As a 25-year scuba diver, I'm often asked what is the best place that I have ever gone diving. I find that a difficult question to answer -- there are the giant clams of the Great Barrier Reef, the amazing wreck of the SS Rhone in the British Virgin Islands, the awesome sharks off Rottnest Island in western Australia...and so many more. The underwater world is amazing no matter where you go. (Except maybe Dubai where scuba diving meant diving around giant concrete blocks with no sea life -- plant or swimmers -- in sight!)

But, all that said, my dives in Tahiti were especially amazing. I would recommend spending a couple extra days in Tahiti to dive whenever possible. Tahiti is a classic "sinking volcano" -- a long dormant volcano with a reef that has grown around it. As the volcano sinks back into the earth (volcanos are heavy), it leaves the barrier reef behind and forms a "lagoon" -- quite water between the barrier reef and the island. In the lagoon, I experienced two amazing dives...

The first dive was on a tandem set of wrecks -- a sunken ship and a catalina flying boat. Both purposely sunk. The plane was the most haunting -- one could imagine both the plane and the diver still in the air, floating together. It was awesome to swim up to the plane and through its fuselage. The second dive was "feeding the sharks". Only a couple feet from us, our dive master would pull chum from a stainless steel bucket and it would create a frenzy amongst sharks. The crunching bones -- probably louder in the density of the water -- was a bit shocking...but, amazing.

The Gorilla Trek in Uganda is an experience that defies description -- it is truly like stepping into a National Geographic article or a book written by Jane Goodall. It is not an adventure for the timid or for those with an empty pocketbook -- the location is remote, the terrain is difficult, and the permits are expensive ($800 per person for one hour with the Gorillas). But, it is also one of those experiences that burns a memory for life in your own personal story of adventure.

Once you get to the Impenetrable Forest, your Trek starts with a briefing by the Ranger and you are assigned to a gorilla "family" -- led by a dominant SilverBack and habitualized over time to allow humans to approach. Only 8 tourists are allowed in a group and each family can be visited for only one hour per day.

Before you begin your journey, trackers spend the early morning hours finding the families -- each family travels each day foraging for food. These trackers literally hack a pathway through the jungle so that tourists can get close to these marvelous creatures. The hike is strenuous -- narrow or non-existent pathways, very steep mountainsides, and high altitude (6000+ feet). You are told to be no closer than 10' to the gorillas; however, gorillas don't know how to measure distance. You cannot approach or touch the gorillas; but, THEY can touch you! And they might. On our journey, the Silverback charged me -- only to find out from the guides that he was "having fun" with me!

The hour goes by like a minute of time -- but, the memories are, indeed, timeless.