Wenzel instructed me to set the heading on my compass to 180 levels. We needed to attain a 70-foot-deep bowl on Chub Reef to qualify as a deep dive. The talents he had taught me that morning had been instantly paying dividends underwater. As a substitute of specializing in my devices, I discovered my bearing and picked three objects alongside that path to maintain in a line. My world expanded from my wrist into the clear, blue Bahamian water, and dropping two kilos from my weight belt proper earlier than this dive made me really feel like flying. I assumed I didn’t want any extra PADI programs after 200 dives. I used to be incorrect.
We reached the bowl earlier than crossing the reef line to a coral restoration undertaking. Wenzel confirmed me the right way to clear algae off the threads so coral might take maintain. On the way in which again to the boat, we paused to free an unlimited inexperienced eel and grouper from a fish lure left in a single day on the reef. We ascended in direction of the floor and spent 5 minutes underneath the boat, respiratory off an auxiliary air tank. Again onboard, Wenzel gave me a excessive 5 for finishing my Deep Diver Course and turning into a Grasp Scuba Diver.
I felt satisfaction and accomplishment in acquiring an elite dive certification that lower than 2% of leisure divers attain. Greater than that, I spotted how necessary diving turned as a foundational journey that stored me studying, rising, exploring, and, most significantly, therapeutic.
What Is a Regular Childhood Anyway?
I wish to suppose that I had a comparatively regular childhood, however looking back, I’m not so positive. Inserting within the prime 1% on the SAT didn’t align with my 1.6 highschool GPA. Like many children from Columbus, I stayed close to house and went to Ohio State. Technically, I grew up in Higher Arlington, an prosperous suburb with two of the nation’s prime 100 golf programs. My dad and mom each had agricultural levels, and we had simply moved from Auburn, Alabama. I had wild towhead hair, questionable hygiene, a thick southern accent, and no likelihood of becoming in.
The one factor it’s essential to find out about my hometown is that there is no such thing as a Decrease Arlington, however it’s all the time Higher Arlington to the natives. I can’t consider anybody from my highschool class who was married and had a two-year-old throughout faculty. I used to be undoubtedly the one pupil within the physics division commuting in from their household ostrich farm. Within the mornings, I might get my ass kicked in quantum mechanics, and within the evenings, I might wrangle 300 lb flightless birds.
At 24, I assumed I had my life mapped out. I might educate highschool physics and handle the household farm. A month into the autumn quarter of my senior yr, my then-wife was unexpectedly hospitalized. Whereas caring for her, the “silent” companions seized the farm, so we by no means went house. As a substitute, we moved again in with my dad and mom in Higher Arlington. I centered on doing no matter it took to finish my diploma, which meant finding out evening and day as a substitute of processing my emotions.
I used to be effectively previous half loopy, however I graduated. We held a firesale of all our possessions, and what was left was packed right into a minivan with our cat, canine, and little one. The one solace I might think about was driving into the sundown to start a brand new life.
Rising Into My Personal In Tucson
The street west led to Seattle. We channeled our inside Chris Farley and lived in a van by the Snoqualmie River. It was a wonderful time of freedom, lengthy summer time nights, and recent berries. We didn’t spend too lengthy in Seattle earlier than I used to be recruited to design missiles in Tucson, Arizona.
Residing in Tucson was magnificent in its personal proper. Not solely did I’ve a gentle paycheck, however I found the therapeutic energy of transformative adventures. I began endurance mountaineering within the Santa Catalina Mountains and shortly progressed to exploring underground worlds within the caves of Southern Arizona. After some time, I turned the President of the Southern Arizona Grotto and began taking part in worldwide caving expeditions.
I liked the specialised gear and expertise caving required and lamented that there wanted to be a formalized coaching program like what PADI provides. Nonetheless, for caving, as a substitute of actively recruiting the subsequent technology of cavers to discover and defend this useful resource, the governing coverage of the Arizona caving group was “there are not any caves to talk of in Arizona.”
I healed with the assistance of the Sonoran Desert, however my spouse felt like a stranger in an odd land. There all the time gave the impression to be one thing preserving her from exploring her new house: children too younger, desert too scorching, too many rattlesnakes, too many thorns on cactus. Her wounds festered with out transformative adventures, and she or he longed to return house.
We grew aside, and the seismic collapse of our union despatched shock waves by my world when she took the youngsters again to Ohio. I used to be able to burn it down once more, purchase a brand new van, and discover a new river till I met Jenn.
In Search of Life 2.0
Earlier than I met Jenn, I had already carried out one other hearth sale of my worldly possessions. She described my house decor, which included a mattress on the ground and all my garments in baskets alternating between clear and soiled, as “Crackhouse Stylish.” I used to be prepared to move west into the sundown once more. I truthfully suppose the one factor that stopped me was her perception in transformation and adventures.
Jenn confronted challenges together with her household’s fall from grace in suburban Denver. She says she realized extra about femininity than being a debutante from excessive sports activities. She had been a ski teacher for twenty years, a white water information for seven, and was at the moment on a hiatus main the spa at Tucson’s Ritz-Carlton.
She moved there to place herself in place for that job, particularly within the hope of well being and incapacity advantages to get two new knees (though she was untimely in age, she was in dire want of replacements) earlier than beginning her life 2.0.
I used to be enthralled with the idea that you may construct a brand new life per your needs as a substitute of operating from the fires. She wished to share in adventures with a lust for all times that might make Jack Kerouac envious. We had been married a yr and a month after assembly.
First Breath In The Bahamas
We each tried diving with a Uncover Scuba expertise throughout our honeymoon at Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau. I knew I used to be hooked. Like caving, I used specialised tools to discover a brand new world. Solely, it was a world of sunshine, life, and coloration. Better of all, PADI provided a regimented coaching program that stored me secure whereas progressing my expertise.
I used to be fascinated by the PADI Course Map on the dive store wall. I traced the trail ahead from Uncover Scuba Diving all the way in which to Rescue Diver and loved many daydreams, envisioning myself happening the skilled diver tract.
Jenn was proper; I wanted to depart the desert to pursue my life 2.0. Inside a yr, we had adopted the setting solar once more to San Diego. Solely this time, with Jenn’s assist, we had regular company jobs and an condo in Pacific Seashore as a substitute of a van down by the river.
Open Water Certification
We jumped into Southern California life with a ardour, choosing up new hobbies like browsing and outrigger canoe racing. Our first time on Catalina Island was for the Catalina Crossing US Outrigger Championships. It took us simply over 5 hours to paddle there from Newport Harbor. After the race season ended, we returned to Catalina to finish our Open Water Certification with PCH Scuba. We needed to drive to Agoura Hills for the classroom and pool periods, however the certification dives had been constructed right into a weekend getaway to Avalon.
The On line casino Level Dive Park in Avalon is one of the best shore diving in Southern California. There’s a simple step entry, dive strains, a marked swim space separate from boat visitors, and even a distant tank-filling truck parked on the level with chilly drinks and snacks for the floor intervals. After our expertise take a look at, we discovered a couple of large sea bass lurking within the kelp forest. It wasn’t the Bahamas however an thrilling dive with respectable visibility.
We opted to take Peak Efficiency Buoyancy and Enriched Air concurrently with our Open Water Certification. Taking Peak early in my dive journey paid instant dividends by way of trim posture and breath management for buoyancy. I typically used my enriched air coaching throughout my scuba journey, together with bull shark diving in Playa Del Carmen and per week of repetitive dives onboard the Aqua Cat Liveaboard. Nevertheless, I nonetheless don’t suppose getting that certification so early was vital or beneficial.
Coaching with Energy Scuba
My thoughts was crammed with the probabilities of turning into a dive skilled for Life 2.0. Jenn might leverage her Ritz expertise at any top-end resort worldwide, and I might work at their dive store. I used to be solely six, dived in, and crammed with desires and ambitions. I wanted extra certifications and forty logged dives to begin the PADI Divemaster Course, which wouldn’t have occurred if I had taken the ferry to Catalina.
As a substitute, I joined Energy Scuba, a San Diego dive membership providing coaching, seaside dives at La Jolla Shores, and at-cost boat journeys. Invoice Powers was a troublesome however truthful teacher who realized the intrinsic hazards of diving in San Diego. Reaching Vallecitos Level from La Jolla Shores was no joke, with a surf entry and 200-yard floor swim. When you attain the Predominant Wall, you typically have low visibility and virtually all the time 25+ lbs in your package to offset your 7mm wetsuit.
I accomplished my Superior Open Water on a Energy Scuba liveaboard journey to the Coronado Islands and my Underwater Navigation within the murky waters off La Jolla Shores. Let’s say it’s a very good factor the surge kinds sand ridges parallel to the shore, and Invoice provides re-tests. My caving expertise helped me excel throughout my Rescue Diving Class. Nevertheless, I nonetheless wanted extra dive expertise, so I signed up for Invoice’s Deep specialty course, which was undoubtedly probably the most beneficial lesson I by no means accomplished.
Deep Disappointment
I loved the coursework for Deep, and the primary day of diving was clean crusing. The second and remaining day of diving was scheduled off the Pacific Star Dive Boat on the Palawan Wreck. I’ll admit that the duty loading for this deep dive was difficult and led to a sequence of errors. First, I needed to get nitrox crammed in my tanks however hold the combination lean sufficient that I didn’t cross the oxygen toxicity ranges at 130′ depth. Then, I had issue acquiring and configuring my pony bottle, Invoice’s most well-liked methodology for coaching the auxiliary air talent from Deep. Lastly, Pacific Star left San Pedro Harbor, so there was a zero darkish thirty begin for a morning dive.
As I arrange my gear, I spotted issues weren’t trying good. I left my built-in weight pouches again in San Diego. The crew scrounged up a weight belt. It type of labored, however it was a very good two inches in need of what I needs to be utilizing. My funds BCD seemed like a Christmas tree, with my auxiliary air and SMB hung off the one free gear hook.
The dive itself went surprisingly effectively. I solved Invoice’s underwater puzzle in document time, and there have been no traces of narcosis. After a quick backside time, I started my ascent. As I neared the floor, I checked my gauges to organize for my security cease. I moved the horse bottle out of the way in which, which dislodged my too-short weight belt. I watched 26 lbs of counterweight sink to the underside as I floated to the floor with out finishing my security cease.
Invoice, the consummate trainer, walked me by the errors that compromised this dive. He was prepared to retry the certification dives one other day, however Energy Scuba doesn’t often schedule deep diving charters. Earlier than the subsequent journey, I accepted a job provide in Orlando. I miss diving with Invoice and consider him typically, particularly after I acknowledge how his coaching helped make me the diver I’m at the moment.
Diving With Coleman Concierge
Florida was a brand new, wild, and wacky world. It was now not a 15-minute drive to La Jolla Shores however solely two hours by automobile to South Florida, the place the Gulf Stream Present kissed the coast with heat, clear water. We often made the pilgrimage south for drift diving in West Palm Seashore, shore diving at Blue Heron Bridge, and wreck diving in Pompano Seashore Dive Park.
The brand new job allowed Jenn to focus full-time on our journey web site, Coleman Concierge. We started to land dive campaigns in unique locations like Cozumel and luxurious liveaboards. I spotted that my path was diverging from turning into a Divemaster who is aware of each rock and reef of their native websites to a perpetual vacationer swooping in for a weekend tour.
Solely I wasn’t simply one other vacationer. I used to be a journey author whose voice impressed folks to like the ocean and, in return, defend what they love. We made it our mission to spotlight the wonderful dive firms had been doing, from clean-ups to coral restoration, and their moral selections, like chumming insurance policies and invasive species management.
Return To The Bahamas
We returned to Sandals in 2023 as licensed divers on the island of Curacao. We realized how the Sandals Basis eliminated greater than 160 sq. meters of ghost nets from Curacao waters and supported infrastructure enhancements to the RIF Mangrove Mission.
In 2024, we realized that Sandals was the primary resort firm to affix the Inexperienced Fins program, which protects coral reefs by environmentally pleasant pointers that promote sustainable scuba diving and snorkeling. Sandals Royal Bahamian was one of many taking part resorts, so we started planning to return to the origins of our scuba journey. Solely this time, as a substitute of beginning on the far left of the course chart with Uncover Scuba, I wished to maneuver to the precise and full my Grasp Scuba Diver Certification, probably the most prestigious certification of leisure diving.
Turning into A PADI Grasp Scuba Diver
The necessities for PADI Grasp Scuba Diver are:
- 50 logged dives (I’ve 176)
- Rescue Diver Certification (Thanks, Invoice Powers)
- 5 Specialty Diver programs (I had Enriched Air, Peak, and Underwater Navigation)
I used to be two Specialty Diver programs in need of the head of leisure diving. I knew I wished to take Underwater Images to take higher footage and movies for Coleman Concierge diving journeys. For my second class, I chosen Deep, not solely as a result of it trains you to go beneath 100′ however I wished redemption from the Palawan dive.
My images teacher was Scuba Sammy, a well-liked Bahamian dive teacher and influencer. Earlier than coming into the water, he mentioned one thing that reframed my view of this specialty course: “To be a very good underwater photographer, you first should be a very good diver.” Sam was my non-public dive coach, giving me tips about different kicking methods I final practiced in certification and increasing my dive occasions. We mentioned images tools and in contrast pictures on the Sandals dive store. Sammy’s footage had constantly higher colours as a result of he had over 4 occasions the sunshine on his custom-made digital camera rig. We exchanged contact info so he might assist us discover or fabricate an analogous setup again house.
Wenzel Nicolls instructed me by Deep. The farther down the water column you journey, the extra it exposes your diving expertise. Inefficiencies are amplified whenever you’re bleeding your tank 4 occasions quicker than on the floor, and your margins of error shrink dramatically. He recognized some quirky underwater navigation habits I picked up throughout my San Diego days. He additionally introduced an additional two kilos of weight down with him so I might experiment with lightening my weight belt and enhance my trim. I will need to have demonstrated cheap diving expertise as a result of Wenzel felt secure training a simulated out-of-air at depth with me.
My Full Circle Journey
I didn’t anticipate to be taught a lot from my programs at Sandals. There’s all the time one thing extra to be taught, regardless of what number of logged dives you have got. If you would like proof, watch the DM in your subsequent dive and see how fantastically they transfer underwater. Good dive expertise are important to each Specialty Course; your teacher will probably be your private dive coach. You won’t go away the course diving like a DM, however you can be a greater diver.
I’m proud to be a PADI Grasp Scuba Diver. Each diver who has ever traced a PADI Course Map acknowledges the dedication that it takes. Already, it’s opening some doorways for me, like making actionable plans to dive the Oriskany in Pensacola. As soon as an active-duty plane provider, the Mighty O is now the world’s largest synthetic reef and a notoriously difficult dive. It’s 22.5 knots offshore in 223ft / 68m water with the flight deck beneath 140ft / 43m. The currents are difficult that far out, and the ground is beneath the utmost working depth for air.
I don’t know the place my scuba journey will take me, however I do know I cannot wait so lengthy between lessons. There’s all the time one thing extra to be taught, and I need to be one of the best and most secure diver I will be.
