by J. W. Dawson

Created on: February 24, 2010   Last Updated: April 06, 2010

Growing up in Seattle, aquatic activities would occupy the majority of my free time. My favorite place to hang out would be at the public marinas on Lake Washington. When nobody was looking, I would slip under the docks and swim down into the green murk, trying to retrieve the items that the anglers and boaters had dropped. I would find tackle boxes, sunglasses, watches, and whatever else I could find in 90 seconds of breath holding. I would sit on the dock and dream of the day I would search and explore that murky water with a scuba tank on my back.

Twenty-two years later, I finally get the chance to live out my dream in considerably clearer and warmer waters. My wife and I are vacationing in Mexico, where she notices that in the hotel pool they are teaching scuba diving lessons. Knowing that I have always wanted to do this, she signs us up. I eagerly jump into the shallow pool, put on the tight fitting buoyancy compensator, and stick into my mouth the regulator that 200 people before me had in theirs. Are regulators supposed to taste like rum? Yet, while I was swimming around the pool counting the floating band-aids, I could not stop thinking about how much fun I was having. Immediately after we get out of the pool, we head over to the dive shack to sign up for a diving excursion.

As the day arrives for the dive trip, we proceed to the scuba shop to get suited up. Then it is back into the pool for a more formal lesson with the instructor. After learning the sufficient amount of skills needed to keep ourselves from drowning, we carry our gear down to an awaiting boat. We stow the tanks and nervously check our BC’s and regulators; of course, I have no clue what I am looking at. The boat slips away from the dock and motors out of the marina into the open water. This is it; finally, I get to officially scuba dive, and it's non-chlorinated and band-aid free!

We travel to a location about a mile from shore. The boat anchors and we mount our diving gear. The instructor informs us that after we perform a back roll entry from the side of the boat, we will be diving to a depth of 45 feet. Our group rolls into the water and begins to descend the anchor line.

If it was not for the regulator in my mouth, I would have gone slack-jawed from astonishment at what I was seeing. With at least 100 feet of visibility, the bottom looked as if it was barely underneath me. As we reach the coral reef, I am amazed at how colorful it is. Viewing it on television or in photographs

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