June 11: Sea Hunt

I remember learning to dive. Well, to snorkel at first. Then I moved on later to get my scuba certification. Since Greater Fort Lauderdale is partway through its "Learn to Dive" month, this seemed a good time for me to look back at my diving. Not just for personal nostalgic reasons, I guess, but to remind you how cool diving really is. And how easy it is to learn the basics, especially here in Fort Lauderdale. South Florida is a serious dive capital in this country. But for me ... well, my fascination with the underwater world began with a very old TV show. The star was a fella named Lloyd Bridges, father of actor Jeff Bridges - and the program was called "Sea Hunt."

As a young boy, I watched "Sea Hunt" every Saturday night, then acted out my own dramatic scuba scenes with my cousin. I have vivid memories of the two of us walking slowly around his basement while moving our arms as if we were swimming beneath the sea, using hand signals to communicate. Just like Lloyd. I used to puff out my cheeks to emphasize that I was underwater. This annoyed my cousin.

When I was a bit older, I finally got the chance to use a real mask and snorkel and fins - and to swim under the water for real. My first opportunity to do that in the ocean happened here in Florida when a buddy and I drove down from Michigan during our high school summer break. Wow, we had a great time. Soon after this, I earned my scuba certification at that same high school. Then much, much later, as a professional writer, I found myself diving off South Florida's reefs and hand-feeding a six-foot shark for a story in USA Weekend magazine. That was a total trip! And a lot less scary than it sounds. I don't get the chance to dive as often as I'd like at the moment, mostly because I'm so busy these days. But I want to do a lot more of it. I'm in Fort Lauderdale, after all. A huge percentage of America's scuba divers visit this area each year to enjoy our clean and clear waters, lovely reefs and all the sea life that lives just off our shores. If you've never tried diving, this is a great chance with June's "Learn to Dive" specials. You don't have to do scuba to experience the undersea world either. If you prefer, just learn to snorkel - which some longtime divers prefer anyway. Whatever way you go, snorkeling or scuba diving, I think you'll find that this new adventure genuinely enriches your life. Really, there's nothing quite like it. I've never become nearly as good a diver as Lloyd Bridges in "Sea Hunt." But under the ocean, I'll bet we both felt some of the same sense of wonder.