S.C.U.B.A. Diving
S.C.U.B.A. Diving
S.C.U.B.A. diving is one of the few things in life that I take seriously. Ever since I could remember, I was snorkeling. I remember going out on the reefs of Hawai'i with my dad when I was 6 years old. He taught me everything about respect, awe, and admiration for nature--specifically the ocean environment. From my experience of snorkeling, I grew into a need to spend more time underwater and observe things a little more closely. So, in 1985, at the age of 12, I went S.C.U.B.A. diving for the first time off of Black Rock in Maui, Hawai'i. Since then, I have had the pleasure of diving off of Grand Cayman Island (in '86 when it was still relatively pristine), Puako Bay (the Big Island of Hawai'i), and many spots around San Diego (including Quast Rock, Bird Rock, and Scripps Canyon).
Diving is a religious experience for me. The feeling of being anywhere from 30 to 100 feet below the surface of the ocean is intoxicating--literally, getting "narked" is a drunken, but potentially hazardous condition. I am in a totally different world and mindstate under the water. There is no way to accurately describe diving to someone who hasn't done it. Unfortunately, I don't get to dive as much as I would like, but I will finally get off my butt and dive in Monterey, CA. But, the good thing about diving is that you can always remember the feeling of floating in water above the ocean floor and being surrounded by plants and animals, that are every color of the rainbow. Damn, I gotta go diving real soon.
Like countless others, I was heavily inspired by Jacques Cousteau. His awe of the underwater real was seriously contagious. While growing up and learning SCUBA, it was hard for me to grasp the concept that the man who invented SCUBA diving (Cousteau) was still alive. I think that the Cousteau Society is the first organization that I joined (well, other than those elementary school book clubs). The world will sorely miss his genius, enthusiasm, and genuine concern for the environment.
