DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

                 

For about 15 years my passion sport was downhill skiing. I would stop at anything to do it. While living in Hawaii I was introduced to SCUBA diving and my passion sport quickly changed. It was further embedded after I moved out East, away from the fresh powder days and world class skiing in my backyard in Utah.

I’ve dived, as chance would allow, the last 10 years when I traveled to warmer locales outside the country, but for the most part the sport has remained largely unsatisfied for my overwhelming love for it. A few months ago the need became unbearable (it was also the middle of the winter and everyone in our house had been sick for 2 months). I asked Anna if she would  like to go the Caribbean. She was interested and suggested we invite another couple to join. So we invited Jason and Kim Harris, friends of ours who live nearby in NC. Jason is a dive enthusiast and they both are up for the fun and adventure of travel. They were in.

But then a curious thing happened. A couple days into the planning of it, Anna backed out. She claimed she wasn’t that interested in diving or going to a resort and relaxing on the beach in the Caribbean sun or something like that. Frankly, I stopped listening to what she was saying, because honestly, who decides not to go on vacation… to the Caribbean. Well, I guess Anna would be one. They are probably dozens of people like her all of the world. Dozens!  All of them should be in counseling of some sort.

(Anna... come on! What's not to like?)

Anna backed off. Kim decided hanging out with the guys is not her idea of fun. So there Jason and I were staring at the reality of a vacation to Grand Cayman for 5 days by ourselves… with the sole purpose to dive! And dive we did.

We stayed at a resort that caters specifically to diving. We did 2 boat dives in the morning and as much shore diving as we could handle in the afternoon. After 4 straight days of we had accumulated 13 total dives and 10 hours underwater. It was awesome. The entire experience exceeded whatever lofty expectations I set for it.

(The Cobalt Resort where we stayed)

Cayman is an excellent place to dive, not least of which is that there is an outer wall surrounding the island that drops off like a cliff to 4000 feet of water. I never could get enough of diving to the edge of the wall and peering down… into the deep blue. Imagine peering over a Grand Canyon wall underwater at 90 feet of depth, that’s kind of what is was like. Stunning. I’d say it took my breath away, but the SCUBA manual is pretty explicit in its recommendation that divers “not stop breathing” while underwater. (I’ve always found it strange that PADI is compelled to explicitly instruct and remind people to do that).

(Floating above the 4000 foot abyss on the outer wall of Cayman)

Of the thirteen dives we did, the most memorable was when we rented underwater diving scooters. The scooters are designed to be held in your hand and propel you through the water, allowing you to move much more quickly than you could by diving normally. Before entering the water, the dive instructor told us the scooters could be placed between the legs to allow our hands to remain free. It’s hard to describe this… but we got in the water, turned these things on and, once we got the hang of it, it was as about as close to flying as I can imagine. The whole experience seemed other-worldly. The sensation of gliding up and over the reefs, through rock canyons and tunnels and holes in the rocks was a thrill that I will never forget. It may have been the most exciting and fun thing I have ever done. It was like living a National Geographic IMAX movie. I highly recommend it to any fellow diver reading this post.

I won’t go into any of the other details in diving, because like a lot of things in life, you “had to be there”. But here are some underwater pictures (courtesy of Jason)

You can’t dive 24 hours before flying home, so on the last day we rented a car and drove around the island (which didn’t take too long). I’m sure Cayman has its merits as a destination, but after four indescribable days of diving, I could not have been more bored checking the place out. We did find a good hole-in-the wall stand that served delicious Jerk Chicken.

Also, there is a curious little section of the Island named Hell.  This fact alone can incent tourists from nearby cruise ships to spend sums of money to take a taxi ride through Hell, which can take all but 1 minute to do.  In honor of the stupidity and banality of the locale, I myself had to take some picture... the post office in Hell, the gas station in hell... Yes, even the Church in Hell. 

Anyway, I can’t wait to go back… or at least get back in the water and dive. PS if anyone is looking for a good dive buddy, Jason Harris could not be better company.