Don't let this week's Outdoor Enthusiast Next Door, Gil Zeimer's job as editor of Vagablond, an stylish blog dedicated to luxury travel, fool you. He can and will get down and dirty with the best of them. Gil has been scuba diving for over 20 years and has dived in aruba, Australia, Belize, and Hawaii. And when he's not underwater or writing advertising copy, he's following his San Francisco Giants, sailing on SF Bay, golfing, or mountain hiking to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

Why do you love the outdoors?

I've always loved a variety of outdoor sports, from jogging and softball to golfing and hiking. Because my family's home in San Francisco had a view of the Pacific Ocean, and I was able to enjoy the warm Pacific waters on vacations to Mexico and Hawaii, I grew to love watersports even more.

Your favorite outdoor sport is scuba diving. Why?

I became enchanted with the underwater world by watching Jacque Cousteau documentaries. I first swam in the ocean, then snorkeled, surfed and sailed on the surface over the years. When I dated a woman who was a diver, I knew I had to take the plunge. My first dives were in Grand Cayman island in 82-degree water with no currents, lots of fish, and 200-foot visibility. It was way better than a Cousteau film because I could experience the silent world for myself, weightless, warm and in control of my navigation. Those first dives were almost better than sex!

Tell me about your last scuba diving trip.

My last trip was to Aruba a few years ago. I flew there with my wife and daughter, who was 8 at the time. I took a few dives without them and they were both spectacular. The air and water temperature were both about 80 degrees, so I was able to dive in a shorty 1/8" inch wetsuit that gave me far more freedom than the Farmer John 1/4" suit, hood and heavy gloves I have to wear in the 53-degree Northern California waters.

At the first site, we motored for only about 10 minutes to Arashi Reef at a site called Propellers. There, we descended to about 40 feet and saw a few propellers, all that's left of sunken World War II planes destroyed by years of currents. We also saw a reef structure that attracts moral eels and octopi, plus scores of sergeant majors, parrot fish, angel fish, wrasses, and other tropical fish.

On another day, I visited the wreck of the Antilla. At 400 feet, it was the largest for many years in the Caribbean Sea. Part of it is visible above water, while the remainder slants into the sand at a depth of 60 feet. Known locally as the "Ghost Ship", this German freighter was purposely sunk by its captain on May 10, 1940, rather than surrendering to the Dutch Marines. It was one of the best dives of my life, featuring swim throughs of the roomy compartments, thousands of bait fish that surrounded my buddy and me in a 20-foot swirling mass for about five minutes, dozens of varieties of colorful tropical fish, coral-encrusted surfaces, and an eerie feeling of timeless beauty.