Opening post from the Happy Sea Otter

Welcome from the Happy Sea Otter!

This web journal is about fun. Specifically it’s about fun in the water and mostly about fun when scuba diving and snorkeling. So much of the dive industry is about extremes; deeper dives, longer cave penetrations, more bottom time, having the most extreme equipment, and going to the most exotic sites. This site is not about that.

The Happy Sea Otter is about recreational sport diving and snorkeling for the average person. To me that means relaxation, stress reduction and play in the water. Let someone else compete to get the best possible photo of the endangered Poodle Eel by spending thousands of dollars on exotic camera equipment and remote trips if they want. I hit the water for personal enjoyment and recreation, not to try for record depths that require safety divers, recompression chambers and oxygen waiting on the surface.

It’s not that I haven’t done some of these things. I’ve done my share of deep dives and own underwater photo equipment. Competitive, technical and extreme diving is cool for those of us who don’t get enough adrenalin out of everyday life, family and career - and have enough time to train extensively for their passions. But when I go on vacation, I want to relax.

The Happy Sea Otter Site is about Zen Diving and Snorkeling. It’s about seeing and enjoying more underwater because you are doing less and doing it better. It’s about going back to land after a dive or a snorkel feeling bright and shiny inside and out, as though you have just been through a mental, physical and spiritual wash cycle.

The main topics to be discusse here, but certainly not the only topics follow:

* Skills – how to dive easy relaxed and comfortably. Finding the Zen in your relationship with the gear, water and nature.

* Gear – Topics like comfort, function and economy - and when things are overengineered and overpriced.

* Travel – Comfort, economy, quality of sea life, eco-tourism, and the basics on the surface.

It's a lot to discuss, but hopefully we will be doing it from a fresh angle that provides a better and more realistic perspective for recreational sport divers and snorkelers.

Thanks for stopping in,

Schultzie _ The Happy Sea Otter