We were supposed to have DVD training this morning but the electricity is down and so Marcos just talks us through chapter 4 and 5. These are the most technical and teach us about what happens to the air in our lungs under pressure. It also talks about some of the problem you could have with nitrogen poisoning and collapsed lungs. Scary stuff, but at the end of the day, if you follow the rules this isn't going to happen. I sit with Jeff and we joke about how some of these people in the class haven't a clue. We are shown how to calculate bottom time based on depth and work out the pressure group your body is in after a dive, based on nitrogen levels. Interesting stuff. Another short break and then we are to meet back before heading to the boat.
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We get our gear packed up and in to our bags and then we head on to a pick up to the pier before getting on the boat. I have gone for smaller fins today and so hopefully that will reduce the cramping risk. That's the hope anyway. So before we get to the dive site James talks us through the skills that we will be doing. Everyones favourite, mask removal and a swim around with no mask, running out of air, buoyancy checks and then we will go for a little dive. First we have to display another basic swimming skill and swim round the boat twice, no problem, although Jeff goes at it hard and by the time he is finished he is wrecked. I remind him it wasn't a race and he is not 20 anymore. So we head down and James tells us to set up our gear, with no instruction to see if we can remember from yesterday. No problems, except I turn the air on while the pressure gauge is pointing at my manhood, luckily the glass didn't shatter. Ha. Standing around on the boat with all your gear on is not pleasant and so I am pleased when we reach the dive site. We do the giant stride off the back of the boat and in to the water before inflating the BCD and then off we go, a surface swim to the area we will be diving at. My girl feet are already sore from the kicking across the surface and I can start to feel the fins taking the skin off my toes. Soldier on, p****
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We get to the site and deflate our BCD while equalising on the way down to prevent sore ears. It is not deep, maybe a couple of meters and we all kneel in a circle round James. The water is so clear and we can already see plenty of fish, swimming round us, between our legs and everything. There are even fish biting at our ears, a funny feeling. We practise all our skills here in the sea, all except the Czech girl who is really struggling, in fact she ends up going back to the boat and takes no further part in the afternoon dive. Man up! Ha, I'm so considerate, but I mean it may be the cheapest place to learn to dive, but it is still £200 so I'd be making sure that I got my monies worth, or else not bother in the first place. I am having some issues in the salt water, my mask it letting the water in and it is stinging my eyes something shocking. I signal to James and he comes over and tightens up my mask for me, now it is too tight and pressing against my head, I can't win. As usual when I try something it takes me a long time to get the equipment right so I am in no pain. I think back to how many combinations of socks/shoes/plasters I went through playing 5-a-side before my feet stopped bleeding. What is wrong with me? Ha. Anyway it doesn't stop me, just probably in more pain than I should be. So once we finish our skills we get in to our buddy groups and swim off after James. Wow! It was amazing! You use your breathing to control your depth, so as long as your weight belt is correct, by taking in a breath you will rise and by releasing a breath you will sink. So when you are diving you can lift yourself over rocks and coral by simply breathing in. As I am used to swimming I tend to take a sharp breath in and then release it slowly, so it is a bit tricky for me to make my inhale and exhale the same duration. This has the result of me sinking more than I rise, but with some practice I'm getting the hang of it. The underwater world is amazing, literally hundreds of fish everywhere. We we shown a list of fish before we got in the sea, but I can't remember any names. The colours are beautiful and as I get this diving thing under control I can really appreciate the epic views. It is over far to quickly and we are back on the surface practicing more skills, removing weight belt, removing BCD and doing a buoyancy test, before heading back to the boat. We get out of our gear and then pack it all away in to our bags before we arrive back at the pier. The sun has been shining all day and I could definitely get used to this diving malarky. On the pick up and back to Buddha View. We get all the gear washed and then we are free. We have the final exam tomorrow morning then the afternoon on the boat.
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I grab dinner with Jeff and Charles at a restaurant just down the beach from Buddha View. You know if they had offered me free wifi in Buddha View I would probably have stayed there to have beers and dinner, but because they don't I head to somewhere else, and they get all my money. Daft I think, especially as I am doing the diving with them, you think the wifi would be free, aww well. Dinner is good as usual and I only have 1 beer and I'm not out late. Back for another cold shower. How lovely.