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Intrigued by the pairing of art and science, American artist Judith Gebhard Smith creates stirring, atmospheric and haunting pastel drawings and encaustic paintings of marine life and underwater scenes inspired by her experiences diving exotic locations around the world where she has met diverse and curious creatures of the underwater realm.

Comprising two tropical island groups located 932km southeast of Miami, the Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory in the Lucayan (or Bahama) Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. Underwater photographer Scott Johnson describes the easy diving found here as he meets the challenge of capturing images of mouth-brooding behavior in fishes.

Scuba diving is a diverse and breathtaking activity where, upon submerging, one can find oneself drifting along the waves of history. Such an opportunity presented itself to me during my recent visit with fellow divers in Perm, who discovered an interesting object under the ice in the Sylva River.

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is undeniably the most well known of the ocean’s many predators. It has, one could say, “form” and is widely considered as a ruthless and terrifying man-eater, which has taken the lives of many innocent swimmers, surfers and divers.

As a cave diver, you do not come back from the Yucatán and say, “I have done Mexico,” boasting with pride and glory. It takes more than one visit to fully appreciate the enormous potential the peninsula has to offer underground. That means having not only the guts for it, but also the necessary training and experience to be able to do so. “Rome was not built in a day,” as the saying goes.

Tulum has changed a lot since I was here last, well over 45 years ago. Once a mere dusty village with beach huts, it is now a booming town with a main street full of bars, restaurants and tourist shops.

When we asked our contributors what their most favorite dive location was, they came back with photos and stories of beautiful and exciting spots both near and far from home.