I just returned from back to back Caribbean trips. I got a 3-fer tour of Negril Jamaica, Georgetown Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico. My dad and I did 2 dives on each island. The first dive on Cayman and the first on Cozumel were both swim-through/Wall/80+ foot dives. Oh the joy and the rapture of weightlessness!
This trip was truly a father-son thing. You might not know this story ... 3 years ago my dad said let's do something really great together. We sat down and listed 50 things. Both of us kept coming back to Scuba Diving. Finally, we agreed that in one year's time we would be together on a tropical island diving together. I went home and signed up right away. Called him two weeks later to tell him about my cert and ask how it was coming - he never got past the physical - he had some serious medical problems. So he told me here's the deal - if I would personally certify him (keep in mind I have 4 checkout dives to my name at this time!) he would stop smoking and drinking, work out every week and get healthy. He did exactly that although it took 3 years instead of 1 while I followed the path to becoming an instructor though it took less time only 10 months.
Last week's trip was the grand culmination of these 3 years of hard work and preparation for both of us. Remember - I certified him at the end of the summer last year in California. He has since done a couple more dives with me. When the opportunity arose 2 months ago to jump aboard a cruise and see 3 of our favorite choices of islands we jumped on it.
We called the trip a "breakfast sampler" of scuba diving aboard the newly commissioned Carnival Conquest (biggest of the fleet) puts out of New Orleans. At his age and with his health declining he worked out hard in the Gym for 60 days prior to our trip to build aerobic stamina and strength. He said he never felt better. We built some fantastic memories on those 6 dives. We even had a videographer record our 2 Cozumel drift dives, he'll set everything to music and do some editing - I should receive the DVD in the mail in 4-6 weeks. If it is possible to get a clip or two or some stills from it, I'll send them over.
As for the "breakfast sampler" - here's what I learned. I'm convinced that I'm going back for a week to Grand Cayman within a year's time. When I'm there - I intend to dive my brains out. The variety and abundance of sea life was simply overwhelming. Everything was out and approachable - the reef was vibrant with more colors than anywhere I've ever been - alive and active. The walls were vast beyond imagination and that was only the south end of the island. Locals will tell you the East end is 2x better than the south and the North is yet again 2x better than the east. But weather must be permitting to allow for diving on those sides. I'm going to find out when to go and plan to island hop to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman too.
Even though the drift dives in Cozumel were effortless and the visibility was 125+ feet and even though Jamaica had the friendliest people, great plane wreck, and the most beautiful eels and crabs - in the end there was just something especially magical about Grand Cayman that compels me to explore with far more magnetism than any place else I've ever been.
To complete my list of places I have to go - hopefully I'll squeeze in one of these next winter: Australia, Belize, Aruba, and Hawaii.
This trip was truly a father-son thing. You might not know this story ... 3 years ago my dad said let's do something really great together. We sat down and listed 50 things. Both of us kept coming back to Scuba Diving. Finally, we agreed that in one year's time we would be together on a tropical island diving together. I went home and signed up right away. Called him two weeks later to tell him about my cert and ask how it was coming - he never got past the physical - he had some serious medical problems. So he told me here's the deal - if I would personally certify him (keep in mind I have 4 checkout dives to my name at this time!) he would stop smoking and drinking, work out every week and get healthy. He did exactly that although it took 3 years instead of 1 while I followed the path to becoming an instructor though it took less time only 10 months.
Last week's trip was the grand culmination of these 3 years of hard work and preparation for both of us. Remember - I certified him at the end of the summer last year in California. He has since done a couple more dives with me. When the opportunity arose 2 months ago to jump aboard a cruise and see 3 of our favorite choices of islands we jumped on it.
We called the trip a "breakfast sampler" of scuba diving aboard the newly commissioned Carnival Conquest (biggest of the fleet) puts out of New Orleans. At his age and with his health declining he worked out hard in the Gym for 60 days prior to our trip to build aerobic stamina and strength. He said he never felt better. We built some fantastic memories on those 6 dives. We even had a videographer record our 2 Cozumel drift dives, he'll set everything to music and do some editing - I should receive the DVD in the mail in 4-6 weeks. If it is possible to get a clip or two or some stills from it, I'll send them over.
As for the "breakfast sampler" - here's what I learned. I'm convinced that I'm going back for a week to Grand Cayman within a year's time. When I'm there - I intend to dive my brains out. The variety and abundance of sea life was simply overwhelming. Everything was out and approachable - the reef was vibrant with more colors than anywhere I've ever been - alive and active. The walls were vast beyond imagination and that was only the south end of the island. Locals will tell you the East end is 2x better than the south and the North is yet again 2x better than the east. But weather must be permitting to allow for diving on those sides. I'm going to find out when to go and plan to island hop to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman too.
Even though the drift dives in Cozumel were effortless and the visibility was 125+ feet and even though Jamaica had the friendliest people, great plane wreck, and the most beautiful eels and crabs - in the end there was just something especially magical about Grand Cayman that compels me to explore with far more magnetism than any place else I've ever been.
To complete my list of places I have to go - hopefully I'll squeeze in one of these next winter: Australia, Belize, Aruba, and Hawaii.
