Finding Possibility Underwater
Adaptive Scuba with Just Breathe Adaptive
What if the thing you think you can’t do is something you simply haven’t had the right support to try?
For Robin Knight and the team at Just Breathe Adaptive, that’s one of the questions at the heart of their work.
Just Breathe Adaptive is a Utah-based nonprofit that helps individuals with a broad range of disabilities experience adaptive scuba diving. Their participants have disabilities ranging from physical to cognitive, and the program is designed around one simple idea:
Adapt the experience to the person, not the other way around.
What Makes Adaptive Scuba Different?
In traditional open-water scuba, divers are taught skills they need to perform independently.
Adaptive scuba takes a different approach.
At Just Breathe Adaptive, divers learn as part of a team. Every skill in the standard scuba certification process is evaluated to determine what the participant can do independently and where they may need additional support.
For example, if a diver doesn’t have the arm mobility needed to manipulate their equipment, their buddy can assist them.
The goal isn’t to eliminate the challenge. It’s to figure out what support makes participation possible.
That support might look different for every person.
And that’s okay.
Come Try It
Scuba diving might sound intimidating, especially if you’ve never been in the water before.
Just Breathe Adaptive’s answer is simple:
Come try it.
Participants can come experience adaptive scuba for free, with no expectations and no commitment.
The first experience starts in shallow water, often around four or five feet deep, with a team around the participant to help keep them safe and supported.
Because sometimes you don’t know whether something is possible for you until you actually try.
And you might discover something you never expected.
Finding Independence in the Water
One of the most meaningful things Robin sees in participants is empowerment.
On land, a person’s disability may limit their mobility or ability to participate in certain activities.
Underwater, things can be different.
With the right adaptations and support, participants can experience a sense of mobility, independence, and participation that may not be available to them on land.
They can take part in an activity alongside other people.
They can learn new skills.
They can make decisions and communicate what they need.
And they can discover that their disability doesn’t have to prevent them from experiencing something new.
For many participants, that feeling of empowerment extends beyond the water.
Building Community Along the Way
The experience isn’t just about scuba diving.
Participants go through the certification process together, creating opportunities to build relationships and community along the way.
They learn how to communicate with their team.
They practice advocating for their needs.
They talk openly about challenges and figure out what works for them.
And those relationships can continue beyond the certification process.
Just Breathe Adaptive takes participants on diving trips, including trips within the United States and internationally. Participants may travel with people they’ve trained and built friendships with, creating an opportunity to experience something new together.
The organization also recognizes that accessibility doesn’t end when you leave the water.
Their network of participants has built up a wealth of knowledge about accessible travel, adaptive equipment, and navigating different destinations. When someone has a question the team doesn’t have an immediate answer to, there’s often someone in their community who can help find it.
It’s About More Than the Dive
One of the goals that makes Just Breathe Adaptive unique is creating opportunities for participants to share these experiences with the people they care about.
The goal isn’t simply to get someone certified and send them off on their own.
It’s about creating opportunities to dive with friends and family, build relationships around a shared activity, and experience new places together.
Just Breathe Adaptive works to identify and vet locations for accessibility so participants can focus on the experience rather than having to figure out every accessibility question on their own.
For many divers, the ultimate goal is to experience the ocean.
But the team works with each individual to determine what environment makes sense for their abilities and needs.
For some, that may mean warmer water because thermoregulation is a concern. For others, there may be depth or cognitive considerations that make a controlled environment a better fit.
The question isn’t, “Can you do it exactly the way everyone else does?”
The question is:
“How can we make this possible for you?”
A Safe Place to Push Your Limits
Just Breathe Adaptive believes in pushing participants a little outside their comfort zones, while being thoughtful about safety and individual needs.
Scuba diving is already an activity that asks people to do something unfamiliar.
Sometimes participants discover they are capable of much more than they thought.
Those opportunities for growth don’t only happen during a dive. They can happen between participants, too, as people encourage one another, share what they’ve learned, and watch each other take on challenges.
The goal isn’t to push someone beyond what is safe.
It’s to create an environment where they can safely discover what is possible.
What Does the Process Look Like?
Getting started is intentionally simple.
First, reach out to Just Breathe Adaptive through their website, email, or phone. The team will provide information and answer questions so you can decide whether the program feels like a good fit.
If you’re interested, you’ll schedule a free experience.
If you decide you’d like to continue, you’ll begin the certification process.
That includes academic learning through an online program adapted to the participant’s ability level, along with hands-on pool training.
Participants learn the same fundamental skills required for open-water scuba certification, but the team adapts individual skills as needed.
There is no need to rush through the process.
Participants spend the time they need in the pool to develop their skills, often working in one-hour sessions that allow the team to be mindful of the participant’s individual needs.
As they progress, divers may train at the Homestead Crater in Midway, Utah. The crater provides a unique year-round training environment with warm water and depths reaching approximately 65 feet, allowing divers to practice taking their skills into deeper water.
Once participants are comfortable communicating with their team and advocating for what they need, the conversation can turn toward travel.
Just Breathe Adaptive organizes diving trips and also maintains connections with other organizations that may provide additional opportunities when their own trips don’t fit someone’s schedule.
And when participants travel, they have buddies on location to help support them in the water.
You Don’t Have to Know If You Can Do It Yet
You don’t have to know whether adaptive scuba will work for you before you reach out.
You don’t have to be confident.
You don’t have to know what adaptations you’ll need.
You don’t even have to know whether you’ll like it.
Come try.
Robin’s message is simple: whatever you’re struggling with, Just Breathe Adaptive may not be the thing that helps.
But it might be.
There may be physiological benefits to being in the water, and participants may also experience benefits related to anxiety, confidence, connection, and symptoms associated with trauma.
You won’t know until you try.
And trying doesn’t mean committing.
It can simply mean asking a question, getting some information, and deciding what feels right for you.
For survivors and caregivers who are looking for a new experience, a new community, or a reminder that there may still be things worth discovering, that first step can be as simple as reaching out.
You never know what might become possible until you try.
Watch this Resource Conversation to learn more about Just Breathe Adaptive.
Learn More About Just Breathe Adaptive
Just Breathe Adaptive provides adaptive scuba experiences, training, certification, travel opportunities, and community for individuals with disabilities.Learn more and connect with the team at: justbreatheadaptive.org
