I went scuba diving for the first time ever with my girlfriend, Abigail, in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, on August 8th, 2025. This little excursion took place at the Macabuca Tiki Bar, which conveniently has a dive shop attached. We signed up for one of the offerings for people with no scuba diving experience whatsoever, called Discover Scuba. We had been recommended another company initially, but they were fully booked, so we ended up going with Cayman Turtle Divers—and boy, did that ever work out.
With this program, you get to dive up to 40 ft with an instructor. Our instructor was a charismatic Brazilian man (aren’t they all?) named Gabi. His English was serviceable, but even with the slight language barrier he was able to explain things easily with hand motions, demonstrations, and plenty of repetition. By the time we got in the water, he had gone over the basics about four different times, so I felt pretty comfortable.
In the water, I figured things out pretty quickly. Breathing through an oxygen tank for the first time definitely took some getting used to, but you adjust fast. My girlfriend has anxiety and was pretty nervous about the whole thing (it was my idea, after all). Our instructor took his time until she was comfortable, and next thing we knew we were 30 ft underwater, swimming just above the ocean floor.
Being that far underwater is surreal. Looking up at the surface feels like one of those dreams where you’re slowly drowning—except this time, when you gasp for air, you actually get to breathe from your handy-dandy O₂ tank. At this point I was pretty settled in. It’s wild how quickly your body adapts. Seeing fish in their natural habitat is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It’s eerily quiet at times, which really allows you to take it all in—the only distraction being the occasional “OK” hand signal to let your instructor know you’re not dying.
We didn’t see anything life-threatening down there, which made it pretty chill. The water in Grand Cayman is crystal clear, which made diving that much better. We spotted a flat fish that blended into the rocks around it and just waited until prey swam by. We saw tons of other colorful fish, none of which I could name—my ocean fish knowledge is still just a seed waiting to be planted. As we were rising to the surface—apparently I be breathin hella and was almost out of oxygen (good thing my guide was paying attention)—we spotted a big, slender fish about three and a half feet long with a menacing look. It took me a second, but I realized I was staring at a barracuda. I’ve thought barracudas were badass since I was a wee lad, so seeing one in “the wild” pretty much knocked my socks off.
I’ve never had an experience like my first time scuba diving, and I have to say it was life-changing. Being among the fish in their own habitat, completely vulnerable, puts things in perspective. I say this because I kept hearing Gabi stress not to hold my breath—only to realize later this was because if you panic and shoot to the surface too quickly, your lungs could literally explode. And that’s just not what you want. I cannot recommend this enough. If you ever get the chance, just do it at least once. I am not responsible, however, if you happen to go out on a day when the 12-foot tiger sharks are swimming about and you crap yourself. Just give it a go, and you’ll quickly see what I mean.
I hope to continue this journey and dive again in the future one way or another, but for now my right ear is still clogged.
Happy Trails -GAS