Direct flights to Cuba.....if you're a Brit that is.........

Virgin Atlantic started direct flights twice a week from London Gatwick to Cuba this week. The new service is expected to bring 42,000 passengers in the first year.

This is exciting news for British divers who wish to explore Cuba's deep blue. I spent a few days at Maria la Gorda last year before attending Ernesto Bazan's photography workshop. Let me tell you.......the diving is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! I chose Maria la Gorda, located on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula of western Cuba, because it was off the beaten path. Many Cuban and European based dive operations will meet you in Havana and arrange transportation to the remote "resort". After bouncing and jostling around for four and a half hours in a van, the clear blue waters off Maria's beaches were a welcome site. The Hotel Maria la Gorda modestly consists of some newly constructed cabins and
a few units of bungalows. The "hotel" is small, rustic and intimate and whether they be solo travelers from Germany or a family of 5 from France, guests travel there from all around the world. No MTV beach party, no tacky plastic resort-style wrist bands........people come here to dive and take their surface intervals on the beach.

Peaceful, clear blue waters and walls filled with colossal sponges is what you will find here. My favorite dive site was Yemaya, named after the goddess of the sea in the Santaria religion. Plunging to 60 feet Yemaya had us enter a small cavernous swim-through that was guarded by silver tarpon. Exiting the tunnel at 100 feet we found ourselves on a beautiful, dramatic wall dotted with black coral and glided past sponges five to six feet high. Maybe it was slight narcosis, but I felt like Alice in Wonderland.

My days at Maria la Gorda involved three dives each day with a fabulous dive staff (minus a cowboy here and there).Evening's began with dinner, sinking sunsets and eventually led to sipping mojitos during dive tales while the hotel staff played salsa music and eventually enticed us to dance. I was glad I chose Maria la Gorda over big tourist resorts like Veradero.

Americans aren't allowed to legally travel to Cuba without a license, however there are ways to get there without one. Politics aside, I was honored to experience such pristine diving. Hopefully when the island does open up, the Cuban government will continue to protect its beautiful reefs.

My Dive Book

Had a discussion with divers and nondivers alike about dive logs. Many divers said that with their dive computers they don't really use a log book anymore. They just upload their data to the computer and viola there is their dive profile. They can even create pretty graphs. But I resist. I love my dive log......It may be a little bulky, but it's important to me not only to log my depth, air consumption, bottom time and surface intervals, but I simply like writing about the dive itself. Some are very descriptive and others are simpy along the lines of "nurse shark.......Yea!"

Seems that MyDiveBook.com has possibly created a marriage between the two dive log types. Divers can sign up for a free online dive log allowing them to access their dive logs anywhere there is internet access. No access? Divers can type up their log in MS Word and export it when they stop off at the Internet Café. DIvers also have the option to share dive experiences to others logged onto the site. Other possible perks are scuba forums, photo albums, scuba news, as well as dive site and dive buddy databases. Being a photo lover I enjoyed seeing the nudibranches in Malaysia and the Bali photos are already enticing my wandering gypsy soul to look to the Pacific.

Free Diving: Zen and Danger

As a snorkeler I did it all the time. My best friend's daughters, the water babies, are practically pros at it. Granted we weren't trying to achieve any deep free diving record, but last year in the Florida Keys we were free diving somewhere between 15 to 20 feet. Filling our lungs with air, diving down into the silence to investigate the turtle heading away from the reef our mask would squeeze our face and up we would surface gasping for air and shouting "Did you see that?" Then gasp again to peer at the baby shark ray scuttling in the sand below. The water babies who were respectively 9 and 13 amazed me at how they handled the three foot swells toppling over their snorkels and how fearlessly they dove to investigate what moved underneath us. We were exhillarated each time we surfaced for breath amazed at the sealife below.

With 15 to 20 feet of water I didn't worry. There was no fear of Decompression Illness and we weren't going beyond our limits. We were pure amatures donning our masks, snorkels, fins and our yellow inflatable emergency vests. We didn't have weight belts nor any professional device to help us sink. It wasn't until yesterday when I found the story of the Nekton crew member who died during a free diving accident, did I really start to wonder about the dangers champion free divers face.

Similar to scuba diving, free diving (or skin diving) requires a diver to always dive with a buddy, equalize ears, and remain physically and mentally fit. Like scuba divers, it is important for skin divers to know their limits and not exceed them........that is unless you are trying to break deep skin diving records like Tanya Streeter. Professional free divers who practice this extreme sport risk crippling pressure to seek their record depths some going beyond 500 feet. Divers' lungs shrink by the water pressure and their heart beat drops as low as 60 beats per second. The divers are surrounded by constant risk. While the innocent spectator points the finger at the risk of shark attack, a free diver has other concerns. If not careful, a ruptured eardrum can cause a diver to become disoriented and not know which way is to the surface. And shallow-water blackout can happen without warning as a diver begins to surface. Usually occurring 15 feet from the surface, shallow-water blackout is a potentially fatal loss of consciousness from oxygen starvation. Jason Hijirida, a national spear fishing competitor, said with these in mind divers should maintain conservative depths, drop their weight belts at the first sign of trouble, and never dive alone.

Whether free diving or scuba diving, the key words are limits and respect. Divers must know, respect, and dive within their limits. Diving accidents occur not necessarily out of equipment failure, but more often because a diver neglected his/her personal limitations.

With caution and wonder, I will still go under with or without a breathing apparatus. Hopefully, I will get to join the water babies with their mama and aunt again to explore the blue wide open.


Sources::Island Scene
Extreme Sports Café
Woman breaks free diving record

Nekton Rorqual crew member dies

D.J. Pottorf, 34, died late Monday afternoon after free diving off Orange Cay in the Bahamas.

The diver was found unresponsive in the water, pulled back on the boat where crew members unsuccesfully administered CPR. Nekton crew notified police upon their return to port in Ft. Lauderdale the next day.

The dive accident is under investigation and an autopsy is being performed.

Source: Cyber Divers News Network

Landlocked in Dallas

It's just wrong. It's just plain wrong for a scuba gypsy to be so far away from the deep blue. While my original purpose for traveling to the Miami area was thwarted, I made the best of it and got in some fabulous diving. It made me realize that maybe there is a little more to my gypsy soul than just submersion. So I have a plan. I am continuing my dive certification until I get to instructor and then maybe make a big move to do what I love. It should be interesting. As soon as I complete my exams I will have my Rescue Diver Certification and Nitrox Specialty through The Scuba Source and then it is on to Dive Master. The DM program is supposed to be quite challenging....so anyone out there with some words of wisdom..shout out.

For Newbie Bloggers: Posting Comments

HOPKINSVILLE, KY---I have been out of commission for the past few days. Spent a couple of days on Kentucky Lake with my dad, his girlfriend and my brother. Good times.......even had my first experience on a jet ski.......ok so maybe this shows my age, but I prefer the real thing........it was fun.....my brother proceeded to scare the crap out of me......but would rather be pulled behind a boat.......maybe it's sort of a control thing?

OK on with the blogger help. I have had a couple of people email me saying they were confused about how to post a comment. Apparently they have been clicking on the little envelope icon at the bottom of the posts thinking they were leaving a comment. That's not how you do it kiddos. No worries......here is some help.

1. The little white envelope is to email that specific post to someone else. You will have to put your email and your friend's email. Then you can also leave a comment. It doesn't post to Scuba Gypsy. It is only between you and your cronie.

2. To post a comment click on the word/link COMMENT and that will lead you in the right direction.

For more specific instructions go here:
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1082

3. If you go to the right column, click on the title of a post to select that specific post. This will make that one post show up on it's own page, then below that you will see all the comments posted, and a phrase that says POST A COMMENT. Click that and it will take you to the screen to allow you to post a comment.

Happy Blogging and thanks for reading!

Diver breaks depth record

Fifty-two year old South African Nuno Gomes set the world scuba diving depth record on June 10 when he dove to 1,044 feet in the Red Sea.

Gomes previously held the record between 1996 to 2001. This was his second attemmpt to reclaim the record. Last July Gomes reached 889 feet but had to stop the descent when his equipment failed.

To prevent nitrogen buildup, divers breath trimix which is a blend of oxygen, nitrogen and helium.

While it took 20 minutes for Gomes to reach his record depth, it took 12 hours for him to make enough decompression stops to ascend to the surface safely.

The previous depth record was set two years ago in Thailand at 1,026 by British dive instructor Mark Ellyatt.

Blue Crush? More like Blue Slushy!

Duuuuuuddddddddde.................ok so maybe marching down the beach with my long board I might have looked like a bad ass surfer chick.........but bad ass I am not. More like not so good. Let's just say I hope it rains tonight in South Beach because the ocean water will need to be replenished.........not a fan of drinking salt water.....but sometimes it happens.....Especially when you are learning to surf for the first time while a tropical storm is in play.........maybe not my smartest move....but I had fun trying.

We rented our boards from South Beach Divers and cool surfer instructor tried to give us some pointers before we hit the beach.

Cool Surfer Guy: OK go out and find a channel.

Deco Chic: Got it!

Cool Surfer Guy: Do you know how to find one?

Deco Chic: Not at all.

Cool Surfer Guy: Look for the line where the waves aren't breaking.

Deco Chic: Easy enough

Cool Surfer Guy: Ok. On the board keep your legs together, and either keep your head down or head up, and remember, remember, remember.........never, EVER turn your back on the ocean.

Deco Chic: Um........don't you have to turn your back to surf?

Cool Surfer Guy:Turn your back, one wave breaking hard over you, your board flips and those fins underneath your board become like knives in your back.........

Deco Chic: Um.....ok. (I am going to end up killing myself)
Got it.

Cool Surfer Guy: You sure?

Deco Chic: ........Overwhelmed, overwhelmed, overwhelmed.........

Cool Surfer Guy: You'll be fine......just be careful out there.

The wind and surf were strong and Marnie showed me how to look for the channel (which is actually the rip current). The channel shows up in between the areas of breaking waves. So we headed out on our boards........SWISH, CRASH, FLIP....gurgle, gurgle......... I am off the board.

This is going to be a challenge.

I am back on the board paddling, trying to keep up with Marnie. I finally learn that I will swallow less ocean if I stop laughing so hard and that when I approach the surf to take a deep breath and head underneath it..............I made a little progress........didn't get up on the board..........well my feet never touched the board.....but my knees did! So I sort of felt what it might be like to surf.

We took a little break......wow this surfing stuff is definite work!.........and then head back out......I wasn't giving up.

Once again I am trailing behind Marnie, trying to keep up..........but she is yards in front of me........and I am being pummeled by the waves and constantly being knocked off my board. All the sudden I thought I noticed a little fin...............

Ok..so I have to back up to mention most times when I talk about SCUBA to my non-diving friends I always get told that it is dangerous because I might get eaten by a shark. I always defend my diving passion with the facts:

FACT 1: More shark attacks happen in 3 feet of water.

FACT 2: Surfers get attacked more than swimmers or divers.

FACT 3: Sharks are attracted by blood and shiny objects.......just make a point of not looking like bait or being around bait.

So there! Don't be ridiculous!

Here I was on a bloody surf board. I refused to yell shark.........because it could've been a jack or a barracuda. But I couldn't help but wonder....

Do I get off the surf board or do I get on?

If I get on the board will the shark think I am a seal?

What a minute......there aren' t seals in South Florida..........but what if it's a pelagic shark who has been around the ocean once or twice.............a well traveled shark and it KNOWS what a seal is???

I headed back to the beach. Then realized I was being an idiot and headed back to the surf until I was too exhausted to try again.

My salt intake has to be through the roof, I am pruney, and wiped out. We guzzled some water and headed to the shower station to rinse our boards.

So I didn't actually surf.........but I refuse to feel defeated....I still look cool carrying the surf board around in my bikini in South Beach! No one will ever know the difference!

Rip Current

Donning my new (and cute) rash guard over my bikini and wondering what my surfing experience will bring Marnie starts quizzing me.

Marnie: "Do you know what a rip current feels like?"

Deco Chic: "Uh....it's a strong current that pulls you diagonally or something?"

Marnie: "Um no.....it's a current that takes you out to sea."

Deco Chic: "Oh"

So here we go.........surfing that is...........on something like 4-6 foot seas.

Waiting out Arlene

MIAMI---Well the satellites say that she will miss us here in South Beach, and Jim Cantore is stationed further north in Pensacola......good news for Miami, but bad news for the panhandle. Surfers in the area seem to be enjoying the waves Arlene has sent our way, but you can already tell the average South Beach resident is already tired of the rainy season. We had plans to dive Tenneco Towers near Ft. Lauderdale which Marnie has ranted and raved about since I got here, but looks like Arlene is not going to cooperate.

As of last evening our plan was to take advantage of the rough seas and try out surfing (Marnie has some experience from her days in Hawaii)but we decided this morning it was a little much for a beginner like me.

Our dive for Saturday was also cancelled due to the storm and some 8-10ft. seas out there......hmmmm good idea. As much as I like to submerge, I also like to know that I can get back on the boat! All of these bad memories of those Flower Garden trips being cancelled are coming back........errrrrrrrrrrr...............three days out of the water and I am already grumpy.

Shark Attack off New Jersey Shore

Ryan Horton, 17, may have been bitten by a small Great White Shark this past Sunday. The surfer who was 25 feet from shore said he never saw what bit him, but felt like someone had suddenly taken a baseball bat to his ankle.

Horton said he figured the shark bit him because maybe the teen had landed in his territory.

Horton's mother emailed a photo to a shark expert in Florida who identified three teeth marks in the wound which exposed Horton's bone. The teen received 50 stitches.

This is the first shark attack reported on the Jersey Shore in 30 years.

Super Man or Super Instructor?

MIAMI-Back in Miami after some great diving. Hopefully we will get in a few more before I have to leave town. Tenneco Towers seem to be calling us. Just wanted to share a photo that shows a scuba instructor who really seems to know how to get his student's attention. Unfortunately I didn't get his name, but he was teaching with Horizon Divers out of Key Largo. The instructor said he likes to wear something that will catch his student's attention.Mission accomplished!

Lots of Life

KEY LARGO--After diving Spiegel we headed off to French Reef to unusually clear blue water. Eager to explore I plunged in with the camera and am I so glad I brought it along! Within the first five minutes of the dive as I am following Marnie through the reef I see her signaling that she sees a ray........not a ray.....but a large spotted eagle ray. Absolutely beautiful! Trudging against the current to follow it I got a photo from behind and I followed it faithfully hoping that it would turn and face me. Unfortunately as soon as it saw me, it swam off. Swimming next to such a beautiful, graceful creature was absolutely amazing.

We hovered along the reef letting the current take us almost back where we started and began to explore the crevices of the reef searching for lobster, crab, and the cleaner shrimp we had seen the day before. When out in the distance we saw a four foot Caribbean reef shark trying to shake off some territorial fish--something I had never seen before. I was ecstatic and just as I was about to turn to the reef I spotted a nurse shark sneaking out from under a ledge and heading out. I caught up to her and got the chance to swim with her a bit. I love nurse sharks......sharks seem so graceful to begin with......but something about the way the fins are shaped on a nurse shark seem to make them a little more dainty.

It was only 25 minutes into the dive and I felt satisfied. We went back looking for crustaceans. As Marnie was poking her head around the coral, I looked up to see the Spotted Eagle Ray again swimming around us. Unable to get Marnie's attention, I settled on my knees into the sand to watch it fly around us and went in for one more shot before it headed back to sea.

Beautiful.

With a pleasant bottom time of 52 minutes we surfaced to eagerly brag to the rest of the divers about our findings........but we had missed one.........Surfacing minutes after us, a couple who were visiting from North Carolina saw a hammerhead right before they surfaced. Marnie and I grimaced and stomped our foot.......but as much as we would have loved to see the hammerhead we realized that we had already been too fortunate.

We couldn't complain one bit.

USS Spiegel with Nikonos in tow

KEY LARGO-- Dove the Spiegel again today. Confident that I understood the swift current situation I decided I would be able to handle the camera. The Nikonos V along with the strobe seemed cumbersome as I tried to climb along the tag line. Multi-tasking was the word for the day as I struggled along the rope while trying to wrap the lanyard spiral around the camera and fasten it back to my BC. I felt that if I slipped that I would be whisked out by the boats tied to the other mooring The currents were much stronger today than the day before and I used 500 pounds of air just getting to the buoy marking the mooring line.....obviously doing a little too much at once.

Once again we were diving the stern because the other dive boats had beat us to the other lines. A little bummed.........but on the other hand it was comforting to dive a similar spot and know what I wanted to shoot. Once again it was a fabulous dive saw another Goliath below us as we approached the stern.This time carefully watching my NDL and my gauges I slowly sunk down to 125 feet in hopes he would stay still enough to get a good shot. Perfect. Well, hopefully it is perfect...but apparently Marnie noticed that even though I was maintaining buoyancy as best I could that I was still sinking....but that is another post at another time.

We explored similar areas of the stern but today we had a small light to try to look in some exposed parts of the wreck.....very cool. So we just explored as much as we could for a bottom time of 26 minutes. Hopefully when I return to Dallas and get my film developed I will also have a shot of Marnie near the prop blades..........so for now I wait.

Manatee Moment

KEY LARGO--Taking in the day of great scuba diving we ended up at Gilbert's outdoor bar for a beer and some excellent lobster bisque! Enjoying the true Key Largo flare of locals downing their favorite beverage and partaking in some karaoke, the people watching was excellent.

"Hey they got some manatees over there if you wanna see 'em," grumbled the guy next to us.

On the dock behind us a people crowded around. A man was on the back platform of his boat with a water hose feeding the manatees from the hose. Eight docile creatures snuggled around the dock and the boat like Labrador Retrievers waiting patiently for a rawhide. Apparently these creatures love fresh water. I was intrigued at how friendly they were and they didn't fear us a bit. They huddled right up to the dock and let us touch their rough skin and moved their walrus-like snouts as close as possible. Couldn't ask for a better ending to an already great day.
Manatee Fact Sheet

• Status: Endangered Population: The largest population of manatees is found in Florida, where approximately 2,000 individuals now live.

• Threats: Most manatees have a pattern of scars on their backs or tails from collisions with boats. Scientists use these patterns to identify individuals. But these collisions can be fatal for the manatee. Besides boating accidents, manatees have been found crushed or drowned in flood-control gates and also suffer from pollution and habitat loss.

• Survival: Manatees are thought to live 50 to 60 years in the wild.

It's the little things: Peaceful diving on French Reef

KEY LARGO-Our fourth and final dive today was French Reef. A fantastic way to end the day. Key Largo diving is not the Caymans, not the Turks & Caicos, but it is some nice diving. At a total depth of 39 feet and a bottom time of 60 minutes we sailed over massive brain coral serving as lodging for Christmas tree worms and swam along with a rather large (2 feet long) Blue Parrot Fish. But as I am always amazed at the massive sizes of the sea life I encounter, I am intrigued at the little life that keeps things in motion.

Today we encountered little cleaner shrimp. There were five of those little fellows hanging around a corkscrew anemone. I am pretty adamant about not touching anything. I just don't want to interfere.........but remembering Marnie tell me how she likes to feel the little creatures cling and clean her cuticles, I couldn't help it. Slowly, gently I moved my index finger close to one. The other four backed off, but one leaped forward to take on the task. Feeling him pick and tickle my cuticle I smiled. Sure the 6-8 foot reef sharks and spotted eagle rays are nice, but once in a while it's nice to stop and take notice of the little ones divers breeze by daily. Hovering over the little bit of coral these little guys call home I smiled because not everyone gets to experience little wonders like this.

Goliath Moments: Diving the USS Spiegel Grove

KEY LARGO--Striding off the boat and landing in some slightly choppy water, the current tugged me toward the port side of our dive boat where I quickly grabbed the tag line set for us. Crawling along the surface the seas tossed us around until we hit the mooring line.

"If you aren't careful the current will blow you right off the wreck and you will never see it," Ocean's Diver boat captain advised us before descending upon the stern of the USS Spiegel Grove.

No kidding.


Current Work

Diving in with a steel tank at 2400 psi, I used 300 psi pulling myself from the stern of the dive boat to the mooring line set off the bow.............guess I shouldn't have left my snorkel at home. Luckily my air consumption is minimal.

Even for Grove veterans, most divers need both hands to pull them down the line. Once at the deck it's hard core finning until divers get over the side. From that point at 65-70 feet while still having to make an effort to head toward Spiegel's stern, it's sort of easy gliding. All the finning is worth it, however, because this wreck is amazing. We made our way around the side to check out the massive prop blades (Marnie's favorite part)of the Landing Ship Dock.

OH MY GROUPER!

Ghostly lounging on it's side staring at the Speigel's props I felt so insignificant. I wanted to head to the other side of the stern to peer around the corner to watch the rest of the 510 foot wreck disappear into the darkness.Preparing to guide my buddy into that direction she tapped her mask signaling she saw something. Noticing her wide-eyed stare, I winced expecting something like a large bull shark.......but there he was slinking out from behind a prop blade.....a goliath of a Goliath Grouper. I have seen these before on shallow dives weighing in at 100-200 pounds and stretching maybe 1-2 feet in length. I sunk down to it at 114 feet trying to gain perspective of it's actual size. Finning toward it to swim along side the mammoth my heart raced to be near something that was as long as myself. I am 5 feet 3 inches (well on a good day) and this guy was at least 4 1/2 to 5 feet in length.....possibly 500 pounds. Stunned and amazed I ascended away from him to rejoin Marnie on the rest of our dive.

For all it has to offer, Spiegel Grove is still a young artificial reef. Submerged in 2002 as the largest vessel intentionally sunk as an artificial reef it has yet to be blanketed with coral, but as we witnessed there is evidence of life. Divers will possibly see baracuda, jacks, silversides, and tarpon. With it's swift currents dive operators will only take advanced divers to the wreck.

Submerged At Last in Key Largo

Molasses Reef

This afternoon we headed out with Brian of Island Ventures. We ascended on Molasses Reef first. A maximum of 25ft. and a part of the environmentally protected John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Molasses was a great starter dive. Upon our descent, we caught a glimpse of a nurse shark sneaking under a part of the reef, possibly avoiding us. The current was a little rough and several surges swayed us back and forth through the reef’s trenches. This made it quite challenging to photograph anything because it made it almost impossible to stay still enough to get sharp photos but we will see.

A Wreck of A Wreck

At our next dive at the Benwood Wreck the current subsided and the surges were minor. I was more comfortable with the rented Nikonos and there was lots of sea life to shoot. We saw Huge Atlantic Spadefish, lots of Christmas Tree Worms, a Goliath Grouper, a large beautiful puffer fish, a baby spotted moray eel and a Scorpion Fish hiding deep within the wreck. It was also a relatively shallow dive (41ft.) so we enjoyed a nice bottom time of 55 minutes.

Molasses Morning

KEY LARGO--Biding time this morning in Key Largo while we wait for the afternoon dives we booked through Island Ventures, we scoped out some dive shops and ran upon Stephen Frink Photographic. I couldn’t have been more delighted! Most dive shops offer the use of a Sea & Sea camera for $25, but being a freelance photographer, I didn’t want to take deep blue snapshots. I wanted to work on my underwater photo skills, and I wasn’t paying $25 to lose magenta. Frink’s has a small gallery of his work and offers camera repair and rental. My eyes widened at the familiar site of the Nikonos V. For $40 a day it could be mine for all marine photo exploration. The deal came with a 35mm lens and a Nikonos V SB 105 strobe. Perfect. That along with some film and I am good to go for the next two and a half days in Key Largo. First stop of the afternoon Molasses Reef.

Proper Aquetiquette: Morning of Cancellations

KEY LARGO--We met the sun bright and early today to get on with some serious diving. Marnie, my dive buddy extraordinaire, planned on a friend to join us who had not been diving in a while, so we chose to dive John Pennekamp Park for our first round of diving in the morning. It would be shallow reef diving and hopefully smooth enough for the rusty one. The rusty one cancelled on us….no big deal…..we trudged forward to Key Largo about one hour outside Miami.

C-Card Dilemma

Arriving at Pennekamp Park, we schlepped our gear onto the boat and geared up our tanks. There had to be six of us in order for the boat to leave port. There were six of us. One diver didn’t have his Open Water Certification Card. Without this he wouldn’t be allowed to dive.

“That’s OK,” the lady in the dive shop said. “PADI is computerized so we can look up your C-card number and you are good to go.”

Proof of certification couldn’t be found through PADI.

Errr…Uhhh….oh! He had been certified through YMCA somewhere up north where they were on CST. It’s 8:45 a.m.. The boat is supposed to leave at nine, putting us in the water by 9:30 a.m. In YMCA world it was 7:45 so we waited for them to open. We waited and waited for at least 30 minutes, sitting faithfully next to our gear. Word got to the rest of the divers that all wouldn’t be lost if Non C-card kid couldn’t get his certification verified, the reefs were shallow enough that he could snorkel.

At 9:30 a.m. an hour after initial diver check-in YMCA couldn’t find his certification information. Non C-card kid decided he was out. No snorkeling for him. His C-card carrying buddy was just along for the ride and didn’t care either way.

Trip cancelled.

Lessons for Future Snorkel Snubbers

While obviously I was furious with Non C-card kid, there were obviously two at fault here. Every diver knows that dive operations these days take certification seriously. If a diver doesn’t have a C-card, and it can’t be looked up….the diver doesn’t dive. End of story. Non C-card kid should have been up front with the dive shop when he booked his dive the day before so this could have been avoided. In this case, he didn’t think ahead and instead of wasting the morning of four or five divers, he should have sucked it up and looked at sea life from afar.

The dive shop had a responsibility to us as well. The dive operators were very nice, very apologetic and did refund our money. The offered alternative suggestions like kayaking, snorkeling off shore, and shore diving was an option, but the boat captain admitted there wasn’t much to see from a shore dive. But we weren’t there to shore dive and see sand and we weren’t there to kayak. These alternatives didn’t change that they should have been collecting C-card information upon booking and notified the diver they would be checking C-cards. Perhaps since this was a beginner’s dive site, this wasn’t done because there wasn’t a need to verify advanced certification like dive operators do for advanced sites like Spiegel Grove. While for most divers it is a given that you need to show your C-card, it should be taken into consideration that those who dive once a year, may need to be reminded. With one person holding up the trip, and knowing that this is the last dive boat going out for the morning, the dive operators should have admitted their own mistake as well and went ahead with the trip. Needless to say, my dive buddy and I packed up our gear and contacted another dive shop for the afternoon.

Shoot your best shot under

In an effort to highlight North Carolina's aquatic world the state's Aquariums are calling for entries from amatuer underwater photographers. Submissions may be sent as digital images, slides, or prints and are due December 31. Visit the

Wreck Dive, Wreck Dive: Which direction to choose?

MIAMI BEACH--So I am here on South Beach with my friend Marnie and have actually gotten some much needed rest while she completes her night shifts at the hospital. Last night we attended Pablo's Party (a long-haired black lab)where I sucked down some of Linda's excellent jello shots, met some very interesting people and engaged in some scuba talk. Which way do we go? To the north to Ft. Lauderdale where wreck dives are ever so popular? Or do we head to the Keys.......Key Largo specifically for a start on Spiegel Grove..............hmmmmmm...

my suggestion.........

we have a week.........why not both?

I have to say that Haiti is still a huge let down, but it's so good to be here with Marnie and having someone to dive-talk with. Being near the ocean again seems to make Dallas less and less appealing...if only Dallas were further south? That's a whole other discussion. Today we will start making our dive plans.......eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......so excited!

Gypsy Wandering: plan forced into spontaniety

Many of my adventures lead me down various roads, I am expecting Scuba Gypsy to be no different. This blog has been sitting in the back of my head for months and it took a cancelled photo job to encourage me to get it going. I am currently still procrastinating from packing for my trip to Miami (leaves DFW at 6:40something) and still trying to switch gears. I was supposed to be packing my Cipro and Quloroquine for an unforgettable trip to Haiti to document Project Medishare's work in Thomonde.Since the archaic island can't seem to settle down, the State Department has advised Americans not to travel there, and hence my volunteers have cancelled. So now I am changing my mind frame from photographing war-torn scenes from a broke down Caribbean palace, to one that will send me off to discover diving in Miami. I was going there anyway via Haiti......$600 to change my plane ticket dates around to be back in DFW.........

hmmmmm.....this is tough $600 to come back to landlocked Dallas by Monday or spend $600 to dive around Miami and Key Largo............might as well just join the beat, follow my gypsy soul and dance on into the deep blue. So here goes my first attempt at this blog thing and a new adventure created by diversion from political strife.......if I needed an excuse to go scuba diving.....surely this is the best one?????