Down the Line

I'm Jenny, and I'm excited about my first blog post about diving. If you've ever been SCUBA diving, you know that rush you get when you first plunge into the water, become weightless, and feel the air in your BCD carry you up to the surface before you descend into the completely incredible world beneath us. You know the peace that comes over you as the world becomes silent except for the bubbles of your breath. You know the sensation of discovering an eel hidden in coral or watching a school of spotted eagle rays swim above you. And even better yet, you know the great feeling of sharing that experience with your buddy and the handful of people diving with you.

If you haven't done it yet, it's incredible.

I have to say that although I am passionate about it now, I was a little hesitant before I tried it. I was in Cabo, I wasn't certified, and I met a local at the crack of dawn who agreed to take us out on his boat and rent us some gear. The only advice I got was, "If your mask explodes, don't worry about it. Just make sure you keep breathing." Needless to say, that was not the kind of instruction I expected. I got on the boat anyway - mostly just to make sure a guy I was dating thought I was cool. But when it came time to get in the water, I chickened out. I sat on a rock in the middle of the ocean and sang songs to pelicans and watched sea lions while the rest of my group went diving. And the guy ended up pretty smitten anyway.

I learned such a great lesson that day - NEVER dive if you aren't comfortable. I went straight back to California and enrolled in certification classes, determined to learn everything I needed to know to get back in the boat and into the water. I've been certified for four years now. After learning the ropes, I now know I would not go on an open water dive without having some experience. I needed to get used to the gear, to understand how things work, to learn hand signals, and how to be a responsible diver. Once I had that down, I was hooked. I'm including a photo from my first open water dive in Maui.

My favorite dive so far has been Molokini off of Maui, HI, followed closely by a fantastic dive in the Bahamas. I'm planning a trip to Bora Bora for August and I'm desperate to get to Turks and Caicos. I'll be posting about my dives periodically and I'll include pictures from some of my underwater adventures.

Jenny Mo