Scuba Course

This is the Octopus at the dive shop where I got qualified.  I took my scuba quals on 21-23 December.  It was fun.  Much funner than I anticipated.  I thought it would feel claustrophobic and restrictive with all that gear.  It didn't.  It felt fine.  I also thought I would have trouble equalizing the pressure in my ears.  The first time I went down, I kind of did, but I haven't had any trouble since.  You descend and ascend slowly to give your ears time to equalize.  It is pretty cool.  I didn't think I would like it very much, but I did.  There is only so much you can see snorkeling.  But scuba diving you see a whole lot more.  I ordered a special scuba GoPro case so when that gets here I will be able to take pictures.  The GoPro case I have now should be good enough for the dives I do, but the back cracked at some point a couple months ago.  I don't know how that happened.  I went to try and find a replacement back, but they don't sell them separately.  So I figured I might as well get the one made for scuba diving.

The scuba course was only a couple days.  You do the bookwork (5 chapters, not very long), take and exam, and then do skill work in the water.  You should be able to finish all your skill work in one day, but we took two days.  My partner I was getting qualified with was from Hong Kong and he just didn't seem to understand the concept of how to go under water or swim or anything.  Watching him try to float was pretty funny, but I didn't laugh out loud.  A couple times I exchanged looks with the instructors, who were very patient, but getting a little frustrated at times.  He was a nice guy, just not what you would call coordinated.  The only thing I really had trouble with was hovering.  This is where you try to stay between the top of the water and the bottom without moving.  You are supposed to use your breaths to help you hover.  If you inhale, you float a bit.  If you exhale you sink a bit.  But there is a time delay so you if you don't time it right, you end up sinking too far or floating too high.

I'm currently contemplating buying scuba gear.  I think I will.  As long as I get 50 dives in before I leave, it is worth it.  Renting a tank of air is only 5 dollars.  But if you have to rent the equipment it is 40 dollars and you can't always rent the nice stuff.  So I think I will do that.