It’s winter break. Aside from spending well deserved (and needed) time with your family, you dream about some incredible adventure to an exotic location. You daydream as you sit by the window, with frost on the glass and the cold chill of winter if you live in the Northeast, dreaming of a place where you can escape on a once in a lifetime experience or adventure.

“What is there to do?” you ask yourself, as you binge on Netflix to avoid the cold.

In the midst of all your daydreams, just think to yourself, “Cur Non,” a Latin phrase translated in English as, “Why not?”

My friends, may I suggest just that very trip? Instead of spending the remainder of my break in the cold North, I turned my sights to the warm and energetic South with the opportunity to go scuba diving.

Scuba diving is one of the most exhilarating recreational sports -- not because you can breathe underwater but because you venture in an environment rich with life, beauty, and twist and turns. In addition, since less than one percent of the population is certified to scuba, you belong to one of the most unique and inclusive communities of naturalists, history buffs, and adventurers of the best variety.

Had I not committed to this trip, I would not be the same man, humbled by both nature and the elements. Adventure is around the corner; you just need to take the first step off the boat into the eternal blue of the sea and all the bounty it offers.

Here is my retelling of those five days.

Day One:

Beginning with waking up at 3:30 in the morning to make a 7 a.m. flight, the adventure began. Upon arrival at the gate, I was united with my fellow divers on the same flight. Restless yet exhausted, I watched the sunrise from the window of the plane as we journeyed south.

Several hours later, we landed and made our way to the first of the islands that make up the Florida Keys: Key Largo. A place contrasted with the hustle of the North, this quaint community embodies the spirit of adventure and appreciation of nature. The highway lined with landmarks and canals; the landscape made it a diver’s paradise

Soon all the divers had arrived. We began as strangers, yet all shared the thirst for adventure. Little did we know we would leave as great friends, wishing we had met each other long beforehand. As we sat for our first dinner along the canal, we learned each other’s names and majors. We all couldn’t wait for what wonder lay before us. Myself, Wade, Annie, Meaghan, Megan, and Caitlin became a tight group which shared the youthful longing of wonder of the seas, now just a walk away.

Day Two:

The first of three days of diving, we made a short trek up the highway to the Jules Undersea Lodge, the world’s only underwater hotel. Sunken to a depth of 25 feet, the only means to enter the hotel is by scuba. Used by famous explorers from Jacques Cousteau and Buzz Aldrin for physiological experimentation, this undersea engineering antiquity is booked years in advance.

While we were not able to stay the night, we were able to see outside and inside this impressive structure. Protected by a metal curtain within a lagoon, this site provided a great dive to adjust after a long flight and day of traveling. We gathered for dinner at the legendary Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen, home to the only key lime pie worth truly dying for. We left our mark by putting a signed dollar bill in the ceiling where others before had left their mark.

Day Three:

Waking up early once again, we set out on our dive boat, Sea Dweller III, to a site several miles off the coast named Molasses Reef. While not resembling any characteristics with the substance, the reef was teeming with life; one could only think they could see in an aquarium. We swam with fish ranging from parrot fish to trumpet fish, even seeing schools of barracuda and several sting rays.

The coral and the aquatic plants moved with the ebb and flow of the currents, the blue water encompassing us as we explored the nooks and crannies of natural and artificial formations such as Hole in the Wall, the Winch, and the Fingers. After our dives, we assembled for a beautiful dinner by the waters at Lorelei restaurant.

Day Four:

Sadly, this was our final full day of diving but one of the most memorable moments of our trip. It was the day we not only executed our deepest dive but also our longest dive. Our first dive was the braving of the elements to descend 90 feet to the deck of the sunken artificial reef, what was once the USS Spiegel Grove. Sitting upright with its keel sunken into the sand, diving this wreck was no easy feat. In addition to the weather, the depth left many of us thought would be too challenging. With the right guidance from our dive masters, John and Laura, we navigated part of the 550-foot wreck. Some issues arose with current and disorientation, but we successfully did what we looked forward to as “the deep dive.”

Next was the exploring of the Benwood, a ship sunk during the Second World War, now an artificial reef. Only the skeleton of the ship remains, the steel ribs sticking up from the sands and reefs. At 45 feet, the wreck was spread out over 200 yards in any direction. We followed what remained of the hull of the ship until we reached the bow, to which I floated up above and looked at the scope of the wreck. I felt as if I was in a world without gravity, a world without any boundaries or limitations.

We returned to shore and celebrated the end of our dives with one last group dinner. We were exhausted from all the dives; many of us found that we needed naps once we were back on shore. Later that night, the six of us celebrated the end of the trip.

Day Five:

Waking up for the final time in the Holiday Inn in Key Largo was a difficult moment. It signified the end of our adventure. We awoke for breakfast and said our goodbyes. Tough is it may be to leave paradise, I felt a satisfaction for what I had accomplished and saw these past five days. As I sit here in the lobby of the hotel writing this, I feel like a new individual in ways that would take thousands of pages to describe. But as I sit and reflect, I know the adventure doesn’t end with the flight back north. It continues. Always...