Four years, six months and two days. That’s how long it took Texan conservationist, artist and scuba diving instructor Jennifer Idol to become the first woman to dive all 50 states in the USA. During her journey, which she completed in August of 2015, she photographed everything from rivers and quarries to caves and wrecks. What she discovered and documented in her fascinating book, An American Immersion, reads as inspiration to us all. Get out there — because some of the world’s most interesting diving might very well be waiting in your own American backyard.

Before you buy the book, you can take an exclusive look at Idol's exploration of Missouri's underwater cave systems.

Q. During your journey, you drove over 72,000 miles and took over 80 flights. What made you want to dive all 50 states?

A. In the days following the Deep Water Horizon oil spill disaster, I was flying back to Texas from a dive trip in Trinidad, where I had just seen all kinds of pristine reefs and giant black coral trees. Our route took us across the Gulf of Mexico, and from the plane I could see the oil burning on the water’s surface. It instantly hit me what was going on under the water’s surface, and I decided right then to use my visual skills as a graphic designer and photographer to make a difference here at home. The purpose was not just to dive in each state, but also to illuminate their beauty and tell a story through photography.

Q. Your first dive of the trip was in Utah and your last in the Great Lakes of Michigan. Which state’s diving was the most surprising?

A. The U.S. is home to some extraordinary landscapes and geographical features, and our extensive water sources make it very unique. Places don’t have to have blue water to be beautiful. There’s a lake in Arkansas, Lake Ouachita, that’s just pretty. I went ice diving in Ohio. But the biggest surprise came when I was traveling to Hawaii: I had a layover in Washington state, so I extended my stay and get in a shore dive from Puget Sound. I was unprepared for the abundance of life I saw from the shorelines, the scale and quantity is surprising. There were four-foot-tall plumose anemones!

Q. Did any local diving community particularly welcome you in?

A. Dutch Springs, in Pennsylvania. People come here from all over the northeast to do their technical training and the water is clear enough that it attracts photographers, too. The locals were really fun, they kept saying, “Come back for a weekend!” As a result, I’ve been back five or six times.

Q. What can we do as divers to be better stewards in the places we live?

A. Trash is something I saw in every body of water I dived in. I don’t think people understand how the land is connected to the water, and trash eventually finds its way there. Pick up debris on your dives and participate in local cleanups. And even if you don’t dive your local sites, don’t discredit them like, “Oh man, I have to go dive at the lake this weekend.” For someone else, it might be a new and exciting moment that introduces them to the underwater world. Be a part of the community. It’s as much who you dive with as what you see that makes diving fun.

View more images from Idol's journey around the country in the gallery below:

Dive the USA

Follow in Jennifer Idol's footsteps and check out more of the best dive sites in America.

• 50 Best U.S. Dive Sites

• 25 Amazing U.S. Wreck Dives