So what takes your breath away...?

[ROXANNE]

What a wonderful thread Denise!
Oh yes colors, colors, colors in everything! Everytime I dive, when a beautiful bird or animal crosses my path and the ever changing sky.

 

[UforSCUBA?]

Great thread!
For me it's sea turtles. No matter how many I've seen, they always amaze me. I just love them!

 

[Frosty]

RIGHT NOW for me its watching my kids enjoying this wonderfull undersee world. Seeing their diving visibly improving each time they dive.

 

[Robert Gillcash]

seeing a stingray in about 5 feet of water, above a reef, about 15 feet from the shore....yeah, that was today.

 

[denisegg]

I am loving it! You are all making me think of things that awe and inspire me! Yes, the colors, the sea life, the formations in caverns and caves, and the friends and dive buddies I have met here.

 

[jboothe]

Dropping off the boat into 100+ visibility water with no air in your BCD into a 4 knot curent and drifting across/down the sand 85 ft below to an old wreck. Looking down while drifting along reminds me of those lunar landing videos as the craft drifts over the moon surface.

Exploring the wreck, seeing the eels, barracuda, etc and then ascending on the mooring line feeling a lot like a flag in a stiff wind while doing your safety stop, holding on till your arms hurt.

Cool stuff...and the best part of it all...diving that with my kids and us talking about it for months afterward.

 

[freewillie]

Seeing the excitement on my 14 yo daughter's face on her first night dive at the Mala Pier just off of Lahaina, Maui. We dropped in on a sleeping parrot fish in it's cocoon. Bioluminescent glows in the water with the lights dimmed. I even heard her squeal with excitement when I pointed out the sleeping "honu" turtle. Her dive log entry for that night was in all caps "BEST DIVE EVER WITH DADDY."

Then again, the Manta Ray night dive quite literally is breathtaking in it's own right.

For a heart thumping wow, there was the tiger shark sighting we saw while diving together in Kona. Nothing quite like seeing a tiger shark nearby to get your pulse going. Air consumption wasn't too great that dive either. That's a wow too!

 

[tlj3071]

Descending on the Proteus and seeing 15-20 sand tigers just meandering around, then realizing you were going to be going through that mass of sharks. Lots of large pelagics and very large masses of bait fish. Too cool.

 

[NE_SSI_Diver]

Suddenly being enveloped in a large school of mackerel as they swim along, and then looking at my dad, both of us with wide eyes and smiles.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Having an eight-foot long, ugly fish with the personality of a puppy come bolting into your light on a night dive, sidle up alongside and nudge you looking for a handout ... that takes my breath away ...

But it doesn't have to be a big thing ... this little fellow took my breath away ... and vice-versa, judging by the look on his face ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)