I’m a scuba diver!
November 9, 2004Well, I’m certified anyway. Doesn’t really mean I “know” scuba it’s just that I have proven I can do it.
So we drove down Thursday night, arrived a lot earlier than planned so we slept a few hours in my little CR-V and then met the group for breakfast before heading out to Morrison Springs. Had our two main checkout dives there–the water was incredibly clear, about 200 feet of visibility. Apparently because the spring keeps pumping clear water into the pond so even after we stirred up all the mud during our first dives the water was clear again within an hour.
These two freshwater dives were our checkout dives–we had to do buddy-breathing and they did tests like shutting off your tank so you had to re-open it.
We also did neutral bouyancy on this log that was stretched across a deep hole in the springs. So we’d all sit on the log and when it was your turn you had to get off the log and then try to achieve neutral bouyancy or else you’d sink into the hole.
At the bottom of that hole was a cavern entrance that we also got to swim into. The cavern top has a small air pocket so you could swim up into it and take off your regulator. That was cool, just like in a movie.
Then we drove to Panama City, checked into our condos, and then went our separate ways for dinner. My group did Captain Anderson’s, which apparently has only recently re-opened after the hurricans. Not sure if that was the cause of it, but the food wasn’t that great. We felt it was kinda over-priced for food that was only okay.
Saturday was the ocen dives, and this is where I had problems. We had breakfast, I had eggs and bacon, then got sea-sick on the boat ride. I was a bit sick for the first dive, but they said it was better to get into the water and away from the rocking of the boat. So I managed the first dive, which was down to the Black Bart, a sunken freighter.
But on the ascent I started puking. Throwing up underwater is an interesting experience–your vomit just floats in front of your face so you have to wave it away to get your regulator back in your mouth. But I wasn’t about to risk surfacing too fast so I went ahead and did the normal ascent while occasionally puking.
Needless to say I did not make the second ocean dive, which was a section of bridge that they sank into the ocean as a dive spot and coral reef starter. You could supposedly see the road bed though we weren’t certified to go that deep–those who saw it had to hover about fifteen feet above the road. Other people in the group took photos so hopefully they’ll remember to send me copies.
Anyway, even though I only managed three of the four dives the instructor says he’s still going to certify me. So in about two weeks I should have my card and my certificate.
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