Celebrating Young and Old in Turks and Caicos
A TWO-WEEK LIVEABOARD in Turks and Caicos was the first dive trip I’d taken in 18 months, and I quickly learned that this small island nation has plenty to offer […]
Alert Diver Category: Member to Member
Diving With My Dad
I WAS 13 YEARS OLD THE FIRST TIME I WENT SCUBA DIVING. My family was on a trip to Cancun, and my dad took me and my sister, Carrie, who […]
Empowering Adaptive Divers
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, you make lemonade, as the saying goes. Such was the case for Jen Overturf. She suffered a spinal injury at her sixth thoracic vertebra from a dirt-biking accident in 2003 that left her paralyzed from the waist down. After the accident …
Mentorship
SITTING IN A DUSTY OFFICE chair surrounded by dozens of tanks, scooters, drysuits, a massive compressor, and nearly a hundred photographs of dives from around the world tacked to plywood, I found myself in Tim’s dive shack.
More Than Colorful Coral
I’M ALWAYS AMAZED at what people will do for love. My girlfriend, who is terrified of the ocean, announced that she wanted to learn to dive and then accompany me […]
Seeking Success as a Woman Dive Professional
Young women beginning their careers as dive instructors regularly ask me how to be heard on a dive boat. Their experience is that guests don’t naturally listen to their directions. The dive industry has improved, and I don’t want to downplay the vast improvements that have already happened for women dive professionals. But this is a common question, so it remains relevant.
The Cryptic Patch
After getting my dive certification in 1992, I was instantaneously addicted. Being young, obsessed, and convinced of my immortality, I was not the most conservative diver, but I had no issues with decompression sickness (DCS) for my first decade of diving.
Gaming Introduced Me to a New World
I’m 14 years old and a newly certified scuba diver. I’ve heard that many years ago divers got certified because of Jacques Cousteau or an old TV show called Sea Hunt, but those were way before my time.
Shared Sparks
My dad is always beside me in everything I do. It was no surprise when he followed me off the end of our dive boat and under the waves.