Hello Everyone,
My name is David Sweeney and I am originally from Seattle Washington and learned to dive in the cold waters of the Pacific, most notably the Puget Sound area. I really started to get into diving in 2020 when the world got crazy with COVIID and started earning my certifications at a discounted rate due to the economic times. I have always had the dream to live on a nice warm tropical beach as my first scuba dive ever was in 2013 in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. My 2013 dive was a very beginner dive and was more of a discover scuba experience; as I did not start taking official classes with certifications until 2020. COVIID 2020 taught me that life is short, and sometimes you just have start right where you are. So, I decided to brave the cold and learned how to scuba dive where I lived at the time. Washington believe it or not has very clear ocean and river water and has many amazing dive sites; you just have to have the right thermal wear.
Because of where I learned to dive, I will always have a heart and an affinity for cold water diving, as that was my start and background. Redondo beach, Alki beach and Whidbey Island are all wonderful dive sites if anyone is up in the Seattle Area and decides they want to build a dive into their trip.
Before moving to the great state of Texas, I was a dry suit diver and enjoyed the cold-water mammals of the Puget sound. My favorite was night diving and playing with the harbor seals right off a dive site called Alki Beach in Seattle. My last certification was in 2021 with the Rescue Diver cert card. I developed a strong passion for diving and dove regularly in Seattle until my move to Texas.
In September of 2021, I moved to Houston TX, to be with my immediate family and was nervous about how I would continue to scuba dive; as Texas is not known for clean beaches or clean water. I met Alex a Chum member at a dive shop by happenstance and he invited me to dive with himself and a few others at the Blue Lagoon up in Huntsville. I joined Alex a few times over the course of 8 months and had a good time getting some local dives in. Being new to the state and taking on a high-pressure sales role to make the move work. My career and life got busy for myself and had a few personal challenges all came my way; all of which ate up my free time and slowly took myself away from scuba diving. I focused on finding a partner and transitioning to my life in this state, which are all good things, but they ate up most of my free time. I did do some destination dives in 2022/2023 in Cozumel and in Miami Florida during some vacations, but stopped diving local in Texas due to a lack of free time.
2024 has been a great year for myself, I got married, started a new and better job with more free time, and I just came back from my honeymoon a few weeks ago. I am starting a new life with my wife/best friend as we started blending our lives together and feel that I am headed into a good season of life again.
This month I was cleaning my house and saw all my scuba gear in the closet and realized that in the pursuit of great things, I have not made time for diving. My Shearwater read 329 days since my last dive, and I felt in my soul that I had to make a change and make time for my passions again. I was in disbelief how a whole year practically could pass me by.
My story has a happy turn. I went diving last weekend with your Chum Club at the Blue Lagoon #2 which was enough to bring me back to my favorite addiction (Scuba Diving). My goal in joining this club is to meet, connect and develop strong relationships with other fellow Houston Scuba Divers, and to dive at least once a month. I got so busy with work/life that I forgot to make time to dive, and I plan to bring Scuba Diving back into my list of must do activities. I hope this bio tells you a little more about myself and I look forward to seeing everyone at the next club meeting on 10/17!
Cheers,
David M. Sweeney
CHUM - Houston's SCUBA Club is the sponsor of the 
