How to Get Started Scuba Diving

So you want to go scuba diving, but don’t know where to start? It’s your luck day, I’m here to help. There a few options for prospective scuba divers.

The first option is a “try dive”. A lot of dive shops offer this option. They brief you on the equipment, show you some basic techniques, and then bring you in a pool and let you spend some time underwater. This is a good option to see how comfortable you are underwater. Breathing underwater takes a little getting use to, but some people tend to freak out in this position. This is a great option to see how you will handle it. “Try dives” are usually pretty cheap. I’ve seen them for $10 – $25.

The second option is a “discovery dive” or a “resort dive”. The two names are synonymous. With this option, a dive instructor will show you a short video that teaches you some basic scuba diving skills. Then they will take you in a pool or shallow water for some hands on practice and then test you on those skills. After that, the dive instructor will take you on an open water dive in a lake or ocean. They usually keep you in shallow water. This is a great option if you want to get into the water, you aren’t certified yet, and don’t have time to get certified. I did a discovery dive in Belize before I was certified, and after that I was hooked. A couple months later I got certified and I have been diving ever since. From what I’ve seen, discovery dives run between $100 and $200.

Finally, you can get certified. The basic certification is an “open water certification”. There are a few agencies that dominate the dive certification market including PADI, SSI, and NAUI. They are recognize universally for the most part. I did my open water certification with PADI, then did some specialty certifications, and finally my Advanced Open Water certification with SSI. Depending on where you do your training, it can cost anywhere from $300 to $750 for the classroom, pool, and open water portions of the certification. You can be open water certified in as little as 2 or 3 days, but I did mine over 2 weekends.

Lazy Man’s Scuba Diving in Cozumel, Mexico

 Cozumel is a little island that lays just east of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in the Caribbean Sea. The reef that surrounds the island is part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS), which is the largest barrier reef in the western hemisphere. The Cozumel Reefs National Marine Park surrounds almost the entire southern half of the island and helps sustain the reefs and marine life. Because of this, the reefs and marine life around Cozumel are flourishing, which makes for some excellent scuba diving.

There’s another thing that Cozumel offers scuba divers that you don’t find just anywhere though. There’s a gentle current running from from one end of the island to the other. If scuba diver’s plan their dives to take advantage of this current, their dives can be near effortless. The dive boat can drop you off at one part of the reef, and pick you up a mile or so down the way. You just drift along with the current. Being you aren’t swimming away from the boat and then working your way back halfway through the dive, you don’t have to double back over the same area that you just dived. And because you aren’t exerting yourself as much when you dive, you aren’t using as much air and your dives last longer. I’ve been to Cozumel a couple times now, and would welcome the opportunity to go back again for the excellent drift diving, and the reasonable accommodations.

Below is a quick slide show that features some of the underwater pictures that I took during my time in Cozumel.

One Man's Quest for the Hottest Wings in the World

I have always been a connoisseur of hot and spicy foods. I hadn't done any food challenges until a week ago. I'm not a professional or competitive eater of any kind. I'm just a guy that loves food, and keeps a special little place in his heart for those foods that aren't afraid to hide their flavors.

Below are the wings I've ventured to consume in my personal quest to find the hottest wings in the world, along with my critiques of each of them. Some are part of food challenges, others are not. This is kind of a living article per say. As time goes on and I find new hot wings that peak above the rest, I will add them to this post. So bookmark this page and stop back often.