Diving!!

I went SCUBA diving today … in Egypt … in the Red Sea! You don’t get to say that everyday.

I started the training yesterday actually - computer lessons to go through for 4 hours. Today started the practical training. I’ll have a total of 6 dives over 3 days to learn the material, plus homework every night.

We went out early on a big boat filled with a bunch of snorkelers, a handful of divers and me and my instructor. I was the only one being certified today so got one-on-one attention.

Most of my day was spent at the bottom of the sea on my knees or trying to float, watching my instructor and learning various skills. He would do something, then I would repeat it. I found the training very intense and a bit overwhelming - but by the end of the day, I was pretty proud of myself.

Examples of what I had to do today: remove my mask and leave it off for a bit, then put it back on and clear the water out; remove my regulator, push it away (now with no air), find it, put it back in my mouth and clear the water out so I could breathe again; learn to float in one place by inflating and deflating my lungs; experience him turning my air completely off so I would understand how it felt; breathe out of a stuck open regulator; and much more. Basically they cover every possible emergency and scenario that could happen so you will know how to handle it. Pretty intense since it’s all happening 18 meters under water while you’re still just learning to breath. I did two one hour dives today doing just skills work, but at the end of each we did swim around a little where I could see some fishies and such.

While I was doing my training, Jordan was diving off the same boat but in a different area. The Red Sea is FILLED with dolphins, and she accomplished a bucket list item by finally swimming with them in the wild. Luckily, she had the GoPro so we got a few pics.Weiterlesen