In Band-e-Amir National Park, located high up in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan, there are six incredibly beautiful mountain lakes with crystal-clear waters. Since visiting the place in 2014, underwater photographer and retired commercial pilot Frode Uhre had dreamed of diving there. With written permission from the Taliban headquarters in Kabul and air tanks from the market in Kabul, his dream came true.

—Diving in the French river Rhône with European catfish

The Rhône is a large French river, which is 545km long. It flows from the Alps, across Lake Geneva and joins the Mediterranean Sea. Cloudy in appearance, as if to preserve her secrets, it is difficult to have strong views about this type of river

A volcano larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined, Yellowstone National Park is a geothermal hot spot that attracts more than four million visitors a year. Wildlife roam the landscape freely in this caldera defined by ongoing thermal activity. In this unique landscape, opportunities for exploration above and below the water line abound.

Florida has a secret—albeit not a very well-kept one: it is home to some of the most exquisite freshwater environments in the world. The vast network of springs and rivers located throughout the central and northern areas of the state offer bodies of water with unusual and colorful flora and fauna. State parks across the region are home to many different types of springs from turquoise-blue gushing spring heads surrounded by deep basins to static-flow sinkholes filled with tannic water.

The Florida sun was warm and high overhead as I donned my fins and slipped below the surface with camera in hand. A juvenile spotted eagle ray lazily glided away over the sand to avoid the impending intrusion of noisy bubbles and camera flashes. As I finned towards the shadows, I stopped to investigate a small male rosy razorfish in full breeding colors flitting about frantically, as I intruded on his territory. So consumed by the dance of the razorfish, I barely noticed the shifty dark mass in the distance making its way towards me.

For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with aquatic ecosystems. Whenever I see a clear body of water, my immediate desire is to slip beneath the surface to explore what ever hidden mysteries it may hold. Even after 30 years of diving in freshwater, it seems I am still discovering something new on each dive. I am constantly on the look out for clear water containing native species of aquatic flora and fauna to photograph underwater.

I felt thrust back a century or two, perhaps into the setting of the Count of Monte Christo. Lounging in the majestic sitting room, in the stately old mansion that now houses Grotta Giusti Spa but was once the seat and residence of a family from the Italian gentry, I cannot help but ponder the history these walls must have seen. Outside I can see the Tuscan countryside, with its rolling hills and slender stone pines. We are nowhere near the ocean. Yet I am just about to go diving—inside the mountain. In fact, I am about to go to Hell.