Open water certification

Well its official I am now a certified open water diver after completing my fourth dive and all the skills tests.

The breakdown of dives are as follows:

24/09/2012

Dive 1: Mango Bay           Dive time 30mins             Max depth 9.3m

It started as all opened water first dives start with a 200m swim around the boat without fins, mask or dive gear. We then made our way down the guide rope to the sandy sea bed.  Following Chris around the dive site in formation you find yourself concentrating on breathing and making sure you don’t fall out of line. That is until a huge ball of fish trevally fish swim past you which is then you start to look around a bit more. Before you know it’s time to make a controlled ascent to the surface. At the surface we complete our first skills tests in open water and then its back on the boat for our surface interval before the next dive.

 

Dive 2: Japanese gardens             Dive time 36mins             Max depth 8.3m

Relaxed by the success of our first dive we settle into a early smooth and energy saving diving style. The Japanese garden site is a coral site compared to Mango bay site which is mostly sandy beds. Its a good site for us to practice our depth control. As you come up to a outcrop you fill your lungs full of air and the extra buoyancy takes you up and as you reach the other side of the outcrop you steadly breath out which then takes you back down. It’s a smooth and graceful motion that takes a while to get used to as the up and down movements are delayed, but towards the end of the dive we are all getting pretty good at it. It’s mostly butterfly and Rabbit fish on this dive and before know it it’s time to complete some more skills tests before we surface. A tired group then makes its way back to base with beaming smiles.

 

25/09/2012

Dive 3: Hin Peewee / Sattatuk Wreck      Dive time 28mins             Max depth 18m

It’s a early morning start and the sea is a bit rougher than on previous days. We have a video diver with us for today’s dives and because we completed most of our skills test yesterday the mornings dive is just going to be a fun one.  We make our way to our required depth without the aid of a line then set off around the site.  Through the blue appears to be a old world war II gun boat with a gun emplacement on the front desk and cabin on the aft. It’s too deep for us to get a really close look (when we are certified it’s a site we may return too), but we get a great view as we circle over the top like a school of fish. After the wreck we swim to the Hin Peewee which is a huge outcrop of coral.  As we swim round fish appear from all directions. Groupers, Trigger fish, Butterfly fish and file fish. We just missed out on seeing a turtle, but may get the chance later if we are lucky. As we are now at ease in the water and the camera is on its time for us to try out a few moves. A few spins, hovers   and kisses blown at the camera later and its time to end the dive. To the surface and to start our surface interval time before our last dive of the day. The waves have picked up a little so most are now feeling seasick, with me and a few others emptying our breakfasts into the sea. Time to get back under the surface were seasickness doesn’t effect the body.

 

Dive 4:White rock                     Dive time 40 mins                Max depth 17.6m     

As we have impressed over the time with our instructors we get to enter the water using the dead Mexican technique which basically means standing on the side of the boat and letting yourself fall backwards until you hit the water before the first of our last skills tests. The bottom is more sandy that the last 2 dives and we kneel on the bottom to complete our last skills tests. Skills tests completed its time to have some fun with the video diver.  Having practiced the technique on dry land it’s time to see if we can blow air rings. After a few goes I get a few messy rings to form and only crack one perfect ring (like the one’s Chris the instructor has been blowing for fun) which I hope was caught on camera.  After a few more spins, superman poses, etc for the camera its time to end the dive. On breaking the surface Chris and Cidney had out the fist punches and congratulate us on completing our open water certification. With the formalities completed on dry land it’s just a matter of seeing how the video turned out and getting our PADI certification cards. If I can I’ll post the video on hear and facebook.

I’m feeling it may be a early night tonight after a celebration beer with the rest of the gang and instructors. Then tomorrow it’s time to start studying for my open water advanced qualification and maybe a turtle, reef shark (the ones that swim around eating plankton with their mouths open not the ones with lots of teeth that bite), a wreck ,etc, before it’s time to move to Hong Kong for my next adventure.