Taking the Plunge – My First Scuba Dive
Well I have finally done it. In a previous article I wrote about my lifelong ambition to dive and two weeks ago I found myself at a depth of 12 meters playing ‘catch’ with a lizard fish.
In case you haven’t read the article above, I am a 44 year old, somewhat overweight but basically fit man who has a persistent fear of water but has wanted to scuba dive ever since he saw Jacques Cousteau on TV as a child. . . My plan had been to train in this country and then do my first dive abroad under the PADI scheme (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) where you can divide your training between diving centers. Circumstances got the better of me and it didn’t happen that way at all.
Three weeks ago my partner and I had the opportunity to fly to Gran Canaria for a short break and, to my delight and horror, discovered that the Cordial Mogan Playa (the hotel we were staying at) had recently opened a Diving center in the gardens. Years ago, my daughter (then 10 years old and a good swimmer thanks to all the lessons I took her to) taught me to swim at a local pool, simply by saying “come on daddy, just push yourself and swim.” The thought of my daughter watching me pass out overcame my lifelong fear of water, so I pushed myself away and, to my astonishment, discovered that she could actually swim (I mean not drown too much!). Similarly, finding a dive school on my doorstep with five days of no excuses and an expectant couple staring at me, I had no choice but to take the plunge, so I found myself at the dive center booking for an introduction. session.
This center (part of the Extra Divers group) offered SSI (Scuba Schools International) courses rather than the PADI courses I had seen before, but the basic pattern of training was very similar and I had heard of SSI before so I booked for the half-day course “Try Scuba Diving” at a cost equivalent to about GBP 60.
My instructor for the course was Carlos, who had excellent English (I try, but my Spanish doesn’t go much beyond ordering coffee). I was relieved that Carlos turned out to be a former military dive instructor and local dive safety expert, so I knew he was in good hands.
The first part of the course was face-to-face and one-on-one, where Carlos taught me about basic techniques and safety issues such as pressure equalization, illustrating its importance when performing rod-based calculations and depth in meters. He did a wonderful job of linking theory to practice by allowing me to calculate the kinds of things that would happen to my eardrums if I submerged to 20 meters without equalizing, as well as what would happen to my lungs if I surfaced from 20 meters. while holding your breath (in both cases, the short answer is “bang!”).
From there we went to the pool and, properly equipped, I tried breathing underwater for the first time. Other than the drills (mask cleaning, recovery from a dropped regulator, and basic buoyancy control), I cannot describe the excitement of my first dive. Initially, like most novices, my concentration was on the breath, but I soon learned to trust the equipment and began to think about how the inflation of my lungs was affecting my buoyancy and used this to make brief buoyancy corrections while adjusting. the inflation of my BCD (buoyancy control device or “jacket” as Carlos called it). By about the third round, I was able to swim around the deep end of the pool keeping a constant 2-3 feet from the bottom and was able to switch to thinking about how I was wearing the fins. Carlos had pointed out that the goal is to make a leisurely effort rather than a frantic effort to conserve air, so I slowed my flapping speed, straightened my legs, and found myself sailing smoothly through the water and able to look around. This was the moment I realized I was finally doing it: I was diving in, looking up at the bottom of the swimmers, and riding with a level of comfort that, while I couldn’t allow myself to be arrogant or lax, allowed me to feel that I was here, I was doing it and this was my space to explore.
The final part of the training was a dive in the sea and for this we were joined by a couple of excited schoolgirls from Germany who were doing their next level of training. We drove to Amadores Beach in Puerto Rico, on the southwest coast of Gran Canaria, a popular crescent-shaped beach in a cove protected by two rocky breakwaters. Kitting up provided the opportunity for another lesson on gear and safety checks (I have to remember to put my tank back after connecting the regulator), then Carlos explained the hand signals for the dive and finished by joking that he would allow us “without mistakes” as we were diving in front of a rival diving school here. Walking onto the beach through the crowds of bathers was exhilarating as heads turned our way and I could almost hear the “damn I wish it was me” thoughts behind some of the envious stares.
I must confess that I was a bit clumsy both getting in and out of the water, in fact I stepped on my own fin on the way out and fell into the waves, but Carlos tells me that this is not unusual and you become less clumsy. with practice, so I guess this was a forgivable mistake. The entrance to the water was from the beach and initially the water was so murky with sand that I had to hold onto Carlos’s BCD to make sure I didn’t get lost. Once we were inside though, all I can really say is wow!
We made our way over the stepped sandbars, dotted with eroded volcanic rocks, to a depth of about 12 meters. While he controlled me and included me in underwater exercises (plus mask cleaning and regulator retrieval), Carlos’s main concern was keeping an eye on the kids and this left me free to explore while staying close. We gradually swam deeper until I had my first aquatic encounter, which was with a lizard fish. I hadn’t noticed it until I was about 2 feet away, when it started from its nearly buried or well camouflaged position in the sand. It launched a few meters further and since it was on our course, I kept swimming. This became a magical game of ‘tag’ where he would swim within a foot or two of the fish and the fish would lunge forward again. After three out of four attempts at this, Carlos signaled that we were going to turn right, so I had to outrun my golden friend and follow him.
This was not my only encounter with the denizens of the depths. Later, while kneeling at the bottom of the sea to do an exercise, I managed to disturb a hidden flatfish that made me jump. Later, when we were at the deep end of the dive, Carlos found a couple of cute little cuttlefish, one of which seemed quite happy to float above his outstretched hand while the girls tickled it. I’m not sure how long we were down, long enough to deplete my tank to 110 bars before heading back to the beach, but it felt like forever. Clinging to Carlos’s vest once more, we ascended through the submerged sandstorm and arrived almost exactly where we had entered. Taking my fins off and pulling them out of the water, I may have felt good going down the beach but coming back up I felt on top of the world. He had finally done it. I still have a lot to learn, but I could finally say that I had been diving.
Of course, divers need to know how to take care of their gear, so once we got back to the dive school, the final part of my lesson was to rinse and put away the gear I had used before saying goodbye to the girls and thanking Carlos for their encouragement, training and administration. He is an excellent instructor and I cannot recommend him highly enough.
Experienced divers would certainly not be impressed by what this dive offers, but I have heard before that you never forget your first dive and I would have to agree with this. This first dive gave me the opportunity to enjoy the richness, excitement, and feelings of freedom and accomplishment that come from exploring the underwater world. Since then I have read a few diving magazines and seen the incredible sights and experiences on offer on reefs and wrecks around the world. Thanks to the SSI web registration system, I can continue my training at any SSI dive center in the world, so I don’t know where my next dive will be. What I can say is that there will definitely be a next dive, and soon. Diving is everything I hoped it would be and more, and no matter what happens next, I’m sure I’ll never forget the thrill of that wonderful first dive.