Tag: Scuba

Scuba!

Festive Fish

This year has been an exciting one for scuba! I’ve gotten back into diving after a 10-year break, taken 5 PADI specialty classes, reached 50 total dives, and seen some incredible locations and wildlife. So what better way to celebrate than to make themed Christmas cards for friends!

Unfortunately the color and glitter don’t come through well on camera, but I swear they look awesome in person.

From top to bottom, we have the vaquita, the thresher shark and common seahorse, the humpback whale, the hammerhead shark, and the orca. Most of these are the favorite aquatic animal of the friend receiving the gift. I always love hearing what people’s favorites are– I think mine are tied between sea lions and gobies.

Merry Christmas and Keep Diving!

Scuba Q&A (1)

I get questions from friends, family, and sometimes even other divers I meet on excursions. I was sharing these comics with friends, and asked if they had any questions for me… and I got quite a few!

I could probably talk about scuba all day and all night, so it’s a lot of fun to test my knowledge and see what more I need to learn and where there are gaps in my knowledge. The best way to test that is through teaching/explaining concepts to others!

Scuba Comic: The Sea Lions

The sea lions of La Paz are famous! Los Islotes is a well known scuba location, and the sea lions are beloved by many for their friendliness. I see folks online–influencers, travel bloggers, etc.– all the time talking about how much they love diving the site.

There is actually an infection that humans can catch from seals, aptly called Seal Finger. Since I haven’t turned into a seal or sea lion (yet), I think I’m okay. I haven’t heard of any instances around La Paz, so maybe it doesn’t affect sea lions?

Scuba Comic: Peak Performance Buoyancy

Some people, especially online, will complain that specialty classes are a waste of time in general. I can’t tell you how useful all the classes I’ve taken have been so far! And in looking over all the offered classes through the various scuba organizations, every single one of them sounds like a fantastic learning opportunity.

The Peak Performance Buoyancy class in particular has been the most useful for myself. Since taking the class, I’m not perfect by any means, but I’ve dramatically improved my ability to move around underwater. That means I can get super close to some amazing things without worrying that I’ll crash into them!

I really enjoy seeing the small things, like little sea creatures and tiny surprises, and now I can do that so much more easily. Every dive has become a new opportunity to practice my skills.