#3 Scuba Dive -- Check!

I’ve always lived near water and done water sports. I love jetskiinng, parasailing, and snorkeling so I was super excited about scuba diving. Observing the marine life of the deep seas, swimming with the fishies of the blue ocean, being in awe of the magnificence of the corals and sunken treasures… well, at least that was what I was hoping to do once I get to the Philippines to go island hopping. However, the first step to getting there was to do Discover Scuba course in a local YMCA pool in Virginia in the end of November. Hmm. Not so glamorous at first, but I could feel myself wiggling around in my DC Metro seat pretending to be in the warm tropical islands as commuted from work to the suburban pool grounds.

So I got there, got fitted up in my wetsuit, got all the gear on, and then watched a 20 minute PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) video. My intro class comprised of five of us—my chemical engineering instructor that works at the State Department, an older couple that hadn’t been diving since the 70s, a 30-something husband trying to learn to surprise his wife, and myself. Once we had all the gear on, we hopped into the shallow end of the pool. I had my flippers on, my wetsuit, the oxygen tank, some weights to drag me to the floor, my goggles, and my breathing contraption (BDI) with all the crazy tubes. Our instructor told us that it would be a bit weird at first, but you’ll get used to it. Breathe normally-- good. Ascending or descending too quickly—bad. I can do this. I can do this. The one thing that my instructor said that stuck with me was, “Scuba diving is unnatural. We don’t have gills, we don’t sink down in water unless weighed down,, and we aren’t meant to breathe underwater, so we have to be very careful. With other extreme sports like skydiving, it is natural for the body to fall down. Here, we’re fighting against nature, so remember to be careful.” **eyes go wide here** Ok, what am I doing?!

Alright, I’m here already, so might as well… I dunk my head in and flap myself over to the 4 feet… Hey! It’s so constricting! I’m breathing through a tube and not getting enough air! My eyes go wide and I pop back up... swim to 6 ft… Why are all these bubbles in my face?! Is this normal? So many bubbles!! I pop back up to ask the instructor if that’s normal. “Yes. That is how your air comes out. You’re doing fine!!” Um, ok… go over to 10 ft… I start getting used to it, but am still weirded out with all the bubbles and how I’m feeling like I’m sucking up air through a fat bubble tea straw. My instructor gave me the “ok” signal with her hand so I started throwing around some water toys to the other members of my class. We swim around for about an hour in the pool and when I pop up, it’s already 10:30pm!

Overall, I’m happy that I tried it in a safe YMCA environment and I’m pretty sure that if we do decide to try out scuba diving post-wedding in the Philippines, I’ll be ok. But I wasn’t as excited and in love with it as I thought I would be. Maybe it just takes a few more trials, but I’m glad that my 12 Before 2012 is letting me grow and learn things that I like and that I don’t like. At least I have another one checked off my list!

Overall, I’m happy that I tried it in a safe YMCA environment and I’m pretty sure that if we do decide to try out scuba diving post-wedding in the Philippines, I’ll be ok. But I wasn’t as excited and in love with it as I thought I would be. Maybe it just takes a few more trials, but I’m glad that my 12 Before 2012 is letting me grow and learn things that I like and that I don’t like. At least I have another one checked off my list!