SCUBA Diving Bug

I freely admit that I am hooked on SCUBA diving.  I got the bug over 20 years ago while my wife and I were on a cruise.  Now she loves to snorkel, but does no scuba diving at all.  I capitalized the word SCUBA to point out its original meaning.  Some people don't realize that the word started as an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.   Today, however, most people get it and know what you're talking about when you use the word.

Prior to the cruise, I had never been scuba diving and actually not considered doing it.  We were going to be gone for 10 days though and the cruise line offered a scuba diving training certification program that you could complete during the cruise.  Although a bit pricey, the bride gave me her blessing even though it meant I was in classes both mornings and afternoons for a week of the time we were vacationing.  What they'd do is give us poolside scuba diving instruction aboard ship every morning.  Then in the afternoons after lunch we'd disembark and do actual open water scuba diving at the various ports of call on our cruise itinerary.

Adapting to Scuba Diving

I've always loved the water and been a good swimmer.  So getting accustomed to scuba diving was not a challenge on that front.  Growing up, my family had a lake house and I spend summers on the water skiing and fishing and boating.  I had also had some experience snorkeling here and there, but not much.  My initial forays into scuba diving was where the water was warm and no wetsuit was needed.  Thank goodness because all the other equipment and lines and gauges involved in scuba diving were quite intimidating.  By profession, I'm a sales and marketing person and all this super technical equipment....well let's just say I was like a fish out of water on that front.  Eventually as the training proceeded, I became more familiar with all the equipment involved in scuba diving.  And this familiarity bread confidence that I was doing the right things.

Scuba diving safety was drilled into us at every opportunity.  I NEVER break the rules when it comes to scuba diving....EVER!  Sadly, I was on a night dive and some people in our group did break the rules.  One of the group lost their life....a high price to breaking the rules.

Part of adapting to this water sport is getting comfortable with the equipment and for that reason, I prefer to use my own.  The exception to this are tanks.  I've traveled the world with my scuba diving bag filled with gear and (knock on wood) never had any negative incidents personally.

Favorite Scuba Diving

I guess my favorite scuba diving is pretty much the dive that I'm doing now or next!       

Due to some health issues, I was under doctor's orders to do no scuba diving for several years.  When I finally got released I was thrilled and headed off to the Bahamas to do a dive I'd never done before -- a shark dive.  It was exhilarating!

I enjoy all kinds of diving in all kinds of locales.  Because my work involved so much air travel, I think I prefer not to have to fly for 14 hours somewhere around the globe in order to dive.  From the continental USA, I really enjoy how quickly I can get to Cozumel, Mexico and Belize.  I have enjoyed spectacular scuba diving adventures in both of those places.  Still, it's game on for me just about anyplace that is safe when it comes to scuba diving!

Cozumel Scuba Diving

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia has a really good article if you're interested in learning more.  Just click on the link here in SCUBA diving.

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