New Diver, Diving the Florida Keys

Author: Taylor Lapratt-Abreu

Taylor is the newest member to the Adventure Sports Newmarket Team! She recently completed her Open Water dives and earned her Advanced Open Water diver certification on one of our dive trips down south to the Florida Keys, and wanted to share a little bit about her experience as a scuba diver so far!

Spiegel Grove, Key Largo

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so much, in so little time… and it’s addicting. I truly can’t stop. The more I dive, the more I learn, and the more I am dying to experience. I spent a week (on my Adventure Sports Newmarket dive trip to the Florida Keys) continuously creating new goals for myself, whether it was the maximum depth I hit, or overcoming what once may have been a fear – in my case a night dive…
 
Throughout the seven days, I kept tacking new things onto my “dive bucket list”, most of which I became interested in from hearing others talking about their experiences. I created a personal list of the millions of different things I wished to someday experience, and gratefully crossed off quite a few during my trip. The list includes wrecks I would like to dive, species I cannot wait to encounter, destinations I’ve heard great things about, and goals set around my personal diving limits and certifications!
 
I think that’s what makes diving so rewarding though… Although I may have some control over crossing certain things off my list, often times, I really don’t know what to expect from a dive. There are so many things that may affect the turnout, making it so much more enjoyable when you get down there. You lose a sense of repetition, because no dive is the same as another. You’ll experience different weather, creatures, dives sites, visibility, water conditions, buddies… the list goes on.
 
During my 4th adventure dive, towards my Advanced Open Water Diver course, what I expected of my dive was completely off. I chose to do a night dive, not because I felt that I personally would enjoy it a whole lot, but because it was an accomplishment I knew I wanted to check off my list, an opportunity to learn more about diving at night/in dark spaces, and because I wanted to get myself comfortable with different diving conditions. I expected the visibility to be only what my light would reach, and the rest just black. I expected to see nothing really, maybe a couple fish swimming around and whatever made up of the reef. I expected to maybe come across some fear-filled moments, just because I couldn’t really see much…
 
Like I said, my assumptions and expectations of the dive were so far off. The night dive ended up being my favorite dive of the dozen or so I had done during my trip, as it was the dive where I encountered an incredible variety of different species, something I personally value a lot while scuba diving. About 25 feet down, diving at Davis Reef, Key Largo for approximately 30-45 minutes, I spotted several sea turtles, stingrays, nurse sharks, lobsters, green moray eels, lionfish, and more! Everything with its own spot to sleep among the reefs… The saying shows, the ocean really did come alive at night for me!
 
My one-week, ASN Trip was an ongoing journey consisting of several dives, course studies, eating, sleeping, and more dives! I worked my way down, from a depth of 12 feet in a pool, to a maximum depth of 100 feet in the ocean. I explored three magnificent wrecks, all with their own story I enjoyed learning about. I visited multiple reefs, all with their own different varieties of life living amongst them. The week itself was an incredible experience, and each dive even more so. That week, I found passion in something I never would have given much thought into. Diving is a sport with so many different directions for all different types of people, one that is both challenging and rewarding!
 
Anyone, interested in diving, whether it be just to try it out or to work towards a diving certification, let us know!
 
We will gladly get you on board.

Jody instructing Taylor in the Florida Keys during one of her Open Water Certification dives.

​We all have our own bucket list of things we wish to experience as divers! Share some of the things on your list, or things which you've already experienced that you would like to recommend!
Leave a comment below.