I love diving, but unfortunately I have been doing very little for the past four years. After twelve years of being DINKs (Double-Income-No-Kids) we had a kid (now two of them) which has kept me from diving more than a couple times.
They're growing up fast, though so I hope to start getting back into it as the kids become more independent.I started snorkeling in the creek that runs through my town at six or seven. When I was thirteen I snorkeled in the ocean for the first time. It was in the Indian Ocean off of Lamu, Kenya. At that point I was very much hooked. I dove for the first time 23 years ago in Mexico when I was eighteen. A guy I met had some tanks/regulators, so we strapped them on along with a weight belt (no B.C. or wetsuits) and motored out in a tiny Zodiac to do a little diving. I eventually got certified in Cozumel about sixteen years ago. At one point about ten years ago I started working towards a cave-diving certification and did a lot of cave-diving in the Yucatan, but my wife wasn't that into it (it is a lot of work) and so I gave it up.
So far I have dove:
Warmwater:
Caribbean around Cozumel/Tulum and off of Negril, Jamaica
Several Cenotes in the Tulum area
Pacific coast of Mexico from Puerto Vallarta to Oaxaca
Pacific coast of Nicaragua
Hawaii (Big Island)
Coldwater:
Pacific Coast of Oregon
Hood Canal in Washington
Lots of Rivers/Lakes around Oregon
I don't have a ton of dive photos, but here are a few.
A skull in a sacrificial well at Punta Laguna Spider Monkey Reserve. This was one of the strangest dives ever.
Gran Cenote:
My wife surfacing from el Pit (another cenote), my deepest dive so far at a bit over 140'.
The ever-present Porcupine Puffer:
Getting ready to dive the local reservoir. The air temperature was about 30 and the water was 34 degrees.
My trusty Zodiac:
