Dive BVI

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J is now a certified PADI Open Water Scuba Diver! After 4 days of intense work with "Scuba Steve" and his wife Sara, he graduated at the top of his class (of one). The classroom and shallow water part of the course were conducted at Little Dix Bay - I know, life's rough! He made 4 dives off the Dog Islands: Coral Gardens, the Chimney, Cockroach Island, and the Visibles. These locations also had great snorkeling which CM happily explored. We saw numerous large barracudas, lobsters, sea turtles and one nurse shark. The water temperature at the surface was 88F and at 60 feet below, 84F.

The dives were each right around 45 minutes in length, the first day we had 2 dives to 40 feet, the second day 2 dives to 60 feet. Each dive you start with around 3000psi of air, and you should return to the surface if you drop to between 300-500 psi. I ended up with 1300-1500 psi at the end of each dive which they told me meant I was pretty comfortable under water.

You may notice in some of the swimming pictures that we are wearing shirts. These are "rash guards" that we got at Dive BVI. They not only protect you from coral scrapes, but have an SPF of 50 - perfect for CM's fair skin. They are made of nylon and are form-fitting whereas the plain T shirts we normally wear for snorkeling are cumbersome and heavy when wet. We love 'em!

After the final dive, we celebrated with a massage for two at Leverick Bay Spa....ahhhh!

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Photos

Bruce Willis Ruins All Films
The mnemonic for the buddy check. BCD, Weights, Releases, Air, Final OK.

Go!
Scuba Steve pushes you off the boat to make sure the tank doesn't hit the deck.

Buddies for Life
My "scuba buddy" was a divemaster from Israel who had to lead a dive and participate in the training to get the advanced certification. He is on a "5 year trip around the world", acting as a captain on private yachts with his girlfriend. He sarcastically called me his buddy for life...