On November 12, 2015 we debuted a video collection of a sampling of twenty-five years of scuba diving with Oceanic Ventures. It was fun putting together the video and it brought back a lot of memories and reminded us of a lot of people who have been diving with us for a lot of years. I hope you will enjoy it. Here is the video:
I have been scuba diving for over two years – since December 2012. Not only that, I had 100 dives within 10 months, and I had another 100 dives within another 10 months. I LOVE it! I am 59 years old, a retired IT professional, not athletic or mechanical in the slightest. How did I get here?
When we got married in 1992, my husband and I made a deal. He would not buy a Harley, and I would not go scuba diving. That way, we thought we could keep each other alive for a good long time. I have always had friends who scuba dived, and I have long been intrigued by it.
I swam for exercise in college – or more precisely, struggled through maybe 10 lengths a session. It was awful and so difficult, but for some reason, I did it. I did not enjoy it at all. Fast forward 25 years, and we went with some diving friends to the Yucatan for vacation. They did some diving, and we all snorkeled one day. I was terrified! I did not understand how I was supposed to breathe underwater. But I made myself jump in and try it, and within a minute or two, I was having a great time! There were lots of glamorous fish! Who knew? And I really enjoyed being in the water – which was also a surprise, after my college swimming experiences.
After I retired in 2005, I decided to go to graduate school in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Houston. The parking is horrible! (The classes were great!) I soon realized if I had a motorcycle or scooter, I could park in the designated areas much more easily. So I bought a Vespa scooter! When my husband got over the shock, he got himself a Harley! So now I had permission to scuba dive! (We now both really enjoy our motorcycle trips together!)
I had permission to scuba dive, but on the other hand, I knew it was an expensive habit. I was reluctant to get a lot more “stuff”. We already had plenty of stuff. Being overweight, I didn’t think there would be enough weight available to keep me down (seriously). I also knew myself it could be dangerous – I had looked at some books detailing scuba diving “incidents” and they are pretty scary. You wonder why anyone comes back alive!
In the fall of 2012, my friend Donna Collins (another scuba diver, and Oceanic Ventures, Inc. denizen) and I were planning to go on a cruise to Costa Rica and Panama. She suggested that we could go snorkeling, and she might try to go diving. I was enthusiastic – I had not had a chance to go snorkeling in years! She took me to Oceanic Ventures to look into getting my own mask, snorkel, fins to take on the trip.
Ann, Alex and David Morris were in the shop, and I will never forget the warm welcome. David took me under his wing and explained everything I wanted to know about masks, snorkels, fins. I could not believe how expensive they were! But I was sold on the part of getting good equipment so I could really enjoy the experience. I left with the mask, snorkel, fins, a bag, a skin, and maybe a few other goodies. David offered to give me a snorkeling class for free, which I gladly took him up on, since I was certainly not an expert snorkeler, having only done it once.
At the snorkeling class, I learned quite a bit, especially how to “duck dive!” David offered to give me a Try Scuba session, and I was, well, OK, sure! If he’s offering, I sure will try it. Within a few days, I was trying out the scuba equipment in the West U pool, and learning the first rule of scuba. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but the next inevitable step was signing up for Open Water Scuba classes so I could go on the Cozumel trip that December. And buying all my equipment. Oceanic Ventures made it so easy. I could not have chosen (and still can’t) between Buoyancy Compensaters, Air Delivery System’s or computers. I trusted their advice, and I really liked the idea that they had a lot of experience with the equipment they sold, and they believed in it for all levels of diving.
I had a great time in the Open Water Scuba training with David and Alex. It was hard for me to clear my mask, but eventually I figured it out. It was hard remembering all the steps for sharing air, or the out-of-air ascent. But I did it! The Cozumel trip was fantastic. I did my open water dives there with Alex as my instructor, and it was so much fun! He was so calm, and knowledgeable, and encouraging. I could see it was going to take some time for me to get really comfortable with my buoyancy, and the breathing, but I was plenty comfortable enough to enjoy the diving, and the Oceanic Ventures group was so wonderful. All those experienced divers were so encouraging and helpful to the brand-new,” baby diver.”
David had let me know in the Open Water Scuba training that he was the first Oceanic Ventures student to get 100 dives in a year. That sounded like a challenge to me, and I like challenges! Also it was quite clear after the Cozumel trip that the more experience I had, the more fun I could have as a diver. So I set myself the informal goal of getting 100 dives in a year. In order to keep diving through the winter, I started drysuit training and bought a drysuit. I started Advanced Open Water Scuba training, if for no other reason that it was more diving experience! I went with Oceanic Ventures to St. Croix, Belize, Cozumel, and then to Grand Cayman in August! (Donna and I did get to do a few dives on our trip to Costa Rica.) By the time I got to Grand Cayman, I had achieved the 100 dives, between the trips, the training, and being a fun diver at Blue Lagoon and 288 Lake.
So what about all the concerns I had, and my husband had? Well, first off, safety is obviously the first priority at Oceanic Ventures. Now that I am diving, I wonder how people got themselves into those situations in those scary dive books. Of course, mistakes can happen, but most of those incidents are inconceivable on an Oceanic Ventures trip. Yes, diving is expensive, and I have a LOT of stuff. I am still dealing with how to organize it and where it all needs to go between trips. Oh well! The experiences I have had as a diver, and the friends I have made, have been more than worth it.
I love being a part of the Oceanic Ventures “tribe.” It feels like home. I am very impressed with the emphasis on safety and professionalism at Oceanic Ventures. Ann and Eric Keibler run a tight ship, with little room for error, but lots of room for fun. It is easy to have fun when you have confidence in the trip leader, the dive location, the divemasters, and the choice of dive sites. And you get to go play with your dive peeps!
My husband has put up with all this graciously, taking me to the airport and kissing me goodbye as I go off on my next diving adventure. I am so happy to report that since his retirement last August he has become a certified scuba diver, and we are going on our second trip to Cozumel with Oceanic Ventures next month!
The morning finds is on our first diving location. Diving off the Bilikiki is done primarily off the “tinies,” aluminum boats with cylinder holes and a small ladder. Csaba (pronounced Chaba) was in charge of the first dive and after the briefing it was – this way to the South Pacific and Tinie 1, Tinie 1 as the crew moved the diving equipment from the deck to the tinie. The order was the same each day, diving equipment, cameras then divers. All you as a diver needed to do was to let the crew members know that you were ready, move your name tag from “on-board” to “diving” and then step aboard your waiting diving chariot.
The adventure continues…
Evan, the shore based manager met us at the airport and like the crew on board the boat, Evan has been a part of the operation for a long time (I can attest that he was here in 2006 when we last visited the Bilikki.) Amazingly, all of our luggage arrived with us and we were promptly taken to the Kitana Medano Hotel to wait for our time to board. To capitalize on our available time, Ann had arranged for a tour of Honiara and some of the sights that made Guadalcanal such a memorable location in World War II. There is a beautiful tribute to the men who died in the Pacific defending our freedom and bringing it to others. This war memorial sits atop a hill above Henderson field and has multiple marble carvings highlighting the battles in this region of the Pacific. So many men died here that the locals are still finding mess kits and other personal items scattered throughout the jungle.
The ships scattered on the bottom of Iron Bottom Sound even now contain the remains of American, Australian, British and Japanese sailors. The majority of these wrecks lie well beyond the range of recreational scuba divers in over 240 feet of water.
Our tour also encompassed Henderson field (we landed here), the river near Red Beach, and a stop at the statue of Sir Jacob Vouza, the Solomon Islander who alerted the allies to the advancing Japanese troops despite being tortured, stabbed and left for dead. He survived, was Knighted by the Queen of England and even renamed his village to California so he could tell his friends in America that he was in California.
As our tour ended, our diving adventure was about to begin. Csaba, on of the on-board boat managers met us at the hotel and transported us to the Honiara Yacht Club – a stuffy name for a simple location with small boats and a nice bar. Here we joined our luggage which had already been loaded by the crew. We were met by Daniela, the lively Venezuelan on-board manager. She is also married to Csaba and no, he is not from Venezuela but rather hails from Hungry and Eastern Europe.
The first day on a live aboard is always busy with everyone scurrying around trying to assemble their dive equipment which is scattered around various bags necessitated by the airline luggage rules. Only after everything is reassembled, tested and stored is there time to relax.
It was soon after dinner that the boat set sail for the beginning of our ten-day cruise through the Solomon Islands.
The adventure continues…
When David started diving with Oceanic Ventures, he talked a lot about the Virgin Islands and his desire to introduce us his home town, Christiansted, St. Croix. It seems that he has a lot of his Grandmother in his blood and he wants to introduce everyone to the uniqueness that is St. Croix. (David’s Grandmother, Janet Foster, was the Commissioner of Tourism for St. Croix and along with Vogue Magazine, coined the term The Island of Superlatives).
While he has taken several people to the island during the past few years, on February 1 he got one of his wishes; we took ten of our close warm personal friends to the island to discover what David already knew — there is good diving in St. Croix and a lot more.
We were fortunate to hook up with Ed and Molly Buckley from SCUBA in St Croix and Elsie from the Caravelle Hotel. They helped us coordinate everything from transfers, to Nitrox, Trimix, Sorb and rebreather bottles.
The diving in St Croix varies from steep deep walls to shallow flats with coral bommies and then spur and groove formations. Their are a lot of sharks in the area as well as other marine life from turtles to eels, snappers to butterfly fish. While it appears the large groupers have been fished out, other reef fish have survived and thrived.
The water temperature in this area is a little colder than the western Caribbean with temperatures ranging from 79 to 80 degrees. The waters off the island are not as protected as in some locations so there is a little more surface activity (i.e. waves) which may deter some divers from venturing out too far.
Because of the waves, winds and the relative health of our diving group, we dove mostly around the Salt River area and the channel area on the North side of St Croix. There are some other spectacular pillars and deep walls in the Cane Bay Area (I’ve seen photographs and heard stories) but the boat ride to these sites is long compared to the Salt River sites.
Despite diving solely in these areas we found the sites to be beautiful with some fun steep walls and cut-throughs in the coral formations. Because the water temperature is a little colder, there are fewer species of corals than in more temperate waters. However, the corals are healthy and plentiful.
After the dives, it seems that the national pastime in St Croix is drinking. The boardwalk is lined with bars and there are bars all around town. That is not to say that there are not restaurants serving nice meals but they tend to close early while the bars stay open until all hours of the night. Thursdays and Fridays are the big nights on the island with Saturdays being rather tame because everyone goes to the beach on Sundays (this was according to Alexandra “Alex” Morris, David’s Sister, who lives in St. Croix).
Food ranges from fresh sea food to burgers and steaks. There is a distinct West Indian flair to much of the cooking which adds a unique flavour to the dishes. Hints of Coriander, Cumin and Tamarind can be found in many of the dishes. And, there are the lobsters. Prepared in a variety of ways, all sweet and buttery.
On the last night, David arranged for a special treat for the group — a dinner in one of the St. Croix great houses with dinner prepared by none other than Alexandra Morris, a young, up and coming chef on the island. The house was built as a town house in the late 1700’s by a pair of sugar plantation owners whose plantations were several days ride from Christiansted.
This Town House is decorated with period antiques showing that the owners are well traveled. The feel is of a traditional west indian home but with antiques from the orient and Europe. This would have showcased the wealth of the land owners who built the home.
Our meal, served out in the Gazebo featured more of the local lobster, this time marinated in Cruzan Coconut Rum with toasted coconut sprinkled on top, as well as jerked chicken with a cream sauce, traditional peas and rice, local okra with mushrooms, sweet potatoes (made with spices and mashed white potatoes), a fruit salad and beans. All of this was followed by a traditional Cruzan Rum Cake (yes, it is better than the Cayman Rum Cakes) and Alexandra’s now famous passion fruit cheese cake (amazingly, there was a vine still producing passion fruit this far out of season). Fun food and fellowship, this is a way to end a trip.
Of course, David’s other goal for this trip was to finish his Principles of Technical Diving Course. Hence the reason we needed all of the logistical help from Ed and Molly. They are a tech friendly facility with Nitrox, Trimix and rebreather support available. They have granular sorb, cartridges, rebreather cylinders, twins or double cylinders, 40 cubic foot pony cylinders and other cylinders available, with or without rigging. They have a good group of gas blenders available as well as some technically trained Dive Masters to help lead the dives.
Getting to St. Croix from Houston is not as easy as the western Caribbean because this is primarily an American destination out of Miami. We went through San Juan and took an American Eagle flight over to the island. There are some other smaller carriers as well but luggage may be more of an issue with them.
One other thing to be aware of when heading to St. Croix is the island is expensive. Food, diving, technical diving supplies, etc are all expensive. Most things are imported from the states and the operating cost (water, power, fuel, etc) are expensive. This means that the prices are higher than you might expect so be prepared.
So what can I say other than traveling with David to St Croix is special and fun. He made sure everyone had a good time and for Dive Mom, he helped everyone have an exceptional shopping experience. Almost everyone came back with a St. Croix hook bracelet! Most of them purchased multiple ones — you know, it is hard to make a decision.
David loves to show off the finest points of St Croix because he is proud of the island and what it has to offer. He is truly a off-island minister of tourism. I am sure his Grandmother is smiling down on him.
