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Article: Scuba divers get to be part of vivid other world
- Article from:
- Oakland Tribune
- Article date:
- February 17, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 Oakland Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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WET SUITS peeled down to the waist, half a dozen divers push off
the beach in a small runabout, waving at the sunbathers left lazily
behind.
Half an hour later, the boat rocking gently in the waves, the
divers tip backward, entering the water with a soft, jubilant
splash. They bob for a moment, then head down to discover vivid
corals, tropical fish and the life aquatic.
"It's truly otherworldly," says Jim Allan, a maritime
archaeologist at St. Mary's College in Moraga, who spends much of
his year underwater, diving off shimmering reefs and exploring
shipwrecks.
Allan's first dive experience "grabbed me so powerfully," he
says, "I never stopped. It's like flying. You're surrounded by ...