So we signed up for a scuba diving course called open water to be certified to dive with a buddy up to 18 m deep anywhere around the world. It is a 4 day course (3 and a half days to be precise), and weren’t sure what to expect until we showed up on the island after an over one hour delay on the ferry. We signed up with a professional company named Scuba Junction and met our instructor G. There were only 2 others in our class (Dan and Ned) and it was nice to be in a small class.
The first day after we were given a paperback book we were expected to read and do homework, and we were told we would have to take a test at the end of the course, happy guy and I looked at each other surprised that we would have to study on our long trip. But the homework was pretty easy and the test was straightforward, so we passed! We went on four dives and saw a variety of fish, including a Nemo lookalike, angelfish, butterflyfish, and parrotfish. I also saw a scary-looking eel!
Though I had my moments of getting my hair stuck in the mask, nearly falling over due to the weight of the oxygen tank, and not being able to do the skills as good as others, I still had a great time overall. On the last dive, I was having some issues with my ears equalizing the pressure under water, and my mask not staying put securely on my face, so I was a little flustered.
On the ocean floor at 18 m, we had to practice taking off our masks while continuing to breathe through the regulator, placing it back on our face with the strap behind our head, and blowing through our nose to clear the water from the mask. It’s quite difficult to avoid getting water up your nose. And I had contacts on so I had to do this all with my eyes closed. I freaked out a little while putting on my mask and clearing the mask since I had water up my nose, and I must have appeared a bit frazzled. After I was done, the instructor looked at me and started waving his hands around his face all crazy and finger pointing no. He was trying to tell me I should stay call and not panic. Thank goodness he didn’t make me repeat the skill! And I’m happy to report that this incident happened only once, as most of the time he gave me the ok symbol with his hands after I performed a skill 🙂
Anyway, we now have our official plastic cards that we are certified divers!
Those fish look so happy!