Learning to dive can be a life-changing decision. Not only does scuba diving offer an escape from the everyday, above-the-surface world, it invites you to discover a completely new one – a world filled with marine marvels, like colorful coral reefs, sunken ships and megafauna that will take your breath away.

At 11,390 square miles (30,000 square kilometers), Lake Malawi in Africa is one of the largest and deepest lakes on the planet, but that’s not the superlative I want to focus on below. What intrigued me most: Lake Malawi is among the world’s most biodiverse freshwater bodies, and night diving is the best time to see the action. After dark, divers watch as dolphin fish dart between car-sized boulders to hunt the East African lake’s famous and evolutionarily marvelous cichlids. The tiny fish, which have been compared to Darwin’s finches, evolved from one to at least 800 species in the last 750,000 years. To see them, and their periwinkle dolphin-fish predators, dive into Lake Malawi, one of the world’s most biodiverse lakes, at night.

Being grateful is good for your health – it’s not us saying it but the science. Unfortunately, most of us are better at recognizing the negative aspects of our lives and experiences. That may be why some scientists and self-help experts advise us to keep a gratitude journal, as recognizing and acknowledging what we are grateful for may take a dedicated effort, but it is totally worth it. Today, our staff is here to give thanks to the PADI Pros who changed their lives.

Rebecca McGowan, a Team GB Taekwondo athlete, shares her post-Olympic journey into the world of scuba diving. Alongside her partner, Bradly, the couple took a much-needed dive holiday in Thailand to reconnect with a sport that has become a key part of their lives beyond athletics.

It started out with a simple seed her father planted as Margo Peyton grew up exploring the waters off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. From her father’s fishing boat, she learned how to swim, befriended marine life much larger than herself, and her love for everything ocean grew. Margo was equally passionate about travel and combined those loves while living in Grand Cayman for many years.