Yesterday, I went on my second session of diving, this time at a different area in the HK open waters. This would complete the minimum four confined water dives required to finish an O-liscense for PADI. This time, a tiny amount of my first tank/dive was spent reviewing the stuff from the first day and learning the last few maneuvers, and the rest of that tank plus the next was left for leisure with my uncle this time and his camera and housing in tow.
I am now… a SCUBA diver! It feels pretty strange knowing that, a week ago, I’d have never thought it something I’d enjoy so much, or get to really do so soon. I owe the introduction to this stuff to Keith and the actual teaching (in a comfortable and reassuring way) to my instructor Joe. He’s been doing this stuff since he was a kid and now he teaches, even though he’s usually quite a bit younger than his students (myself not included, being his youngest student ever). I can see how SCUBA divers (at least, the ones I’ve met so far) form such a tight bond and network with one another through diving.
Speaking of bonding, Keith and Joe both agree that diving is quite a special type of sport/activity, since it’s not based around competition, and more on sharing. Unlike most other sports, the main goal of diving isn’t to compete, but to simply enjoy. A large part of PADI training focuses on what to do to save your life through the buddy system, including stuff like lending of regulators (those mouth-pieces that you breathe from), sharing a single regulator (“buddy breathing”), and what to do if your buddy or you have any complications while diving. Another thing that makes diving so fun is the sharing of the experience after the dive. When two people go down together, what they see may be very different. A sea turtle behind my head might be missed completely if my buddy doesn’t spot it and show me or tell me about it afterwards. Similarly, I might catch something my buddy might have missed. In this way, two people diving together enhance each other’s dives through one another’s company and the extra set of everything (eyes, hands, equipment, etc…) while down there. Everything’s a little more fun with someone to share it with!
Now, before I leave HK in July, I am hoping to finish the A-liscense, allowing me to pass my current maximum depth of 18 m by more than double, going to a maximum of 40 m. Also, an A-liscense would allow me to go on more challenging dives, like those in sunken ships, underwater caverns, night dives, etc… Basically, a lot more adventurous stuff (but also quite a bit more dangerous, as, for example, there would be circumstances preventing a straightforward resurfacing if anything should happen). I want to take this course here in HK while I’m here since I’d much rather continue with my current instructor if at all possible.
Now that I’ve started, I am beginning to wonder when I can go diving next, after I return to Canada. Waterloo or Laurier, perhaps, might have courses or clubs to join for such excursions into the depths of… Canadian lakes? A dive in the Hudson Bay would require a dry-suit (suit filled with air for warmth) course, but could prove amazingly fun if one were to explore the innards of a sunken trade ship from Canada’s early days! Or maybe dive in Pamela Lake up by Longlac! That water is so clean, I would love to dive there and look for fish or sunken stuffs if I get a chance.
Apart from looking for excuses to risk my life with 10-20 meters of water between myself and readily breathable air, I am now growing slightly restless on land. I start wondering about gear I an liscensed to buy (like those badass harpoon guns). I have also been feeling wobbly on land ever since I stepped off the boat, freshly. Everytime I bend down to tie my shoes or pick something up, getting back up makes my feet and head wobble ever so slightly, for lack of waves. I didn’t and usually don’t get sea-sick (the one time I did was when I over-ate during a storm on a cruise ship), but I do get used to the tidal movement of the boat and then feel weird when I get back to steady land.
In summary of diving thus far, I can safely say that it’s one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever done (I haven’t gone sky-diving or anything like that so far, but I haven’t been doing exactly nothing so far with this life). The first breath underwater is a memorable one, but what I truly loved was establishing neutral buoyancy–where you’re not floating and you’re also not sinking–for the first time underwater. It’s quite possibly the closest thing to being an astronaut (I haven’t done that yet) and to elation possible with two feet firmly planted… in fins and suspended in water. Science says not all dreams can come true, but I beg to differ by, at the very least, coming very close. Now, if only I had a buddy other than Joe, say, a female one, I’d be set! Hm… but wherever shall I find such a(n) one?!