Friedman’s Sink at Manatee Springs, in the rain

Every scuba instructor has a reason why they teach. I changed careers mid-life to teach challenging dive skills full time and to share my passion and build my team of dive buddies. The mantra of “share the passion” is often a cliche. But today was one of those days where it really did ring true.

Today, I got to take two of my past Fundies/Upgrade/Cave 1 students to one of my favorite parts of one of my favorite Florida caves. It’s not an easy cave dive, requiring experience post-Cave 2. It’s a small entrance, usually low to no vis and starts with a siphon portion. It’s a beautiful cave passage, not the easiest to get to (I think some of the work contributes to the reward), but has some rare and fragile sights…. massive clay banks, strong flow, and dramatic knife-edge carved rock. Tina and Andy did a nice write up on the dive here.

But this isn’t a post about the dive, this is a post about the journey. What made this dive special is I got to witness the multi-year transition of two awesome, dedicated people from single tanks and new gear and new skills all the way to extremely competent cave divers with the skills and the motivation to continue stretching their limits into places that few people get to see because they are extra challenging. It feels great to truly grow the team. This is why I teach.

–Mer 3 June 2018