Keep calm. Relax. Never hold your breath.

The number one rule in scuba diving — always breathe.

So says Rob Honke, who got into scuba diving five years ago after a friend moved to Alaska and left Honke his equipment.

“I knew it was something I wanted to do since I was a kid,” Honke said. “Now that I had the equipment, nothing was stopping me.”

The 46-year-old geared up and took his first dive in the Villa Marie subdivision swimming pool in Godfrey with the help of a buddy.

“The first time I went underwater it was kind of freaky,” he said. “After I sat for a few minutes, I calmed down. Once you relax, it keeps your mind off things.”

Honke said from that point on, he was hooked on scuba. He signed up to take a class at Midwest Scuba in St. Charles, Mo., and then completed his open water dives in Tarpon Springs, Fla.

Once certified to dive underwater, Honke started going out with his former instructors at Midwest Scuba.

When people think of scuba diving, they typically think about pristine ocean waters and sunken ships full of treasure, but for those who live in the Midwest, divers find themselves in lakes or rivers.

“There are a lot of places to go to dive around here that people don’t know about,” the enthusiast said.

Quail Run Diver’s Quarry, a spring-fed stone quarry near Rolla, Mo., is a place many local divers go when they want to take a subsurface dip.

Honke said he’s enjoyed his underwater experiences. He swam with all types of marine life, including sharks and sea turtles, dove through a sunken 727 jet and descended into the darkness of underground caverns.

His deepest dive is 120 feet.

“The limit for recreational diving is 140 feet,” he said. “Anything past that is considered technical diving.”

Honke is proud of his diving accomplishments. He holds a Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) Divemaster certification, the first step in becoming a professional diver. He also holds certifications as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and PADI Rescue Diver.

His divemaster certification also allows him to work closely with instructors at Midwest Scuba.

“I like being involved as a professional,” he said. “I don’t get to sign off on certifications, but I get to help the instructors teach new scuba divers.”

And scuba is a year-round hobby. Most weekends, especially in the summer, Honke can be found on or under the water.

“Another friend told me that my friend created a monster when he gave me his equipment,” he said, laughing. “It did.”

He joked his wife, Mimi, thinks so, as well. Now his 13-year-old daughter, Madison, is following in his “fins” by taking up the underwater activity.

“She’s got a rig of her own, but I won’t pressure her into anything,” he said.

However, he said he does look forward to the day he can go diving with her.

Along with relaxation, scuba can also be therapeutic and revealing. 

“You have to follow your dive plans, stay next to your team and follow your training,” he said. “It can be dangerous if you don’t.”

And although saltwater diving can be more exotic, freshwater diving is preferred, mostly because of location. 

“We don’t live near an ocean, so I don’t have a choice if I want to go diving,” Honke said.

He said since taking up diving, he has become more conscientious about the environment as well.

“You see all kinds of things in the water that shouldn’t be there, trash and other debris,” he said. “People don’t have a lot of respect for their environment.”

Honke likes staying active. He enjoys Crossfit, lifting weights, working on his Spotify podcast (“Stampeding of Cattle with Rob and Brian”), and being a part of the St. Louis Black Iron BBQ team, which competes in Kansas City Barbecue Style competitions from Tennessee to Kansas.

During the work week, he stays busy as the property manager for Honke Properties in Alton. One element in his job involves maintaining control, and his love for scuba diving comes about because deep in the water, he has none.

“Diving is about being calm,” he said. “Making sure you relax and always breathe.”

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