SCUBA: Fulfilling a Dream

I witnessed this sea lion party on one of my first post-certification fun dives, at San Carlos Beach in Monterey, CA.

SCUBA: Fulfilling a Dream

I see the posting online. A Citizen Science SCUBA course, offered by the Aquarium of the Bay. Three specialties, plus a dive inside the aquarium. My heart races, and I check my budget to see if I can reasonably spend the not-cheap enrollment cost on a whim. I hear the science-loving nerdy kid inside of me shout take the damn course, damnit! 

There is no such thing as a flattering SCUBA portrait

As a teen I dreamed of being a marine biologist. I watched Shark Week religiously. When nature programs on cable weren’t enough, I’d rent National Geographic and Discovery Channel VHS tapes (remember those?!) from the Hayward Public Library. Tomes on sharks and rays, underwater photographers, whales, dolphins, and bioluminescence filled my bookshelves. But, whether due to the fuddy duddy college counselor who emphasized all the math, or to being too scared to really try, I ended up in the particularly non-marine-biology-related field of tabletop roleplaying game publishing. And, slowly, I forgot about my love of the oceans, and of the animals that call it home.

Fast forward a few years (ok, maybe about 20) when a friend recommends the podcast Ologies. It’s early 2019 and I’m now plowing through two years’ worth of episodes on things like ichthyology, museology, and selachimorphology. Ologies reignited my love of science, learning and knowledge, and reconnected me with my past dreams. 

Then comes 2020. The pandemic is declared a global pandemic the same day I return from a solo trip to Ireland. I go from visiting three museums a day to visiting my fridge eight times a day. From walking seven miles a day to leaving my house only to walk my dogs. As a lover of adventure and of meeting new people and seeing new things, I’m navigating the doldrums of quarantine sameness. I want to travel, but I don’t want to risk my health or the health of anyone else by flying. And then it hits me, I can travel without really traveling! I can explore somewhere I’d never before truly explored – underwater! I’d wanted to get SCUBA certified for over fifteen years. It was one of those things I’ve always meant to do, like visiting Alcatraz or trying one of those cheese milk foam bubble teas. So I do it, I sign up. 

I get SSI certified in November 2020 through Bamboo Reef in San Francisco. My boyfriend, who had gotten certified as a teenager, joins me to get re-certified to brush up on his skills. Our checkout dives are completed in Monterey Bay during a king tide (exceptionally high tides caused by gravitational pull of the sun and moon). “If you can dive here, in these conditions, you can dive anywhere” says our instructor. Visibility is shit, maybe 6 feet. I get pummeled by waves and big burly divers help me stand up while I flounder on the beach. I’m hooked. 

About eight weeks after getting certified I take the specialty courses with the Aquarium of the Bay, and as I write this I’m awaiting news about the date of the aquarium’s Volunteer Diver orientation.

While it took me much longer than I hoped or initially expected, learning to SCUBA and taking courses that expand on that knowledge has made this science-loving nerd very happy. It has allowed me to reconnect with the ocean-obsessed teenager who collected books on sharks and whose first tattoos were ocean-themed doodles she originally drew on her college homework. I have learned to forgive my younger self for ignoring her dream for so long. 

If you’re feeling lost or static or bored, or like you’ve lost sight of childhood dreams, think about what makes you happy. What gets you excited about life? Maybe the first step is to find an awesome podcast, or to sign up for a class or webinar. Find a way to access that excitement. You never know where it may lead.

Postscript

I am very aware that diving is a sport that has many financial barriers to entry and is a predominantly white sport due at least partly to past discriminatory policies including access to pools and beaches. Certification, gear, and specialty courses are expensive. It took me so long to get certified partially due to a lack of expendable income. As someone who now can afford certification and their own gear, I feel it is important to make the same opportunities available to folks who otherwise may not have the means. I have made donations to Diving with a Purpose, a nonprofit that “provides education and training programs, mission leadership, and project support services for submerged heritage preservation and conservation projects worldwide with a focus on the African Diaspora.” and to the Mahogany Mermaids, whose mission “is to encourage young people of color, specifically Black and African American to join the science fields, specifically in the aquatic sciences.” Diving, and the connection it gives one to the ocean and wider world, should be accessible to anyone who wishes to experience it.