Scuba Diving!

[Xanth]

So just shootin the... uhhh... having fun. 

Wondering if there's anyone else in the group who enjoys Scuba Diving?

[EscapeVelocity]

Back around 2005, while on vacation in Maui, Hawaii my gf and I did a one day dive course which the highlight was a wetsuit dive off the beach about three hundred yards out. That was really cool!
A few years later, in Puerto Rico, I did another one day course and was allowed to go out on the dive boat a couple days.
So, maybe four or five off-shore dives, the deepest about 75 feet. I considered getting certified but my schedule never worked out.

I really enjoy scuba and can highly recommend the experience! Learning to operate and explore in such a different environment is exciting and challenging! And honestly, if I want to describe the early NPR experiences like RTZ or Etheric OBE, the easiest parallel I can suggest is scuba diving. There is the near-fluid density of the environment, the restrictive qualities placed on sight and especially sound, the necessary conscious focus on breathing (or not breathing in the NP case!), the initial difficulty in learning to move and maintain your orientation/balance...yes, so many similarities...

[tides2dust]

Almost two decades ago... In my "college days" I took a few classes of interest. Scuba diving was one of them. I got licensed. It was really cool- but the only dive I've completed was 40 feet deep in murky lake water. There was some wreckage we were supposed to observe but the conditions were so bad you couldn't see your hand if you extend your arm out. I have my license locked away somewhere upstairs, and would definitely need a refresher class. I don't remember any of what I had learned, but agree with EV- the experience is magnificent!

[Xanth]

Back around 2005, while on vacation in Maui, Hawaii my gf and I did a one day dive course which the highlight was a wetsuit dive off the beach about three hundred yards out. That was really cool!
A few years later, in Puerto Rico, I did another one day course and was allowed to go out on the dive boat a couple days.
So, maybe four or five off-shore dives, the deepest about 75 feet. I considered getting certified but my schedule never worked out.

I really enjoy scuba and can highly recommend the experience! Learning to operate and explore in such a different environment is exciting and challenging! And honestly, if I want to describe the early NPR experiences like RTZ or Etheric OBE, the easiest parallel I can suggest is scuba diving. There is the near-fluid density of the environment, the restrictive qualities placed on sight and especially sound, the necessary conscious focus on breathing (or not breathing in the NP case!), the initial difficulty in learning to move and maintain your orientation/balance...yes, so many similarities...

Discover Scuba is what they call that these days.  It gives you just a brief glimpse of the fun to be had!

Yeah, it's definitely a magical world down there.  Reefs are beautiful.

Almost two decades ago... In my "college days" I took a few classes of interest. Scuba diving was one of them. I got licensed. It was really cool- but the only dive I've completed was 40 feet deep in murky lake water. There was some wreckage we were supposed to observe but the conditions were so bad you couldn't see your hand if you extend your arm out. I have my license locked away somewhere upstairs, and would definitely need a refresher class. I don't remember any of what I had learned, but agree with EV- the experience is magnificent!

We got certified last year in June (2022) here in Ontario.  Quite a few wrecks to dive in the waters around here, it's crazy.  So far we've dove a lot here in Ontario, but the nicest dives are down south in the Caribbean.  We did Cayman Brac last April and next week we'll be in Curacao doing a week of diving too.

Great fun and I'm totally with EV, I HIGHLY suggest it to anyone. 

[Xanth]

My wife and I just got back from a week of Scuba Diving the reefs around Curacao.  Beautiful country. 

The reefs, however, aren't doing so well, sadly... a good portion of them are bleaching out due to the REALLY WARM temperature of the water.  Usually corals enjoy 78F to 82F, but the water there was between 85F to 87F, most of our group didn't even wear wetsuits.

But beyond that, it was really fun and my wife got lots of great underwater pictures. 

The first is an Octopus we saw right off the beach near the end of a night dive, little guy was about hand-sized.
The second is a giant Crab we saw out in the ocean, it was about two feet wide, absolutely huge.
The last is a Seahorse we found on the reef just off the beach of our resort.  It was about three inches long.

[tides2dust]

=O Wow! Cool photos. I miss the experience ~ I've never seen a seahorse in real life.