Scuba Lessons Day One

K - so it's hard to remember to breathe underwater at first, but I think I've taken to it somewhat well. It's very dry air - worse than sleeping with your mouth open and finding your throat dry. Not that it can't be fixed with a little saliva, but still takes some getting used to. I have had to add more weight than even some of the larger guys in the class - I somehow float no matter what! Guess that's probably a pretty good thing in an emergency though :) So far we're learning all our skills in the confined dive area (aka - a swimming pool). There are 5 of us in the course - 3 of us are new, 1 is taking the course as a refresher, and another has been on controlled dives at resorts but isn't completely certified. It's a fun group to be with, and we've all hit it off quickly. Anne and Allen, our instructors at Scuba Brothers, are great!

It's also VERY tiring, but I didn't notice I was tired till after I'd showered and dried off at home. (I also didn't notice that my shoulders are the same color as my bright red swimsuit - despite the 4 coatings of SPF 75). Looks like I'll be diving in a shirt tomorrow :) Fortunately it does not hurt at all, so possibly the red will go down a lot. My face hurts yet received no burn - weird.

The course I'm taking, for those who are interested is the PADI Open Water Diver certification, so basically it means that I can dive in the recommended depths as long as I have ready access to the surface (hence open water).

We'll be diving in Smith Lake (in Vidor, where I was a teacher's aide while getting my cert) once we are ready for the open water dives...apparently there will be some interesting things down there. I hope to be able to bring my camera and take some pictures :) I've been told one of the exercises we do is see who can find the most golf balls in the water...interesting... We shall see :)