if they’re comfortable in an environment that, for some, feels claustrophobic.

“You don’t have to be a great swimmer, but you are definitely going to need a good deal of comfort in the water,” Mankin said.

For people who gain certification, a colorful array of tropical fish and sharks are a flight away. For those who stay closer to home, a sunken train awaits on the floor of Lake Pend Oreille. Beneath the surface of Lake Coeur d’Alene divers can find more than a half-dozen sunken steamboats.

Sometimes diving stories are like fishing stories – they get bigger with time. “Ninety percent of the train stories you hear about are pipe dreams,” Mankin said.

Lusco likes diving the Spokane River, in a spot between Argonne and Plante’s Ferry Park. It has an underwater cave filled with large bass, crawdads and other aquatic life.

“I think, personally, some of the best diving is right here in the Spokane River.”