I got certified in 2000 and made it up to Advanced Open Water by 2001. I did the typical recreational diving of only a few dives here and there every year until 2008. I then got out of the hobby. In 2018 I took my wife on a cruise and used that as an opportunity to get her certified and I took a refresher. After that cruise I told her I wanted to dive more and start taking the hobby seriously.
I always enjoy progressing in experience, knowledge and skill so I went up the SSI chain to Master Scuba Diver where I hit the end of recreational diving. I told my wife now I needed to go the professional route or the technical route if I wanted to keep going gaining new experiences. SSI professional I had no desire to do. I ended up taking a Intro to Cave certification from a great shop in North FL in August 2022 where I've been doing a bit of diving and putting in some practice.
My next step is Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures and Full Cave.