Well...the first time I thought about it was back when I was about 13 or 14 and I read the Jaws, then The Deep (then subsequently saw the movies) The Deep inspired me to snorkel in my 3-4' backyard pool...but never got any further than that.
I always seemed to gravitate towards the water, but never really got the urge to dive until I was on my honeymoon in St. Lucia. (circa 1993) I saw that the resort offered a course, but after talking to the DM realized that I was way too out of shape (and being a heavy smoker at the time) decided that I would have to pass.
Fast forward to October 2003, on a trip to Key West, I decided prior that I was going to invest in some snorkelling gear and go out to the reef. Since I have a friend that lives there, I figured that I would get a lot of use on our many planned trips. Once out on the reef, I was wishing I could be down closer, I tried to free dive, but didn't get far... A little later on the trip, I saw a bunch of divers off to the left of where we were snorkelling, and thought.."I can do that!" SO being in much better shape than on my honeymoon, and being about 7-8 years removed as a smoker I started to get ideas to get certified.
With the push of a friend that I spoke to on the phone through work quite often (who I found out was a scuba instructor) I started reading an old PADI manual she sent down and we tried to figure out a time where she could teach me. As it happened, we could never lock into a weekend where there was a pool available (the plan was to do a weekend or two, then do my certification dives the next time I was in the Keys)
So I started to look for a place in my area. The one existing shop had just completed their courses and weren't starting again for another month or two (on days that would be tough to schedule) SO I figured that I would just have to wait until it suited me (it wasn't going anywhere)
On a trip through town, I noticed a sign that resembled a diver down flag (but figured that it was the sign of a local realtor that resembled a dive flag) On the way back, I slowed down and BAM it WAS a new dive shop... so I had my wife copy down the URL and checked it out when I got home. I read that it was a brand new shop that was officially opening in a week! So I fired off an email with my intentions and waited for a reply. The next day I was invited to try their free Discover Scuba Course at their grand opening.
OF course being early June, it was cold (and raining) but I had to do it! From there I was hooked! Set up my classes, passed my final with 100% and waited a few weeks to do my quarry dives (oh, I forgot...in between the first and 2nd class, I was going to Florida for a few days, my wife went to a seminar, and I basked. since we were in SOUTH Florida, we decided to run down to KW for a quick visit, SO I scheduled a resort course and did two dives!)
Anyway... I passed my OW dives with flying colors and there you have it! (Instant dive freak!) In the course of one year I went from wannbe to certified!
The next step came in November when I did a trip and now I'm going back to KW and setting up THREE trips!
I'm hooked!
