Underwater Adventure Seekers

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Underwater Adventure Seekers
(UAS)

Although it is not commonly known, African-Americans have been involved in recreational scuba diving since its introduction to the United States over 50 years ago. As early as the 1950s, Black dive clubs existed in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Many of these clubs were started by military veterans who wanted to continue to pursue those scuba skills learned in the service.

One of these clubs is the Underwater Adventure Seekers (UAS) of Washington, DC, which is the oldest black diving club in the world. UAS celebrated its 42nd anniversary in February 2000. UAS has trained thousands of individuals to scuba dive during its illustrious history. Their envious dive travel experiences have taken them from Australia to Africa, all of the Caribbean, most of the Bahamas, and parts of Central America.

In many cases, UAS was the first large group of American divers that many foreigners had seen in their country. The dive travel record of UAS has become so legendary that dive shops around the country call to get advice on destinations.

In 1991, on Martin Luther King's birthday, the UAS called a meeting in Washington, DC to organize the scattered African- American dive community into the National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS). At that time, to our knowledge, UAS was the only black dive club in America. To date, NABS has over 50 clubs stretching
from coast to coast.

UAS introduced the world to many African-Americans who might not have ever journeyed so far. For over 30 years, UAS has taken divers and tourists to such exotic dive spots as Indonesia, Fiji, Thailand, Australia, Morocco, and Egypt, to mention a few.