I used to be scared to dive.

I didn’t particularly enjoy snorkeling as a kid (sorry, Dad). I was given multiple opportunities to take my Junior Open Water license by my uncle, but refused them. My brother was a diver (as was half of my family), but I was too scared. It wasn’t until my brother started coming back from his dives with crazy stories of how he saw a shark or got to swim with sea turtles that my interest started to pique.

The ocean fascinated me. Swimming at the surface and snorkeling hindered me from exploring the vast sea. I was finally convinced.

I took my PADI Open Water course in Malaysia the summer before I turned 16 (that sounds like it should be a song….). We rented a tiny putt-putt boat – single engine, that took us to Sibuan Island. Yep, I did all my skills in the ocean. I remember being scared to getting close to the sea life when I went on my first open water dive. My instructor reached out and pulled me closer so I could get my first close glimpse of “Nemo”.

I was in love. Not with “Nemo”, but with diving! It opened a whole new world to me. One that I craved for when I wasn’t down under.

I received my Advanced and my Rescue license 3 yrs later (fun times on the island!) and then took my Divemaster course a few years after that.

It’s been quite the journey since then. I’ve learned so much over the last few years of diving (off and on) and I could sit here and probably write a book of all the adventures I’ve had with friends, family, and guests, but I’ll save those for another time.

“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.” – Jacques-Yves Cousteau