November 30, 2018

Diving the Straits of Mackinac

November 30, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

Back in June, you may recall that we spent two days diving at the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. After that trip, Aaron and I remembered that we loved diving, we loved diving together, and realized that we need to do more of it. The only way to ensure this is to book another trip. So we did. On our way back home from our Flower Garden trip, we booked a shipwreck trip in the Great Lakes with the dive shop we use back in Michigan. I won’t lie, I was STOKKED about doing some shipwreck diving in our beloved Great Lakes again with one of our best friends!

October 02, 2018

Diving the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary

October 02, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

Years ago, I remember Aaron telling me about Flower Gardens and how it was this incredibly unique place in the Gulf of Mexico and that he wanted to dive it (if it’s underwater, he wants to dive it, but that’s beside the point). The problem is that the only charter to go there leaves out of Freeport, TX and is usually sold out when it isn’t blown out. If you live outside of a day’s drive from Freeport, it’s too risky to plan a trip down, pay for flights, only to be told that the seas are too rough and that a storm is blowing in. So, it was put on the back burner and there it stayed. Until this past June.

March 09, 2017

Diving in the Adriatic Sea Off the Coast of Croatia

March 09, 2017/ Meghan Oaks

Last June, our final hurrah before leaving Germany was to a place that we had heard such good things about for so long: Croatia! We were going in the middle of July, which is like prime season for tourists unfortunately. Fortunately, we found cheap flights on Croatian Air to the island of Brac (pronounced Bratch), just off the coast of the mainland from Split. While we wanted to try to hit up Dubrovnik and Plitvice National park, we only had 5 days to spare, so we opted to stay on an island, soak up some of the Mediterranean sun, relaxing, and eating good food. And no island trip is complete without some diving!

October 31, 2016

Nature Diving in Fjord Norway

October 31, 2016/ Meghan Oaks

When one thinks of ocean diving, places like the Caribbean or the South Pacific, popular warm water dive locations, come to mind. Here, there are beautiful coral reefs, full of colorful fish, big creatures, and small delights. While warm water diving is always nice, there is still so much of the ocean that can be dived, if only you're willing to deal with the cold. Norway was one such place.

July 08, 2016

Travel Review: Gulen Dive Resort

July 08, 2016/ Meghan Oaks

I'm not sure how, but a while ago, Aaron learned about Gulen Dive Resort, a small dive resort about two hours (give or take) north of Bergen, nestled in among the fjords of Western Norway. When he saw they had a house reef with nudibranchs, some of which aren't found anywhere else, AND World War II shipwreck diving, it jumped to pretty close to the top of his list of places to dive. When my sister and I decided to meet up in Norway, and she agree to do some babysitting, we knew we could make it work.

May 29, 2015

Dive Log: Grünersee (Bucket List Item)

May 29, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

The REAL reason we went to Austria in May was to dive the famous Grünersee. After seeing it in countless magazines and on too many ''Top 10 Dives to Do Before You Die'' lists, we knew we HAD to add it to our bucket list and make it happen. I mean, it's pretty awesome to say that you've dove in the Alps too. Most people go to ski, but we're crazy and go to dive.

May 27, 2015

Dive Log: Grüblsee in Styria, Austria

May 27, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We took advantage of another long weekend in May (there are quite a few of them this month!) and headed to Austria for some diving and to check another item off of our bucket list. We booked two day tours with a dive shop out of Vienna, Neptun Diving. On Saturday, we dove at Grüblsee near Vorndernberg, Austria. And what a dive it was! The small lake, more of a pond really, is located at about 800 meters (2600 feet) in elevation, with a small dive shop and school next to it. It is officially the highest dive school in all of Europe! Surrounded on three sides by mountains and looking over a nearby ski area, the scenery is pretty awesome. We were blessed with beautiful weather too - not too hot for dry suit diving, but not too cold so that you couldn't warm up between dives.