E.C.Hansen
Registered
Day 1 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...3834-my-aow-certification-mexico-day-1-a.html
Day 2 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...3837-my-aow-certification-mexico-day-2-a.html
The next morning I prepared myself, I used my netti pot, had a good breakfast and coffee, and left the house still tasting the ginger that I used to chase down my Pepto. I felt good as I walked to the beach, my stomach was calm, I'd had enough sleep, and there was no problem with my ear at all. I was looking forward to my deep dive. Since the only task for the Deep dive takes just a few min, I was supposed to stay observant, this was also going to be a continuation of the Naturalist dive. Since I hadn't done that bookwork before the first days diving it made fine sense to me. In the briefing I found out that we would be going about 30m deep then doing a drift dive over part of the reef while the current carried us towards shore and into shallower water. I was given a sheet of paper and was timed while I wrote my name backwards, did a series of math problems, and copied a simple picture. It took me right about 2 min. I would have to do this again on a slate after we spent a few minutes at depth and compare times so I could see the difference from what its like to do something that easy on land. I was then given a dive computer to use, a Suunto Gekko. This was completely new to me, on the boat ride the DM and another diver who owned the same computer described its basics to me. What a cool gadget.
This time when I rolled into the water, I checked and found my own flopping mask strap instead of having to have it pointed out to me. The instructor did stop and ask me if I was going to really need that snorkel. I like them, and used them for years before I ever learned scuba, but I figured it was important enough to him that he brought it up. It seemed to make him happy when I said "probably not" and tossed it back in the boat. After that it was all OK signs and the sound of emptying BCs, as we grabbed our noses and started to descend.
At first it settled in slowly, it was just like we went over in the briefing, I put my knees below me, my feet behind me and looked around, I could see the surface, the bottom of the boat, my buddies... and blue. I equalized and the very last worry about my ear disappeared with a comfortable puff of air. Then as the surface and the boat slowly faded, the awe settled in. This was the Wild Kingdom Jacques Cousteau 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea kinda Nature Channel diving that childhood dreams are made of! Nothing around but slowly deepening blue as the increasing depth filtered out more and more light. After equalizing some more I realized that the blue below me was starting to show contrast as the bottom came into view. I imagined this must be something like what a skydiver sees from high above the ground. I could see faint details, the rising coral heads looked like forests and mountains that contrasted with the light colored sandy plains. I know than I was falling towards them, but there was almost no feeling of movement, the ground didn't seem to be getting any closer, I was flying. Then gradually more detail seeped in, everything was muted by the water, sound, light, even movement. Then I saw two Grey Angelfish almost half a meter long come cruising out of some hidden crevasse and dart between the coral. I noticed that the difference in sizes that I saw on the second dive yesterday were exaggerated a lot more here! I saw brain coral as big as sports cars, and fan coral big enough to be dressing screens in someones underwater bedroom. This was the diving that I learned how to dive to do, the colors all seem muted until you shine your light at something, then its a circus of the brightest colors that only a clown would put together. And it just takes the breath away. After a few minutes we settled over a sandy bottom trench between coral and the instructor handed me a slate with my tests laid out on it, again the backwards name, some different math problems and copy a simple picture. I was in the middle of this when the computer on my wrist started beeping like crazy. The instructor tugged up on my shoulder and when it stopped beeping he pointed to the depth display on it. I got it, the computer had an alarm that went off if you went to deep and I had been slowly drifting down while I concentrated on writing. With the interruption and surge, it took me about a minute longer than on land to do the test, I never really felt anything like 'narced' But there might have been a touch, I was having the time of my life! Then it was time for the real fun, close to half an hour of gentle swimming as the current carried us lazily over the reef, I saw Triggerfish that looked almost as big as my torso, several kinds of Parrotfish, at least 2 kinds of Angelfish (2 big Grey Angelfish longer than my forearm followed us along the reef for close to 5 minutes!) There were Trumpetfish, Grunts, Butterflyfish, and yellow headed fish, and more fish with yellow tails, I could go on and on.
The light eventually started getting brighter and brighter as we moved into shallower water until finally the instructor signaled that it was time to ascend to 5m for our safety stop. This was another first for me, all my dives before this were shallow and we never paused for more than a minute on the way up. The water was shallow enough here that I could see the bottom but not with a lot of detail, so I used the 3 minutes to look over my computer and practice buoyancy control, it was a suprise how much work it took to stay between 3 and 5 meters for 3 minutes. Finally my computer told me we had been 38 minutes in the water and had gone down to 31.1 meters, over 102feet.
Well that is the story of my Advanced Open Water certification. There were some minor issues, but it was fun and totally worth it! I do wish I had the chance for a night dive. I wish I knew what was up with my ear, and I'm going to ask a doctor about it before long. I also kind of want a computer, but I want to learn to plan my own dives too, so that will probably wait.
I have to thank anyone that actually read this whole thing and I would welcome any thoughts or comments.
Now when I remember this trip, the first thing that comes to mind is that first glimpse of the ocean floor and the feeling of flying as we dropped through the blue onto the reef.
Day 2 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...3837-my-aow-certification-mexico-day-2-a.html
The next morning I prepared myself, I used my netti pot, had a good breakfast and coffee, and left the house still tasting the ginger that I used to chase down my Pepto. I felt good as I walked to the beach, my stomach was calm, I'd had enough sleep, and there was no problem with my ear at all. I was looking forward to my deep dive. Since the only task for the Deep dive takes just a few min, I was supposed to stay observant, this was also going to be a continuation of the Naturalist dive. Since I hadn't done that bookwork before the first days diving it made fine sense to me. In the briefing I found out that we would be going about 30m deep then doing a drift dive over part of the reef while the current carried us towards shore and into shallower water. I was given a sheet of paper and was timed while I wrote my name backwards, did a series of math problems, and copied a simple picture. It took me right about 2 min. I would have to do this again on a slate after we spent a few minutes at depth and compare times so I could see the difference from what its like to do something that easy on land. I was then given a dive computer to use, a Suunto Gekko. This was completely new to me, on the boat ride the DM and another diver who owned the same computer described its basics to me. What a cool gadget.
This time when I rolled into the water, I checked and found my own flopping mask strap instead of having to have it pointed out to me. The instructor did stop and ask me if I was going to really need that snorkel. I like them, and used them for years before I ever learned scuba, but I figured it was important enough to him that he brought it up. It seemed to make him happy when I said "probably not" and tossed it back in the boat. After that it was all OK signs and the sound of emptying BCs, as we grabbed our noses and started to descend.
At first it settled in slowly, it was just like we went over in the briefing, I put my knees below me, my feet behind me and looked around, I could see the surface, the bottom of the boat, my buddies... and blue. I equalized and the very last worry about my ear disappeared with a comfortable puff of air. Then as the surface and the boat slowly faded, the awe settled in. This was the Wild Kingdom Jacques Cousteau 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea kinda Nature Channel diving that childhood dreams are made of! Nothing around but slowly deepening blue as the increasing depth filtered out more and more light. After equalizing some more I realized that the blue below me was starting to show contrast as the bottom came into view. I imagined this must be something like what a skydiver sees from high above the ground. I could see faint details, the rising coral heads looked like forests and mountains that contrasted with the light colored sandy plains. I know than I was falling towards them, but there was almost no feeling of movement, the ground didn't seem to be getting any closer, I was flying. Then gradually more detail seeped in, everything was muted by the water, sound, light, even movement. Then I saw two Grey Angelfish almost half a meter long come cruising out of some hidden crevasse and dart between the coral. I noticed that the difference in sizes that I saw on the second dive yesterday were exaggerated a lot more here! I saw brain coral as big as sports cars, and fan coral big enough to be dressing screens in someones underwater bedroom. This was the diving that I learned how to dive to do, the colors all seem muted until you shine your light at something, then its a circus of the brightest colors that only a clown would put together. And it just takes the breath away. After a few minutes we settled over a sandy bottom trench between coral and the instructor handed me a slate with my tests laid out on it, again the backwards name, some different math problems and copy a simple picture. I was in the middle of this when the computer on my wrist started beeping like crazy. The instructor tugged up on my shoulder and when it stopped beeping he pointed to the depth display on it. I got it, the computer had an alarm that went off if you went to deep and I had been slowly drifting down while I concentrated on writing. With the interruption and surge, it took me about a minute longer than on land to do the test, I never really felt anything like 'narced' But there might have been a touch, I was having the time of my life! Then it was time for the real fun, close to half an hour of gentle swimming as the current carried us lazily over the reef, I saw Triggerfish that looked almost as big as my torso, several kinds of Parrotfish, at least 2 kinds of Angelfish (2 big Grey Angelfish longer than my forearm followed us along the reef for close to 5 minutes!) There were Trumpetfish, Grunts, Butterflyfish, and yellow headed fish, and more fish with yellow tails, I could go on and on.
The light eventually started getting brighter and brighter as we moved into shallower water until finally the instructor signaled that it was time to ascend to 5m for our safety stop. This was another first for me, all my dives before this were shallow and we never paused for more than a minute on the way up. The water was shallow enough here that I could see the bottom but not with a lot of detail, so I used the 3 minutes to look over my computer and practice buoyancy control, it was a suprise how much work it took to stay between 3 and 5 meters for 3 minutes. Finally my computer told me we had been 38 minutes in the water and had gone down to 31.1 meters, over 102feet.
Well that is the story of my Advanced Open Water certification. There were some minor issues, but it was fun and totally worth it! I do wish I had the chance for a night dive. I wish I knew what was up with my ear, and I'm going to ask a doctor about it before long. I also kind of want a computer, but I want to learn to plan my own dives too, so that will probably wait.
I have to thank anyone that actually read this whole thing and I would welcome any thoughts or comments.
Now when I remember this trip, the first thing that comes to mind is that first glimpse of the ocean floor and the feeling of flying as we dropped through the blue onto the reef.
