MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – A Coastal Carolina University student turned dive instructor will be remembered in a very unique way.

Christopher Chong was a crew member at Express Watersports and well-known around Murrells Inlet. After he passed away in a diving accident late last year, his friends and coworkers wanted to create a memorial in his honor.

“The kid was my best friend,” said Travis Lane, who met Chong at CCU. “I don’t think I’ve laughed as hard with anyone else. He was just a goofball and he stayed that way up until he got on a boat and as soon as he was on a boat it was go time.”

He said the last few months without Chong have been difficult.

“Chris always liked to travel in the off-season so you’re still kind of waiting for him to come through that door any moment,” said Lane. “It’s only during times of togetherness that it really comes back to hit you hard.”

Lane described Chong as someone who always wanted to be on the water.

“If there was one thing he knew, it was the ocean,” he added. “I think that was just ingrained in him since he was young.”

“He pretty much lived the ‘work like a captain party like a pirate’ lifestyle,” said Stewart Harrelson. “If we weren’t on the boat working, we were out on the boat fishing or just enjoying the Inlet.” 

It was only fitting to honor Chong with a boat turned into a dive site. The group secured a 102-foot tugboat which will be named after him and placed on the ocean floor to be a habitat for sea creatures and divers alike.

“It’s nice to know there’s going to be an actual memorial reef that we can go dive on in remembrance of him,” said Stewart. 

The group is working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ Artificial Reef Program to find the perfect place to sink the boat. They hope to have it completed this summer.

“It’s a permanent structure,” said Lane. “It’s like a tattoo in the ocean that is always going to be there with Chris’ name on it.”

A GoFundMe page has been raising money for the project and has raised over $10,000. To read more click: here.