SCUBA: Taking an 'Introductory' Dive...

“Scuba” (which is actually an acromym for “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”) has evolved into a very popular sport enjoyed by people all around the world. Twenty years ago while I was vacationing in Hawaii I saw an advertisement, an invitation for an “introductory" dive and decided to give it a try…

It actually involved two days, the first being a trip to a local high school swimming pool to learn how to use the equipment. The second day we met at the dock and headed out to the dive spot. There were a total of 6 licensed divers, 2 instructors and myself.

While the previous days training opened a totally “new world” it was nothing like jumping off the back of the boat into the ocean… We were in about 30 feet of water and your first view from under water is just totally amazing!!!

In the swimming pool you were confined by four walls, but this was totally “wide open” ocean… both instructors stayed right beside me while I got accustomed to the water and within a couple minutes we were headed down…

We only went down 20 feet, which for your first dive was just right… We took it slow and easy and I was surprised to find it was something that came naturally – half way through the dive I realized I was kind of “by myself” - the instructors had backed off about 10-15 feet (although they were watching closely) and the feeling was awesome.

There were thousands of beautiful fish (I was surprised how vivid the colors were underwater) and we explored an area that was kind of like an underwater maze, with rocks and crannies 5-8 feet deep. Then we came to an area where one of the instructors pulled out a bag of “food” and a moray eel came slithering up out of the rocks…

If you’ve never gone on an introductory dive, I HIGHLY recommend it – it’s a trip you’ll never forget! We were only underwater for about 30 minutes and by the time we surfaced I was exhausted, but it was one of those “refreshing" exhausted feelings…