Sylwia and I got PADI certified back in 2007 when we officially became Open Water divers. Over the next four years, we continued training and logging dives, eventually reaching Divemaster status. I racked up around 28 certifications and Sylwia completed about 20. By 2011—after completing 130 dives—we had both graduated college and started new jobs. That’s when diving naturally took a back seat.
We still managed a few local dives here and there, but according to my dive log, our last dive, number 146 was in 2017 at Haigh Quarry in Kankakee, Illinois. The following year, Grayson was born, and diving dropped off completely.
Now, Grayson turns seven this month, and by his next birthday, he’ll be old enough to begin the PADI Bubblemaker program. With that in mind, we decided it was time to dust off our old gear and bring it to Toucan Dive—the local dive shop where it all began—for a tune-up and a chance to get back in the water.
The boys were on dog duty at Uncle Filip’s on Friday, stopping by in the afternoon to let Zoey out so she could do her business and stretch her legs—Ania wasn’t getting home until after 7 p.m. We took her down to the lake, where she happily swam after a stick Grayson kept throwing. Like our boys, she absolutely loves the water.
While we were there, I had a chance to test out the new bike cover I ordered online. It’s a heavy-duty one, really solid quality. I was a little worried it wouldn’t fit properly with all three boxes mounted, but to my relief, it was snug—but it fit.
Saturday morning started off smoothly—and surprisingly, we were right on schedule. We had picked up our rental tanks a couple of days earlier, so gear-wise, we were all set. The plan was simple: drop the boys off at Babcia’s house by 9 a.m., then hit the road to South Beloit, IL.
Our destination was Pearl Lake, a spring-fed sand quarry spanning 50 acres, nestled within a 207-acre property that includes over 300 RV spots. It’s home to a large public sandy beach, and for divers, there are designated entry points if you’re affiliated with a dive shop. Toucan Dive, the shop we got certified through back in 2007, has had the same dive spot for as long as we can remember.
There was a chance of rain in the forecast, but we figured it would pass. Unfortunately, it rained almost the entire hour and fifteen minutes of the drive. Once we arrived, we ended up sitting in the parking lot for nearly an hour waiting for the downpour to ease before we could check in at the office.
By the time we made it to the dive site, the Toucan Dive crew was already there and set up, though no one had entered the water yet due to the weather and lightning. As we began setting up our gear, the sun finally started to peek through the clouds, and we prepped for our first dive.
Since it had been about eight years since our last dive, we decided to leave the underwater camera behind and focus on getting reacquainted with our equipment. The water clarity was surprisingly good—easily 15 to 20 feet—and we saw plenty of fish, both large and small. We descended onto the sunken school bus and made our way to a submerged boat, both now completely encrusted with zebra mussels. After about 30 minutes underwater, we surfaced with around 2,000 psi left in our tanks (for context, a full scuba tank holds 3,000 psi).
After the first dive, Sylwia grabbed a bite from the grill. Toucan was serving up hamburgers and hot dogs, with plenty of chips, cookies, and snacks for everyone.
For our second and final dive, we brought the underwater camera along. The conditions weren’t quite as clear—visibility dropped to about 10–15 feet due to algae and the number of student divers stirring up the bottom—but we still managed to capture some great underwater scenes. It was a solid hour-long dive and we surfaced with just a couple hundred psi left in our tanks.
Once we were back on land, we packed up slowly and made our way home—tired but happy to be back in the water after all these years.
Toward the end of our second dive, Sylwia spotted something lying on the bottom, and I swam over to check it out. It turned out to be a brand new mask and snorkel—likely dropped by one of the training divers in about 15 feet of water. It felt like a great little find… for about a minute. Just after we snapped a quick photo, two instructors showed up actively searching for it, so I handed it over and surrendered my short-lived treasure.
Gave the boys a chance to breathe through a scuba regulator using the last bit of air in our tanks—a quick preview of the underwater world. One breath was all it took—they were instantly hooked.
