After the incredible highs I’d been living out with Emilie and Shelley, it seemed appropriate that I go deep, both figuratively and literally, after they left.

I am alone again, at least for a couple weeks until I meet up with my friend Nico in Bangkok, and a new wave of introspection and quiet time has begun. It’s never easy to readjust to being alone after traveling with friends but I’ve managed to find a good space and take up an amazing new hobby – scuba diving.

In my seven months of traveling, I’ve been to some of the best dive destinations in the world, ranging from the colorful reefs of the Caribbean to the incredible lagoons of French Polynesia and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Every time I was faced with the question “do you scuba dive?” I always answered with some lame excuse about how I was afraid of deep-water pressure and swimming with big fish. Fortunately, as I did with my birthday sky dive, I stopped to ask myself “why not?” and faced my fear.

I returned to Koh Tao a little lonely, a little nervous and a little scared about whether I would be able to complete the PADI certified Open Water course or not. Despite the nagging self-doubt, I headed straight for Ban’s Dive Resort, a huge diving operation based in the heart of Sairee Beach accredited as the third largest dive center in the world.

Since diving is big business on Koh Tao, they wasted no time in signing me up for a 4-day course starting that afternoon. And before I had the chance to second guess myself, I was sitting in a classroom with 24 other travelers, going over the basics of scuba diving in open water and preparing for the next morning’s confined session in the resort’s swimming pool.

Under strict recommendations to sleep well, keep myself hydrated and avoid drinking the night before, I readied myself for my first experience of breathing underwater. I think it goes without saying that the first few minutes of breathing out of a regulator (the mouthpiece attached to the oxygen tank) at the bottom of a swimming pool were awkward and uncomfortable. I felt like I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs and a faint urge to panic was lurking in the back of my mind. But I stayed calm, applied a simple Yoga breathing technique and soon, I was peacefully zoning out on all the bubbles I was making with every exhale. Honestly, that was the hardest part of the training.

Apparently, scuba diving wasn’t hard for me at all and the proceeding open water dives were more inspiring than stressful.

Without the strong pull of gravity and propelled by your fins, you glide rather than swim, hover effortlessly face-up or face-down, and land on the sea floor with pointed grace. The art of scuba diving alone, without mention of the incredible world around you, is a dance of sorts that enables heightened control of your body and an incredible new sense of movement. I loved it right from the start.

After four open water dives and passing the final exam, I was PADI certified for Open Water dives to a maximum of 18 meters. Shallow dives were cool, but the thought of swimming with sharks, barracuda and the real big fish at great depths was all too intriguing. It didn’t take much to convince me to proceed with the training to become a PADI certified advanced diver.

The thrills really started when I did my first deep dive to 30 meters and explored a feeding ground popular among reef sharks about the same size as me. As I hovered in the water watching a reef shark swim at me and then swiftly veer right, I felt like I was part of a Discovery Channel video and felt the weight of my good fortune to see these creatures in their natural habitat.

I was almost 100 feet down. I couldn’t see the surface. I had only four days experience. And still, I wasn’t scared at all. I was utterly humbled and awed by the experience.

Going deep gave me a fresh perspective and something new to be grateful for.

If only I had known how much I was going to enjoy scuba diving before I started this adventure, I probably would have looked into a course back home (I hear there’s great diving on Catalina). Now I just want to return to all my previous destinations, and explore the world under the waterline.

It’s all good though and I really can’t complain. The memory of learning how to scuba dive in Thailand will make me smile for years to come, and with five more months of traveling, I’m sure I’ll find time to explore the reefs of other famous dive destinations.

August 13, 2006