How you found scuba..

[scubaaaronh]

Mine is a little different story. My Dad was very involved with the salmon and steelhead industry here in Michigan, a member of MUCC and on the board of the Michigan Steelheaders from the the time he got back from overseas in the mid sixties. As i grew up we worked at all the fishing and outdoors shows promoting the Steelheaders and the Industry for tackle vendors he was affiliated with. At one particular show the Outdoorama in Detroit there was a shop from St Clair shores there and they would raffle off classes every year, i was of course to young. When i wasn't in our booth i was at theirs. The owners son and i became friends. After a couple seaons and i was a little older they let me try to use scuba equipment in the pool after the show was closed. Now my Mom wouldn't let me take lessons as it was "too dangerous" till i moved out of the house. When i did move out it was november and i visited the local dive shop within the next week. I began to save and as soon as spring broke i was in classes, and hooked.

 

[jbd]

Sea Hunt played a part for me but The Undersea World of Jacque Coustea programs were absolutely the most fascinating thing I had ever seen. I can still hear his voice narrating the show.

 

[Scubagolf]

I went on a two week CLUB MED vacation to a club on Mexico's Sea of Cortez. I had planned on two weeks of golf --- whoops! It was really hot and humid and after one round at the local course, I went in search of another "activity." I took the Club Med resort course and then did 14 dives with a boatload of certified divers over the next two weeks. Thanks to the terrific Club Med Dive GO's, I was hooked. I went home and completed the PADI certification with referral dives on Maui. This was in 2002. 70+ dives later I'm roaming the planet in search of the "perfect dive." Thanks Club Med!

 

[TracyKent]

I have always been a water oriented person, whether on a swim team, waterskiing, or just splashing around the pool with my buddies. SCUBA seemed like the obvious progression with my water world and I have loved it ever since.

 

[dbittner]

I grew up in Northwest Indiana watching "Sea Hunt," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," and "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau." I read Cousteau's book "The Silent World" while I was in grade 7 or 8, and also read a number of other underwater-oriented books.

I did start taking a scuba class while a student at Marquette University in the mid-70s, but a number of factors, including lack of money, and the inability to swim the then-required 25 yards underwater (I could do 20 yards, but not 25) kept me from finishing the course.

I never lost the dream. In 2001, during my first trip to Maui, I did an Intro Scuba dive on the Maui Diamond II (a dive at Molokini crater, followed by a some snorkelling at "Turtle Town"). That really hooked me. I swore that I would get certified some day.

I got the chance in 2004 when I took a mini-sabbatical. On my way from a conference at Notre Dame to another conference in Brisbane, Australia, I stayed in Maui (at a friend's condo) for 10 days. During my first three days I did the Open Water course with Maui Dreams Dive Co. (I found them via an online search), and the rest is history. I did another 8 dives in Maui after certification, did three dives on the Great Barrier Reef after the Brisbane conference, and then learned how to dive dry back in Edmonton in preparation for my first dive trip to Victoria, BC.

Since then, I've taken AOW, 5 specialities, and Rescue Diver (all with Maui Dreams), dived in Tobermory, ON and Fiji, and have purchased all my own equipment (including both a 5-mm wet suit and a dry suit). While part of me wishes I had started earlier, I wouldn't trade the dive experiences of the past 27 months for anything.

Peace,
Dave