SCUBA Certified!

Woo hoo, you're reading the blog of a PADI certified SCUBA diver! Benjamin and I passed our final tests last weekend in Monterey with flying colors. I was a little nervous because I had come down with a cold right before the trip. You're not supposed to go diving if you're even the faintest bit sick due to the pressure in your ears. I wasn't about to bail so I sucked it up and went anyway. Luckily, my ears equalized fine for the most part. Shore diving, especially in Monterey, isn't all that glamorous. We had to assemble and put on all our gear (about 50 lbs worth) from the beach, walk to the shore, and then put on our fins while we were in the water. Needless to say, our backs were a little sore. The water was cold - about 55 degrees - so we were decked out in two 7mm wetsuits, a hood and gloves. Visibility ("vis" in diver lingo) was awful, probably about 1 or 2 feet max due to students kicking up the sediment. We were able to swim around and once we got away from the test site, the water was a little clearer. We saw a lot of kelp, starfish and even a crab! The first day was tougher mainly because we had more skills to complete over three different dives. I felt a little nauseous in between, probably from bouncing around in the waves. The second day consisted of just two dives covering one skill each. Afterward, our group went to a pizza place to celebrate the completion of our certification - it was kind of sad to say goodbye, we had somewhat bonded as a group. Benjamin and I are thinking about taking the Advanced SCUBA course so we can go down to 100 ft (our current certification only allows 60ft). Supposedly, the cool marine life hangs out around 90 ft. I can't wait for some boat diving in the tropics!