Our exploration team, or “Expedition Force” as we lovingly refer to it, is a Dive Alaska program aimed at encouraging divers to get out and explore!
The Mission
Expedition Force is aimed at discovering new sites that anybody can dive, with an emphasis on affordability and accessibility. That means Expedition Force is specifically seeking out dive sites that meet the following parameters:
- Accessibility to Anchorage (need to be able to theoretically make a day-trip out of the excursion)
- Ease of access (other divers need to be able to reproduce your trip)
- Economical (dive sites that are on the road system or a water-taxi line)
- Unexplored (dive sites need to be previously unexplored, or at least unrecorded)
We want to help grow the list of dive sites available to local divers, as well as provide as many possible opportunities to local and visiting divers.
How it Works
In summary, if you go on an expedition to map a new dive site, Dive Alaska will credit you back any of the gas you breathe while on the expedition. If you’re exploring, you’re not paying for it.
We believe that members participating in Expedition Force are benefiting the entire dive community, and as such, shouldn’t bear the cost of the gas they’re breathing as they seek out the next great dive site.
How Do I Get Involved?
Easy. Pick a dive site from our current list of unexplored sites, or submit your own, and then go exploring!
Expeditions need to be pre-approved by Dive Alaska to be eligible for free gas fills. Just because it’s new to you, doesn’t mean it’s new to everyone.
Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It
Expedition Force is aimed at growing the scope of local diving in SC Alaska, and to that note, after an expedition trip, we need a quick report on the expedition. It can be a 500-word written form, or notes on the back of napkin, but it needs to include:
- Where you went
- How you got there
- How much it cost to get there
- Basic dive report(s) (depth, topography, marine life, visibility, etc)
- Pictures of where you dove (a simple surface photo works, to help orient fellow divers)
Remember, Expedition Force is aimed at providing more diving opportunities for everybody, so ultimately, tailor your report to helping inform your fellow divers about the site you explored.
Even if your conclusion is, “Do. Not. Dive. Here.” members of Expedition Force still enjoy the perks of participating in an exploratory trip.
“Oh, there’s other perks, besides free gas fills?”
Lemme tell ya’…
Glory, Fame, and Honor
Just like counting coup, or a Roman triumph, returning Expedition Force divers are honored in a variety of ways (most of which we’re still figuring out, but we cannot overstate how incredible they will be.The most incredible spoils of exploration…):
- Expedition Force Patch
- A prestigious and noble decoration for only the bravest souls, anybody completing an expedition will be awarded an Expedition Force Patch to let the world know, “Hey, I’m an explorer.”
- Fame and Renown
- This is just a very snobby way of saying “if you explore a new dive site, we’ll give you credit for it on our website.” The world will know that you mapped your dive site.
- Eternal Membership in “Mike Nelson’s Underwater Floatilla”
- Reserved for only the most intrepid divers, members of Expedition Force who complete three exploratory trips (and by extension, create three more diving opportunities for the Alaska dive community) will be honored in a way that befits such a hero… an Eternal Membership in “Mike Nelson’s Underwater Floatilla.”
- As long as Dive Alaska stands, a metal print of you will hang in our shop. When people ask “Who’s that?” we’ll respond, “That’s a hero.”
Summary
Go exploring. Create more opportunities for your fellow divers. Enjoy the spoils and fame that comes with being an explorer, while helping grow the Alaska dive community.
Remember, expeditions need to be pre-approved. Other than that… Just. Go. Diving.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF SITES WAITING TO BE EXPLORED!
WANT TO PROPOSE YOUR OWN SITE? GIVE US A CALL OR SWING BY THE SHOP!
OUR COMPLETE(ISH) LIST OF LOCAL DIVE SITES