mEMYries: I'm a Certified Diver!

I'm back from the boat! Here's the deal, while I was on the boat I wrote so I wouldn't forget anything but I didn't have wifi on the boat so I'll post all three days now. I'm back in Cairns and our first day back from the boat we all went out with our instructors and the boat staff and had a great time. Cairns is pretty small and only has a couple may streets so as I was walking around the following day I ran into a bunch of different people from the boat all day! For dinner I cooked for some of my new friends and then met up with others later in the night. Anyway, now we've all parted ways and said our final goodbyes but it was a great group and so good to meet everyone!

Day One Open Water Diving

Today was my first day in the ocean! I was a little freaked out at first but once I was in and going down all of that floated away pretty quickly. On our first dive we had to complete some of the skills we did in the pool including taking our stuff on and off and practicing stuff with the regulator (thing you breath from) and buddy work. I know it sounds sorta corny but when I was down in the water I was so incredibly honored to have the ability to see all these creatures up close and in their environment. Someone in our group was having issues so we had to stay in one spot for a while and wait for her but I absolutely loved watching this small piece of coral that was home to a family of fish. The dad (or mom I guess but I assume it was the dad) was swimming in circles protecting the coral while the mom kept swimming in and out and there were about 15-20 little baby fish. They were so tiny, no bigger than the size of my pinky nail. I can see myself not even wanting to swim around but sit and watch the beautiful fish in their environment. Makes sense, people watching is one of my favorite activities.

In the afternoon we went on a second dive where we had to do a few more skills and got to swim around a bit more. Our third time in the water today we snorkeled which I thought would be a waste of time but with tons of shallow coral there was so much to see from the surface. I was completely overwhelmed by the colors. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures for you, I tried to bring my go pro but the battery died and I can’t dive with it until I’m certified which happens tomorrow. On the snorkel I saw a small shark and a couple of huge clams. It was actually interesting to watch the clam breath. It has a hole in the top the expands and retracts as it breaths. There were several schools of fish of the brightest blue and turquoise. All in all it was a great day and I’m hoping tomorrow we’ll get to do more swimming around and we won’t have to wait on other people in the group. Our group has now lost 2 people. Also the food on the boat has been pretty good so that’s a plus!

Day 2: I’m certified!!!

Today we had our last two training dives and I’m a certified open water diver! This morning bright and early we did our first dive where we had to repeat a few skills and then got to see loads more, we even saw Nemo’s cousin! A clown fish with different colors. Our last certification dive mainly consisted of compass work in the water and attempting not to get lost and then we were certified! The third dive was very exciting. Two other girls and I went off on our own and I loved it! We didn’t even get too lost. We did come up and had to snorkel back to the boat but we were pretty close. We saw a turtle, shark and I had a Mexican stand-off with Nemo. He came out of the anemone and would scoot back in, come out, go back in, and so on. We swam through a small cave as well and all the coral and fish was just amazing. I worry that I have maybe ruined myself for diving. My first dives are in one of the best possible places!

So that leads us to the last and final dive, a night dive! This actually became another training dive because some of us were able to add on another certification called adventure diver which will certify us to dive deeper. As an open water diver I’m certified to 18 meters and as an adventure diver I will be able to go to 30 meters. Anyway the night dive was fucking awesome! There were two parts that were my absolute favorite. At one point we would wave our hands in the water and the bio-luminescence particles in the water would light up. As everyone was swimming in front of me I could see them rolling off their fins. At one point we all turned off our lights and swimming through the dark water was so calming, just a very cool experience. A small shark also circled around us and we saw a HUGE sleeping turtle. I’m so excited to keep diving, I LOVE it! Tomorrow we do our deepest dive yet!

Day 3: I’m Adventure Certified!

I did three dives before noon! The first was our deep dive and we went to 28.6 meters. I was surprised how quickly we got to 28 meters, I thought it would take longer. Once down there we had to do a few things. Our instructor held up a number and we had to show the number that when put together adds to 15. The purpose was to see if we were affected by nitrogen narcosis that can happen at deep depths and basically gives you the giggles. Well I was the only one in our group who got it a bit. He held up 8 and I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stop giggling, I looked at my hands, looked at his hands and I would just giggle. Finally another person in the group showed me counting on her fingers and I was able to do it! After that we swam around and saw these really neat schools of fish that chill in a wall formation and my instructor got this huge fish named Wally to kiss him.

The second dive of the day we had to take underwater photography with one of their cameras and I got a bunch of great shots of Nemo! On that dive I accidentally went lower than I should have so on the third dive I had to be really careful not to go below 10 meters. The last dive of the day we swam around lots of coral formations, in and out, through and around. Again there were so many beautiful colors and I really enjoyed myself. Another thing I think is interesting is how well we communicate under the water. I dive with two other girls, one is from Northern Ireland and the other from Switzerland and we do a great job at communicating under the water. I’ve enjoyed diving with them. Now my ears are a bit sore and definitely need a bit of a break from diving. All in all it was a wonderful experience and I really enjoyed the people I met. Right now we are headed back to Cairns and I think we’ll all meet up later for dinner and drinks.

And now for some photos!