SUE AND MARIE Certified Padi Master Instructor and Padi IDC Staff Instructor

People have been diving for centuries, but the person responsible for recreational diving is Jacques Cousteau. He was a navy diver, but had a passion for diving beyond words. He, along with his friends, developed diving using homemade scuba gear, to a level that nearly every one that wanted to, could put the gear on and go diving. The crazy and slightly dangerous lengths these guys went to are beyond words and admired by many. They pushed the limits to the maximum, diving deeper and longer each time until they got sick, then they knew their limits! He is infamous for diving into a cave and cracking a bottle of champagne (and drinking it) then returning to the surface. Not a great thing to do under any circumstances.
I am sure most of you know you know that divers need to surface slowly when diving. This is because more gases can be absorbed into your body tissues at depth. If we ascend too quickly, the gas bubbles that are being released expand, causing blockages in our blood vessels that can prevent the flow of blood. So, as long as we ascend slowly, we can avoid this hazard, which is the part of diving that worries people the most. The rate at which we ascend has been worked out, not by any scientific equation, but by the rate the winch that hauled the navy divers on board could be manually operated! These safety standards have been tried and tested again and again over the years and never changed! So much for modern technology.
Going back to Mr. Cousteau, he n
ot only made scuba diving available to us all, but he also, and this must have been such a chore, discovered some of the world best dive sites! He had a deep love for the ocean on the west coast of Mexico. He spent a great deal of time in Manzanillo and here in Puerto Vallarta. He is credited for discovering Isla Marietas and many of the other great sites in the area. I am sure I would have stumbled upon them one day though!

So, Isla Marietas. What does it hold for you? Well, it has some of the nicest scenery you are ever likely to see, stunning secluded beaches to go swimming and snorkeling off, along with being home to the rare bobies. These are rare and hard to find anywhere, but they are guaranteed on the islands. It is a paradise that everyone should see.

As for us, we purchased our 1st boat this week (girls and toys I hear you say) and it came complete with a really cool piece of equipment. A fish finder! Man, this will make our “job” easy. Switch it on and let it find the fish for us? Not really, but if there is anything big around us, we will be able to drop in and investigate. I wanted it for one reason. I have never seen a whale shark!!!! No, I hear you say. That is so unfair.

I know. 3,000 + dives and not a sniff of one. Maybe I should change my deodorant! Whale shark season is nearly upon us and I am feeling lucky. I will keep you posted.
See you next week.