Scuba Diving

This past weekend, my fellow interns and I went scuba diving as part of our scuba certification course. Our friends recommended this amazing dive instructor named Francis and so we spent Saturday and Sunday diving with him and his friends off the coast of Mactan Island. It was absolutely incredible! In the books, they talk about it being a completely different world underwater - and it IS! Its hard to put into words the unique beauty that is only found in this underwater world. I felt like I was swimming in an aquarium. The water is so warm and so clear. The first time we swam over the edge of an underwater cliff... it was unreal. Unfortunately, I don't have a waterproof camera at the moment so I wasn't able to take any pictures, but I plan on getting one soon and going on lots more dives! (Note that all the diving pictures on this post are from google images.)

So the certification aspect consisted of four open water dives during which you learn and practice a set of skills. These skills include breathing through and clearing your regulator, being able to remove and replace your regulator, sharing your regulator with another diver who is low on air, clearing water out of your mask, and others. But, the hardest skill for me to master was taking your mask off underwater and replacing it... without dying! For some reason, as soon as I took my mask off underwater, I had this uncontrollable urge to breathe in through my nose... when you are underwater, that results in you choking on large amounts of salty sea water and feeling like you are going to die. Thankfully, I was practicing this particular skill in shallow water and was able to stand up and breathe before I drowned. Once I got used to breathing through my regulator underwater without choking, I tried putting my mask back on. At this point, the mask is full of water (obviously). The goal is to put on the mask and then "clear it" by blowing all the water out. Unfortunately, I again have the uncontrollable urge to breathe in through my nose and choke on seawater. After a few unsuccessful attempts at this in the shallow water, I decided that it was probably best not to attempt this at 100 feet under water... call me crazy, but I didn't think it was the greatest idea. It wasn't until Sunday that I had another diver, Mic-mic, give me some pointers on mask removal and replacement. After a few more tries, I was finally able to do it successfully. Whew! What a relief!

On Sunday, we finished learning all the skills on the first dive of the day. Then, because we were such good students, Francis took us on two bonus dives. By the third dive, I finally felt like I was able to control my buoyancy and movements underwater. It was so much fun. Francis would show us all sorts of things. I got to hold a jellyfish, a sea horse, and a puffer fish!

All I need to do now is finish reading the diving manual and take the written exam. Then I will be officially PADI Scuba Certified! I'm really excited to continue diving as the Philippines is known for having some of the best diving in the world! And, as a certified diver, you just need to rent the equipment and a guide which isn't very expensive (especially compared to the states).

One of the other divers said to me that she saw that "diver twinkle" in my eye and she knew I was hooked! I'm pretty sure she is right. :)