January, the first month of the year finds me reminiscing of
other firsts. My first time breathing
underwater, my first open water dive, my first large aquatic life sighting.
For many this brings great smiles and hearty laughs as they
remember their firsts.
First Ever Dive
[Discover Scuba]
Our first time trying Scuba was in Cozumel Mexico, it was on
a Discover dive that I had one of the best and worst experiences of diving. When a resort Divemaster approached us pool
side I must have given some ridiculous reason for not diving as his reaction
was to laugh hysterically. We had some
of the best “Snorkel gear” he’d ever seen and was surprised that we were not
divers.
My preconceptions of diving came
from my Aunt’s friends who were police divers.
They would share their stories with her, or my mom, and I would over
hear them talking about all of the “Red Tape” before they even got to try scuba
in a pool setting. This however was back
in the 70’s and it left me with the idea that Scuba Diving was best left to the
professionals. How wrong I was.
The Cozumel Divemaster provided a tank and regs and helped
us into the pool. Soon we were scooting
along the bottom, and loving it. Both of
us couldn't believe how well we took to it.
Scuba seemed so natural, so easy, like breathing. LOL
Next step would be to try this new skill in the open water –
our mini scuba lesson included some basics in the pool and two open water dives
on the Cozumel reef.
Have you ever heard that the most dangerous thing in the
world is a little bit of information? Not knowing what it is that you don’t
know can scare anyone. I am an information
based person, detail orientated. To
function properly at any task I need to have all the facts.
On the 20 minute boat ride out to the reef,
suited up in a men’s large 8 millimeter wetsuit, that I could not move in and
it felt very heavy to me, I started to get very nervous. This was the first
time I had even seen most of the equipment that they were now strapping to my
body. It was all a bit over whelming. The weight belt and lead weights were so tight
they were digging into my ribs. I
notified the Divemaster that I wasn't sure about this and that I had
butterflies, but he reassured me that it was all normal/routine. There were five
of us that had never dived before with one Divemaster. He was focusing on hand signals, while I was
trying to ask practical ‘what if’ questions.
There was so much equipment involved, and I had no idea what 80% of it
was for. I did not even know how to add or dump air from my
BCD. As my mind started to create reasons
for not going forward with this crazy idea, the boat motors came to a halt.
Everyone stepped up to the edge and the captain was yelling “Dive,
Dive, Dive” I wasn't sure how to “Dive” off the boat; I've never done this
before. Before I knew what was happening,
I got a shove from the person behind me, my equipment flooded and I was sinking
and panicking. I took off my mask and
bobbed to the surface to realize I was alone.
I was coughing and heaving and kicking like crazy to keep afloat. Soon I was met by a very upset Divemaster who
told me to get my mask on and get below.
My answer? I told him
to *FORGET* it and that I
wanted to get back on the boat.
His answer? “What Boat? Please get down the line, your
husband and the others are at the bottom and I can’t leave them alone”
The boat had left, and realizing that there really was no other choice;
I sucked it up buttercup and down the line I went, convinced that I would
indeed die in Mexico as my mother-in-law had predicted.
To cope with my inner turmoil, I hummed the Beatles - Octopus’s Garden
and counted to five every breath in and out.
The one piece of really good information that stuck with me was that holding
your breath and panic were two of the worst things you could do while
diving. So I made sure to steer clear of
those behaviors.
Just as I started to accept my fate, or rather relax, the Divemaster was
signaling me to hurry around a large coral head to where the rest of the group
was. As I came clumsily around a put
both hands up to stop and became vertical again, my knees came up under me. As
I knelt, a very large turtle around 400 lbs floated gently over top of my head. I kept blinking as it drifted about 30 cm
just above me, I seen every detail of its shell. The complex pattern, scars, and bumpy skin of
its feet and tail. It was my “God Moment”. How could something this large and heavy, fly
over me?
It was weightless, like me. I too could fly in this environment, and enjoy
weightlessness. My Zen, nirvana found.
Right there in that minute, everything that lead up to this point was
forgotten and I knew in my heart that I would learn all there was to know about
Scuba Diving, and be the best I could be at this sport. It became an obsession, a passion.
If you ask if I would do it all again? I would, but not on a resort. Get to know the facts; a big part of diving
is trust. Dive with people you know, locally,
join our club, and do your Discover Dive with a friend. Spend the time learning to dive, with someone who is willing to spend the time helping you learn.
Even seasoned, licenced divers like to try out their
equipment in a pool prior to using it in open water. A pool is a fantastic, SAFE place to get familiar
with equipment and practice and fine tune your skills.
I encouraged both of my kids to try Scuba diving, they did so, in a controlled environment, with a local dive club and people we know and
trust, right here in our own community.
More information about Diving, upgrading your current skills,
or to try out diving in a pool during one of our Discover Dives simply contact
us using the information below, it’s that easy!
Also, if you learn to Scuba Dive with us, your membership is included
for your first year of diving.
We also
welcome Divers certified by any recognized SCUBA training agency.
Just contact us:
info@ajaxscubaclub.on.ca
or call (905) 619-2159 and leave a message.
We'd love to hear about your first dive. Post below in the comments or visit us on Facebook;
