Believe it or not, the best dive course you’ll ever take has nothing to do with scuba diving. As a PADI Instructor, there’s a lot of dive courses I love teaching. There’s nothing like seeing a student take their first breaths underwater during the Open Water Course, or watching divers make the crucial improvements in self-awareness in the PADI Rescue Course. However, one course always seems to get glossed over in the PADI system: the Emergency First Response course. It’s sad, too, because in my honest opinion this is the single most important course anyone can take. The day-to-day applications of Emergency First Response course extend far beyond scuba diving. In just the last year, I have: Dealt with the » read more «

Warning: Today’s content is not PETA-friendly. Tonight Tree, myself, and the rest of the Cult of Coconut will be having Dinner. I remember when Tree first told me about Dinner. Bounding into the shop with a toothy grin, he announces, “Stevie, I got a pig.” “A pig?” “Yep. A pig. Bought it off Fred. He’s raisin’ it for me.” “What are you going to do with the pig?” “I’m gonna kill it and eat it. Have a luau.” “Are you gonna name it?” “Yeah, Dinner.” Can’t wait to tell you how Dinner tastes!

Why don’t you get a real job? I hear this question far more than often than I’d like. Regardless of how valiantly I try to explain what I do, who I am, and why I’m here, I routinely encounter people of mindsets who seem to be inexplicably yet vigilantly opposed to the professional pursuit of relaxation and happiness. When are you going to accept responsibility? The falcon cannot hear the falconer. Despite the US economy being in freefall, people still somehow adhere to the notion that being responsible entails laboriously saving up for 401Ks that implode upon recession, paying for overpriced insurance plans that guarantee you’ll be miserable in times of good health, and gradually acquiescing to inevitable serfdom as » read more «

I’m sitting on a dock looking out across a rippling Caribbean Sea, the reflection of the turquoise sky and white clouds rippling like an oil spill over the aquamarine lagoon of Half Moon Bay. The usual bustle of tourist traffic is more subdued today, as Sundays are typically “transition days”— that crucial gasp of fresh air and solitude when before the insane fumes of the next Continental flight descends on the inept slab of concrete known as Roatan International Airport (RTB). A kayaker cascades across the bay, leaving perfect V-shaped cuts across the endless lap of waves. A dive tube extends in a far corner of the bay, marking another Coconut Tree Divers PADI Open Water Course in session. Local » read more «