If you want to get out of the hot summer sun, why not dive into the ocean for a couple of hours?

While scuba divers can travel to remote places or even dive in icy water all year round, most divers take to the water in the summer.

Scott Camerlo of Scott’s Scuba Service in Freeport became interested in scuba diving at an early age.

“I can remember in elementary school, at 7 o’clock in the morning eating my cereal and watching Mike Nelson on ‘Sea Hunt,’” Camerlo said.

Robert Gendron, a biology professor at Indiana (Pa.) University, also first became interested in scuba diving because of television.

“In those days there were shows on TV,” Gendron said. “Jacques Cousteau had a series on his underwater adventures and there were shows like ‘Sea Hunt.’”

Gendron grew up in California and was always in the water.

Camerlo, born and raised in Freeport, wasn’t dive certified until his sophomore year in high school after his parents came back from a Jamaica resort.

“They did a ‘try it to see if you like it’ dive. My Mom came home and said, ‘I’d like to learn more about that. I’m going to take a class. Will you take it with me?’” Camerlo said.

Joni Knoch, who is a speech therapist in the South Butler School District, also started diving at a resort with her husband, Sam.

“We took a resort course which was anything but satisfactory,” Knoch said. “It was truly not a good experience. We just decided it was something we wanted to do the correct way.”

The Knochs returned home and took classes to become certified divers.

Camerlo, Gendron and Knoch are spending the first day of summer scuba diving in Roatan, Honduras, with 30 other local scuba enthusiasts.

Camerlo takes many trips with fellow divers throughout the year and throughout the world.

He’s taken groups to Micronesia, Indonesia, Polynesia, the Galapagos, Hawaii, the Sea of Cortez and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

“Pretty much around the world and back a few times,” Camerlo said.

The difference between normal vacations and diving vacations is where most of the time is spent — on land or under water?

Groups going on diving vacations will do about five dives a day with surface interval time in between.

Time spent out of water is essential to scuba diving as it allows nitrogen to be released from the diver’s body.

The surface time is used to work on a tan, take a couple of photos and eat some food before heading back under the water.

“When you are under the water, you are in another world where there is no stress, just beauty,” Knoch said. “Everything is so relaxing. You’re looking at the most beautiful sights you’ve ever seen.”

As a biologist, Gendron’s favorite scuba-diving trip was to the Galapagos Islands.

The living creatures in the air, on the land and in the sea around the islands helped Charles Darwin gather his thoughts on the theory of evolution.

The remarkable sea life found in the ocean is always fascinating, but Gendron likes to dive even without a view.

“I enjoy scuba diving regardless of whether there’s anything to see,” Gendron said. “It’s a freedom. You can move in three dimensions, it’s almost like flying.”

Camerlo also enjoys the freedom that comes with being underwater.

“My favorite part is the freedom from the terrestrial Earth and the three -dimensional movement of neutral buoyancy when you’re submerged underwater,” Camerlo said.

One of Camerlo’s favorite dive trips was to Truk Lagoon or Chuuk Lagoon off of Micronesia.

During World War II, the U.S. executed Operation Hailstone, sinking many Japanese ships in the lagoon.

“It was like reef diving on historical ship wrecks,” Camerlo said. “The best of both worlds.”

Gendron is excited to share diving experiences with his niece and nephew in Honduras.

“I’ve sort of introduced them to scuba diving and we went on a trip once by ourselves to (the Caribbean island of ) Bonaire, so I’m really looking forward to this opportunity to take them out again,” Gendron said.

According to Camerlo, scuba diving is not just for “macho men.”

“It is very family orientated,” Camerlo said. “We can certify kids as young as 10, and I’ve put people in the water for the first time who were over 70 years old.”

Whether watching bluegills in local waters or watching sharks in the Pacific Ocean, diving can be done throughout the world.

Knoch said, “You can go to fantastic places and enjoy the location as well as the diving.”