A real intro dive

My second dive wasn't until 3 years later in Negril, Jamaica in September 2009 while on our honeymoon. We stayed at Couples Resort Negril where one of the inclusions was scuba diving. Unfortunately, diving was only free for certified divers. Non-certified divers like myself had one free intro dive - additional dives were available but for a fee since.. well.. we needed a baby sitter.

One of the pre-requisites for the intro dive was a swim test. It was probably 100 m in their pool, but the instructor stopped me after a few lengths. Guess it was more of a "show-me-you're-comfortable-in-the-water" kind of a test. At the time, Maggie wasn't a strong swimmer so she didn't bother. Another couple were sent away because one of them struggled with her lengths.

The skills session in the pool was easy because they were the same as what we did in Thailand. I just needed the refresher. But unlike the dive in Thailand, this dive was off a boat in real open water.. I was excited! It was just myself and one other diver (let's call him Kevin) on the boat. I remember the instructor telling me that Kevin was finishing his open water certification, and tried to sell me on doing mine as well. He said it was a really good price at the resort since the cost of the dives themselves were already included. I did consider it but looking back, I'm glad I passed as it worked out better to do it together with Maggie later.

The dive site had a very sandy bottom and aside from the usual fish, I remember seeing a lot starfish in the sand. I assumed Kevin was mostly finished his certification because the only thing he did on that dive was tag along and take pictures. The instructor asked him to take a picture of me with a starfish on my head, which he did. I gave him my e-mail afterwards but never saw that picture. Ah well. I also remember seeing a stingray cruising by in the distance, which was pretty cool.

This time, I had to control my own BCD. I remember buoyancy control was a bitch that first dive. The entire time, I kept inflating and deflating my BCD trying to get a good balance. It really hit home when, at one point during the dive while we were waiting for Kevin, I saw the instructor effortlessly suspended vertically in the water - arms crossed and legs just kind of hanging there. Meanwhile, I was flapping my arms and kicking my legs and inflating/deflating my BCD. It was clear that I was doing it wrong. I commented on this back on the boat, but can't remember most of what he told me... only that it would come with experience.

Oh, I and also.. this was the trip where I flooded Ronald's camera. The sad thing is it wasn't even during a dive (not that the housing could have survived that depth anyway).