The Well Soled Expat in India: I'm Padi Certified!

At the Dive Shop - Euro Divers on
Kandooma Island, Maldives

If you have read my earlier blogs, I committed to learning to scuba dive based on the words from my husband "what will we do when our kids grow up." The classroom session was easy to pass and being competitive, I was driven to have a high score. The pool test was a bit more traumatic for me, feeling claustrophobic I freaked out about five times in the first ten minutes. However, I passed and actually figured out I liked the scuba. Fast forward 6 weeks and we have landed in the Maldives to complete our open water certification. The first dive was in a closed off lagoon area where we would demonstrate everything we learned in the pool. Walking across the beach to the dive dock I was feeling queasy. I started to sweat, shake and panic that now I would have to remove my mask in the ocean and real fish would be near me. Doug was very understanding and told me I could skip. It would save us money and I should only do something I wanted to do. Mentally I tried to pull it together and the alternative of sitting on the beach with a beer seemed like much more fun. However I rallied, if i failed the test in the ocean it would be a sign but I would never know until I tried. To my surprise, I LOVED it. I was able to take my mask off, clear the water, hover, remove my tank and BCD under water with no problems. After our test dive we signed up for the following morning to complete our first open water dive. It was amazing, we went 12m deep (36 feet) the first trip saw amazing huge fish and I felt very peaceful swimming along the reef. We completed a total of four open water dives and now can go 18m deep. Will, Doug and I now want to complete our advanced certification - taking night dives, learning to use different types of tanks and exploring more places in Southeast Asia. The best thing about the scuba for me was how clear your mind becomes when you just focus on breathing and seeing sights you never imagined you could get close too. I have had several moments since we have been back in the last two weeks where I just wish we were diving and being 18m under is a nice place to be.