Scuba Diving – PADI Open Water Certification
Course: Open Water (PADI)
Date: 24,25 May 2014
Duration: 1 day of theory - 1 day of pool session – 2 days of diving (4 dives)
Location: San Carlos beach (Monterey Bay, CA – USA)
Dive sites: Breakwater, Pipe
Instructor/shop: Tropical Adventures Scuba & Travel (I haven't been elsewhere, but I've had the best learning experience, fun and have met great folks here!!)
Fun-factor: Amazing!
*(c) All picture credits to Umesh Chaudhari & Khushboo Goel
Scuba diving—this was something I'd yearned to do for a very long time. Inspired by my cousin Sanjay, countless online videos, and a vital push from Nileema, I finally committed to enrolling in the PADI Open Water Diver course. We snagged some discounted coupons online in January 2014 and officially signed up that March. Having taken up windsurfing the previous year, I was somewhat comfortable in the open ocean (with a PFD, of course!). My last formal swim training was in school back in 2012, so it hadn't been that long. I could barely swim a single 50-meter lap, but my interest in scuba diving was unwavering. So, it happened! Before our first class, we hit the shops for essential personal gear: booties, a snorkel, mask, gloves, and fins. All excited, Nileema and I drove to Santa Cruz for our first day of class.
We were greeted by John, our expert Scuba Diving instructor—a seasoned professional brimming with diving stories and adventures. He introduced us to fundamental concepts like buoyancy and the "super cool toys" divers use: BCDs (Buoyancy Control Devices), regulators, weights, air tanks, suits, underwater scooters, and more. I was thrilled at the thought of being "suited up!" The theory session was followed by quizzes, even a fun competition. For the next day, we were instructed to go directly to a nearby pool for training.
The second class—pool training—arrived, bringing with it a mix of excitement and apprehension. Just last week, I'd struggled to complete a single 50-meter lap in a pool, and I hadn't swam consistently for quite some time. John's first instruction was to jump in and complete the qualifier test for open water certification: a continuous 200-meter/yard swim, followed by 10 minutes of floating and treading water. My internal meter instantly switched from excitement to sheer determination. Believe it or not, I managed to finish four laps and successfully tread water for 10 minutes! After that, we completed five dives with the full scuba gear.
I'll never forget that first breath underwater in the pool. Those five dives focused on various critical skills a scuba diver needs for safe diving: mask clearing underwater, CESA (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent), buddy breathing, handling out-of-air situations, regulator recovery, auxiliary second stage usage, regulator air leak management, and free breathing. It was a lot to learn! To my surprise, I accomplished all the skills without too much trouble, leaving me quite confident about diving from a boat (which is what I thought would happen, not a beach entry!). Exhausted but accomplished, I returned home, with open water diving scheduled for the following week. Unfortunately, I came down with a cold and had to postpone. Weekends kept slipping away, and slots were often full. Finally, Nileema found me an open slot for the Memorial Day long weekend in May. In the interim, I had started swimming at least once, sometimes twice, a week. I gradually built my stamina and improved my technique, progressing from 4 laps to an impressive 24 laps in just 12 sessions, including both open and closed turns, without even water breaks! I was incredibly excited for the dive, though a little nervous about having practiced the skills so long ago. I quickly brushed up on my hand signals, confident I'd do well.
On Saturday, May 24th, I drove to the shop, collected the gear, and reached the beach by 7:15 AM. Dan and Katelyn were our instructors. The first ocean dive, with a beach entry, was the most thrilling few hours. Katelyn set up the buoy with a guideline extending to the bottom (22 feet). I descended first, following Dan. It felt strange yet fun; I couldn't tell if I was diving down or merely floating on the surface. I gripped the rope tightly, slowly sinking while equalizing my ears. Visibility was abysmal—only about 2-3 feet—and the water was a frigid 52°F at 22 feet. I moved to the far end of the rope and waited for the others. Dan swam over, and I began practicing and demonstrating the skills we'd learned in the pool. After the skills, Dan tried to lead us on a tour, but the visibility was so poor we all surfaced. We got out, changed tanks, and grabbed lunch.
The second dive was fun, at the same location, for more skill practice. CESA, which was initially scary, felt great once completed. We did three dives during this session, and during the third, we spent about 10 minutes swimming around. Dan led the way, showing us numerous fish. Visibility improved slightly, to about 6 feet. We stayed very close together to avoid losing each other. We spotted a one-legged crab, many starfishes, various fish, and some spider-like crabs. We were moving closer to a wall, meaning decreasing depth, but before I could react and vent air from my BCD, I surfaced! Alas, my dive was over. This was the first time I thought, "Why did I surface? I should have stayed underwater longer!"
The next dive, on Sunday morning, focused on navigation skills. We practiced on land first, then descended to the bottom to apply these, along with other skills like BCD disconnect and full mask removal. The cold water and 2-foot visibility intensified the challenge. This time, we didn't have a guide rope to descend, and it was quite fun following other divers' bubbles to find them. The last dive was the best. We were on our own, in buddy teams. Our goal was to descend to about 18 feet, almost to the bottom and very close to a wall, then swim to 38-40 feet and return when our air tanks read 1500 PSI. This was a blast! My dive buddy, Khushboo, and I had an amazing time. We spotted quite a few starfishes, crabs, and schools of fish swimming around. Visibility at 40 feet wasn't great; again, it was very limited. We stayed super close to each other to avoid separation. After about 40 minutes, we surfaced and found ourselves quite far from shore. We swam back. Many thanks to Khushboo's husband for the fantastic pictures on this blog!
It was so much fun. Huge thanks to Dan and Katelyn for making it such an enjoyable learning experience. I am now completely hooked on diving! Thanks also to Jai for all the inputs and knowledge tidbits on Facebook. I'm already looking forward to my next dive (which I hope is next weekend!).