Scuba Diving

Have you ever wondered where the various colors in a 64-count crayola box come from?

For me that question was answered during my first ever blue water dive in Cozumel. I truly believe that the creators of such amazing colors were all scuba divers. They had to be ...

There is no where else in the world that I have seen colors like I have seen while scuba diving.

Not only is the scenery breath-taking, but the humor of the fish and marine life is quite entertaining.

Have you ever seen a green moray eel up close? The gnarl of its teeth, the fact that they are blind, except for a few shadows, and that they lull in cracks and under rocks for hours at a time. It's funny if you think about it.

Once I was diving with a dive master, who encouraged me to get up close and personal with a 6-foot long eel. First, he removed my glove from my hand, took my hand, and made me stroke his tail (it felt a lot like suede underwater). Then he motioned for me to hold my breath (not breath out bubbles from my regulator) and literally I was inches from his face. It was so cool. One of the most fun things I have ever done underwater.

How about a different fish (yes, they are a fish)? The seahorse. In the little mermaid, they were important. They were the trumpeter, fairly large, but truly in the ocean they are not that easy to find (at least not in my experience.)

They are supposed to be the easiest to find in Bonaire. We went on three dives and they were hard to spot (finally found four on the final dives) not because they weren't there, but because they are extremely small. Like the eels, seahorses don't move a whole lot, another great fish to be in the ocean.

My favorite example of fun and humorous marine life is the nurse shark. I like to compare them to little puppies. They are easily distracted, can be petted, and are a lot of fun to watch (and not scary.)

When I was in Belize, we had a dive master that had a wonderful relationship with the nurse sharks. These weren't captured, these were completely wild nurse sharks of 5-7 feet.

Our dive master had a bottle of dead fish on a leash. He would pull it around and the sharks would chase it, much like a puppy dog would fetch a toy or a bone. They would swim up to us, and allow the dive master to roll them over so that we could pet them. It is my favorite experience interacting with marine life. (Of course I don't recommend playing with sharks on your own, please let your dive master do things like that!!!!)

Scuba diving is a sport that is unparalleled. It's a great work out, but generally considered a lazy man's sport (you're floating 98% of the time). You have the opportunity to witness creation that the majority of the world has never seen, and never will see. And you can be a part of unbelievable experiences that can't be duplicated on land.

If you haven't tried it, or are considering getting your certification, I highly recommend it. It will change the way you vacation, it did mine!