What was some of your most memorable dives

[Kharon]

Two come to mind. First was 2017 at Te Amo Beach, Bonaire. I was north, near the Port Bonaire entry and a zillion fish of all kinds, from every direction congregated right in front of me and proceeded to file past me in a stream. Blew me away. It was like a fireworks finale.

Second was with a Tavernier dive shop that didn't mention current in the breifing, put me in the water alone before the rest of the divers, then left me in high chop far from the boat for 20-30 minutes before finally coming to my distress calls, Storm whistle, Dive Alert. I was out of air in the main tank and 19 cf pony, being pushed face down from every direction, and was definitely sure I was going to drown. I haven't dove since. Oh, and they did have a dingy that could have been sent, but didn't bother.

 

[Waterwulf]

My favorite dives were in the Withalacootchie River Blue Run. The Blue Run was what the locals called the area where the river starts as a fresh water spring. It's fairly deep, fast and cold. My friend lived on the river and had a pontoon boat that I dove off of. He would take me to the top of the Blue Run as far as allowed and then just cut the engine and he'd start fishing. I had a mud anchor that I had tied some loops in the line. I'd let that drop and then slide down the line to sit on top of the anchor.

It was like flying! The water was so clear it was a light blue and it ran at about a fast jogging pace. I'd sit on the anchor until i saw something that i wanted a closer look at, then I'd unhook it and ride it down to the bottom. I had to carry the anchor around with me if I wanted to go anywhere because if I let go of it, the current would carry me away. Then I'd surface and yell so my friend could come get me. That was some of the best and funnest diving that I've ever done.

My second choice would be "ridin' the rips" in the Gulf between the Okaloosa Island Pier and the Destin Pass jetties. A bunch of us from the "club" would go there and toss a stick in to see which way the rip current was running. It was not SCUBA diving. We would only use out snorkels. We'd walk "up stream" about a mile or so, get in the rip current and start traveling!! Some times it would be running at a fast run, mostly a fast jog. The current would speed up dramatically when you were coming up on a sand bar and then you'd go zipping over it and fly on. I've shared the rip currents with everything from sharks to big turtles. They were riding it too but they were looking for food while we were only looking for memories.