Danielle’s Dives dive bucket list – always updated

I simply love diving.  There are some things that I am dying to do, see or places I want to go to.

Sooo, what’s on your bucket list.

(6/7/12)Come up with 10, put it in the comment section here.  The first 5 people who are my  blog followers and send me their bucketlist, I will send a CO-PRO carbon monoxide pack FREE plus I will give this 30 days to have 100 comments.  If it hits 100 in 30 days, I will randomly giveaway one BOGG BAG to those who send me their Bucket List.  Keep it clean, I don’t want to see in my mind anything you want to achieve with a partner.  If you already follow my blog, just send me list.

Here are a few things that used to be on my bucket list.  I have scratched them off now as I have seen or done it.  I wanted to share them with you how my views, wants and needs have changed over the 5 years I have been diving.  I thought that perhaps the newer divers would relate to it.  I always feel that there are many instances when experienced divers have a pole up their ass and forget what it used to be like before they had seen it all or done it all.  I find this is often the case when I spend some time on some of the scuba forums that I belong too. I would rather embrace anyone who loves the oceans and it’s creatures as much as I do.  Whether they are a cave diver, a snorkeler, a wreck diver or even those crazy deep divers who feel it is never deep enough.

So things I have now crossed off my bucketlist:

Getting certified – I could tell you a story about my floaty legs or all the other BS issues I had, which now I see, was just my chicken shit way of making excuses for not being great right away.

Seeing a shark – scared the crap out of me the first 1/2 dozen times.  Now it is common place and I have overcome my fears.

Seeing a moray eel – again, very creepy and scary as we have all been told how viscious they are.  Now  I follow them around for the perfect photo op.

Swimming with a turtle – again one of my all time high points of a dive.  LOVE THEM!

Night diving – still need to do this more often.  It is surreal and like you are in another world.

Diving more than twice in a day

Top ten things I  need to do:

1.  See a huge octopus

2.  Dive with a whale – not an orca, on the wild

3.  Spot a seahorse

4.  Dive with a dolphin in the wild

5.  Scuba Dive Hawaii
Scuba diving in Hawaii is big or so I have been told.  I imagine it will be very blue and full of life.  I like what I perceive the people to be like.  I think it will have a laid back environment where there aren;t too many worries other than the catching the next wave, diving or sunbathing.  Giant sea turtles, enormous stingrays, sharks and whales gather near Hawaii to live in its fertile volcanic ecosystem. Though lacking the clear visibility of a sheltered island, Hawaii makes up for clarity with grandeur. Frothing with tourism, and the many dive shops to choose from, Hawaii makes scuba diving fun and adventurous.
6.  Scuba Dive Fiji Islands, South Pacific
Fiji offers an incredible scuba diving experience. It is the “Soft Coral Capital of the World”, the home of the “Great White Wall”, the “Yellow Tunnel” and other famous underwater marvels, scuba diving conditions and visibility are unrivaled year-round. Because of its clear water and dazzling coral Fiji is a favorite hangout for professional underwater photographers.

7.  Scuba Dive Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos
Located along the southern tip of the Bahamas, Grand Turk stays sheltered from heavy currents and visibility is excellent year-round for scuba diving. Grand Turk is a summer gathering place for gentle manta rays and inquisitive scuba divers. Grand Turk is surrounded by walls covered in sponges and corals starting at 25 feet and rising to 30 feet and plunging 7000 feet straight down.

8.  Scuba Dive Koh Tao Island, Thailand
Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand is a tourist-friendly resort island that caters especially to scuba divers. Surrounded on all sides by colorful reefs the island is also well known for opportunities for close-encounters with elusive Whalesharks and Grey Reef Sharks. The scuba diving is excellent, but despite desperate marine conservation efforts shark hunting is offered as a tourist diversion and many people travel to Koh Tao just to kill the local fauna.

9.  Go on a fossil dive like in Venice beach.  I had to scrub the trip last week as hubby had an ear infection.  I hear cuz is not phenomenal but diving is diving and better than working.

10.  Galapagos Islands -Listed as one of the top 7 underwater wonders of the world, the Galapagos Islands remain relatively unknown among diving afficionados. It is still relatively private, pristine, and unexplored.  Unlike most popular diving destinations, reefs are not the primary attraction in these islands. Instead, areas like Darwin and Wolf Islands are home to several different species of sharks, including Hammerheads, Galapagos, and Whale sharks.  This would cross off my whale shark.I did not put him as a separate number.  Oftentimes, divers will experience schools of sharks numbering in the hundreds.  Recently, the Galapagos National Park enforced a liveaboard restriction for most boats in the Galapagos.

I still want to do Bonaire, The ABC Islands, Palau, Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, Cancun, Utila but I see myself doing those places in the next 2 years or so.  I was going to for my all time DREAM things.

Here is what is not on my list:

The Great Barrier Reef – just not interested in the MANY vicious things they have there.  I dive to live, not live to die.  Too many sharks, box jellies and it is very far away.  Would rather do Fiji or Thailand.

Blue Heron Bridge – I am going to take some flack for this.  I have scheduled about a dozen trips and decided to head further south for good viz.  Too spoiled I guess.  I am not impressed by the slack tide, the extreme amount of boats, ignorant divers or limited dive time.  I can’t glorify garbage in the water or murkiness when there is better diving within an hours drive.  Yes, I know it has plenty of macro life including baby octupi and seahorses but muck is muck to me.  But with that said, I will do it to say I did it and not miss out on anything.  Seriously, it cracks me up on other forums that people get SOOO worked up about this.  But maybe if all the diving was crapola within driving for me (that could be 6 hours to Key West mind you) for weeks on end, I may think it is awesome, but I don;t think so.  I would think it was awesome to be in the water as I enjoy everything I come acorss as much as possible and I strive to see the beauty in all the chaos out there.

Cave diving – I am going to give it a go but again, I dive to live, not live to die doing something that could kill me.  But I get the thrill seekers needing something.  But 2o years from now, I may be up for something new after I find it hard to come up with new things for my bucket list.

Cold Water Diving – I respect and admire you dry suit divers.  I am strictly a warm water diver.  I firmly believe the only place for ice is in my cocktail glass.