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Trivial Pursuits

Trivial Pursuits
 
Diving adds depth to professor’s travels

St. Lucia
Photo courtesy of Margo Jones 
Interior design professor Margo Jones and her husband enjoyed scuba diving in St. Lucia over winter break.

By Monique Bos
Published: Friday, February 3, 2006

Interior design professor Margo Jones and her husband, Jake, celebrated the winter holidays on — and in the ocean around — the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, indulging in a favorite hobby: scuba diving.

The pair has enjoyed scuba diving since receiving their training and certification in Atlanta in 1986.

“My husband and I had been married for several years and had really enjoyed traveling, especially in the Caribbean area,” said Jones. “We did a lot of snorkeling. Actually, that was the impetus for scuba diving — we would see these beautiful fish and coral formations just below where we could go.”

She added, “We decided scuba diving would be something great to do together to add dimension to our trips.”

It certainly has added dimension — and depth. From the Blue Hole in Belize to the Blue Corner near Palau, Jones, her husband and their diving friends — a group of about 14 people from Atlanta, Boston and Milwaukee — have had some amazing underwater experiences.

“In December in St. Lucia, we saw a yellow sea horse, which was wonderful and very unusual in that area,” she said. “We also saw two octopi; one was actually being attacked by a moray eel. The octopus completely balled up and wrapped its tentacles around its head for protection. The moray did some damage, but the octopus was able to get away. That was very unique to witness.”

They also noticed new damage to the coral reefs. “There was a lot of bleached-out coral that was a result of the unseasonably warm temperatures and waters in the area,” she said. “That was a concern … In 20 years of diving, we’ve never seen that.”

Another highlight of an earlier Caribbean trip was the Blue Hole, “an underwater formation that you dive deep to see,” she said. Going 70-120 feet down, the divers saw stalactites hanging from cave roofs.

“It’s a brief dive because you’re going so deep,” Jones said, adding, “Often in the Caribbean you can see just as much in shallower water as you can in the deeper areas.”

She also enjoys night dives, she said. Normally, the dive begins at sunset and continues for 30-40 minutes, depending on depth. Divers use underwater flashlights to see fish.

“We experienced something incredible at the end of one night dive,” she said. “When we surfaced, we saw a moonbow. It’s like a rainbow, only in the light of the moon.”

Her diving group visited the Micronesian islands of Palau and Yap in 2001. At Blue Corner, an area of reef that juts out over a deep trench, Jones said the divers stayed still and were able to see a myriad of fish, including sharks, swim past. “It was like being on the edge of the Grand Canyon but underwater,” she said. “We watched every type of fish and saw a lot of sharks. They didn’t pay any attention to us. It was like a parade.”

At Yap, they dove to a “cleaning station” for manta rays, “some of whom were 13 feet across,” Jones said. “The rays come into this area and various other fish clean algae and other particles from them.”

She added, “Those two experiences were absolutely life-changing.”

Jones doesn’t limit her exploration to underwater, however. In St. Lucia, she and her husband hired a guide who had grown up on the island to walk through the countryside with them and point out native flora. In Dominica, they toured the rainforest with a local guide, who pointed out some of the plants used by native inhabitants to make medicine.

“We try to really experience something of the local community and not just stay within the typical tourist experience,” she said.

Dive masters often serve as underwater tour guides. “They’re very interested in pointing things out to us, like the yellow seahorse,” Jones said.

Dive masters also are a crucial component of a safe scuba experience.

“I think [safety] depends on your training, the qualifications of the dive master and the reputation of the dive operator,” Jones said. “We research the companies that we are going to dive with to find out how long they’ve been around and how well they know the area.”

She also feels strongly that all certification courses are not equal.

“I do not recommend the resort courses for dive instruction,” she said. “I think it’s better to get qualified at a training area where you live. When you combine classroom instruction and time in the pool, there’s more opportunity to develop an understanding of the effects that diving will have on the body, as well as the use of the equipment and getting comfortable in the water.”

She recommends that anyone interested in scuba diving be a competent swimmer.

“I think people should be able to swim. You’re required to swim a certain distance to get certified, and you should be comfortable swimming.”

She also advises beginning scuba divers to rent different types of equipment before investing in their own.

“Try it out and see the different types to choose from,” she said. “Become familiar with various price points. There’s a range for masks, fins and buoyancy controls, and the prices vary.”

Most of all, however, Jones recommends the hobby.

“It’s a great way to see the wonders that are around us,” she said. “It’s a good way to explore. Underwater photography has become much more available to the general public and much more affordable. It’s become very easy to capture these memories and to share them when you get back.”