In October 2021, Connie and Joe found each other on social media – both interested in diving the Lower Salt River with a buddy. They met at the river and were initially diving just to get some “bottom time”  in Arizona, which doesn’t have a lot of options for Scuba, believe it or not. As Connie stated in a news interview, “As I was going down to the bottom, I noticed that there was a lot of stuff down there that people have dropped.” The two of them started retrieving these items, posting them on the Salty Scuba Chick Facebook page and trying to make contact through any means possible. The joy of returning lost “treasures” was infectious, but there was also an issue of lots of trash along the bottom of the river. 

Joe and Connie began to take trash out of the river, along with the treasures, and then recruited more divers to the cause. In 2022, Curt was looking for local scuba diving buddies  and found Connie’s Facebook page showing how she dives the river and returns lost treasure. Curt met Joe and Connie at the river and found an iPhone and iWatch on one of his first dives. Once he returned those, he was hooked on the cleanup and treasure finding mission.

The river, with its fast current, sunken tree limbs, big rocks, and occasional lost fishing hooks, is very unforgiving to equipment that the squad uses. Fans of the “treasure return service” were also interested in donating money for our time and effort in returning their lost items. So in late 2022, Connie, Curt, and Joe decided that the Salty Scuba Squad should become a 501(c)(3) non-profit so any donations made to the organization would be tax deductible and the funds could be used to repair the gear that the team uses. If you’d like to contribute to maintaining our gear, filling our air tanks, or just buying us some more trash bags, you can contribute here: Donate Now.

In 2023, more divers and “topside support” (paddle boarders, kayakers) helped with the mission and have become invaluable contributors to the cause. Having topside support and extra “eyes” looking for trash and treasure is key to being successful. Steve and Eddie, both divers with the same dedication to the cause, joined the board in 2023.

Although we all have full-time jobs (volunteering to clean  up trash doesn’t pay the bills),  the Salty Scuba Squad is on the river several times a week during the summer season and takes out bags and bags of trash to keep the river beautiful! The squad includes divers, snorkelers, kayakers, and paddleboarders who all have the same interest in keeping the river looking pristine and returning lost treasures to their owners!

Look for our logo out on the water and say “Hi” – we love showing people the areas of the river that we dive, educating them on the safest way to float the river, and introducing them to the team! If you’d like to join in and help with “topside” support, or get more involved with our mission, you can contact us.