Imagine scuba diving in waters off Mexico and suddenly finding you’re the object of a twenty-foot long, thousand pound, manta ray’s curiosity. That’s just one of the many amazing adventures Leah Jones, who runs Sherkston Scuba, has encountered in her second home beneath the sea.
Pursuing her passion for diving has provided Leah with some fantastic experiences and taken her to some very interesting places, from her hometown of Welland, Ontario to Manzanillo, Mexico to the Grand Cayman Islands in the Caribbean and finally here, at Sherkston Shores, where she is managing Sherkston Scuba and getting people as hooked on the adventure of exploring the underwater world as she is.
Leah first started to dive when she was fifteen. “Initially I was terrified. I remember getting out of the water and saying ‘I’ll never do that again’ but once I had started I was determined to see it through and finish the course. By the time I was done I had my certification and I was completely hooked.”
When Leah finished high school in Welland she wasn’t ready for college. “I wanted to travel. I read on the Internet about a scuba diving internship in Manzanillo, Mexico, about a four-hour drive from Puerto Vallarta. It was a three- month program, mornings diving, afternoons doing bookwork. When I was finished, I was certified to teach and I went to work at the Villa Del Palomar resort there as a dive instructor.”
In time, Leah got homesick, missing her mom, Teresa, and brother, Sean, and so she returned to Canada. But when you’ve been bitten by wanderlust as Leah was, it wasn’t too long before she decided to join a fellow Canadian, Shyla Holtz, who she had met in Mexico, at her instructor’s course in the Grand Cayman Islands.
“Mom cries every time I leave. But she understands this is my passion.”
Leah spent the next six months in the Islands working with cruise ships. They’d dock and Leah would take interested passengers on dives.
“We’d explore the Kittiwake, an old Navy submarine rescue ship that had been sunk to create an artificial reef – something essential to the health of the marine population. I watched them sink the two-hundred and fifty feet long boat then dove it a couple of days later. It was designed so that divers could swim safely through it without getting lost or caught on something. It was a truly unforgettable experience.”
While there, Leah heard that Sherkston was looking for someone to run the new dive shop at the Quarry. She applied, came back from the Caymans and interviewed for the job. It proved a perfect match. A couple of days later, Leah was a member of the Sherkston team, setting up the shop and bringing her singular enthusiasm to the job.
“There was a lot to do: ordering inventory, building a web site, and planning and marketing events like the Quarry cleanup. A bunch of divers volunteered to come in and help with the cleanup. They were fantastic, bringing up everything from patio chairs and bikes to tires and microwaves.
“I also organized a trip to Brockville where there are a lot of wrecks. About fifteen of us went and spent a few days diving and exploring the old ships.”
This season, her second at Sherkston, Leah is hoping to do a lot of “discover scuba” events for new divers in the pool so they can experience the thrill of diving. Her students love it.
Not only are her students and the Sherkston team happy to have her here, Mom couldn’t be more thrilled that her girl had decide to settle down close to home.
As for that manta ray – after the initial shock wore off, Leah realized she was in its territory and it was just trying to figure out who she was. Seems the fish recognized a kindred spirit and all was well.
