Instructor Nina Fernandez

When NASA says that you can’t be an astronaut, what’s a gal to do? Become an aquanaut instead!

Fittingly, my passion for the water and all that lives in it has always been strong. One of my earliest memories is of looking at my parents’ 55-gallon saltwater fish tank and thinking, “I want to swim with the fish.” My father, being a Scuba diver himself since 1974, used to let me breathe off his regulator in our backyard pool to see what that was like. I would freedive in the pool, pretending that I was a mermaid or floating around in space. For years, I would go to the beach, don my mask, fins, and snorkel, and watch the sea life below me, letting the waves guide me up and down. As time went on, it wasn’t enough to satisfy me. I wanted to be up close and personal with my gilled buddies.

Finally, in November of 2015, I braved the cold water and got certified as an Open Water Scuba diver. In some respects, I became that mermaid I dreamed I could be as a young girl. I’ve been addicted to it ever since! The feeling of weightlessness, ability to swim side by side with thousands of aquatic creatures, and the myriad friends I met from the sport sustain me. On the day of my wedding, in place of a father-daughter dance, my father and I did two father-daughter dives in Jamaica. We will share those pictures and memories forever.

If you are thinking about making your own underwater memories, come chat with me! I can help you to explore Scuba diving, whether it is something new you are considering or you have had a lifelong dream of getting certified. Come explore this beautiful underwater world with me! You won’t regret it.