Diving Blue Grotto and Other News from Winter Park

Well, it has stopped raining.

With Tropical Storm Debby in town, I was starting to wonder if the sunshine state was named ironically. It’s all bright and shiny here in Florida now though.

Enough about the weather, and on to more important things–like my internship at Bonnier. So far it has been great, even better than I expected, and in general, pretty amazing.

I learn something new about the dive world every day. I get to fact check articles about the latest and greatest gear, read proofs on incredible destinations and write about marine conservations efforts.

And then there’s the added bonus of diving during the work week.

Last Tuesday, I was invited to go diving with the test divers at Blue Grotto. I gladly acceptd, loaded my scuba gear in the white van and headed out to Williston, FL.

The Blue Grotto is a spring that stays 72 degrees all year long. We were there to test dive computers (read all about it in the September issue of Scuba Diving) and I was helping with some of the topside organization.

The water was clear–not at all like diving in Arizona, where you’re lucky to get 15 feet of visibility.

I did two quick dives and stayed out on the last dive to take some photos of the test divers.

See what I mean about loving this internship?

Special thanks to Patricia Wuest, senior editor of Sport Diver, and Eric Michael, editor of Scuba Diving, who have gone above and beyond to make me feel welcome here. From inviting me to dinner to pointing out the best beaches, from informing me about hurricane preparation to making sure I am working on projects I’m interested in, everyone at Bonnier has been just incredible. I’ve never been so far from home while feeling so at home.

I’ll stop there and save the rest of my thank you speech for the Academy.

In the meantime, I’m going to go enjoy that Florida sunshine.

Wishing everyone calm sees and plenty of shark sightings.

– Alec