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Remember, it is mandatory that they put their gear on in the living room and do the happy dance.

I told my son that I want to go diving on my 80th birthday. He said, "ok". In the Caribbean. "Ok". You're paying for it. Gulp'"ok."

It is alternately sad and gratifying to come in after such an instructor. But in the end it is really cool to watch a student learn and enjoy diving, having put the trauma behind them.

Tip massively. DMs don't make a lot and should be compensated when you can.

I remember feeling like someone beat me with a bag of potatoes. It passes. You get the same feeling when you start in a martial arts class.

My wife carried a flooded camera on some dives so she could focus on something else. It was funny watching the DM in Cozumel pointing out great shots. She dutifully pointed it at the fish and pretended to take its picture.

My instructor was out having a fun dive when he saw a hook drop next to his wife's arm. He swooped in, wrapped the line around his hand a few times and took off. He swam a nice big box, took out his knife and cut the line. After he got backed back to the boat he yelled over to the fisherman...

My instructor onld me that he once dived with a guy who, every time he looked at him, was flipping him the bird. When asked why he was doing that, the diver said his strap broke and this was how he held it on. Well, he did have to finish the dive, didn't he?

So here I was, teaching a martial arts class with a friend. After class I heard her and some of the other guys talking about a quarry. So I asked what the quarry was about. It turns out that her dad owned a scuba shop and a quarry for certifying students. People also came in to swim and get...

A sand tiger shark swam directly over us. My instructor sent a shot of bubbles up to the shark, whereupon it scooted away. The shark then turned around and came over again. Bob sent another burst of bubbles up. They played that game for a couple of minutes.

Lots of interesting things to look at. The music tends to throw me a bit but, overall, the place is a gas.

Good luck with your FIRST set of gear. More will come later. Once you have it all sorted out, you must put it all on and do the happy dance in your living room. That must be in the book somewhere.

Herding cats comes to mind. If you are assisting in a class, the instructor takes the lead with the class following, mostly. You scoop up the strays who, for one reason or another, ended up going a different direction. You could end up "taking the ride". You position yourself either...

It is very normal to be nervous. It is fun, however, to watch the progression of the students in training. They start out wondering what to do with this stuff. By the last day of training they look like a bunch of gladiators hauling the gear around like, "Yeah I got this." Enjoy.

We ran into "That Guy" in Cozumel. We were waiting our turn for the swim thru on the Santa Rosa Wall and people pushed my wife aside rather than wait. She thumbed the dive. I indicated, "Up and over?" Nope, UP! We went up, no question. The guy on the boat commiserated with us about our...

Welcome to the pond. Enjoy!!!

My instructor was once called upon to do a simple skills test before he was allowed to do a dive. The dive op put him and other divers in a pool with a big observation window. He was asked to remove and replace his mask. He took it off, turned away from the window, replaced it, cleared it and...

I was in Zora:'s sandal store in St Thomas talking with her associate, After finding out that I was a diver she asked, " Which ear?" I asked her what she meant. She said, "You are a professional diver, so which ear have you hurt? " Uh, the left one.

I once watched my instructor head off into his quarry with a tank, a reg, fins and a piece of rope.

I'll bite.