Sometimes It’s the People
One of the best parts of traveling to dive is meeting new and interesting people. Take that guy at the top of the page, for instance. I met Oswaldo (aka “shrimp” or Camarón) in May of 2022 while leading a dive trip for Adventure Sports. At that time, he was just a ‘tank jockey’, helping all of us divers get in and out of the water, prepping gear, and handing out water bottles between dives. I asked him then if he was a diver, and he said no, that he didn’t really think that’s what he wanted to do in life.
Fast forward to January of 2023 on yet another trip with Adventure Sports Scuba and there’s my little shrimp buddy, only this time he’s kitting up to follow us on a wreck penetration dive! I find out afterward that not only has he been diving for two months now, but he’s also currently working on his Rescue Diver certification.
...this time he's kitting up to follow us on a wreck penetration dive!
We did one more dive together during this trip, and I watched him closely. I’m not sure if it’s the training program, or just an innate ability to breathe and be calm underwater, but with only two months in his buoyancy and air consumption rivals some of the best divers I’ve met.
There’s a lot of reasons to dive in different locations, I suppose. Sun, different sea creatures, water temperature, visibility, you name it; there’s something different about every shore and every ocean, and I’d really like to experience them all before I hang up my fins someday. But the thing I find most appealing, and brings the biggest smile to my face, is meeting people like Oswaldo: a little guy with zero interest in diving, turned into a two-month-old baby-badass bubble-blower.
People make the difference
No matter where you go, or what you do, it’s always going to be the people around you that make the difference. They aren’t all gold, but every so often you meet one that just melts your heart and makes you smile. And honestly, if it weren’t for the damned water shooting up inside my mask, I’d be smiling all the time diving with this guy.
See you again soon, Camarón!
