[dion]

I wish there were more divers like you. It seems like everytime I go diving there the divers get worse. It used to be that one or two in the group would have "hangies" (i.e. let their gauges hang down and drag on the coral), on my last trip about half of the people did and there were a few divers who seemed to have no feeling in their legs below the knees because they just plowed right through any coral or sea fans that happened to come in contact with their lower legs or fins. Its a good thing they couldn't hear what I was saying to them through my regulator. I think scuba diving has gotten too popular and as a result is drawing in people who only like to be able to say they are "divers" and get lots of cool gear and don't really care about the ocean or its creatures.

[Prodigal Son]

You know, I developed an aversion to touching things after coming into contact with fire coral once and having been nipped by an eel on another occasion. Plus, scorpion and stone fish look so much like the surrounding coral you never know what you're going to touch if you don't inspect very closely first.

Oddly enough, underwater photography has made me a beter diver. I'm more patient and less self concious underwater. When I was still a novice, I was always overly aware of the mechanics of my diving and it tended to take a lot of air out of my tank as a result. After I became more preoccupied with my camera and looking for the little details, I became much more relaxed underwater and learned a lot more quickly to get my buoyancy right because that enhances your photography abillity. I have also learned to really enjoy the little things on the reef. So many creatures are there but many are very tiny. It takes patience and the abililty to hover in one spot to truly appreciate them.

I like a nice slow drift dive myself. I like to have my octopus and gauge in close to my body because that makes you more streamlined. In a sense, SCUBA is the closest the average person can get to being an astronaut and visiting alien worlds. Total weightlessness- it's like flying in some senses. I really enjoy it and whatever I can do to get an extra couple of minutes out of a dive (relaxation, streamlining, not diving deeper than need be) are things I strive for. It pays off. If you're patient, you can slip right up on a turtle or a sleeping shark or a stingray without agitating it and get a choice view (and photo) of it.