I am no great philosopher on life for I have barely begun to live but in the 29 years that I’ve been on this planet some things have become apparent. One of the most notable is that of reaching plateaus in life. Whether it is in a job, exercising, or even a relationship, there comes a point in time that even when one truly enjoys what he/she does, there’s a need for inspiration or challenge to get you passed that plateau.

So was the case with me in the past month or two. While most would call me crazy and even consider causing me bodily harm for saying this, scuba diving every weekend was beginning to reach that plateau with me. Although my love for the ocean never ceases to exist, a combination of factors made it inevitable that I would reach that plateau. Between the cold water (for us Floridians) and the confinement of scuba diving, I was beginning to feel a little worn out. I still wanted to go to the ocean every weekend but the passion for scuba diving had dwindled.

My solution was simple though, for my mind and heart craved for something different. Off came the BC, the tank, regulator, dive computer and even the camera (blasphemy!). What was left was my mask, snorkel and a pair of old freediving fins. This was what my mind and heart craved, to experience the ocean again how I best remember it as a boy. Free of all gadgets that make me think, I fall into a trans-like state and swim free through the ocean blue.

I had it bad! A month had gone by and I was still craving this simplistic way of diving. I didn’t even miss my camera all that much! I worried and pondered what could once again bring back that feeling. And almost all at once it began to return—my friends enthusiasm to dive, a reef cleanup, watching two new dive buddies (Juli & Kiko) who recently got certified dive with so much enjoyment. I was feeding off all this and it felt great. All of a sudden I’m up late at night during the week finishing up our website – TheLivingSea.com. A million ideas are flying through my head, my dive buddies are ecstatic with everything. Hooray! Scuba Laz is back! Or so I thought..

My first official dive after returning from ‘No Scuba Diving Land’ and we’re watching “my little friends"—the Dolphins swimming near us in the bay on our way out. Out on the reef we’re jumping into water that reminds me of the movie, ‘The Blue Lagoon’—and on a warm summer-like day to boot. With a boat all to ourselves (4 of us), one heck of a great captain and friend (Capt. John from Quiescence) at the wheel and anchored on one of the secret reefs, a fine day it was hopeful to be.

Swapping on my gear, I was the first in the water. There it laid—a small patch reef with tons of fish and coral life everywhere. As I descended down to the bottom, one of the little fellas awoke from his siesta to see who was causing all the (bubble) commotion.

I looked around for a bit while I awaited my three other dive buddies to enter the water. With each splash into the water that they made, I would watch as the schools of grunts would suddenly burst into a swimming frenzy. I could almost hear them saying, “What the heck was that!”

We began swimming around the edge of the reef and every once in a while I would veer over to the turtle grass area in hopes of finding one of those elusive sea horses or nudibranchs. As I poked around a bit, my dive buddies swam ahead. It was when I was towards the outer North end of the reef that I heard the commotion. Someone was banging on their tank over and over again like a mad man (or woman) and being it that we were the only four on the reef I knew it was one of my dive buddies. I quickly rushed to see what was going on when all three appeared almost at once swimming full steam ahead. In front of them it appeared…

A baby green turtle!

But instead of rocketing away at the sight of four, noise-making, bubble-expelling monsters from above, this cute little green turtle continued swimming nonchalantly around the reef. What a treat this was! Hoping to get a head on shot, I hovered low to the reef in hopes he wouldn’t see me (camouflage wetsuit maybe) but as he approached, he would swerve to the side..

We continued to swim along with him for a while..

Until finally he decided, “You know.. I might as well give this guy what he wants so I can go on with my life. Otherwise I’m gonna be stuck with these four human-remoras for the rest of the day.”

Horray! I got that ‘Coming in for a landing’ shot I wanted (sorta). I pressed my luck for one more photo and I got “THE LOOK.” The little guy came in close and quoted a line from Scarface, “Look out! Bad guy coming through!”

I knew then it was time for me to leave this little fella alone.

Fritz and I continued diving as Juli and Kiko returned to the boat. We came across a pair of fish busily conversing with each other..

I kindly interrupted them and asked them if they wouldn’t mind their photos taken. They kindly obliged..

Of course, after recognizing me as the guy from TheLivingSea.com they wanted their photos taken solo so who was I to argue..

Word spread quickly and before I knew it other fish were coming in to get their photos taken..

The line of fish to be photographed was becoming longer than the ones at Disney. All this racket and commotion wasn’t letting a 4 ft. nurse shark, who was crammed under a reef ledge nearby, go to sleep. He eventually got so annoyed he shot out of his cubby hole like a rocket and went head first into another vacant reef spot a couple of feet away. That was my cue to leave!

Back up on the boat we shared a couple of stories and laughs while Capt. John motored over to the next dive spot—Molasses reef. The gin-clear water was a welcome treat and one I hadn’t seen since last summer. Already my enthusiasm was roaring after our last dive and this dive promised to match it.

Diving in last, I descended down to where my dive buddies were at. When Fritz sees me, he gives me the hand signal stating he just saw a Stingray. “Cool..”, I thought. We see those often.

We began swimming along the grunt-adorned reef wall..

And I watched with much humor as Juli tried to “be one with the fish” by trying to get in the center of the bunch…

Not as simple as it looks like on TV!  :)

We continued to dive along and as I was busy trying to shoot some little critter the tank banging began AGAIN.

Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink!

“Geez! What is this?!?! Some Ultimate Fighting Championship bout.”, I thought to myself.

Again I look up and Fritz is pointing this time… I swim in a little closer.. and a little bit more…

It suddenly became very apparent what I was seeing—three beautiful Eagle Rays. Apparently, Fritz had forgotten to dot the top of the hand signal for Stingray earlier in the dive. It was an Eagle Ray what he had seen when he first jumped into the water. Suddenly my split fins are racing away like a ’67 Corvette to catch up with these guys.

They turn around and I try to quite my breathing, descend lower to the reef behind a sea fan and begin to chant Chevy Chase’s (similar) words from Caddy Shack…

“Be the reef… Be the reef… na na na na na na na.”

It worked!

The fella buzzes inches away over my head. “Wow!! That was awesome!” accompanied the huge smile on my face.

I turn to my side and press the shutter button on my digital camera and begin to follow the Eagle Ray as I nervously think to myself, “COME ON CAMERA!!! SHOOT THE PICTURE!!! NOW!!! NOW!!!” A split second later and FLASH!

As they swam away into the distance, I hovered mid-water watching these beautiful and graceful animals glide through the water like a bird through the sky..

Truly a remarkable sight.

With our dive almost over, we swam back near the boat and with a few minutes left I decided to lay down in the sand and take it all in—the sights, the sounds, the feeling of the water against my skin. Wishing I could remove all my equipment and swim as free through the water as those Eagle Rays, I removed my mask and then my regulator and as I sat there in the sand and opened my eyes I felt it once again. My urge to belong here.. to feel at home… the urge to swim these oceans until the end of time.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Fritz watched with much comedy as two Eagle Rays circled over my head again and again.

I’m back! :)

Laz

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