In December 2021, I earned my Open water in the calm waters of Tahiti. A few months later in March 2022, I went to Key Largo to dive and reality hit. The Atlantic Ocean is a wee bit rougher than the South Pacific. I had never been seasick before, yet on this particular trip I puked out my guts. This particular dive was on the Spiegel Grove. After I entered the water I was overwhelmed by the waves crashing into me, as we were making our way towards the mooring ball it was hard for me to breathe. I remember reading that is a symptom of hyperventilating. Between everything happening, I called the dive. The Divemaster I was with was very supportive and encouraging. Needless to say, during that trip I ended up doing 2-3 shallow reef dives instead of 8 planned dives. While those reef dives restored my confidence, I learned a valuable lesson and that was that as a diver, I need to dive to gain experience as well as dive in different conditions. At that point I had less than 10 dives and I vowed I would return. After Key Largo, I did some diving at our local lake as well as when the wife and I would go on a cruise or vacation. I had also contacted the scuba shop (Scuba Fun in Key Largo) to set up the trip for the following year, a huge undertaking, 32 dives spread out over 8 days! My intent was to focus on scuba diving the entire week!
Fast forward to April 2023, I arrived in Key Largo, anxious but ready to go. I met the Divemaster who would be my guide for the week, Scuba Joe, I told him of my plan and we both were excited. The next day, the first dive of the day was the wreck of the Eagle a deep dive, I actually started to second guess myself, thinking I should have scheduled a shallow dive first. I'd earlier explained to Joe what happened the year prior and to get me underwater as safely and quickly as possible. The waves weren't as bad but I was still a bit anxious, I think he saw it on my face, he reassured me and he took me to about 10 feet under and we sat there for a minute. By then I was good and away we went. Because this was my first dive with him, he did not want me to take my camera and he also wanted to evaluate me as well. Visibility was excellent, it was crystal clear and there were fish everywhere. Once Joe saw that I was having fun and enjoying the dive he asked if I wanted to go to 100ft. I quickly nodded yes and away we went. We stayed there for a minute then we came back up. (Prior to that the deepest I've dove was 77ft.) After swimming around we made our ascent, did our safety stop and was back on board. I completed 4 additional dives that day and finished the 1st day with 5 dives. I felt relief, vindication and was so happy that I came back and didn't give up. Three days later I returned to the Spiegel Grove and it was a triumphant return and dive! When we made it back to the dive shop, I asked them to let the Divemaster from last year know that I redeemed myself.
Fast forward to April 2023, I arrived in Key Largo, anxious but ready to go. I met the Divemaster who would be my guide for the week, Scuba Joe, I told him of my plan and we both were excited. The next day, the first dive of the day was the wreck of the Eagle a deep dive, I actually started to second guess myself, thinking I should have scheduled a shallow dive first. I'd earlier explained to Joe what happened the year prior and to get me underwater as safely and quickly as possible. The waves weren't as bad but I was still a bit anxious, I think he saw it on my face, he reassured me and he took me to about 10 feet under and we sat there for a minute. By then I was good and away we went. Because this was my first dive with him, he did not want me to take my camera and he also wanted to evaluate me as well. Visibility was excellent, it was crystal clear and there were fish everywhere. Once Joe saw that I was having fun and enjoying the dive he asked if I wanted to go to 100ft. I quickly nodded yes and away we went. We stayed there for a minute then we came back up. (Prior to that the deepest I've dove was 77ft.) After swimming around we made our ascent, did our safety stop and was back on board. I completed 4 additional dives that day and finished the 1st day with 5 dives. I felt relief, vindication and was so happy that I came back and didn't give up. Three days later I returned to the Spiegel Grove and it was a triumphant return and dive! When we made it back to the dive shop, I asked them to let the Divemaster from last year know that I redeemed myself.