Diving Update - Open Water Certified!

While the kids' school year started with a bang as usual, my own "Scuba School" finally wrapped up two weekends ago as I finished my open water training dives. I was so thankful to have had a gorgeous weekend to do 4 dives on the north coast of Taiwan, especially since last weekend seemed to be Worldwide Hurricane Day, with stormy monsters menacing both our homes. (Still waiting to get more information on our Houston home, but from what neighbors could see, damage seemed to be trees and fence.)

The dive sites were about an hour drive from our part of Taipei so we were suited up and in the water by about 10am both days. In an "only in Taiwan" moment, we had to swap locations for the dives because when we pulled up to one of the dive sites, a religious festival was in full swing complete with clanging cymbals, firecrackers and people dressed up like dieties. Would have been a little tough to push through the throng in a wetsuit and scuba tank. Once we got to the other dive site, though, things went smoothly. The two biggest challenges honestly were walking across the parking lot and out onto the rocky outcroppings with my 70lbs of gear--I am not the buffest of gals, as you know, so "heavy" is an understatement--and then getting from the rocks into the water. For our first dive at Pitou harbor, I was supposed to do a classic roll back into the water from a squatting postion. Unfortunately, I hit a slick patch on the rocks when I got to the edge, busted my tail and just scooted in from where I was so gracefully seated. I did manage the roll back on my second dive, though.

My memories of the first day of diving are a little hazy. It was all about kicking properly and mastering bouyancy control, learning to descend and ascend at a gentle steady rate, and practicing some of the basic skills like recovering my regulator if it got knocked out of my mouth. Day two saw us able to dive at Longdong Bay--the festival was over. The drama for me was a giant stride (i.e. free fall) into the water from a small cliff. I know it was only about a 6 foot drop but I kept thinking, What if I smack my the back of my head on my tank valve or something? It took me a few minutes to psych myself up and actually, it was kind of fun plunging into the water like that. The highlight of that day had to be finding the octopus on the coral reef. By end of the second dive I was pretty wiped out. To exit the water I had to pull myself up onto the jagged, volcanic rocks--I was so thankful for no waves that day. I heaved myself up and lay there for a few moments, then removed my mask and wiped my face, not realizing that I had silty mud all over my glove. I also learned from my instructor that I had a nice trail of blood and snot coming out of my nose. Ummm, pretty.

Here are a few pictures from the dives. I was ecstatic to meet this personal goal, and we're already planning dive trips for the remainder of our time in Asia. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me!