Last night JB told me he had found a class. A class to get us both certified in scuba diving.
JB has scuba dived many times but many moons ago. He loved it. Talked about it a lot. I have never scuba dived. I've snorkeled. But that's about as far as my water experience goes.
Now we have booked tickets to Mexico. November. The boys will be staying with my parents. Everything is planned.
JB is attending another Wilderness Medicine Conference there. I'm going with. Staying in a resort. Our first vacation without the kids. We are excited about it. It's a conference on dive medicine. How to help people injured while diving.
While there, JB wants to go diving.
Sigh . . .
He wants me to go with him.
We'd talked about it. I'd agree, with trepidation, to do it. But now? Hearing about the classes ... that they were real ... made me rethink things. He used the words, "Open water dive," and I just got a bit freaked out.
I disappointed JB. Told him I didn't want to do it.
Firstly is the fact that I am scared of diving. I'm not sure why. I love the ocean. I swim well. I grew up around water. But being so deep. Being with creatures. I just get scared when I think about it. What if my air runs out? What if I can't get back to the surface? What if I have to go into one of those hyperbaric chambers or something? What if the boat leaves me in the middle of the ocean like in that one movie?
I'm also afraid that I'll be horrible at it. That I'll fail the quizzes. That I'll be the class moron. Seems silly to not do something because you think you'll be bad at it. But that's how I feel.
I always considered myself adventurous. Willing to try new things. Maybe I was lying to myself. This is a new thing. And I don't feel very adventurous about it.
That isn't my only reason for not being sure. There is the fact that the class is two weekends in a row. Four to six hours on back to-back Saturdays and Sundays. JB told me he'd handle finding people to watch the kids, but that's a lot of time to be away from them and ask people to help. We have numerous babysitting options, but it just seems like a lot.
And it costs money. I'm pretty cheap. Don't want to spend the money on something I'm not sure I'll like.
JB says I'll like it, but he doesn't want to beg me. He wants me to do it with him because I want to.
I know I'll regret it if I don't do it. If I don't take the class in the next two months then when we get to Mexico, JB can go diving, but I can't. I know I'll regret that. I just can't get myself to be okay with it. And I want to be okay with it.
So I write this to see if there are any scuba divers amongst my blog readers. I guess I need some encouragement that diving isn't scary. That it's beautiful and majestic and freeing like JB tells me it is.
If you have horror stories, please keep them to yourself.
My mind is already generating enough of those.
18 comments:
I have been many times Wen. You will be fine. I have been to bermuda and the cayman islands. It is a great experience. Just think of this, I got certified in bermuda in two days and dove the wall there. It was 25 ft clear and beautiful then you go a little further then you are looking at a drop of 2 miles straight down. But you wont have to worry about that in mexico. I just remember having a death grip on my regulator with my teeth that my jaw was sore for days.lol.
Tony B.
But Tony, you are a guy. Guys are tough. You are a tough guy.
But okay. This did make me feel better. :)
I haven't been "scuba" diving. Yet. I have wanted to my whole life. I have done "snuba" though. We did it on our cruise a few years ago in Grand Cayman. It's sort of a combination of snorkeling and scuba diving. We had masks on and dove to about 20 feet, but we had floating air tanks on the surface, attached to our masks with long air hoses. It was a great "taste" of what scuba diving might be like and I Loved it!! I found that it was soo peaceful, since it's so quiet down there, I think that type of atmosphere might help you not be so freaked out, and you'll be with JB! =)
I went Scuba Diving about 10 years ago in St. Croix. It was amazing!! It's such a beautiful world under the water. I have no doubts that you will absolutely love it! My mom's biggest desire, before she passed, was to get her certification. She also was a HUGE fan of it. Plus, you won't be diving alone. So there will be someone with you to watch your back. Plus, it's the person who loves you most. He'll keep you safe :)
I am a certified diver believe it or not. I know that I wouldn't be though had I had to do my dives in cold water or lakes, but I got certfified in the Bahamas where the water is warm and clear. I think you will enjoy it. I don't like going down too far so I just stay where I am conformatable and at any point you want to go back up, you can since I am assuming you will be with other people... I would give it a shot. Maybe there is a way you can test it out before you shell out the money for the whole thing?? It is so pretty though being in warm water with the fish!
I will say that my brother LOVES it! Has scuba dived all over the place.
But...it is totally not for me and I don't feel like I'm missing out. Snorkeling is cool, too!
I don't know why I don't have an interest in it. I'm a little claustrophobic, so maybe that is part of it. Or maybe I'd just rather be on the beach with my book...hmmm... :-)
How awesome about your vacation, though! That will be great!
Ryan's mom is a diver. Ryan has been when he was younger. I am pretty much like you about the whole thing but if given the situation you are describing I would acutally do it with Ryan for the sake of doing it with Ryan! I don't do deep waters with creatures AT ALL. I love the beach and water when I can see! I NEVER close my eyes in ANY water. I watched Jaws at an age that was WAY TOO YOUNG! I also fear suffocation....so this would be a HUGE step for me but I would do it! And I am NOT a guy and I am CERTIANLY not tough! GO FOR IT! John will be right there with you! :) HAVE FUN. We can help with the boys for classes possibly. Keep me posted on dates and if/when you need someone!
Scuba diving is great! I too was very nervous about it but they teach you enough to give you confidence in your equipment (not to mention you'll be with a knowledgeable doctor if anything happens to go awry!). Theoretically though, it's significantly safer than driving a car.
There's nothing quite like breathing continuously underwater -- it's *very* freeing and relaxing. If it is a PADI course you're taking, your instructor might offer you a "trial" time in the water where you only go down max 20ft. It'll give you a chance to see how interesting it is! Hope it works out :)
i will try just about anything but i'm not that enthused about diving, either. i would try it, though, esp if jb asked :0
Wendi - I can't help but wonder if your reluctance has anything to do with the fact that you are now a mom of 2 beautiful kiddos? Parenthood really changes how much risk we are willling to take.
That said, when I am scared or nervous about an undertaking, I quite simply ask God to firmly open or close the door. As long as the door is solidly open, I walk through it. I TRUST God to do His part - keep me & those I love close to Him with open or closed doors.
You have to listen to the voices in your heart & head AND know that God has you solidly in His hands!
Good luck! It would be an awesome experience with your hubby if you choose to go with JB!
I am Amy ts's 65 year old mother and I am a certified scuba diver! I took the classes about 40 years ago because they were free to life guards at the local pool. Actually, the classes were in the pool and were not scary at all. Our final test dive was off the pier in Ventura, California and was great fun after spending weeks scuba diving in a swimming pool.
I highly recommend the whole experience---it opens up a whole new and beautiful world for you.
I used to be a scuba diving instructor. If you do the PADI course, you watch videos, get a manual to read, class instruction, then practical lessons in a swimming pool (or confined water that matches the conditions of a swimming pool), and you're with the instructor the whole time. They drum the theory and skills into you so much that you can't help but learn. You can't move on to the next stage until you're confident in the first stage. The quizzes really are easy - and if you fail, you just go over where you failed and do another quiz. The open water course teaches you what to do in an unexpected situation - if your air runs out or your mask strap breaks or you get tangled in something. In short, you learn how to save yourself. An instructor isn't going to make you do something you can't do, and they won't certify you if you can't complete everything in the course (if something happens to you, they could be liable, so they need to be confident that you can do it).
There are introductory dives you can do - they're like a try before you buy. You go with an instructor quite shallow and breathe underwater - see if you like it. If you do, then you can sign up for the course. Maybe this is for you.
Good luck.
Tanya.
I do it. I love it! I am certified but Randy is not. When we went to Grand Cayman he took a little day class and I took it with him as a refresher. It included like a 3-day certification or something. It was really great and wasn't a big time commitment for us. DH had never been and I've been in Florida, Fiji, and Grand Cayman. Need to do this again someday.
Ooh, look at my mom up there encouraging you to go, too. You have to do it now!
Love.
Oh, yeah. I've done a night dive and a shark dive! It's not as scary as it sounds once you're down there. The night dive freaked me out a little, but it was so surreal and calm down there. And we saw a lobster.
I feel very much like you do when it comes to diving so unfortunately I can't be much help. But I have just said a prayer for you asking the Lord to give you courage and a spirit of adventure. A verse from Psalm 139 also came to mind:
"If I rise on the wings of the dawn, it I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."
Wen, my dad used to take me when I was a kid when we would spend summers in the Bahamas. I never had any formal lessons or was certified, but I survived. It was in open water too. I say take the class so at least you have your certification. If you don't like it after you are certified then don't go with JB in Mexico...BUT if you like it then you can go! I know when we have families priorities shift and adventure takes on a a whole new meaning; however, you are still a woman and wife (in addition to mother) and deserve to have some fun!!! Try it you may like it. :)
~Holly
I'm not a scuba diver, Wendi...so no comments there except that I hope you have fun!...but I just wanted to point out that you said, "I'm going with." You DO realize that this is a TOTAL MINNESOTAN PHRASE, right??! We don't say that in the south, so I had to comment when I read your inner Minnesotan coming out!
You will love it. I actually find it easier than snorkeling since the breathing feels more like normal and you don't worry about waves hitting your tube. Plus, it feels like the fish should talk to you...like you managed to fall into "Finding Nemo". Do it, you will love it!
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