Feeling like a Mermaid. Scuba Attempt #2
After the epic fail of an attempt of my group’s first scuba experience, we decided that the following day would be the perfect time to try to redeem ourselves. That next morning, my original scuba group, Wes, McDowell, Dominik, and I, along with the new scuba group, Jackie, Alex, Karina, and Davis, all jumped into the long boat again with all of our gear and headed back out to the private island to practice our scuba skills.
The weather was a welcomed changed compared to the conditions of the day before. The sun was shining, and the water was crystal clear blue and as calm as my fears about the adventure. As we approached the training waters, Leaf informed the veteran scuba divers that we could snorkel around the island while he taught the new group how to do the basic scuba maneuvers. While left to our own devices, my fellow scuba buddies and I spent the next hour and a half swimming around and exploring the shallow waters around the island. Compared to the day before, it was almost incomprehensible how different and beautiful the waters were. It felt and looked like something you would see on a traveler’s postcard. About 100 yards off the island, Dominik, McDowell, and I found the most beautiful corals and fish inhabitants that I had ever seen. This was my first time ever seeing such brightly colored underwater life, and it was a surreal experience. Time flew by quicker than I had ever experienced it, and before I knew it Leaf was hollering for us to join him on the boat for our actual scuba dive.
After taking another twenty minute boat ride into the open water, Leaf gave us the familiar instruction to take the fall off the boat and meet him ten feet under the surface. With experience under my belt already, I had no hesitation this time in taking the drop off the boat and submerging my air-loving body into the depths of the salty ocean below. Once Leaf hadmet us under the subtle waves, he instructed us to follow him further down the reef shelf. We would trail behind him for the duration of the dive as we explored the life around us. I could hardly keep from smiling the entire time I was underwater. It felt like I had entered this strange new world where I was able to experience sights and sensations that I had only been able to see on television or read about in books. I swam as closely to Leaf as I could in order to catch every interesting piece of underwater life that I could. Leaf took us up and down the side of the reef wall and even over some deeper coral pieces so we could examine the hundreds of different types of fish and other swimming creatures.
While I did thoroughly enjoy my adventure under the sea, I did experience a brief moment of utter terror while swimming fifty feet under the surface. About twenty minutes into our dive, I began to lag behind Leaf so I could look more closely at the world around me. I should mention that the entire time during my dive, I was having a difficult time with water getting into my scuba mask since I had already lost my person mask. I had to borrow a mask from the lodge, and it did not fit as snugly on my face as I would have liked. Noticing that Leaf was getting further away from me, I tried to clear my mask as quickly as I could by holding the top of my mask against my forehead and blowing out through my nose as hard as I could.Unfortunately, I did not hold my mask as tightly as I needed to against my head and my entire mask flooded with water. In my horror of having my entire mask filled with water, I accidently spat my air hose out of my mouth. There I was, fifty feet under water, mask filled with water, and my air supply missing from my mouth. By what I can only assume as being the grace of God, I found my air hose dangling beside me, cleared it and quickly put it back in my mouth. Ithen held my mask as tightly as I could against my forehead and cleared it. After what felt like a lifetime, I was back to my original state of safety with my mask absent of water, and my air hose fitted properly in my mouth. About the time that I had regained my composure, Leaf finally decided to turn around and check on me. He gave me what I can only assume to be a curious and confused look then shot me the “are you O.K.” sign. I quickly signed back “I’m O.K.,” and continued my swim at his side.
After our dive was complete, Leaf signaled for us to surface again and swim back to our boat. Once I reached the water’s plane, I quickly spit my air hose out of my mouth and began to ramble about how this had been one of the best experiences of my entire life. I could feel my face getting sore from smiling so big and for so long. We all climbed back into the boat, and aswe rode back to The Mango Creek, we all sat in quiet bliss relishing in the experience we had just had.
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