Scuba certification

So, I've always thought that it would be awesome to scuba-dive.  Putting thought into practice is another story.  I've put it off because I am actually claustophobic AND terrified of drowning.  Plus I've never lived close enough to the ocean, nor had the funds at the right time.  This year that all changed!  I am living on an island, so there is water all around me (another phobia I have, but about that another time) and diving is just another "adventure sport" that Kiwis are found of.  Then my friend Ly tells me about a "grabone" deal with scuba certification for $350 NZD (which was only $270) was too good a deal to pass up!  As most scuba diving certification can run you around $500!  So I signed up, did the online portion and then had to do the underwater parts.  The first part was in a pool.  Many reasons for this, not too deep, controlled, etc.  Then comes the open water dives...

This is where I did my first open water dive!  It was completely different than diving in a pool.  My instructor was great!  Very competant, patient and friendly.  It made it much easier for me to get over some of my fears and do something I've always wanted to do. 

These two photos show where we did our fourth and final dive before we were certified.  We were out there for 43 minutes.  It's amazing how quickly time passed out there!  I saw many kinds of fish, two types of star-fish, a sea slug, all kinds of annonimities (hahaha, I don't think that's spelled right!), and plants galore...AND a small octopus!  That was so cool!

 

And I'm going to Fiji this weekend and I am going to scuba-dive there too!  I hope to be able to take under-water photos, but it will depend on if I can find an underwater housing unit for my camera. 

It's amazing and I'm SO glad I did it.  Diving in fresh water is different than in sea water, so you have to wear weights, and the air-tank is heavy.  It is SO hard to walk after being bouyant with all the equipment once you get out of the water!  I need to walk around with weights on my back at the gym to prep for more diving! :-D

 

Underwater pics to come as soon as the instructor is able to send them.