Since I ‘advertise’ this as SCUBA related as well I figure I’d better put something up here about diving.
I’ve been diving about a year now. Had a pretty bumpy beginning regarding claustrophobia and rental wetsuits and ended up doing classroom & pool work for my PADI open water certification through Sea D Sea and my open water dives in Bora Bora (sans wetsuit). I was hooked after our French Polynesia trip. Last summer/fall I completed the LA County Advanced Diver Program which was what I thought a diving class should be — intense, rigorous, emphasis on skills and self-reliance while working as a team. PADI’ll get you started but if you live in Southern California I can’t recommend ADP enough. We had students commuting from as far away as Palm Springs. I’m hoping to do UICC next year, the instructor course.
Last summer we went on a dive trip to La Paz . This winter we went to Catalina (I’d won a trip at last year’s SCUBA show in Long Beach). Later this month we’re going to Belize for a week. In April I’m planning on going on an ADP road trip to Mexico (Dave can’t take off work so he’s going to babysit the pets). Dave & I are considering going to Dominica in August, during his break between teaching summer school and the fall semester. We are also planning on doing a lot of shore diving here in California as a) the weather (and water!) warms up and b) the rain stops.
By the way, speaking of water temps, if you have the slightest bit of claustrophobia and the thought of a wet suit makes you think of straightjackets, consider splurging and getting a hyperstretch wetsuit. My Henderson cost about $300 and I can literally do jumping jacks in it. I love it. Well worth the money!
On the topic of knitting …. probably going to head over to L’Atelier this afternoon to get the yarn for the sweater I want to make for my mom (the green sweater in Knitting on the Edge).