Christmas. New Year’s Day. My birthday. My mother’s birthday. July 4th. Opening day of baseball season. The World Series. The Super Bowl. Starting way back when I was a kid I note the passage of time with these “special” days. In my adult years I still do the same with these days, and I have added a few more. The first days every month when bills are due. Various anniversaries.
I also note the first reported sighting of a California gray whale off the coast of San Diego, the first reports of common squid gathering to mate, the appearance of sevengill sharks in La Jolla Cove, and the first male garibaldi I see on a nest.
On top of all of those dates and happenings, I note the dates of the Long Beach SCUBA Show. For me, the show marks the “official” launch of a new diving season in California. Please don’t get me wrong; I love to dive year round, but there is a special buzz in the air when you walk into your local dive shop or go to a dive club meeting as summer approaches. Days are growing longer, the water is warmer, visibility increases, kelp beds and reefs explode with new life, and a number of migratory species such as California yellowtail and mako sharks frequent our waters. And the statistics demonstrate that more people go diving. Simply put, within the diving community there’s more buzz.
This edition of California Diving News was made available just a few days prior to this year’s SCUBA Show which is scheduled for June 7th and 8th at the Long Beach Convention Center. If you read my comments prior to the show, please join us for the exhibits, seminars, socializing and other activities. Do that, and you are certain to make some new friends, learn about new gear, and find some new ways and places to go diving.
If, on the other hand, you don’t pick up this issue of California Diving News until after the Scuba Show, then I encourage you to head for your local dive center. Or take a look at their calendar of classes, dives and events online. While I can’t promise you that every California dive center marks their annual calendar by the dates of the SCUBA Show, I can assure you that their activity calendar will be jam packed with all kinds of dives, dive trips to local waters and to destinations around the globe along with a host of other activities. And you are bound to find that one or more of those dives or other functions that will peak your interest. After all, summertime is just around the corner. It might not officially start until June 21, but on my calendar, summertime is starting right now. And it’s time to go diving!
