A few years ago I learned how to scuba dive. A local diving shop taught the course in the evenings over a period of a few weeks. Lessons started out in someone’s backyard pool and then we progressed to diving in a local quarry that had filled with water.

The initial lesson went well but an incident during the second lesson almost made me give up the pursuit. Each scuba diving apparatus comes equipped with two breathing masks. Since you always dive with a buddy, this second mask is a backup in case something goes wrong. During the second lesson we were learning how this works, by simulating a failure of my mask and the requesting my partner’s mask. This exercise is supervised by the instructor. My partner went first and his transfer went well and without incident. He pretended his mask failed, and requested my spare and I successfully pass it over to him and then we swam to the surface together. Piece of cake. When it was my turn, things went smoothly at first, but when I went to take a breath from the alternate mask I got a mouthful of water instead of air. I panicked and headed for the surface immediately. This was ok in a pool since we were only 4 feet down but in a real situation this would have been a huge mistake. So as I bolted for the surface the instructor was trying to hold me back. So I swallowed a lot of water. ( Apparently somehow during the transfer, I had put the mask in my mouth upside down.) For a while, I didn’t even want to get back into the pool. However, I was determined not to give up and did go back in and even though it was very hard I did go back under for a few short dives.

The next lesson I was still very fearful of the entire experience but luckily I had a patient instructor and by the end of that next lesson I had mostly overcome my fear and was getting excited about the whole experience again.

Diving in the quarry was rather exciting though there wasn’t a whole lot to see down there. A couple of fish and some discarded junk. The fish were rock bass and blended in very well so they were hard to see. However, they were curious and the two fish were usually close by as we did our exercises.

Once the lessons were finished I wanted to go on some real dives and the opportunity soon came. I received an invitation to come diving in California. We were going to do a few dives in a underwater park of the Catalina Islands and then spend the night on a dive boat and spend the entire day diving in various locations along the California coast.

This was a fantastic experience. The fish were much more plentiful and colorful. We had a fantastic time exploring the ocean floor and the wide variety of fish and plant life. The underwater park even had a sunken boat that could be explored. A very small boat, but beginner divers shouldn’t be exploring larger vessels anyway. ( They have an entire course for doing that.)

There was a wide variety of divers on the dive boat, different skill levels and also different objectives. Most of the divers were like myself, just doing it for the experience and the thrill of exploring under water. However, there were a few divers who were there as hunters, going for scallops or lobster and other seafood. I only remember that scallops and a few lobsters were taken. I remember the scallops in particular since one the divers who had snagged a good number of them was cooking some in the galley on the way back to shore. Being a newcomer to the sport I was offered a couple to try. They were the best scallops I had ever tasted before then or since. I am sure that the atmosphere and the excitement of the moment had something to do with it but it was still a great taste experience. And a great scuba diving experience.

Someday I hope to scuba dive the reefs of the coasts of Austrailia. I also hope to one day dive with the turtles in the seas around Hawaii. Until then I will try and keep my skills up by diving in less exciting locals and continue to have a great time with this incredible sport.

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