Joined the Marines, went to Okinawa, Japan. "Friends" got me drunk, then strapped me into a BC, handed me a reg and took me to see a sunken Japanese Zero plane at 40-45 feet (i think, i was pretty drunk). Amazingly i didn't die, and was hooked. Took an OW cert class and learned that i was the stupidest man alive for what i had done (drinking and diving), found some new "friends" that wouldn't try to kill me, and thanked God and Neptune for sparing a young Polack's life... again.
What got you into diving?
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AlaskaDiver
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What a great question. I got into diving in 1995 when I got a divorce to do something I had always wanted to do. I promptly never used it again as I had very little cash. When I got on my feet again financially in 1999 I reintroduced myself to diving and and have been doing it ever since. it is truly my passion now. I love to photograph and identify the creatures underwater. There are so many things occurring beneath the surface that I'd love to understand better. I like diving so much I do it year round here in Alaska as well as making it the priority for my vacation destinations.
shotthebreeze
Contributor
My uncle got me into snorkeling, which amazed me. He told me I'd make a great dive buddy, so I'm going for it...
It was the first week of a year travelling in Asia. With our 'trusty' Lonely Planet we went camping on an island in the Abdul Rahman Marine Park off Kota Kinabalu, Borneo.
It didn't take long to realise the temperature didnt drop too much overnight and that our 2 season european tent was more designed for a cool British summer than a Malaysian spring. We sweltered all night and got up in bad moods. In the morning I pulled my cozzie out the rucksack and put on my goggles to go and cool body and mind in the water.
And there were fish under there! Bright colourful zany little fishes! It was so wonderful that it was a couple of hours later that I came back up the beach and my dive-master-to-be noticed just how red and burnt my back was. I didnt care, I had just discovered a new world and a couple of days later, we were back on the island, zipping up into wetsuits (and boy did it hurt over that sunburn) and doing our open water course....
It didn't take long to realise the temperature didnt drop too much overnight and that our 2 season european tent was more designed for a cool British summer than a Malaysian spring. We sweltered all night and got up in bad moods. In the morning I pulled my cozzie out the rucksack and put on my goggles to go and cool body and mind in the water.
And there were fish under there! Bright colourful zany little fishes! It was so wonderful that it was a couple of hours later that I came back up the beach and my dive-master-to-be noticed just how red and burnt my back was. I didnt care, I had just discovered a new world and a couple of days later, we were back on the island, zipping up into wetsuits (and boy did it hurt over that sunburn) and doing our open water course....
sgj99
Registered
i had wanted to learn since my early 20's but couldn't afford to get certified or go any where, like most poor college students.
a few years ago i went on a cruise with my husband and did a resort dive in aruba while he went off and did a 2-tank dive. we thought it would be a good way to see if i liked it. it was wonderful, 3-4 people per instructor, very friendly. when we surfaced my instructor told me the next time he saw me he wanted to a c-card in my hand. i was sold on diving but didn't get around to getting certified until 3 years ago (now in my 40's) and did another resort dive while at sandals in st. lucia, again the husband goes off with the big boys to do another 2-tank dive. on the way back in the DM asked if anyone was interested in getting certified and i jumped at the chance. the next day i had one-on-one instruction in the pool and for my open water dives and got my discover scuba, 6 months later finished it in the bahamas at the sandals there (great excuse ... "honey, we have to go so i can finish my certification within the required year, let's go to the bahamas.")
a few years ago i went on a cruise with my husband and did a resort dive in aruba while he went off and did a 2-tank dive. we thought it would be a good way to see if i liked it. it was wonderful, 3-4 people per instructor, very friendly. when we surfaced my instructor told me the next time he saw me he wanted to a c-card in my hand. i was sold on diving but didn't get around to getting certified until 3 years ago (now in my 40's) and did another resort dive while at sandals in st. lucia, again the husband goes off with the big boys to do another 2-tank dive. on the way back in the DM asked if anyone was interested in getting certified and i jumped at the chance. the next day i had one-on-one instruction in the pool and for my open water dives and got my discover scuba, 6 months later finished it in the bahamas at the sandals there (great excuse ... "honey, we have to go so i can finish my certification within the required year, let's go to the bahamas.")
scubacoots3
Guest
Friend I worked introduced me into this wonderful life.
GulfDiver77
Guest
Watching the dives of Cousteau,and Seahunt reruns(because I wasn't around to see the episodes when they first came out). I have always loved water,So I got certified .
Loneranger
Contributor
I went on a snorkel trip to the keys. I could not believe all the marine life one was able to see from the surface. I chased around alot of stuff from the surface, but seeing those on the bottom in a relaxed state amazed me. I was out looking at gear a week later.
MaconBubbles
Contributor
I was on Guam in 1980 and went snorkeling a few times and it was so amazing! I never really considered scuba diving because I was afraid of all those weird sea creatures outside the reef. Recently, my sister in Arkansas asked me to get certified so we could meet up in the Bahamas. Until my OW check dive, I never realized there were beautiful places to dive that weren't even in the ocean. I go to the Florida springs and I love it even there. I really want to overcome my fear and go back in the ocean one day soon. My new dream is to take a live-aboard dive trip. I wish I hadn't wasted the last 27 years!
I got started diving because of teaching martial arts. What? No, really. It's like this.
I was teaching martial arts in North Carolina. A friend would stop in about once a month and we would tag team the teaching. We made a good team. Anyway, I overheard someone mention a quarry around this friend and I eventually found out that friend's father owned the place. As friend usually ran the quarry while it was open on the weekends for people to come in, swim, jump off the 36' cliff and be generally stupid, I made a point of going up there to see this place. Massively cool!
There was a Rescue class going on at the time so we sat and watched as they brought this almost 300 lb guy up from the school bus, across the quarry and hefted him up onto the dock. We were laughing like fools at the last part since the victim was of no help at all.
It turned out that my friend's father owned a SCUBA shop and the quarry was so they would have a handy place for dive training.
One thing led to another and I ended up learning to dive, and then some.
I was teaching martial arts in North Carolina. A friend would stop in about once a month and we would tag team the teaching. We made a good team. Anyway, I overheard someone mention a quarry around this friend and I eventually found out that friend's father owned the place. As friend usually ran the quarry while it was open on the weekends for people to come in, swim, jump off the 36' cliff and be generally stupid, I made a point of going up there to see this place. Massively cool!
There was a Rescue class going on at the time so we sat and watched as they brought this almost 300 lb guy up from the school bus, across the quarry and hefted him up onto the dock. We were laughing like fools at the last part since the victim was of no help at all.
It turned out that my friend's father owned a SCUBA shop and the quarry was so they would have a handy place for dive training.
One thing led to another and I ended up learning to dive, and then some.
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