Up Coming Travel Dates
Where I’ve BEEN and where I’m GOING, to KEEP MY FEET WET……
“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of WONDER FOREVER.”
— Jacques Cousteau
Philippines 2023
Staying at the beautiful Amun Ini Beach Resort & Spa, the waters of the Philippines are a macro photographer’s dream! I’ve been warned that I may go permanently camera insane when I see these other worldly creatures. The colors and patterns unlike anything in the Caribbean. I’ve already started studying my creature identification books and exercising my camera shutter finger…
Tobermory Wreck Dive 2022
Back to visit family in Canada at the Bruce Peninsula. We are staying a short drive from the cold crystal clear waters around Tobermory. My first dives after my refresher course in 2019 were done with Divers Den here in Tobermory. Dive number 5 to be exact. With now 195 additional dives under my belt, a drysuit and a camera; I’m ready to return! Weather permitting we are shooting for a visit to the Arabia, which was beyond our experience level in 2019. The Arabia is a wooden ship built in 1853 and sunk in 1884; it sits at 105ft. The Arabia is called the “Jewel of Tobermory”
The Sardine Run 2022
The Sardine Run is the largest biomass migration in the world. Located in Southern Africa, billions of sardines spawn in the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank and move northward along the east coast, creating a massive feeding frenzy. Dolphins, sharks, seals and whales join in the migration feeding off the giant fish balls of sardines. This is an ultimate wildlife and diving experience; considered by many as a “ Dive of a Life Time”
Bonaire 2022
Bonaire so far is my FAVORITE place in the Caribbean to dive! We are traveling for our second time to the island to celebrate our friend Hutch’s 70th birthday. Our group is diving with Wanna Dive. My father and I, should hit 200 dives!!!! The breathtaking blue waters, spiky cactus, rocky shores and aquatic critters of Bonaire await us!
Jupiter Florida 2022
In preparation for the cold waters of The Sardine Run in June, we are meeting friends in Florida and diving with Jupiter Dive Center. I have a new 3mm wetsuit and 2mm vest with hood to test out my weighting and to determine how much I will freeze my ass off in Africa. Why am I not wearing my drysuit you ask? Because when you pee in your drysuit, you get to sit in it for hours and hours…
Belize 2022
Ambergris Caye, Belize is our next stop. Diving with Ambergris Divers at SunBreeze Hotel. Home to the worlds second largest barrier reef system and the legendary Blue Hole where good old Jacques Cousteau blew a path through the reef with dynamite, so his great Calypso could enter. Although I’m not packing any dynamite, I plan on blowing this reef up, by shootin’ some epic stills!
Cozumel 2021
Our second trip to drift dive in Cozumel! We are staying at the Sunscape Sabor Resort and diving with Dive House. So far no other place has water as crystal clear; it’s incredible. You can stand on the back of the boat and see the coral 100ft down. It will be my first time there with the new camera, so my fingers are crossed for epic blues & crystal clear wide angle shots!
Bonaire 2021
Bonaire is part of the Dutch Caribbean region, which consists of the ABC Islands; Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. The island is located off the northern coast of Venezuela. The Bonaire island license plate actually says “Diver’s Paradise”. I can’t wait!! The resort is the famous Divi Flamingo in Kralendijk and we are diving with Divi! There is unlimited shore diving, so I’m ready to log some serious time under the water!
Guadalupe Island Great White Dive (100 DIVES COMPLETED!!!)
This is a “Buck List” dive…I’m going cage diving with GREAT WHITES! Good thing I bought the new camera and to top it off, I’m going to hit 100 Dives since quitting the cubical on this trip! My year off goal will be complete! This will be my first “Live Aboard” dive experience too.The trip is through Pacific Fleet and we will be staying on the SOLMAR V. I want to say a special thank you to my great friend Linda for the invite! I can’t think of a better way to spend my 100th dive!
Curacao 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 85 Dives Completed)
Curacao is part of the Dutch Caribbean region, which consists of the ABC Islands; Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. The island is located off the northern coast of Venezuela. We’ve been invited on a resort scouting trip, through our friend Jim, owner of the SODA Dive Shop here in Ohio. We are the beta testers for a possible future dive vacation location offered by the shop. The group will be staying at Sunscape Curacao Resort & Spa in Willemstad and diving will be with Ocean Encounters. The resort has a house reef with unlimited shore diving…I bought a NEW CAMERA!!! Bye Bye GoPro…Time to make some BUBBLES!
North Carolina 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 63 Dives Completed)
Consistently voted, #1 Wreck Diving in North America by Scuba Diving Magazine, “The Grave Yard of The Atlantic” gets its name from the estimated 2000 shipwrecks scattered along the North Carolina coastline. Many of the wrecks are the result of vessels fallen prey to Hitler’s U-boat fleet during World War II. We are headed to Morehead City to dive with Olympus Dive Center. Weather permitting, we hope to get to dive the U-352, a german submarine that was sunk by the Coast Guard Cutter Icarus on May 9, 1942. My goal is to go to 110ft and put my hand on a Real German U-boat!
Monterey, Califorina 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 54 Dives Completed)
Headed out to the West Coast to visit family and friends, so I’m going to try to get a few dives in the cold water kelp forests of the Monterey Bay area. There are sea lions and nudibranchs to be found! Plus, I’ll get to learn to do shore entries through the cold rough Pacific waves. The plan is to pack my drysuit, hire a local guide and find some adventure! I’ll be diving with Aquarius Dive Shop.
Roatan 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 46 Dives Completed)
Traveling to Roatan feels like we are going to our first real tropical island! (No offense Cozumel). Roatan island is located off the coast of Honduras and is one of the top diving destination of the Caribbean. We are staying at the Turquoise Bay Dive & Beach Resort and diving with Subway.
Blue Heron Bridge 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 26 Dives Completed)
Paul Humann and Ned Deloach, authors of the Reef Fish Identification books, call Blue Heron Bridge, “ Florida’s exotic critter capital.” These books have been my identification bibles and one of the most important educational tools I’ve found to maximize my personal diving experience. So when Paul and Ned recommend a visit and you are in Florida, you put it on the schedule. The plan is to hire a guide and rent tanks through Pure Vida Divers and find some seahorses, octopus, frogfish and nudibranchs! This will be our first “Muck Dive” critter hunt.
West Palm Beach Florida 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 25 Dives Completed)
While in the West Palm Beach area we are planning on getting into the Atlantic to do some reef drift diving. We will be using Pura Vida Divers in Singer Island, Florida.
Key Largo Florida 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 23 Dives Completed)
The Molasses Reef is a coral reef located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The island of Key Largo is the perfect spot to visit to get to the reef. The Molasses Reef is the best place to dive in the Florida Keys so we are going! We are diving with Seadwellers Dive Center of Key Largo.
Blue Grotto Florida 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 17 Dives Completed)
The Blue Grotto is right next-door to the Devil’s Den and much bigger! The Grotto is the spring side of an inline sinkhole opening up into a giant underwater cavern. Many divers say the best part of their visit is meeting the resident soft-shell turtle, Miss Virgil. Apparently, she loves posing for pictures. Let’s cross our fingers that we bump into her on the dive!
Devil’s Den Florida 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 16 Dives Completed)
The Devil’s Den gets it’s name from early Florida settlers, who witnessed on cold mornings, steam like smoke, rising skyward from the chimney opening of this large spring fed cave. The water is crystal clear and 72F year round. The Devil’s Den could be the next movie set for the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. I’m hoping we will find undiscovered Spanish doubloons!
Georgia Aquarium 2021 (100 Dive Goal: 15 Dives Completed)
We are going to Disney World! But before we say hello to Mickey and the gang, we are going to do some diving on the way! Our first stop is the Georgia Aquarium, to do the Journey with Gentle Giants experience in the Ocean Voyager Gallery (A Giant Seawater Tank). It is one of the worlds largest aquatic exhibits. We will be diving in the 6.3 million gallon tank with a 23ft by 61ft wide and 2 feet thick window; it is the only opportunity in the world where you are guaranteed to dive with whale sharks, manta rays and sharks. Plus we get a backstage tour of the facilities life support systems for all the animals. This will surely tickle my engineer brain. I hope we get a T-shirt too….
Cozumel 2020 (100 Dive Goal: 12 Dives Completed)
I’ve officially decided to challenge myself to 100 Dives by the end of October 2021, while I take a year off from work. Let the 2021 dive trip planning begin! This trip marks the start. With the COVID pandemic ongoing, we are excited to get out of the craziness, out of the cold Ohio weather and get into the warm tropical Cozumel waters. We are staying at the Sunscape Sabor Resort and diving with Dive House. This will be the first topical dives since Cuba in March of 2020 and this will be our first time “Drift Diving”. We got our masks, we’ve been tested, LET”S GO DIVING!
100 Dives In 1 Year
I quit my job. I quit that cubical. From October 30, 2020 to October 30, 2021, I challenge myself to 100 dives and I’m not counting anything in a pool. Open water baby….
