I don't think I'm the only one, maybe someone else remembers going to the beach every so often as a kid, enjoying the waves rolling in around you when all of a sudden a sea monster grabs at your legs! No, not really a sea monster, but kelp sure can feel scary 
Silly silly I know, but some fears/dislikes just carry with you and for me, I've always thought kelp was creepy and wanted nothing to do with it. Since I was living in Hawaii when I learned to dive, it's never been an issue, until yesterday. My husband and I are in California for a while so I figured we may as well get a couple of dives in right? So we booked a trip, rented our 7mm suits and hoods, bought some warm gloves and got some sleep to prepare us for the long drive to the LA. It wasn't until halfway through our quite long, cold, fog surrounded boat ride to Catalina Island that it donned on me: there's kelp down there! What if I get tangled up in it?! And the water's how cold!? I grew more and more nervous, and didn't enjoy our first dive at all... My husband's had some experience in cold water, so he was fairly comfortable, but I was finding my mind on a loop of "cold, things sound weird... oh yeah I'm wearing a hood, jeez I'm wearing a lot of weight, cold, eww kelp, it's dark down here " and you get the picture. Spoiled diver? Maybe just a little since warm, clear water is all I've known! Thankfully, for the second dive I decided to trust my buddy (hubby) and take a tour through the little kelp patch that was the dive site. Awesome. An entirely different, beautiful environment than I'm used to, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. We took it slow and easy and big surprise, nothing grabbed or tangled me up Kelp still doesn't look pretty to me from the surface, or dead and washed up on shore, but I know it is when viewed from below. 3 dives later and I feel as though I've conquered the kelp and cold water! (At least for the day) I also came away feeling that people who learn to dive and it in cold water certainly earn it!
So all that and I have a small personal dive victory... Anyone else have one to share? Large or small?
Silly silly I know, but some fears/dislikes just carry with you and for me, I've always thought kelp was creepy and wanted nothing to do with it. Since I was living in Hawaii when I learned to dive, it's never been an issue, until yesterday. My husband and I are in California for a while so I figured we may as well get a couple of dives in right? So we booked a trip, rented our 7mm suits and hoods, bought some warm gloves and got some sleep to prepare us for the long drive to the LA. It wasn't until halfway through our quite long, cold, fog surrounded boat ride to Catalina Island that it donned on me: there's kelp down there! What if I get tangled up in it?! And the water's how cold!? I grew more and more nervous, and didn't enjoy our first dive at all... My husband's had some experience in cold water, so he was fairly comfortable, but I was finding my mind on a loop of "cold, things sound weird... oh yeah I'm wearing a hood, jeez I'm wearing a lot of weight, cold, eww kelp, it's dark down here " and you get the picture. Spoiled diver? Maybe just a little since warm, clear water is all I've known! Thankfully, for the second dive I decided to trust my buddy (hubby) and take a tour through the little kelp patch that was the dive site. Awesome. An entirely different, beautiful environment than I'm used to, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. We took it slow and easy and big surprise, nothing grabbed or tangled me up Kelp still doesn't look pretty to me from the surface, or dead and washed up on shore, but I know it is when viewed from below. 3 dives later and I feel as though I've conquered the kelp and cold water! (At least for the day) I also came away feeling that people who learn to dive and it in cold water certainly earn it! So all that and I have a small personal dive victory... Anyone else have one to share? Large or small?
