When you go scuba diving, you usually bring some oxygen with you, but sometimes you leave it back on the boat. Deco’s breath of fresh air, Chris Van Vliet, is here with a look at hookah diving in this week’s Keeping Up With Chris.
There are lots of things to do in the Keys: have drinks, listen to Jimmy Buffett music and explore the beautiful, crystal-clear waters. While I normally do the first two, this time I chose the last one and went hookah diving in Key Largo.
Chris Van Vliet: “Hookah diving is not a term that a lot of people know. What exactly is it?”
Tom Scaturro, FL Keys Unique Diving: “Well hookah diving just kind of classifies air through a hose. Now, we don’t just have a hose with an open end. There’s a regulator on there just like a dive tank.”
FL Keys Unique Diving gives you all the experience of scuba diving — without any of the gear.
Chris Van Vliet: “So is this somewhere in between snorkeling and scuba diving?”
Tom Scaturro: “Yes, definitely. It’s a lot easier than scuba diving, because you don’t have all that stuff on your back.”
And you don’t need to get certified to do it.
Tom Scaturro: “We’ve had kids do it, we’ve had people who didn’t even know how to swim.”
Hookah diving, also known as tankless diving, costs $100 per person and uses hoses that are 150 feet long, with a compressor pushing air to a regulator.
Tom Scaturro: “Don’t worry about sinking. Just relax on the water. Relax and breathe.”
After a safety briefing, we gear up: fins, a weight belt to help us get down to the bottom, and a mask.
Chris Van Vliet: “Hey, guys. We’re down here in Key Largo about to go hookah diving. Sounds good. *clears throat* Sounds good, sounds good.”
First I have to learn how to talk while wearing the mask, then I have to learn to breath using the regulator. We do this on the boat to get comfortable … and then jump in!
There’s something so calming and relaxing about being down here, and look at all the sea life we made friends with, including this guy — Mr. Nurse Shark.
*Chris comes out of the water*
Chris Van Vliet: “Oh man. Wow, that was so cool!”
So cool, but that shark didn’t seem to want to be my friend as much as I wanted to be his.
If there’s something you’d like to see me try, shoot me an email at keepingupwithchris@wsvn.com.
FOR MORE INFO:
FL Keys Unique
106 Arctic Ave
Tavernier, FL 33070
(305) 440-3582
https://flkeysuniquediving.com/
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