PADI certification dives 1 snd 2

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I'm coming home in 2 weeks (yeah!!), so my days have been filled with preparations, packing, and doing all the things it seemed like I would have plenty of time to do, but now am scrambling to fit in. Like diving. When I first arrived I went snorkeling quite a bit. And being that most of that was done on the island side of the reef, the water is shallow enough to feel very involved and close to the ocean life. So I didn't see the benefit of diving and didn't push it.
Today, however, I dove for the first time! I've been reading the PADI certification book quite a bit, so was a little familiar with terminology and procedures. But it was nothing like jumping in the water today! My biggest fear was breathing. Would I be able to get enough air, would I feel like I was choking, would water get in my mouth. And the pressure thing. My ears have always been very sensitive. Would I be able to equalize?
Our first dive was on this side of the reef at the cut, which I am very familiar with. I snorkel there most often. It's near the channel the boats use to enter and exit the ocean past the reef. There is also a 'ship wreck' there, and lots of sea life and coral. So after 5 minutes, I was very comfortable breathing under water, and any anxiety I had subsided. This had a lot to do with the incredible Dive Instructor I had. I went with Oliver Stuart with Cari'Bean tours. He is married to my good friend (and boss) Carrie. We didn't stay down too long, however. Just long enough to learn some basic skills like taking the regulator (the breathing apparatus) out of the mouth, let it float around, and find it with your hand, and clearing the mask of water.
For our second dive, we went through the channel to the other side of the reef. Today was a little choppier than it has been earlier this week, and if was any more choppy we would not have gone over today. But we did, and it was so incredible just to boat over. The waves were huge and the boat just bounced around in them. At times it seemed the boat was almost vertical and I was looking almost straight down at my 2 captains by the motor. Then we would crash down and another wave would pick us up. Kind of like we were in a giant surf board! So it was a little rougher over here, but I had done this once before, so it seemed all right. This time we went quite a bit deeper. So as we were descending we had to equalize constantly, and go very slowly. Once we got to our depth we saw some pretty cool stuff. Of course there was the beautiful fish and coral. The coral pieces are much bigger over here. I would say around 30 feet or more in some areas depth wise. I noticed a 5 or 6 foot nurse shark laying on the bottom and pointed it out to Oliver. He swam right over to it and picked it up by the back fin. I swam over to pet it. Oliver was able to turn him around and look at his belly. This shark had a hook around his lip and a fairly long line attached. He didn't seem to be too injured by this as far as I could tell. His mouth was all intact. That must have been a fight though! Then we saw some more rays, and a sea turtle. I had only seen one other sea turtle, so they are a little more rare, and rays are all over the place here. (You can see them while walking along the piers or swimming in designated swimming areas.) Then we swam over some deep canyons, went a little deeper and came up. You have to come up very slowly as well so that your ears can equalize along the way.
I think I am hooked! (Not in the same sense as the shark.) I have 2 more dives with Oliver to become certified.
The rest of my time here will be filled with all sorts of fun Caribbean activities. Tomorrow is Lobster Fest, and Sunday is a friends bday party. We will be spending the day on a catamaran, and visiting our neighbor island, Caye Caulker.
Wish you were all here with me!

Jennifer

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