Everyone has their own motivation for diving, some thought or hope that drives you to don a set of fins, put on a mask, strap a tank to your back and jump in the water. What sends you to the underwater world?

For my family of four divers, we each dive for a different reason. My son dives for the pure adventure of it. Whatever each dive may have to offer, Sam will seek it out, whether it be navigating a familiar ropes course or discovering something new and unseen before. His favorite dives involve exploring sunken shipwrecks of every shape and size. My husband also dives for the adventure of it, but his drive has more of a technical focus.  He is constantly pushing himself to be a better diver, advancing his skills and equipment to achieve a better dive each and every time.  Its hard to keep up with those two sometimes!

Equally as hard to keep up with is my daughter, the fish chaser. She absolutely loves being a part of the aquatic world.  Her favorite dives include any dive with an abundance of sea life. She could hover at the bottom and watch the fish swim by for hours (if only her air supply would allow it).  She would prefer warm water too, but we live in Michigan, we take what we can get!

Photo courtesy of Jeff Haveman

That leaves me, why do I dive? Believe me, there are some days that I ask myself that same question over and over.  That is…until I get under the water.  For all the hassle and planning it takes to get four divers organized and into the water together, once I descend into the depths below, all the chaos fades away. The only thing I can hear is my own steady breathing and the wavering bubbles that result.  A well-planned dive can be one of the most relaxing and rejuvenating experiences in my hectic life.  Whether it is watching the fish (they’re not making mental grocery lists for the week) or exploring a shipwreck (that crew had WAY more to panic about than who forgot to do their homework this weekend!).  Underwater, I can let the day-to-day stress go and just enjoy the scenery.  It is a mini-vacation, even if it only lasts for half an hour; it is a trip worth taking.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Haveman

Now, I would love to report that every dive is just as wonderful and blissful as the last.  Turns out it doesn’t always work out that way.  But for the times that it has, that’s what keeps me coming back.  Spending time with my most favorite people, doing something together that we can all enjoy.  In today’s world, just a few quiet moments together are sometimes hard to come by and I will cherish each and every one of them.

About those other dives…the ones that don’t go as planned, that’s a whole other story. Stay tuned.  In the meantime, drop me a line or leave a comment, share what motivates you to be a scuba diver.