under the sea

PADI Discover SCUBA Diving Certification
2 dives at 11 and 14 meters
Taganga, Colombia
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Or, meandian´s first time diving! :) Here are the highlights:

At 830 a.m. we met our instructor, who was a dark skinned, built, stocky friendly guy who spoke a passable amount of English. We suited up over our swim suits in the lock black wetsuits, water shoes, and sampled the fins and masks.

We sat down next to the pool and our instructor explained the equipment. The tank, vest, pressure gauges, regulator, emergency regulator, and vest inflator button. I can´t be sure if I got all the names right, as our instructor´s English was somewhat difficult to understand, but between his accented English, questions, and body language, we got the hang of it. We jumped in the pool and practiced all the exercises he explained. Clearing the mask from water, recovering a lost regulator, equalizing pressure in our ears, and signaling. I had to surface because I actually felt short of breath, mostly because it´s tough breathing through my mouth when I wasn´t used to it, but the pressure from the water actually makes it easier to inhale through the regulator, if that makes any sense. It´s a matter of believing that one (with the diving gear of course) can breathe under the water. Once submerged again, I got comfortable enough to laugh while Ian kept floating to the top.

After we finished up the exercises in the pool, it was only a few minutes until we moved down to the beach where the boat met us. No turning back. Once we had all our gear on, we fell off the boat backwards. I peaked through my mask. Fish, shiny and colorful, rocks and coral - all I had never seen before! We deflate the vest, and down we go, and it´s amazing that we could breathe, and rather comfortably once we allowed ourselves, while being surrounded by water. Between adjusting for my underwater homeostasis by paddling, kicking, equalizing pressure through my ears, and the occasional feeling of a blood vessel in my head about to burst, I enjoy my first sights of red, orange, blue, white, black, fat, skinny, and patterned fish. Coral in fewer colors, as the overcast sky didn´t let in much light, but all shapes and sizes. Our instructor points out a snake slithering through the coral.

Toward the last half of the dive, things start to get complicated. My head starts to hurt more as we go along. Finally I lose my bearings so that next thing I know, the surface is right above my head. I feel a sudden piercing, burning pain on my right wrist. And my head surfaces, it feels like its about to explode with one of the worst headaches of my life, so painful I could almost hear it. At this point, between my head and my wrist, there was no chance of a second dive any time soon.

We get on the boat, and with the rest of the group on, we head to a beach for a break. Once we eat a meager lunch, my headache has mostly subsided, but my wrist is flared in several small sites with a rash. The instructor says it´s from coral, and another diver says it could have been a shed jellyfish tentacle. The swelling doesn´t spread so I figure there´s no need to panic. The instructor pours vinegar over the area. Ian, in the meantime, felt fine, as his only concern was the air left in his tank. I had 100 p.s.i. left, he had 50 (big lungs?) by the time we finished the first time, and we weren´t sure how long the instructor planned on staying down.

This is what my first marine toxin injury looked like a few hours after coming back. It is still fading slowly, but in the meantime, it practically blends in with all the mosquito bites....

Anyway, by the time we set out for the second dive, I was physically fine, but otherwise relatively hurt and daunted by my first dive. I was nervous about the second one, but I wanted a better memory of my diving experience, and refusing a second dive would work against the grain of this interest and everyone else´s, for better or worse. It worked out for the better.

The second dive made the difference for the day. That I was shivering for a lot of the time, and getting a milder sting on my upper lip were eclipsed by this significantly better experience. Staying horizontal, primarily using my fins and not my hands to move, swallowing to equalize the pressure all made for a more relaxed excursion in the underwater zoo. Finally, returning to the surface gradually with the instructor´s help warded off any headache. Now I could crown the excursion a success.

To be honest, I think most of our time was occupied with getting comfortable with the gear and the breathing. While we enjoyed the scenery, hopefully next time we will be able to get a closer look.

We are back at our second home now, reading, writing, eating, and recuperating. We decided to cap our trip with a short run back to Tayrona, coming back here on Monday night, and get on the plane home Tuesday. If you don´t hear from us til then, again that is why. We´ll try to do some last minute shopping on Tuesday morning, so any final requests write here or email. Will check in tomorrow in the a.m. before we head off.

That was a long post, hope you guys didnt mind reading. :)

Hi M, P and families!!