Let me start with a confession. I cannot swim, I am mostly scared of water and hate water going into my eyes and ears. But I love to scuba. Wait, let me back up. The only time I did scuba diving was a couple of years ago in Lakshadweep. I had loved it. It took people a whole week of coaxing, but I finally did it and loved it. That is how I define, I love to scuba.
So when we were in Sri Lanka, one of the places we were gallivanting around was Unawatuna. Gluttony filled shacks check, lazy beach evenings check, lots of beer check, we decided we should do some scuba diving considering the number of options around.
The next morning we arrived right on time and cheerfully greeted our to be instructor who told us he would take some lessons in a pool. This should have been the first warning sign. But it is time for confession 2. I am overly positive most of the time. Memories of the gentle Lakshadweep floated in my head as I smiled and ignored everything the instructor was trying to tell me.
Off we went then on the boat, a good natured Swede also there for company. He had dived (or is it, he dove?) around the world including African, Asian and European continents. Sweet, we had prestigious company. Anyway, he then told us to sit at the edge of the boat and tip over backwards. And final confession for this post - I am over confident most of the time. I saw the partner protesting and of the master divers promising to catch her in the water once she tips over. So when it was my chance, I thought there would be someone to catch me 'when I fall' and even if no one was there, how hard would it be? Remember, Lakshadweep was so easy!
Unfortunately, nothing was further from the truth! While L was a calm lagoon where the water hardly moved, SL was a storm in a tea cup, a very big tea cup!
So, the minute I hit the water, is when I realise this. This is a choppy sea not the lagoon I was expecting. And then panic strikes. When panic strikes, reason takes a back seat. So do NOT ask why I pulled out my face mask and suddenly there was sea water in my eyes. Do NOT also ask why I proceeded to then pull out my mouth piece. So here I am bobbing in the waters, the rough choppy sea, slapping against my face, drinking in more sea water then beer the last couple of days and trying to wonder whether I would live. The last thought did NOT cross my mind.
To cut a long story short, the instructor moved in, rescued me from my panic induced frozen state, got me to do the necessary steps of putting back the mouth and eye pieces and then proceeded to drag me around. I was still blissfully unaware of all the steps that he had told us in the pool, was hardly moving my legs leaving him to pull me around like a dead weight. Hats off to him!
THe disappointing thing was though, the choppy sea muddied the waters and we could hardly see much. In fact, the sunken boat/ship looked like this.
Anyway, all said and done, I think I will still scuba dive again, in fact I am pretty sure I will. This time, though, I will listen to my instructor, dive only in a lagoon and not be Mr. Know-it-all.
P.S.
Please always ensure that your dive master and the dive shop in general are always PADI certified. The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is a recreational diving membership and diver training organization founded in 1966. It is well recognized and is generally the first certification to look around for. Their 'Discover dives' are for beginners and quite easy to do (if you follow all the instructions). Please also remember to never ever hold your breath, keep breathing!
Comments