Open Water Course Part 2

Alrighty, here comes the next two days of the course. Day three, Tuesday, has been similar to day two. We did tons of diving skills in the pool and then hit the sea for further practice. Some of day three’s skills I did not like. We had to master an emergency ascent on one breath of air for thirty seconds. Now this was not difficult in the sea, but I found it extremely tough in the pool. Four attempts later I finally got it. We also learned how to skin dive or duck dive. Also, something that I do not really like, but I can see its purpose. Furthermore, we mastered taking off our equipment under the water and on the surface just incase something would need to be altered. That was not tricky as it may sound. Next, we went back to the sea to use the compass in order to navigate on the surface and under the water. We did a few more skills, swam around, and came back to shore. However, we got to see several exciting animals such as a Torpedo Ray and a Trigger fish which was beginning to dig the hole for nesting. Back at the dive school, I took the written portion of the course and I got a 96% on the exam! I am half way there to becoming a certified open water diver!!

Day four!!! Yay!!! Wednesday finally arrived which meant I would be completing my dives to become a certified diver!!! We went to the Fiddle Gardens in Sharm to complete dives three and four. During both dives, we practiced our pool skills in the sea so that our instructor knew we could do them in both bodies of water. On dive three, we saw a the basic fish of the Red Sea. However, on dive four, I saw all kinds of marine life specifically an Arabian Grouper, Lion Fish, Picasso Fish, and several Clown Fish. On that dive, we were supposed to practice hovering, but along came a Blue-spotted Stingray and then a few moments later a Giant Moray went free-swimming along the sand!! We were sooo lucky to get to see the eel out and about as they usually hang out in their holes. Later that day, I went on my first non-course dive and saw a free-swimming octopus coming out of its hole to go swimming around the area. Michael was finally active on day four of my course. He went on the boat with me but was not my buddy for diving. Instead, he was in a different group but in the same area. His dives consisted of the basic Red Sea fish that day. Yet to him, the most important part of the day was that his nose/sinuses did perfectly. There were no problems from the surgery, so that was a huge relief for him.

More on diving to follow from my days in the Advanced Open Water Course!!!