When did you get bitten by the bug?

[TMHeimer]

Got certified in 2005. Before that I spent the majority of 30 years in Northern Manitoba, Canada. I was always interested, but who wants to dive the lakes up there? (Some, I guess). The move to the Nova Scotia shore made it practical.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

I guess I realized I was hooked when I convinced my entire family to move to Fort Lauderdale (from DC) so I could be near awesome diving (plus the warm year round thing helped). Of course, since it was my idea, my family was able to get down super quick...and I'm still here. It's ok though, I should be down there in 2009 and I get to go down and dive every few weeks.

 

[k ellis]

Well I got bit in May of 2007. I went to Maui and stayed at the Grand Waeiea (Hope its spelled right) and they had a discover scuba course where we got to get in to the ocean. I was a little scared at first but once I got under and realized breathing is as easy as breathing out of the water I was hooked. I went to get certified in October of the same year and now to date I have logged 55 dives and just today received my master scuba diver.

I have been to Maui and Florida and both impressed me. The local diving this year is not all that good due to all the rain, but the wreck diving is awesome. I have seen many wrecks more then once and they still facinate me to see them under the water. Trully amazing that on land you would never give an old piece of junk a second look but under water they become addictive.

 

[chris9562]

I always loved being underwater. One of my earliest memories is me as a toddler in a swimming pool. (yes it was "Trendy" to take toddlers swimming in the 70s in the UK!)

 

[jupitermermaid]

I always loved the water since I was a kid, but never got certified until 2006. I didn't do much with it until this past Oct. (I had 23 dives under my belt by that time). In Oct. I bit the bullet (since I didn't use it to shoot my ex), bought a bunch of gear, hit the ocean and haven't stayed dried yet. I hit dive 100 in April, and will be doing my 200th this coming Sat.

 

[Noboundaries]

I always loved Sea Hunt as a kid, but one thing or another kept me from pursuing my interest in Scuba. When the scuba doors in my life finally opened, I unexpectedly ran head on into an old nemesis; claustrophobia, specifically the fear of restriction. Putting on a 7mm wetsuit, especially the hood and gloves, was an exercise in panic mind control. After getting certified in 51*F Monterey Bay in Sept 2004, my wife and I didn't dive again for two and a half years. I loved being under the water, but I hated getting there. I know that claustrophobia is one of those phobias that can be conquered so I decided to study and practice what I needed to overcome my fear.

My wife and I took a refresher course in February 2007. In April 2007 on a trip to Puerto Aventuras, MX she and I went diving for the first time since OW certification. Our first two dives in the ocean were fine, nothing spectacular or memorable. Then my wife wanted to dive a cenote. WHAM! Instant feelings of claustrophobia. I explained my claustrophobia situation to the dive shop. They gave me the assurances I needed and we decided to give the cenote a shot. Within seconds of descending the "wow" factor took over and I did not have a single instance of claustrophobia. It was on that dive that the bug bit me hard.

Not including OW, we now have 47 dives. Our last dives this year were on May 18th. Due to a physical condition I've been unable to dive for the entire summer. That is about to come to an end and we're already coordinating schedules to get back in the water. ScubaBoard has kept me sane while I've been landlocked. This place is as positively addicting as diving and definitely therapeutic when one can't dive.