July 17, 2018

The Longest Surface Interval

July 17, 2018/ Meghan Oaks

685 days. 1 year, 10 months, 16 days. That was the length of my last surface interval. It's embarrassing really, especially when Aaron and I had gone 12 for 12 (at least one dive per month, every month) for nearly three years. However, as I prepared to take my giant stride off the boat into the dark waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the closest land more than a 100 nautical miles away, wearing a wet suit (which still fit, surprisingly, after having two babies) and the rest of the gear necessary to support human life underwater, there was a sense of exhilaration, and also trepidation. Right hand on my mask, my left on the waist band of my harness, my stomach momentarily somersaulted as I stepped off the boat and started falling before plunging into the water in a cloud of bubbles. And with that first jump, my longest surface interval since we were certified in 2012, came to an end.

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!

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.

May 15, 2015

Dive Log: Diving in Iceland - Part 3 (Bucket List Item!)

May 15, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

I remember the exact moment that I first learned about Silfra. We were on our way back from Roatan, having just spent a week diving in clear, warm, Caribbean waters, about a month after getting certified. We were waiting to board our last plane from Atlanta back to Detroit when Aaron looked at me and said, ''We should dive Iceland someday.'' I balked. That water was cold! What is there to see in Iceland? And that's when he showed me the pictures. I was sold. But we were still new to diving and missing some crucial gear (i.e. a drysuit) and experience. Not to mention flights are usually fairly expensive from the US to Iceland. So, I thought it would be years and years before we were able to dive it.

May 12, 2015

Dive Log: Diving in Iceland - Part 2

May 12, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

The next day, we were supposed to be diving in a lake fed by a geothermal hot spring. However, a storm had washed away part of the gravel road leading to it, therefore making it inaccessible while we were there. That's a testament to just how rugged the landscape is in Iceland. Even though it has been inhabited for over 1000 years, from when the first Vikings landed there, very little of the island has been tamed by man. But, it's a good thing to leave some things unspoiled.

May 08, 2015

Dive Log: Diving in Iceland - Part 1

May 08, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Sorry for the long blogging hiatus, but, oh man guys, the diving we did in Iceland was out of this world! No joke, it has probably spoiled a lot of cold water diving for us. The people were great, the diving amazing, and the weather beautiful. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's rewind a bit and let me tell you about our first couple dives in Iceland.

April 10, 2015

Dive Log: Attersee, Austrian Alps

April 10, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Easter weekend is a long weekend in Europe and most people have Friday and Monday off. We would have hated to waste the long weekend sitting at home, so we did what we do most weekends: traveled! At first, we wanted to go back to the Netherlands, to Keukenhof, to see the tulips in full bloom, but hotel prices were through the roof! I couldn't find anything less than about 120 euro per night. And over 3 nights, that can get expensive. Enter plan B: Austria!