About Us

The Ocean is Our Way of Life

Professional Diving Resources has evolved from Buckeye Diving School which was opened in 1964 by Paul and Sandy Reynolds. Scuba Steve, PDR’s Owner, secured a job there in 1993 and the rest is history!

Steve has a simple philosophy: “We are dedicated to providing the best SCUBA instruction possible. We define value as personal attention, the highest safety concerns and best quality equipment to learn properly. Our bar is a notch above the rest and being in business for almost 50 years proves that point. You only get certified to dive once, so why not get the best training available?” His philosophy echoes the sentiments of Paul and Sandy Reynolds.

Classes are designed to teach you under relaxed, enjoyable conditions, and at your learning speed. “Since that time, Buckeye has been a leader in the Northeast Ohio’s SCUBA diving community, certifying and equipping over 9,000 recreational and professional SCUBA divers!

Learn to dive in your back yard – literally. If you have a pool we will come to your house. Don’t have a pool? No worries! We have locations all over North East Ohio to accommodate. Here are just a few locations we teach currently and we are always adding on new locations:

Cleveland State University
Brecksville Community Center
Lakewood High School
Twinsburg Rec Center

Live out of state? We can come to you!!! Want to book a trip and do your classes in the tropics? Another specialty of ours is finding the best places to enjoy a once in a lifetime holiday and learn to scuba dive. We teach you to love diving and have a life changing experience that alters the way you think, breath and see the world.

Meet Our Staff

Our certified staff are here to guide you throughout your scuba journey. From classes and trips to gear repair and recommendations we have you covered.

Steve Bowles (Scuba Steve)

Owner and Chief Instructor

Steve Bowles started diving in 1991 at Buckeye Diving School. While working at Buckeye Steve realized he wanted to make this a career and purchased the dive shop in 2000 to live out his dream. Steve has logged over 5,234 + dives in his diving career. Steve has achieved many certifications throughout the years he has dove. Steve is certified as an Instructor Evaluator, rebreather instructor, side mount, Trimix and many others. Steve opened PDR in 2015 to start his own name and live his own dream under the name of Professional Diving Resources. Steve loves watching students evolve while learning. During his teaching he expects every student to realize that failure is not an option. When Steve was asked what his favorite class is to teach and why, his reply was “My favorite class to teach is the Open Water Diver class. I like to see the students have that light bulb moment when diving makes sense and they conquer the skill”. Steve’s main tip for a new student is “Relax and just breath”. If Steve had to retake a class, he would take side mount. Side Mount class was fun, and he likes to conquer new skills. Steve’s number one rule in diving is never hold your breath, stay calm and don’t panic, keep breathing dammit, they all go together…

Steve is a Gemini born on June 18th. His favorite color is blue. Besides diving, Scuba Steve enjoys spending time with Nauti Nikki, cooking/baking, building and fixing stuff, and shooting, when he can afford it. One of Steve’s favorite places to dive is the Philippine’s. There is so much to see, big and small. So much life. A place Steve would like to explore is Indonesia Komodo and Sulawesi islands. This is one of his bucket lists trips to see all those crazy looking animals you see on TV and don’t live in the Caribbean. Steve is fascinated by cephalopods, both octopus, squid and cuttle fish. They are so smart, amazing hunters and so very curious. The craziest thing that Steve has witnessed in the water was blue ringed octopus mating. That was epic to witness to say the least. If you get a candy penalty or just want to show your gratitude towards Steve, his choice of candy is Payday (regular or chocolate covered) and the infamous Whatchamacallit.

A quote from Steve to you:

“No matter where you go, there you are.”

“The beatings will continue until moral improves.”