🌿Welcoming Spring with Depth: My GUE NextGen Dives, Drysuit Firsts & Florida Adventures

Spring has always symbolized renewal, and for me, this season blossomed with exploration, learning, and discovery—both underwater and within myself. In this blog, I’ll take you along on a journey through my first dives in the Florida Panhandle's iconic Vortex Springs, my first-ever drysuit diving debut, and a first crack at the Panama City Underwater Explorer's (PCUE) Project Baseline. What began as a failed mission turned into an awesome diving experience.

🧭 A Baseline That Wasn't: PCUE Project BASELINE's False Start

📍 Panama City Beach, March 8th

Originally, the plan was to join the PCUE Project Baseline dive—an initiative focused on documenting the Black Bart wreck by collecting videos, photographs, and environmental metrics like visibility (via a Secchi disk), temperature, and depth. However, unpredictable weather had other plans. Our dive boat was grounded due to rough sea conditions, and the mission was postponed for two weeks. But when one dive door closes, another opens.

💎 A Hidden Gem: Vortex Springs

📍 Vortex Springs, March 8th

With our original dive canceled, our team pivoted to Vortex Springs—a place I had heard a lot about, but never explored. From the surface, it looks modest, even unassuming. But once submerged, it opens up into a stunning and vast aquatic playground.

The visibility was crystal clear—something close to 30 meters (100 feet). As we swam deeper into the canyon, we encountered eerie signs warning of the cave system: “Stop: Prevent your death. Go no further.” Remnants of underwater structures, training platforms, and an intriguing graveyard of metal frameworks lay before us. (Does anyone know the history behind these?)

🔁 We even had a bit of fun switching out fins—Kyle and Austin got to test Halcyon’s new Vector Pro fins. The dive stretched just over two hours, but I could’ve stayed down there until I drained the double AL80s to minimum gas, since it's such a beautiful and relaxing dive. I can start to see why Vortex is a hotspot for both recreational, technical, including rebreather training.

🎁 A Santi Surprise: Picking up My First Drysuit 

📍 Extreme Exposure, High Springs

A few days before my drysuit training, I made a pilgrimage to Extreme Exposure in High Springs to pick up my long-awaited Santi E.Lite+ drysuit. The unboxing felt like Christmas came early. The package included the suit, a high-quality Santi 11mm hood, maintenance gears, and even a free Santi-branded T-shirt.

As if that wasn’t enough, Kady also handed me some GUE NextGen merch that I ordered earlier in the year—including a cap, long sleeve shirt, sweater, polo shirt, fleece jacket, and a backpack. I was so excited to use this in my future journeys!

🧥 First Time in Drysuit: GUE Drysuit Primer with Kelly Colwell

📍 Panama City Beach Pool, March 21st

My drysuit debut began in a private two-day GUE Drysuit Primer course with instructor Kelly Colwell. Day one took place in the pool, where I learned everything from gear maintenance to putting on the suit efficiently, and most importantly—mastering buoyancy, trim, and balance in this new configuration.

⚖️ We practiced skills like the valve drill, developing proficiency in adding/venting gas using the suit, and even simulated a drysuit "runaway ascent." I inflated my suit fully, flipped feet-up, and executed a somersault to force the trapped air back toward the exhaust valve. Surprisingly, I did it okay on the first try! — nothing like my early double tank experience where I flipped like a turtle 🐢.

The key difference? I think it might be because of the exceptional fit of my Santi suit. 😉

⚓️ Day 2 DIVE 1: Black Bart Wreck Dive

📍 Panama City Beach, March 22nd

The following day, we returned to the Black Bart wreck—the site of our previously postponed baseline dive. The water was a crisp 16°C (~60°F), ideal drysuit weather.

As we descended, I faced a new challenge: alternating between adding gas to my wing and drysuit while fighting a strong surface current. Equalizing my ears, staying close to the anchor line, and managing inflator timing all became an underwater puzzle I had to solve—fast!

Once on the wreck, we observed the baseline team capturing footage and took time to practice inflating/venting gas in the drysuit. The ascent was particularly intense: we did three stops at 9, 6, and 3m (or 30, 20, and 10ft), and currents shifted direction three times mid-column. I felt like a koi flag in the wind! At one point, I struggled to hold position as I let the suit held too much gas, causing unwanted lift. A few small yo-yo cycles occurred, but I managed to stabilize before a true runaway ascent happened.

🌀 day 2 Dive 2: the “Marioland”

For our second dive of the day, Kelly took us to one of his lesser-known favorites: Marioland. Picture multiple concrete culverts in various orientations, forming an artificial reef rich with marine life growth. It felt like an underwater jungle gym.

We explored, took photos, and concluded the dive with a controlled three-step ascent. The skills I learned were starting to cement—pun intended

🌊 Reflections and 🙏AcknowledgEments

This journey was full of “firsts”: first time in a Santi drysuit, first drysuit dive in open water, first time at Vortex Springs, and my first taste of real-world conservation project work through the PCUE baseline initiative—even if it didn’t go as planned.

This month’s journey wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity, support, and guidance of so many people—and I want to take a moment to express my gratitude and appreciation.

• To the GUE NextGen Scholarship Program — Thank you for making this journey a reality. The support and opportunities you’ve provided continue to shape my development as a diver, explorer, conservationist, and technologist.

• To GUE HQ, Kady and the team at Extreme Exposure — I’ll never forget the excitement of picking up my first Santi drysuit, which are sponsored using the NextGen equipment budget from GUE HQ. Your help, along with the amazing GUE NextGen merch, made the experience special - The Christmas came early!

• To Instructor Kelly Colwell — Thank you for offering me a private GUE Drysuit Primer course. Your cordiality, patience, clarity, and passion for teaching helped make my drysuit diving debut smooth and successful. I’m already looking forward to learning and working more with you in the future.

• To the PCUE (Panama City Underwater Explorers) team — Even though our initial dive was postponed, the mission to document and preserve the Black Bart wreck remains powerful. I'm proud to be a part of it and can’t wait for future project dives with you all.

• To my dive buddies Kyle, Austin, and Zach — You made each dive fun, relaxed, and full of stories. Thanks for sharing the diving adventures and supporting each other through every bubbles.
  
  

Thank you all for being a part of this meaningful chapter in my NextGen journey. I’m truly grateful for your support and excited for what lies ahead!