I spent the morning finning gently through the massive chambers of the Taj Mahal cave system in Mexico. My client asked me to swim slowly, and I was more than happy to oblige. Pausing mid-way through one particularly immense room, I rested for a moment and glanced about me. There we were, two tiny dots of light floating in an incomprehensibly large volume of water. The bedrock surrounding us was tens of thousands of years old. As I flashed my dive light around, I began to notice shell and coral fossils which date back to the time the Yucatan was below sea level. Diving slowly allowed me to notice features of the cave I had swum over in the past, and as a result I enjoyed today's dive more than others I have made in the very same part of the cave. Whether diving in a cave, ocean, or lake, many divers can benefit from the encouragement to slow down once in a while to truly absorb their surroundings. I certainly did.
Sometimes I catch myself inadvertently engaging in "goal oriented diving". A goal oriented dive is one in which the diver loses track of many aspects of his diving in a one-minded pursuit of his goal. In the example of cave diving, the goal could be reaching a certain part of the cave, taking photos, or simply getting as far into the cave as possible. Goal oriented dives occur on recreational dives as well. Some goals I have caught myself pursuing are counting divers to make sure they are all there (not necessarily a bad goal), finding a turtle, and getting students to the sand as quickly as possible to practice diving skills.
Not all goal oriented diving is bad - some dives are necessarily goal oriented. Few people would find fault with me for overlooking a turtle because I was focused on my goal of getting four novice divers safely through their first diving experience during their open water course. A shark dive will obviously have the goal of seeing sharks, and divers might not notice (or be impressed by) a pretty little parrotfish fluttering by. However, in some cases focusing too strongly on a goal can do more harm than good. Goal oriented diving becomes unfortunate when a diver ceases to enjoy his immediate surroundings, and it becomes a problem when it distracts him from safe diving practices.
More hints to increase your enjoyment of the underwater world:
• How to relax more while in the water.
• Improve your position in the water using trim weights.
• A great mask defogging trick.
What impressed me about my client's attitude was that he wisely stated an "anti-goal" before the dive. He wanted to take his time and simply look around and enjoy the cave. As a result, we swam more slowly than I would normally swim. We spent a huge portion of our time barely moving, gazing in wonder at the features of the cave. I emerged from the dive with a refreshed enthusiasm for this dive (a dive I had previously begun to get a bit tired of). Moreover, the slower pace allowed me to focus on my position in the water and buoyancy more than usual, and I felt so stable and relaxed in the water that it bordered on euphoric.
While my inspiration for this article came from a cave dive, the concept holds true for all kinds of diving. So often, we are distracted by covering as much ground as possible, honing a skill, or completing a task that we forget to enjoy the fact that were are breathing underwater. Stop and smell the seaweed! Most people never come close experiencing the freedom and adventure of scuba diving. The next time you are underwater, remember to stop, set your goals aside for a few moments, and simply look around you. The underwater world, whether it is a cave, a reef, or an alpine lake, is absolutely phenomenal!
