Scuba Weekend!

Ugh I really suck at this... it's been three weekends now since I have blogged and I've done some great stuff in all three of these weekends. Do share? Oh I will.. enjoy

Weekend 1

Paul, my roommate, recently got his open water scuba certification and has since convinced me to get my advanced with him. I thought for the longest time that my asthma and my messed up ears would prevent me from scuba diving again, but after a few doctor visits, I was told otherwise. LUCKY ME! So the two of us signed up for the advanced course and would do six dives (two a day) Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Friday's first dive did not go too well as it had been nearly five years since I got my open water and scuba'd last. We had to wake up at around 6:00am, which going out the night prior did not help.. The first dive, I was extremely nervous, sucking down my air rather quickly and couldn't really enjoy the massive rays, sharks, and fish that I was getting to swim with! The next dive that day was at Cook Island which went better than the first as I began getting slightly more comfortable. Still, I could have been better. This time I saw a few turtles which reminded me of the high surfer turtles from Finding Nemo. 

The next day we came back to Cook Island and saw dozens of turtles all swimming - stoned - around the place. This was our underwater photography dive course so I got to take a bunch of pictures of Paul and myself with the wide green turts and even saw a few sharks roaming around. The next dive was similar, but it was our drift dive course which means we find a current to hang out and minimize our energy spend-age. This allowed us to have a pretty long dive of around 45-50 minutes which was great. Now, I was very comfortable underwater and was able to enjoy it so much more. 

The final day we got to wake up a little later around 10:30 for a 12:00/1:00pm dive. I was much more energized and awake than the previous days due to the extra few hours of sleep. This time we did our deep dive which took us to 30 meters (~100 feet) deep. The water at this depth absorbs many colors of light forcing everything to look rather grim and dull. Our instructor, Emma, had a flashlight which, when she shined on the walls this deep, showed the vibrant colors of the reef. But once she turned it off, the world become dull and grey/blue. We got to swim through several schools of fish on the two dives this day which was so cool! Swimming with literally thousands of fish is quite the thrill. I also got to get up close and person with a lion fish, which at the time, I was unaware of the fact that they are venomous and this one in particular was mid-hunt mode. Smooth Zac.... Smooth.... We got to play with more turtles underwater - scratching their backs (they enjoy that) and saw a bunch of different kinds of sharks (shovel-nose sharks, lion sharks, great whites... just kidding no great whites - obviously i'm still alive). 

I realized that scuba diving is the one thing I like far more than any other hobby or interest I have ever had. My passion. I could dive everyday.. loveee it! You should all go, it is impossible not to love - I promise.