It was always with a mix of envy and admiration when I see or hear people talk about diving. It had always seemed one of those things that seem so difficult to learn or need a lot of guts to do. After all, you are entering one of the last unexplored frontiers on earth. A frontier without ready supply and availability of oxygen - the critical ingredient you need to live. The home of extremely scary predators like Great White Sharks. And unknown monsters of the deep like giant octopuses or ugly prehistoric fishes. A pretty daunting world indeed to the uninitiated.
Well, the boss came up with a grand plan of a company/diving trip. And we all went along for the ride. We had to do our pool sessions over the weekend - I was in the last group before the actual trip to Tioman. Going into my pool sessions, my head was already spinning with stories of how my colleagues in other groups had fared. Exhaustion, nearly drowning, puking, cramping... not a very rosy picture. I also had to put in some last minute cramming of the materials and hoped fervently I remembered enough for the multiple choices to trigger some correct answers during the exam. It was with some relief that the pool sessions didn't turn out so bad - I actually had a good time and there were lots of funny moments for the group. My previous stints at swimming and being relatively comfortable in the water helped. The most embarrasing thing for me just turned out to be the struggle I had to put up getting into the wet suit. Those things are pretty darn unforgiving you know.
But the week leading up to the actual dive trip to Tioman, I was a little anxious. It was all fine and dandy in a relatively shallow pool where you could always kick yourself up to the surface if you panic or cling to the sides if you're tired. But open sea? Unfathomable depths? Salt water? Currents and waves? Not to mention those scary predators and unknown monsters? Should I make my will before I go?? After an overnight journey in a freezing bus, we arrived bleary-eyed for the ferry at Mersing. Finally reaching the resort, we thought we'd have rooms to check into but no such luck. The resort was full and we had to wait another couple of hours before we could get to our beds. And we had to start our first 2 open water dives that very afternoon - I pondered on whether it is possible to drown by falling asleep underwater.....
The beach at the resort
After getting a scant hour's nap, we had our lunch and soon enough, it was time for our first dive. I pushed all doubts and anxiety to the back of my mind and focused on the activities at hand....And you know what, except for the fact that my body fats made descending to the bottom an excruciatingly slow process, it all turned out pretty smoothly. Weather was good, water was pretty calm and the salt water didn't sting much when I had to practise filling up and clearing my mask underwater. The first dive was pretty boring in terms of things to see but it was just cool to be actually under the sea and learning to be comfortable with our skills. Time just passed so quickly that all too soon, we were back at the surface and making our way to our second dive spot. Which turned out more interesting as there were lots more beautiful corals and variety of fishes to admire. I am however confessing to the fact that I probably killed some thousand-year coral when I was learning how to control my buoyancy - a fact that I deeply regret and will try to make up for. After the second dive, we had to do some exercises on the surface, which was actually a lot more tiring than being underwater....That night, I was in a zombie-like state due to the lack of sleep from the bus ride the night before and all the physical exertion for the day. But I was happy how things turned out. We enjoyed a nice sunset, chit-chat, and retired early to catch up on our sleep.
By Day 2, I felt like a pro. Gearing up, back-rolling into the water, doing my skills - eat your heart out Jacques Cousteau! My body fats were still a problem for my descent, and I couldn't control my buoyancy resulting in my floating up all the way to the surface on Dive 4, but hey, why sweat the small stuff? We did one extra dive after the final mandatory Dive 4. Now, Dive 5 turned out more challenging as the waves were choppy and the current was strong. We were OK going down and underwater, but surfacing and getting back to the boat was tiring. The boat couldn't pick us up as we were in a shallow area near the corals and rocks, so we had to swim our way for quite a bit through pretty big waves to get near the boat. Man, that was tiring. No matter how much I kicked, the boat just didn't seem to get any nearer! Being swung back and forth as I was clinging on to the ladder to get up the boat was not too fun either.
My dive buddies
At the end of Day 2, I could finally sit back and have a beer, revelling in the knowledge that I had actually completed the course. So, that's basically the gist of my Open water course experience. If anyone is considering it and had doubts, I'd say go for it. It really is not too hard if you are already comfortable with water and have a reasonable fitness level. I'm not sure how much diving I'd actually end up doing as I've always had more affinity with mountains that I did with the sea. But I certainly am going to give it a few more go-s as I think the enjoyment increases as you get better at it. A new door to underwater adventures and experiences have now been opened to me. Now if only I had more time and money.....
2 comments:
Hey, how come no photos of you in the unforgiving wet suit? Would have been funny to see..ha ha ha
Hardy har har. Actually, the wet suit acted like a corset and I actually looked good in it...bwah ha ha
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