Senior Jeffrey Sweeny and Junior Maddox May wipe the fog off of their goggles and strap them on as they begin their descent into the ocean. Schools of fish scatter away as they welcome them into the water for their underwater expedition.
“I first got into scuba diving from a book called Shadow Divers, a nonfiction book about some pioneering scuba divers in the 90’s,” Sweeny said. “When my dad gave me the choice for what we should do over fall break, I told him I was interested in getting scuba certified, so we found a great dive shop in Miami and that’s what we did.”
For May, his hobby of scuba diving was brought to him through his family. Naturally, he found himself following in the same footsteps as his dad.
“My dad was the first to scuba dive, and he wanted to get everyone in my family certified so we could all go together as a family,” May said. “I had always thought about going scuba diving, but I never really did. One day, my dad said we were gonna go on vacation and we were gonna go scuba diving while we were there.”
Before either of them could go explore the water, required training was needed. Many certifications and hours spent training are what transition new divers into more skilled divers.
“Before entering “open water,” or the ocean, I had to complete around 20 hours of online training and five hours of confined water training,” Sweeny said. “Once I was done with that, I had six open water dives where I was tested on all of the skills I would use as a scuba diver. I am currently certified at “Diver Level 2 — Autonomous Diver Standard,” which is usually referred to as an Open Water Scuba Diver. Now, I can dive on my own at depths of up to 60 feet!”
“You have to get your PADI open water certification to be able to scuba dive,” May said. “After that, you can scuba dive with certain regulations and then earn more qualifications to be able to do other things such as wreck diving, going even deeper than 60 ft, and learning to use a Nitrox.”
Getting ready for a dive doesn’t just involve throwing on goggles and jumping in the water. Setting up gear and checking equipment is an important step that each diver needs to follow.
“Before a dive, we may get into wetsuits depending on the temperature, and then we’ll assemble our gear,” Sweeny said. “Scuba gear includes a BCD, or buoyancy control device, a tank, computer, mask, regulators, and weights, but we’ll put on our fins once we’re totally ready to jump in. After we’re assembled, we’ll perform what’s called a “dive check” using the acronym BW-RAF. To begin, we check to make sure our BCD isn’t leaking air, and then we check weights, releases, air supply, and finally, we check our friends! Being familiar with your buddy’s equipment is essential for scuba diving, just in case anyone has an emergency underwater.”
Once underwater, there can be many problems that divers have to try to solve and work around.
“While there are plenty of obstacles in scuba diving, the most challenging part of the process has been communicating and interacting with other divers,” Sweeny said. Since I’m underwater, I obviously can’t talk, but I can communicate basic ideas through the hand signals I’ve been trained to use. The problem with hand signals is that they aren’t very good for getting other divers’ attention, especially in poor visibility. Unfortunately, I have only ever ocean-dived in very extreme conditions where the current is quick. There would be a lot of kicking of sand and sometimes even crabs causing low visibility.”
For May, scuba diving is more than just a hobby. It’s a chance to go explore wildlife and fuel his passion for traveling. His family has turned these scuba diving trips into yearly traditions.
“My family usually goes on scuba trips during breaks,” May said. “Last spring we went to Curaçao, and that’s where I got my certification. Just this past fall break, I visited Roatan Island in Honduras, and I plan to visit Belize or Florida as my next destination.”
“I‘ve been scuba diving at only a few locations, all of which are in the Miami area,” Sweeny said. “The first is Tigertail Lake, which is a facility partially designed for scuba training. In this manmade lake, there are pirate wrecks, planes, and even an underwater trampoline. The other two are both reef sites a couple miles off the coast of Miami. One was the 25ft Emerald Reef and the 40ft artificial Neptune Memorial Reef, both of which are memorable for their colorful fish and feisty crabs.”
With the excitement of exploring new places, many moments are cemented into memories that last a lifetime.
“We were on a night dive,” May said. “I saw an octopus holding on to some coral. It kept changing colors to be camouflaged from us, and it was really neat to see.”
Scuba diving is an experience that many people may never get to endure in their lifetime. For those who do, the experience often leaves a long lasting impact on them. For May and Sweeney, the excitement of discovering different environments than what they are used to is what has kept them invested in scuba diving.
“What keeps me coming back and what has fueled my passion for scuba diving is my love for traveling to new places and seeing new things,” May said. “It’s always exciting to see new things under water that most people have never seen before.”
“My favorite part about scuba diving is being able to explore these unique underwater environments,” Sweeny said. “As an explorer and a swimmer, scuba diving has satisfied many of my interests, and there’s no feeling like being able to breathe underwater with the fish. Also, you feel like Darth Vader when you breathe, which is definitely an added bonus.”
