Yes, we divers agree that scuba is therapeutic. In 2011 the Veterans Administration came closer to  authorizing scuba as a form a therapy; this is a major leap forward in the validation process. I'd like to propose something additional. Pre-scuba therapy.

Divers like to set goals and train for them. Often, this training is structured in either a classroom or a pool before going to open water. Pre-scuba cognitive therapy is one additional tool that has helped me in the past and today was a remarkable refresher. The power of guided imagery (akin to hypnosis) has long been recognized by therapists as an important clinical tool to keep in the toolbox. Today, my guided imagery had great results. While today's session was combined with groundwork yesterday, the clinician in today's session utilized a reading from "Clinical Applications of Hypnosis" by George Gafney.

Today's session took a reading about the molasses reef in Florida and made it into a mini-dive trip that I could use to work on my breathing. Breathing can become rapid without us knowing it. Slowing down this breathing and making sure to breathe as divers must, is an imperative skill. Clearing a mask at one hundred feet, at fifty feet or even twenty feet is very important. Practicing this skill in guided imagery helps me to grab a hold of stressful life events I'm currently facing while also preparing me for the upcoming dives I have yet to plan. It's a way for me to stay sharp and it only takes a little time and not a lot of travel. For those few minutes of guided imagery, whether ten minutes or twenty minutes or forty minutes, I'm working on my diving skills.

Now that's done for today, I'm even more motivated to push a little harder in the gym today, and tomorrow, etc.

Hi All :-) I'm just back from Orlando where I attended my first DEMA show. That is an industry wide scuba show; it's pretty impressive... Jean-Michel Cousteau autograph his new book "My Father The Captain."... Stig Avall Severinsen and I had him autograph his book entitled "Breatheology- the art of conscious breathing"... interesting Dive Propulsion Vehicle information ... extended variety of handicapped scuba trainers...<< MORE >>

September 25th, 2011 at the Edith Ball Adaptive Aquatics pool in Tucson, AZ. The Challenged Athletes Foundation put on a swim clinic today. I knew I needed some advice on my style, so I was eager to attend. The coaches were awesome! They were able to evaluate my style and give specific tips on how to break down each part of each movement. This was exactly the type of advice I needed. I'm only sorry we ran out of time! I plan on following up with them, for sure. The main point of contact is travis@challengedathletes.org
)

Hey all   I just got back from Hawaii. Eight dives in Oahu (with Aaron's dive shop) and four dives with Kona Honu dive shop. I love diving Oahu, and those dives were all great. The summer swell was in full force; so much so that my third day of diving was cancelled by the shop. In any case, the diving was great.

Then to Kona, yes it was a great experience. Never before did I go straight to the dive shop from the airport. I got there, set up my gear (including the DPV) and was ready to go out on the boat. It made me feel especially hardcore to go right to the dive shop from the airport... Hotel? That's for later! In any case, it was a good decision. The manta ray night dive was spectacular. Never before have I had such interaction with such large animals of the wild. The gentle giants truly made me think they would knock my mask off. They must have gotten within an inch or so of my mask. Really a rush. One of the top dives of my life.

That makes thirty five dives for me this year, and I'm still going.

It's definitely all good in Kona.

I had the privilege to help instruct a basic Open Water pool session this weekend. A local dive shop called me in to consult because one of their students was a paraplegic. This student was a relatively new injury, secondary to a motor vehicle accident a few years ago. The student was completely paralyzed in the lower thoracic region. I was inspired by the student's enthusiasm and  I'm sure this person will do fine when they go for their open water dives. This weekend was a great experience.

As a consultant, I am encouraging the dive shop manager to continue working on making the pool more accessible. He is receptive to this and after a brief meeting, we have a tentative plan on making progress. Meanwhile, we can modify instructor policy by working on more skills in deeper parts of the pool- this will help reduce risk of students sustaining abrasions. While full wetsuits are the best protection, they do not always provide complete protection, especially when the pool temperatures become too hot for a full wet suit.

It felt great to blow some bubbles!

Hi all!
I just got back from diving in Bon Aire again. As you recall, I was there this past January. At that time I did 14 dives. This time I completed 9 more. That brings my lifetime total logged dives to 156. In January I was lucky enough to be there with a group from Toronto called Freedom at Depth, Canada. They were here again and continued to help the whole movement gain momentum. This time I was with the founder of the Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA) and his crew. Jim Gatacre was there celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the HSA. As expected, there were lots of great handi-divers and instructors from all over the world. The groups from Italy (www.hsaitalia.it) and Norway (www.handikap.no) truly enlightened us with their presence.  In addition to great diving and fellowship, a great seminar was held. These presentations generated lots of brain-storming all week long. We discussed the usual topics but with many additional international perspectives. We discussed our history, our current plans as well as our future hopes.
Let's go diving more--- the year is only half over!

I noticed something new being offered by the HSA trained crew at the dive shop I was diving with on this last trip to Bonaire. He asked me if I wanted him to spin my body a little to the left as I did my seated forward roll off the swim step. I thought that was an odd question. Because I hesitated in answering, he suggested I try it and then decide if it is an improvement. This sounded reasonable.

Before more explanation of what happened next, let me first define what a seated forward roll off the swim step is. I am an SSI trained diver, not an HSA trained diver. At SSI (and PADI too) they teach a technique for entering the water to begin your dive. This technique is done (usually while wearing all your gear, but not always) from the seated position, on the swim step. For non-ambulatory divers like myself, I find this extremely convenient. I merely scoot myself over to the swim step, the crew brings me my BC (buoyancy compensator), I strap on and inflate my BC (with their assistance), I don my mask and regulator, check my air, hold my mask in place with my strong hand and then roll forward into the ocean. This is my normal procedure and it is exactly what SSI teaches. It is called a seated forward roll. With this technique, it is very important to fully roll as much forward as you can because then the tank hits the water first. When mastered, it can be done from some height off the waterline because the tank hits the water first. This is also how I enter when rolling off the end of a pier, which usually is quite a distance off the waterline.

What the HSA crewman offered is the same but with the added "twist" of him actually grabbing my tank and, instead of pushing straight towards the rear of the boat, actually twisting the tank in such a way as to cause me to spin, in this case counter-clockwise. Since he did not explain why HSA is teaching this now, I can only surmise that it may be because some handi-divers cannot fully complete a conventional forward roll and therefore when they attempt it, their head hits the water first instead of their tank. When I was learning,  I  can remember how much it hurts to have your head hit the water first. Sometimes it can be quite uncomfortable. Even more so if only your face hits the water first. This essentially drives your mask into your face. I've had this happen to me when I was learning the forward roll, so I know it can really hurt.

I suppose the HSA modified technique would work well for people that can only roll forward a little. The spin would make it so that their shoulder hits the water first, which is much less painful than having the mask driven into your face.

Unfortunately, since I am used to making the same standard forward roll that ambulatory divers make as part of their SSI training, I DO completely roll forward as I make this entry. Twisting my tank at the last moment causes MY EAR to hit the water first. Imagine getting hit in the ear with the ocean? That's not a great way to start any dive. Getting smacked in the ear is pretty painful and this is not a way I will ever be ambiguous about again. The verdict is in- this HSA technique is not for me.

A big HELLO to everyone monitoring my blogs!! 
First, let me apologize for not blogging last year. I dove in Oahu in May, Bonaire in June and Kona in August.

I just got back from my first dive trip of the year. Being that it is still January, I know I'm off to a great start. Of course, starting off easy is important and so Bonaire is the place to review the basics. I again stayed at the Divi Flamigo beach resort & dive shop, like most Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA) people normally do. As it turned out, I happened to be there at the same time as the HSA crew from Canada and it was a good thing. I discovered that they are there every January.

My dives went great and I learned a lot. Fourteen dives in five days, including one night dive and two shore dives (one at sunrise- yeaaa.)

The night dive was a little freaky for me because it was only my third night dive and I was a little stressed about that. As my breathing became more rapid it became harder for me to stay down (because I never dive with too much weight, if I become a little too buoyant for any reason, it requires me to be more focused on each component of buoyancy- especially breathing.) I also came to fully understand how hard it is to control buoyancy while holding a light in my hand. Remember, I can't use my legs at all so my hands are extremely important. If I delay controlling an unintended ascent even for a moment, like to shut a light off for example, then I will ascent much too quickly.

Another important lesson was stressed on that night dive- If you are a buddy to a non-ambulatory diver, never try to assist that handi-diver without first asking (unless there is a safety issue happening). My buddy thought I was taking too long to descend (even though we had already been on the last several dives together on the past couple days) so he thought that night would be a good time to experiment with me and try to "assist" my descent. Unfortunately he did not bother to look me in the eye first. Had he looked at my mask, he would have seen what trouble I was having clearing my mask and that was the reason for my slow descent. Instead, he just grabbed me from behind and started dragging me to the bottom, as if this is somehow part of our dive plan.

Of course, having someone drag me to the bottom was never part of any dive plan we talked about, so I had no idea I was being dragged to the bottom. I couldn't check my gauges because my mask was flooded and I thought I was still only a few feet from the surface. I just inflated my BC a little to get my head about the waterline. Unfortunately, this buddy had already dragged me down a more than a few feet. I got to the surface and then he told me what he did. Then I understood what was happening. Needless to say this was distressful but there is still some benefit. It got me out of my comfort zone, which is important. Luckily there were no injuries, so it was a good training exercise, probably more useful for his training than mine, but that's ok.

Two days later,  when we did the sunrise dive together from the shore, he did help me without communicating first, but we both understood it was for safety, so there was no problem. The situation was that we were coming back to the shore from our dive. Coming back to the pier during a time when the dive boats may start to arrive to begin the day of taking us out to the other reefs. Since he was not entirely certain that I would not ascend before reaching the pier, he decided to help me by grabbing my tank and helping push me as I continued to swim along the bottom towards the steps. He started helping me at about 25 feet of depth and stopped just as we reached the pier. I could feel him pushing and that was no problem. I understood that he was helping me reach the pier. We understood each other and there was no problem. Especially because it was for ensuring safety (avoiding boat traffic that we were expecting) I was totally ok with him pushing me those last 50 yards. I was helping the whole time of course, he was just speeding up the process by pushing me as we both went in the same direction.

Buoyancy control is important and I worked on that all week. Mostly I was working on that with my Sea Doo GTi scooter. I used that scooter on all dives except the night and shore dives mentioned above. I love it and I will continue using it. I feel that it replaces my legs and that because I can't use my legs, the scooter helps me be a better diver. It is important to not to use the scooter to control buoyancy, and I don't. That said, Using the scooter is as important to me as having fins are to an ambulatory diver. If ambulatory divers are willing to take off their fins for the next 100 dives, then I'll leave my scooter at home for the next 100 dives. The truth is that no ambulatory diver would go diving without their fins; even in an easy place like Bonaire and even on the especially easy fifty foot deep reef dives with almost no current.

Now that I'm tuned up for the year, I'm ready to "head out to the highway." Harder dive locations are now possibilities I can consider with confidence. I'll start in Hawaii. While those aren't all harder, there are some challenges that come with the Pacific which are not present in Caribbean diving. Probably I'll go back to Maui since I haven't been there in a few years, then maybe back to Kona because I love it there. I was there in August and really loved it. I'll do the night dives there in Kona because that is how we can watch the manta rays feed. I'd like to do Oahu again too because I just love it there. So if I do those three islands on one trip, it will be expensive but super fun & rewarding.

Will I make it back to the Marshall Islands this year? I hope so. Back to Key Largo this year? I hope so. Will I finally make it to Cairns Australia? I hope so.
Best wishes to all of you!!

Hey all! Three days of diving with Aaron's Dive Shop went really well. May 13th, 14th & 15th. First two days from the boat and last day from shore. This was my first shore dive and I was happy to have had the opportunity. The reason for the shore dive was to work on the rescue skills in a safer, calmer environment than what we typically experience when diving from a boat.

The purpose of the trip was to complete the Diver Stress & Rescue skills. I started this training with my local dive shop where we completed the classroom training and the pool training. When it came time for the open water part of this training, Hawaii was my first choice, for many reasons. Hawaii is easy to get to from the Southwest. Unlike trips to the Caribbean, Honolulu is a straight flight from Phoenix. I also like Hawaii better than the Caribbean because Hawaii is part of the U.S. and I prefer to deal with a business environment with which I am most familiar. Hawaii has some great reefs and wrecks to explore and Aarons Dive Shop is always my first choice because I know the nitrox they sell me will be reliable and the boat Captains will be safe. The instructors and other staff always aim to please and can be counted on to go the extra mile when it comes to reaching the customer's goals.

As a paraplegic, the Diver Stress & Rescue class was uncharted territory. I am still not sure how many Handi-Divers complete this training. It is a great class, especially for Handi-Divers. Whether a person can actually perform all the tasks or not isn't as important to me as actually making the effort to try. The staff at Aaron's was willing to go over and above the call of duty to help me at every junction as long as I didn't give up. I had to do my part and they certainly did theirs. I encourage all Handi-Divers to take the Stress & Rescue class, to study the material, practice the material in class, in the pool and in the ocean. Try your best, do what you can. Focus on what you CAN do.

The resuce breathing was hard. Not pushing the victim's head under water is hard. Towing the victim is also hard but it can be done. I made a rope especially for this class so that I could clip my BC to the victim's BC and still use both hands to tow that diver to shore or to the boat. I can tow another diver when I have this rope in my BC pocket. I CAN do it. I CAN give rescue breathes. I CAN direct others on the boat in an organized way. I can be part of the rescue team. I CAN be part of the solution and not part of the problem. You can too.

Handi-Divers received the following question-  "I will be traveling to Oahu for my honeymoon in two weeks. I am a quadriplegic, and I would really like to snorkel while I'm there. I read about the diving you did in Oahu. Do you know of any companies or diving instructors who may be able to take me?"

In response, Handi-Divers offers the following reply-

First of all, congratulations on your wedding. I wish you the very best. For travel, I think you are making a great choice. Oahu is my favorite island because it is very accessible and has lots of stuff to do. Other people like Maui better, and that is also an accessible choice, but I like Oahu best.

 

Oahu has a great public bus system. Now that I understand the buses, I won't consider renting a car. All public busses can take wheelchairs, including electric wheelchairs. Even with most activities, they pick you up at your hotel in their own bus, so transportation is never an issue. With an electric chair, the experience will be different. There is a cab company there with an accessible minivan. I can look it up for you if you like.

 

In general, everything on this island is accessible. They may not advertise as being accessible but most places will make every effort to include and serve all tourists

 

With snorkeling, you have four options:

The first option is something I have done and definitely recommend. **Actually snorkeling from the beach.** Hanunuma Bay is really the best place to start because it is totally controlled- no surf to speak of, especially on the inner bay. Snorkeling Haunuma Bay is lots of fun. I definitely will do that again. You won't need a guide. There are people and lifeguards everywhere. It is best to go in the morning, if you can, before too many other people have the chance to kick up a lot of sand. Visibility in the water should be better if you go early, but even if you go late, it is still a great place to go. You should buy a book about it before you go and study all the sea creatures you expect to encounter. You are sure to run across several different, really interesting things there. I like the Lonely Planet book for Diving & Snorkeling Hawaii.

 

You can also snorkel with ease at Waikiki beaches, I have done that several times. The State of Hawaii provides beach wheelchairs at most all beaches. These wheelchairs have balloon style tires and with these chairs, you can more easily move over the sand. Go to a lifegaurd station and ask for one. They will give you one and will probably also help you out over the sand, depending on who is there and how busy they are. The surf at Waikiki usually isn't too rough but there are tons of other people there, so conditions vary.

 

Your next option is something I have never done, because I already dive. **It is called SNUBA.** Snuba is a cross between snorkeling and scuba. You don't wear any of the scuba equipment, so you can't dive very deep. Instead of a snorkel, you have a regulator (mouthpiece with an air hose) that is attached to something called a Hooka. A hooka is an air tank that floats on the surface. Your regulator is attached to the hooka (air tank) and so you can breath the same as in scuba. The regulator hose is pretty long, like maybe 30 feet or so. Maybe they have a guide you can hire to be with you, I don't know. It is probably less expensive than the last option. I think they dive off of platforms, just slightly off shore. It actually looks pretty fun and I want to try that. It is made for snorklers, so the conditions should be good (not a lot of surf). Probably they take people out to the platform on either a jet ski or a boat. Different companies will have different ways of doing it.

 

The third option is also something I have not done, but my wife and son have and they loved it. **It is snorkeling with dolphins.** You go out on the dive boat but this time it is with all snorkelers and the goal is to follow dolphins. Since dolphins are so much faster than people, when they leave one area, everyone gets back in the boat and the boat goes to where the dolphins are. Then everyone gets back in the water and snorkels until the dolphins leave again. I'm not sure how long these trips are but probably there are morning and afternoon trips.

 

The fourth option is not something I have ever tried, because I already dive. Sometimes, when we go out on the dive boat, not everyone is a scuba diver. **Some people go out on the dive boat just to snorkel.** That is to say, the dive boat holds ten divers, for example. Maybe there are six scuba divers and two snorklers and two empty spots. If you want to do it that way, you would hire a dive operator who you like. On Oahu I always dive with Aaron's Dive shop. Their staff is always excellent. No matter who you have with you leading the trip, it will always be someone really knowledgeable, safe and fun. So say you decide to call Aaron's Dive shop. You tell them you want to go out on the dive boat as a snorkler. Probably the price is less than what they charge for divers. You can buy a seat on the boat, or buy two seats, one for you and one for your bride.  In this case, you would be able to hire a guide who would be with you at all times. The guide would totally help you with anything you need. This is probably the most expensive way to go. It also may be the LEAST fun because you'd be with scuba divers and they like to go out to spots where the diving is great but the snorkeling may not be. If they go diving on the South side of the island, no problem for snorklers. If they decide to go on the North Shore to dive- that is definitely no fun to snorkel in because that is the Windward side- that means it the wind always creates more surf. Scuba divers won't really worry about it because they are below the surface, but for anyone bobbing around up top, seasickness is a potential risk. (Remember, eating Ginger Root is great to prevent seasickness.) Sometimes they don't decide what side of the island they will dive until the last minute because conditions change. The side by Waianae (West) may be good snorkeling, I don't know. We usually take the dive boat when we go to that side of the island, and the diving is great. Maybe the snorkeling is good too, I can't say.

 

Don't forget to take the Aquarium tour, that is excellent. Be sure to include a Luau. Of course, no first time trip to Oahu is complete without a day to the Polynesian Cultural Center.

 

If I can be of further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.

Sincerely

-Pete

 

TO FOLLOW UP, IN RESPONSE FOR CLARIFICATION

I think you will be most happy with Hanuama Bay. They do have beach wheelchairs there, for sure. Being that the wheelchairs have balloon tires, the tires float. So the whole chair floats. Even if you are really heavy, it's not like the 'chair will go very far into the water. The beach chair is mainly used to cross over the sand with much less work. You can't push it yourself, in most cases, but neither do you have to go very far. It is also good to use because it keeps your regular chair from getting any more sand or salt water than necessary. If you tried doing the beach in your regular chair, which I also have done, it gets covered in sand.

 

Basically, you transfer from your chair to the beach chair. Then someone pushes you across the sand, up into the water just a bit. Then you transfer to the beach, same as transferring to the floor. HAVE AN EXTRA CUSHION READY. Then you crawl to the water. From there it is very fun. BE SURE TO PROTECT YOUR FEET! There are special shoes that divers wear, called Scuba Booties. I always use them, even in the pool, because they protect my feet. In a place like Haunuma Bay, you definitely want to protect your skin from abrasions. Coral can cut skin. I have never got cut while snorkeling anywhere, but it is something to be aware of.

 

As far as transferring into and out of the beach chair, from the water, it is pretty much the same as transferring to and from the floor from your everyday chair. People are there and they will help you. They have helped me and many others. Yes it is a little embarrassing sometimes but it's not a big deal for most people. In the water, you will see some parrot fish at Hanuama Bay and some other fish as well. Hawaii isn't the Caribbean. The reefs are different and not as spectacular in many respects. There are lots of great reefs in Hawaii but not like the Caribbean. Hawaii has different things to offer and in many respects is better. The bay is divided into two parts: inner and outer. I've only done the inner bay because it is really easy and relaxing. The outer bay requires more skill because the tide can pull a person pretty far out, pretty quickly. Believe it or not, they are really well separated. The way the reef is, you can't accidentally get pulled out from the inner reef. If you are in the inner reef, you are totally safe.

 

With Aaron's, they are my favorite dive shop in Hawaii for sure, but it sounds like you may not be ready for something like that. You can call them and ask to talk to someone who has worked with wheelchair users before. Ask what days they will be diving the south side of the island, that will be the side with the least surf. Again, that is only if you think you are up for the challenge. For this type of vacation it may be better to go with the more touristy type stuff. It all depends on how you feel and what you are able to do. With Aarons, also, they pick you up at your hotel but it is in a regular van, no lift. If you are not comfortable transferring into and out of that type of vehicle, that is something to consider. Yes, they will help you will all transfers but you have to tell them exactly what they need to do to help you.

 

As far as getting into and out of the boat- from the parking lot, they will carry you. Usually you and your chair together, depending on what you prefer. You have to tell them what you are most comfortable with.

Getting into and out of the boat from the water- some of the boats they use have swim platforms. That is the easiest and is similar to getting into and out of a pool (without a lift.) Other boats do not have swim platforms. Since they may not know what boat they are using until the day of the dive, this is one reason you may not want to go out on a boat. If you go on a boat that has no swim platform, getting back in can be tricky. Since we can't climb the ladders like all the other divers do, we have to literally crawl back into the boat, usually over the gunnels, which can be dangerous if there is a bit of surf. Remember, in Hawaii, it is not the Caribbean. There is surf.

 

Diving with able bodied folks has advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it is better because you see things you wouldn't see when you are with a group of disabled divers. Sometimes it is more difficult because the boat goes to places that are more difficult to dive.

 

If you are with a group of disabled divers/snorklers, it is always easy, guaranteed. Groups like Handicapped Scuba Association or Dive Pirates are my two favorite groups. Stay Focused is another good group. Each has a slightly different focus but all these groups are on my links page.

 

If I had to guess, I would say the reason you have not heard back from the companies yet is because they typically don't encounter wheelchair users. Probably the person reading the e-mail has to ask someone else, typically the owner, and wait for a response. I know I have been diving with many of the staff at Aaron's.

 

It sounds to me like you would be most happy in both Haunuma Bay and the Beaches at Waikiki. Those two you can do without hiring any help because lifeguards are at both locations and both locations have beach wheelchairs. You won't see any fish at Waikiki beaches but it is really fun because it is such a historic thing to do.

 

As far as anything else you would like to explore, I think once you get someone from Aaron's on the phone, they will be more than willing to help you arrange something. Even if it's not something with them, they can probably figure out how to get you doing what you want to do. Maybe one of the guides there (also called Dive Masters) knows a place and is willing to go there with you, on the side. Probably you can hire one of their dive masters to be your guide on one of the snuba trips.

 

If you had more time, I would recommend practicing in the pool first. It makes a big difference if you are already comfortable in the water. When all these little bits of stress start to add up, it can subtract from the fun. If you are already comfortable in the water, then it will be easier to enjoy everything.