by Cody Tyler

Created on: October 31, 2008

It's quiet here under the crystal clear blue water. I have the sensation that I'm in another dimension. Surreal. That's the best way I can describe scuba diving. It's a sensation that you must experience for yourself because there are no words to express the feeling of such freedom. Swimming underwater, drifting, gliding, exploring all without having to surface for air.

The attraction to scuba diving is different for everyone who goes through the training, then gears up and takes their first plunge. Most people are content to go out on a tourist dive boat that takes between 10 to 20 divers out at a time. They see colorful fish and live coral. They take their underwater vacation pictures. But with such a large group and so little time in the water they don't get the true sensation of the aloneness, the silence and the new world they have just entered.

The true diver is drawn to the water to experience so much more. It's like a second home. As you slide into the water you shed one skin and put on another.

There are so many glorious ways to experience the ocean. Advanced divers may love the thrill of a cave dive. Slipping into a darkened underwater tunnel with only a flashlight to guide you. Never knowing what lies ahead. Tingles down the spine as they slowly kick with their fins to discover the unknown that lies ahead.

Other divers fancy swimming through old ship wrecks. Carefully gliding along lower decks. Seeing the barnacles they have now encased the housing of what was once a magnificent ship. Finding the sleeping quarters of the men. They can only imagine what it must have been like to be aboard such a ship. Swabbing the decks, raising the sails and in the end fighting to keep the ship afloat when a wicked storm blows in waves that blast over the rails tossing the ship from side to side.

Drift diving is one of my favorite ways of diving. You must have a captain that knows the sea currents like he knows his own boat. I don't like to dive with more that 4 people and a dive guide. With so few people you have a much more intimate experience. Native divers make the best guides because this is their backyard. You are led through intricate narrows of coral reefs that come alive in front of your eyes. As you continue to drift your guide may take you to secret hiding places where you will see sea creatures that the average tourist diver will never see. Giant sea turtles, shark, eel, and so many other glorious sights that could only have been made by the hand of God.

Deep water dives and night dives are exciting as well. So what is the attraction? A new world, new sights, new experiences and new sensations. And for a short while a chance to share the ocean with the multitude of sea creatures that call this watery world their home.

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