I was so excited to be diving again, that I must have dreamt of fish! Finally, I would be back in the sea. Along with teaching English, scuba diving was an important part of my trip. I absolutely loved it when I first tried it, back in 2011 in Thailand. This time, I would be doing the Advanced Open Water course.
The diving school bus picked me up from our homestay at 7am. It was a two and half hour drive to the dive site, Tulamben. My diving instructor filled me in on the day's plan and we chatted on the journey. It was such a picturesque car journey to Tulamben. There were volcanos and lots of greenery. We were driving down windy little roads and normally I would be nervous about driving on such roads, but I was too impressed with the views to care!
Once we reached Tulamben, my instructor and I went through the diving brief and some basic theory as a reminder. I was provided with my equipment and wetsuit and taught about navigation skills underwater. Some practice with an underwater compass on land and I was ready to hit the sea! We descended down about 16 metres underwater and saw many different fish and other underwater creatures. There was a little current, so it was challenging at times to keep together. I used the compass underwater to navigate myself and find bearings. It was interesting how distracting fish and sea life can be when you are trying to focus! The dive was just under 40 minutes and I enjoyed every minute!
For my second dive, my instructor gave me a little background history. I would be doing a wreck dive. Tulamben is a famous wreck dive site as there are remains of shipwreck from 1942, which make for a great adventure and exploration dive. We descended down 18 metres this time. It was fascinating to see the ship remains and details of the wreck. I'd never experienced such a dive before so it was particularly interesting to swim and explore.
Diving is extremely tiring work - all that breathing underwater and carrying an oxygen tank on your back! We had a spot of lunch and relax before the brief for the third and final dive of the day. I would be practising my buoyancy skills underwater, so my instructor explained me some theory beforehand. We descended down 18 metres again with a hula hoop in tow. We swam to the bottom of sea bed and used weights and string to attach hula hoop. I was to swim through the hula hoop on my back, my front and my sides, in as smooth movements as possible. It was challenging at first as I was not kicking effectively, but once I got the hang of that, it was much easier. I really enjoyed swimming through effortlessly and felt like a fish! It was so rewarding to see improvement with my fluidity.
The three dives of the day left me deliriously happy and excited for more the next day! My dive instructor said that I was surprisingly confident underwater with breathing and flowing through, considering that I hadn't done any diving for almost three years. It was such a compliment and good to hear. I got back to the homestay around 7pm and was eager to tell Shane about my whole day. I didn't stop smiling all evening :)
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