The words “scuba diving” are more often associated with the Florida Keys or the Caribbean than the Midwest. But with the motto of “You lose it, we recover it,” the reason Tri-State Scuba Diving Services is based in the Midwest becomes clear very quickly. Owned and run by the father-son duo of Michael King and his son, Riley King, the business is built on a foundation of expertise, experience, and execution.
An epic day on the lake can take a heart-wrenching turn when a treasured piece of jewelry is lost. However, the story doesn’t have to end with a broken heart, with Tri-State Scuba Diving Services as a resource. The diver jumps into action using extensive training and the latest scuba, camera and metal-detecting equipment. Solving underwater challenges is the commitment that has been bringing peace of mind to clients since opening in 2024.
“We are everyday people trying to build a business based in something my son loves to do,” Michael King says. “We all know the saying, ‘Find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.’” The Kings acknowledge that there are plenty of dive companies, but Tri-State Scuba Diving Services separates itself from the others by focusing on specialized underwater recovery and documentation services.
Tri-State Scuba Diving Services had its beginning thousands of miles away from the Midwest, while the family vacationed on Saint Martin in the Caribbean. A day of snorkeling grew into a passion for underwater activities for the then-8-year-old Riley. Back in Indiana, the younger King began taking snorkeling and dive courses.
To date, he holds certificates in: Closed Water and Open Water, which means he can dive in any body of water; Night and Limited Visibility; Perfect Buoyancy, which allows a diver to safely enter a confined space such as a vehicle; React Right, based on training in CPR, AED and Oxygen; and most recently, Stress and Rescue.
With this impressive list of training and proficiency, it’s no surprise that Tri-State Scuba Diving Services is a trusted source for underwater recovery in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. In fact, the younger King points out that with his training in CPR, AED and Oxygen, “this can be very valuable for just being out on the water recreationally.”
Tri-State Scuba Diving Services took shape after a call from a campground in need of help to release obstacle-course equipment grounded underwater in a pond. The campground owners knew generations of the King family and they knew Riley had been diving for years, which made the Kings the campground owners’ first call.
That project enlightened the Kings to a void in the tri-state area for specialized diving services. The commitment to creating a quality and safe diving service is impressive when considering one-half of the partnership is still in high school. Home schooling through the state of Indiana allows the younger King a flexible schedule, and pertinent coursework in principles of entrepreneurship and business operations.
When most high school kids are anticipating graduation and college, the Kings will embrace the end of high school as it will allow more time dedicated to their dive business. College classrooms will be replaced by real-life scenarios of marketing, sales and service.
Innovation joins that list of qualities after King worked with Deep Blue Divers in Fort Wayne, where his dive training began, to build a sea-life camera. He took existing photography equipment and redesigned the parts to better adapt to underwater imaging. One job incorporated the specialized photography to pinpoint the error in an underwater fountain structure. The Kings offer their services to communities without underwater resources for insurance and other documentation.
And the business doesn’t stop when the temperatures cool; it presents a new set of needs for underwater recovery, such as a current project to retrieve an ice fisherman’s snowmobile that sunk into the frigid waters. The Kings point out that in addition to property recovery, removing a vehicle like a snowmobile using lift pocket techniques also helps to repair the damage done to the underwater environment from leaking fuel and machine oils.
In the short time since opening, the Tri-State Scuba Diving Services team has enjoyed local news coverage in a segment on the Fox News station in Fort Wayne last November. A local couple saw the news segment and contacted Tri-State to help them recover a lost item in their pond. Another job arose after a customer saw Tri-State in a magazine and reached out about retrieving a lost wedding ring using the diving service’s high-tech underwater metal detector. Tri-State uses a metal detector that performs to depths of 200 feet, and it is the number-one rated detector by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Kings hope to host a booth at the annual DeKalb County Free Fall Fair, where an estimated 170,000 attendees stroll for blocks learning about new and established businesses. Outdoor gear stores and dive shops carry flyers about Tri-State Scuba Diving Services, including Deep Blue Divers, where King’s training began.
Partnering with individuals, companies and organizations to solve their underwater needs, Tri-State offers recovery, exploratory and photography services. In addition to lost item retrieval, Tri-State is eager to grow the business in the area of personalized underwater photography, which can include documentation of property, as well as photography to capture personal adventures or keepsake moments.
