Our Next IDC is: September 9th - September 18th

Linda Shepherd

Divemaster

Scuba Diving, what can I say -- it changed my life!  I had always loved the water.  Even as a child I went to the local pool everyday in the summer, taking every swim or dive class they gave finally getting my lifeguard certification. Then we moved to Southern California right on the coast -- I was at the beach every chance I got. I couldn’t get enough of the sound of the waves, the tide pools, just the relaxation of being next to the ocean. Somehow my life got sidetracked and I moved inland and got into other sports like hiking and motorcycle (dirt bike) riding etc. and although I had a lot of fun I knew the first time I went under water in a swimming pool with SCUBA gear on that I had found my real passion!   I couldn’t (and still can’t) get enough of it, the ocean, the lake, warm or cold, good vis, bad vis. I don’t care as long as I’m SCUBA diving!  Again, I took every class I could until I became a Divemaster  and now I assist my husband (Dan Shepherd, an Instructor for All Wet) teaching other people to dive. It’s exciting to see other people get their first experiences with diving because I know for most it will change their lives too.

The people I have met, the places we’ve gone, the things we’ve done all because of SCUBA Diving. It has opened a whole new world for me. The first time I saw a shark (I was a known sharkaphobe and thought I would freak out!) but instead I was mesmerized with its beauty and grace and even went to a shark feeding (yes, we purposely brought them to us!)  It was unbelievable but, of course everything down there is! The colorful reefs, the thousands of different fish (in every color imaginable) the boat wrecks. Every dive is a different experience.

Did I mention the people you meet? I thought motorcycle people were a fun bunch (and they are) but I have to say that divers like to have a good time !!  We have met so many nice people.

SCUBA Diving is something I will do for as long as I can.  I wish I had become certified when I first thought about it instead of putting it off as long as I did. I thought it would be a lot harder and take a lot longer then it does.

I plan to continue my training. The more you learn about it with continuing education the more you enjoy the sport because it becomes easier or maybe you just become more self assured or maybe it’s because I’ve learned from the best!

Certification Level: PADI Divemaster DM#235792

Certifications:

 In Progress:  Navigation and Search and Recovery.....

And Robin keeps trying to get me to do Tec Rec/Tec Deep Diver -- who knows!