Founded in 1983, High Plains Scuba Center was making bubbles in Fort Collins back when leg warmers were still a thing and SSI’s world headquarters was just down the street. Long before today’s slick apps and online training, the vision for Scuba Schools International was born in Colorado, with its headquarters in Fort Collins and a mission to make safe, accessible diving possible for everyday people—not just ocean‑front locals. Our founders were part of that early SSI movement, helping shape how modern divers are trained while building a hometown dive center that has grown into the oldest and largest full‑service dive shop in northern Colorado and Wyoming. In other words, while most folks here were learning to ski, we were busy turning a land‑locked college town into an unlikely launchpad for underwater adventures.

Today, that legacy lives on in Jim, Matt, and Scott, who somehow turned a shared obsession with water, fish, and dive gear into a full‑time excuse to wear flip‑flops to work in a city that spends half the year under snow. Between them, you’ll find thousands of logged dives, countless certified students, and more dive stories than there are CSU Rams on a sunny game day. They’ve built High Plains Scuba into a one‑stop aquatic hub—with an on‑site heated pool, professional‑grade training, and global dive travel—where nervous first‑timers, salty veterans, and entire families all come to get underwater and plug into a community that’s as welcoming as it is a little obsessed. If you’ve ever wondered how far a Fort Collins local can go, we like to say: from Harvard Street to the Great Barrier Reef, it all starts with a short drive and a long inhale at High Plains Scuba.

And because every great diver starts as a confident swimmer, High Plains Scuba also runs a full, year‑round learn‑to‑swim program for ages six months through adults, using the internationally recognized SSI Swim curriculum to build lifelong safety and comfort in the water.
From baby’s first splashes in our 90‑degree indoor pool to adult non‑swimmers finally finding their stride, our private, one‑on‑one lessons focus on water safety skills, confidence, and strong fundamentals long before anyone ever straps on a tank.
It’s how we help keep northern Colorado families safer around water while opening the door to everything from backyard pool time to blue‑water adventures—because for us, every underwater story starts with learning to swim.