First time under water
I've never been scuba diving before, and I've always been a little scared of it. I decided to overcome my fear and take a test dive. I wasn't alone in this, my colleague Tom went on the experience with me. Together, we drove to the arranged meeting point to meet the instructor. The drive was long and I was getting more and more nervous. Tommy wasn't exactly helping me with his jokes and stories about the dangers of diving :).
How does it feel to breathe underwater? And is it really reliable?
I imagined the worst case scenarios, well I'd rather not even tell you...
We met the instructor on site. He was a great guy and you could tell he really liked diving and had been doing it for a while. After that there were a few formalities. We filled out a questionnaire regarding our medical condition, at the end of which there was a box to fill in emergency contact details, which made me a little worried :).
In order to dive, it was necessary to start with theory, so we started the whole experience in the classroom, where the instructor carefully explained everything and answered all our questions. Afterwards, I was still a bit groggy, but much calmer.
Up and down (I'm really going underwater)!
We moved on to the pool, where we set up all the equipment needed for diving as instructed.
No, that wasn't it :)
We were diving in wetsuits...
...threw the heavy gear on our backs, shoved weights in our pockets and hoped we wouldn't be stranded. It was great that we could prepare everything ourselves under the supervision of an instructor. That way we knew how everything worked and I was even starting to enjoy being underwater.
I was also really looking forward to the pool because with all the weight, I felt heavy as an elephant. But as soon as I hit the pool, I was noticeably lighter.
And here it is...
We started breathing through the "automatic" and were instructed by the instructor to slowly start diving.
I was still very cautious. I kept to the edge of the pool just in case....
But once I discovered that this really works underwater and I can breathe beautifully, all my fears melted away and the fun began.
Underwater Communication
You can't talk underwater. I mean, you can, but no one would understand, so it was important that we were clear about how to communicate underwater. We learned to use a kind of sign language that is used underwater and it was time to try it out in practice.
The instructor always showed us something underwater and we had to repeat it after him.
Yeah, now let's get the breathing apparatus out underwater.... What?!
It started with us having to take the automatic out of our mouths and then putting it back on and breathing calmly. Horror! I just started to trust it and now I'm going to take it out?
Well, I didn't want to do it, but I did it in the end. My colleague and I have done the other bits almost perfectly.
Wet report card at the end
During the dive we went to a depth of up to 3.5 metres, which is also written in the certificate we received after the experience.
Word in conclusion?
Finally, I really enjoyed diving and I am glad that I had the opportunity to try something new again. It was great!
