How did you spend the last weekend of spring break?
I spent the weekend underwater, literally. On Thursday, with a group of about 19 others, I headed down to Fort Lauderdale to complete my open water dives for Scuba certification through NAUI. It was an amazing experience.
On Friday, we dove 3 times throughout the day. The first dive was all about getting our feet wet, so to speak. For many of us, it was the first time we’d ever used SCUBA in the ocean so it was a learning experience. For the second dive, we worked on skills. A few of these skills included: recovering our regulators, clearing our masks, and buddy breathing. The third dive – probably one of my favorites of the trip – was all about exploring a reef off the cost of Florida.
On Saturday, we dove 2 more times. On the first dive, we worked on buoyancy (a skill that we will all continue to work on every dive) and ventured out to a 2nd reef off the coast. On the second dive, we fought some strong currents and bigger breakers on our shore entry. Even under the water, the currents were strong.
When I say that the experience was amazing, that doesn’t mean it was completely uneventful. On the third dive, I tried to lose one of my fins. On the fifth dive, my tank came loose. And that’s just my story, but with the great instructors that we had, everyone made it through and earned their certification.
Interested in learning how to scuba dive? Want to pursue your own open-water certification?
I’d be happy to recommend instructors.
Or just stop by City Lights Coffee (141 N. Market Street)
and ask for Gregg!
