Friends

One thing I can say about diving is that you will meet people from all different walks of life and maybe even become lifelong friends.

Since I became a diver I can say this is so true. Among some of the people who I met:

Dave & Kary 

They now live Northern Florida with their two horses, a half dozen dogs and a cat.  They are warm-hearted and great people.  We met Dave and Kary in Cozumel in 2004 and have been getting together ever since.  I talked them into joining me in my first Live- a-Board in Belize. They came and had a great time.

I was able to get them to do their first night dive. Often at the end of the day, we would always find them (or should I say Kary) at the bar with a glass of wine. So getting them to pass a night up was a real undertaking.  But we had a great time.

Jeff & Lori

We also met Jeff in Cozumel in 2004. He was there with his family, but at the time he was the only diver among them. That has since changed as both his kids are now divers, and I'm sure he is still working on Lori to join in. 

Jeff is a pilot for a major airline and former Captain in the US Air Force. He like challenges in his life. Since I met Jeff, in addition to diving, he done skydiving, long-distance motorcycle road trips and who knows what else.  He enjoys knowing the technical side of diving and what it has to offer, and I'm waiting for him to start his Cave & Cavern course.

Ray

Ray is a local friend who I met by way of Tiedemann's.  He's a retired Federal Agent who has been diving a long time. We did a couple of trips to Bonaire and Cozumel with the shop, and he joined me on my first trip to Belize. Ray is another natural; he's more at home under the water than above. Like me, he loves taking photos.  In fact he's the only person I know who still uses film.

The Diving Community

Diving is truly a sport where you can meet people and have a get time together.  In Cozumel, Bonaire, Bahamas, Key Largo or Dutch Springs, I can truly say that divers will help divers, whether they are part of your group or not. 

An example of this was something that happened in Cozumel. A diver came up with an underwater housing with a very expensive video camera setup. He said that he found it on in the sand during our dive. The boat Captain put out a call of what we found, within five minutes the owner was located and met us at the dock.  He said that he forgot that he put it down and didn't remember it till he was back on board his boat. I have seen this happen with $5,000 camera equipment, down to a $50 mask. Divers help divers, no matter the situation. 

We enjoy looking at each others photos and movies, and swap stories to no end. Diving is truly a friendly sport. All you have to do is open a laptop and start going over your photos, and for sure someone will be looking over your shoulder. Then you hear the "ohhhs and ahhhs."  In my case Jeff, would always say that he's happy when I dive with him because I always make a copy of my photos for him.