Scuba Diving!

I was able to experience the wonders of scuba diving thanks to 5 Star Scuba. We were going to try to get certified but it would have taken 3 whole days of classes and we didn't really have the time to do it. So instead we were able to to a beginning course. Needless to say it was fun, but very scary at the same time. The first 45 min were spent going over the different things we needed to know about scuba diving.....

This was our amazing instructor. I don't remember what his name was but he was so incredibly nice and informing! Plus he had some pretty cool tattoos of tribal sharks on his forearms!  

This is me getting suited up for scuba diving! The tank was so heavy when you weren't in the ocean! I can't even begin to tell you how taken aback I was when I stood up. 

My Uncle Mark getting suited up!

Colton getting suited up!

Ryan Getting suited up!

Before we were able to go out on the ocean we had to practice in the pool. This was pretty fun, but this is where I learned how hard it was to breath just out of your mouth. Plus people in the pool were kind of dumb, because even though they were staring at us because we looked like aliens they couldn't help but run into us even though they clearly saw us there. 

This is us in the ocean getting ready to go scuba diving! Now I thought it would be pretty easy and I was excited! But then I found out it is actually really hard. When you go down into the ocean there is obviously a lot of pressure. So every 5 or so feet you are supposed to plug your nose and blow to leave air pockets in your ears. When we first started our decent into the ocean it was very hard for me to get my ears not to be uncomfortable, and I looked down and realized that I was the only one having problems because everyone else was already at the bottom of the ocean at about 30 feet. So I started panicing. Probably not the best thing I could have done but it was scary, and the air from the tank was so dry that I couldn't feel like I was getting enough of a breath and it felt like walls were closing in on me, but obviously it was the walls of the ocean. The instructor came over to me and helped me get down towards the bottom. Once I was there he grabbed my hand and held it and guided me around. I got to see this amazingly huge turtle and I was calm! His hands were so soft and comforting. I'm not sure I could have kept going if it wouldn't have been for him. We were down on the bottom of the ocean for 45 min or so and then it was time to go back to the top. He released my hand and that was that. I was very thankful and glad that the experience was over. I had fun, but it was so stressful! Maybe if I had more practice I would enjoy it more, but I knew that I didn't want to do it again on our trip. Thank you so much Five Star Scuba for the great experience and for hiring such amazing instructors! And thank you instructor for having such a calming effect on me, and for also having very soft hands! :)