I'm feeling a little under the...sea, the beautiful sea!

I just got back from a great "girls mini-vacation" in Key Largo with a friend of mine. It's hot at home, and it's hot in the Keys, but it's a wet-hot there, especially since I got to spend a lot of time under the water!

I certified to dive back in the 70's, when I was much younger, and there was only one kind of recreational dive certification available. Now, you can get all kinds of different certifications - but how many of them were included in my original one I don't know. We've gone decades between dives, but have done more in the last 5 years, including Cabo and Roatan than in the other 35 years. I'm not sure why, but those last dives were much more stressful for me than the Keys. Cabo might have been because there was some current and we had a short time frame to dive in, and Roatan might have been the fact that I was diving on a wall that I found out went down about 12,000 feet. Or it might just have been that I hadn't been diving in so long.

My dives in the Keys were fabulous - but, then, the water was less than 40' deep, and visibility was about 100'. And it was just me and my friend, no husbands to fuss over how we were kitted up (or incorrectly kitted up), but we also weren't on a concierge dive, so we both had to actually pay attention to what went where. It was a good thing, I think. I like to know what to do so that if/when I have to, I have the confidence I need. Not that I don't like having someone lug all that gear for me, don't get me wrong!

I saw amazing fish I don't remember having ever seen before on any of the other dives, and was treated to a quartet of Nurse sharks playing (instead of sleeping!) in circles less than 4' below me. No dive suit was needed in the 88 degree water and I used less air than I would have expected, too. We had so much fun on the two dives we'd scheduled that we added another two dives the next day!

I've already made plans to go back early next spring. The water might not be as warm then, but I think there will be lots more new things to see. Maybe I'll let my husband come along this time - if he thinks he can spare the time. If not, I'll feel really bad (not) and have another great time!