well, holy shit.
diving is amazing. really–amazing.
i started out with two days in a classroom and a (thankfully heated) pool. we learned you should never hold your breath underwater (cause your lungs can explode) and how to breathe through a regulator (don’t use your nose). we practiced swimming with fins and the tank and just got used to moving around underwater (it’s sort of like being an astronaut). but none of that could have prepared me for what it’s like in the ocean. at the reef. with the fish. and the sharks.
breathtaking.
monday morning we pile on SeaQuest, the ship that will take us out to OceanQuest, the ship that’s permanently moored out on the reef that we sleep on. It’s an 90-minute ride in a fast boat out to the reef and the sea was angry that day. unfortunately, i blew chunks on the way over, about 3 minutes before we got there. whoops! got some on the boat, too. sorry. it’s not my fault.
we finally get there and we get suited up (there’s a lot of gear in scuba) and jump in the water straightaway. after my vomitus eposide, i was hoping i might get a breather before we actually started one of the deadliest hobbies in the world, but no rest for the weary. we were on board about 10 minutes before we all took the giant step off the boat, weighed down about 35 pounds from the tank and ancillary appurati…
from the second your sightline gets under the surface, it’s just amazing. from what you see to what you feel, there’s no way to convey the changes in perception that occur. immediately you become aware of the fact that you’re breathing - underwater. at first that’s sort of all you can think about but after 20 or 30 seconds that fades away and you start to be more aware of what’s around you. the shape and texture of the coral, the colors of the fish you see all over… it’s a real visual feast. you can’t appreciate all the things that are going on right below the water until you see it. and we were only in 18 meters of water!
i ended up with 8 dives and one at night. i’m a PADI-certified adventure diver and i can’t wait to do get under the water again. hopefully i can find some cool sites in the states to check out - if not, cozumel, mexico is not that far away…
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