NEW FACILITY TAKES CUSTOMERS `UNDER(WATER)'

Wayne and Lynn Hughes stood "under the boat" in the showroom at the Academy of Scuba Training. The perspective is what a diver would see after a dive.

"Every time I dive, I see something wonderful."

Angela Brown and her 15-year-old son, Ryan Brown, have been under water in such exotic places as Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela and the Grand Cayman Islands.

They have also visited Mermet Springs in Southern Illinois and Cerulean Springs in western Kentucky.

The Browns are certified scuba divers.

"I always wanted to dive," said Brown, wife of Dr. Hal Brown, a dermatologist at Cape Girardeau. "And, when Ryan turned 12, we started taking lessons."

Students older than 12 can become certified divers.

Like many area divers, the Browns turned to Wayne Hughes and his wife, Lynn, for training.

The Hughes, master diving instructors with the International Professional Association of Diving Instructors, own and operate the Academy of Scuba Training, at 2005 N. Kingshighway.

Hughes has been teaching scuba diving more than 20 years, starting as a student at Southeast Missouri State University to earn extra money.

Hughes became interested in diving while serving in the U.S. Army in Texas. He attained his instructor's rating in 1973 and opened his academy here two years later.

Hughes worked out of a 1,200-square-foot facility in downtown Cape Girardeau until recently, when he opened his 6,000-square-foot facility on Kingshighway.

The new facility includes a 20-x-45-foot training tank and a pool training area.

"The facility also includes a retail sales area for scuba and snorkling equipment, classrooms, shower facilities and children's playroom.

"This is a state-of-the-art facility," said Hughes last week. "We've been in the building here since September but opened the training pool only recently."

The Academy of Scuba Training provides the only indoor diving tanks in the immediate area. The closest indoor diving tanks is at Memphis, Tenn. There are no indoor tanks in St. Louis.

Previously, the Hughes' students were trained at pool facilities at the university.

"This is great for the students," said Hughes. "It's convenient. We don't have to travel a distance to train in pools. It gives us grater flexibility."

The Hughes academy is rated as a five-star PADI training facility.

People older than 12 can enroll in the scuba diving classes and can become certified over two weekends -- one weekend is devoted to classes; the other to actual diving.

Classroom activities include studying textbooks, watching videos and tests. The pool, which has a shallow end and deep end, is heated to 82-84 degrees.

Following diving practice in the pools, students must complete five "all-weather" dives, made in lakes, rivers and quarries in Missouri, Illinois or Kentucky.

The majority of students start taking classes to learn the basic fundamentals of diving, but most want to continue their studies and eventually become certified in open water divings, said Hughes.

And some continue studies to become master divers or even PADI instructors.

The Hughes don't limit their training to the academy.

"We organize a lot of trips to take people where they'll be able to encounter different kinds of underwater life," said Hughes. Trips are arranged to Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela, which offers access to more than 50 dive sites.

"We also arrange trips to places like the Grand Cayman Islands, Dutch Antille and British West Indies," said Hughes, who says diving is "a great adventure."

"There is always something new, fascinating and challenging in the underwater world," he said.

Hughes also plans trips closer to home for divers.

Mermet Springs, near Metropolis, is an old rock quarry in Southern Illinois.

"This is an eight-acre site, complete with underwater platform for diving," said Hughes. "The platforms keep students from disrupting the bottom of the waters." Depths at Mermet Springs range to 75 feet, said Hughes. "And there is good visibility."

Soon to be in the springs will be a 727 Jet Airliner.

"The jetliner was used recently as a movie prop in Southern Illinois," said Hughes. Tommy Lee Jones and Wesley Snipes were stars in the movie, "U.S. Marshals," filmed in and around the Metropolis-Brookport area of Southern Illinois and the Reelfoot Lake area of western Tennessee.

Another popular diving site is Cerulean Springs in western Kentucky," Hughes said.

"This is about two and half hours from Cape Girardeau," said Hughes. "Cerulean Springs is an old rock quarry, with depths of up to 35 feet." The site includes some old buildings and an old cabin cruiser boat on the bottom of the quarry.

The Current and Black rivers in Southeast Missouri are used for "float dives."

The water is not as deep but offers good visibility, said Hughes.

Another site students and instructors frequent is Norfork Lake in Arkansas, where there is advanced open-water diving.

Hughes is often called on for commercial work.

"I haven't had as much time the past two years but still do some work for the Corps of Engineers and a few others."

Hughes helped Sabreliner recover equipment from the Perryville Municipal Airport during the 1993 flood. He has cleaned out water intakes for AmerenUE -- then Union Electric -- on the Mississippi River and has helped various companies salvage barges.

He has also inspected lake beaches before their spring openings for the Corps of Engineers.