Scuba Newb - Learning to Breathe Underwater

originally published July 14, 2017 Since this blog is geared towards my personal experiences as an older woman entering the world of scuba diving, let's focus on some of those specific challenges for a bit. Carrying your gear: As previously mentioned, scuba gear can be heavy. A full kit can run upwards of 35-40 pounds, and this can increase depending on the amount of additional weight each diver needs to control their buoyancy. Use caution when lifting and lowering your equipment, and don't be afraid to ask for a helping hand from your dive buddy. Don't be shy about talking to your instructor or dive master about any special needs you may have in this area. Seeing the sights: If you wear glasses, you have a couple of options. I myself am very nearsighted but, due to the refractive properties of water, I can see about 6 to 8 feet underwater with my mask on. You can wear contact lenses when diving, through may wish to opt for the disposable, daily wear type. That wa...

originally published July 3, 2017 Saturday had been great! I had a renewed sense of confidence in my ability to breeze through the rest of my training.  On Sunday, I hit the pool for some more practice, even trying the “manually inflate your BCD underwater” skill, which seemed all kinds of awkward but wasn’t that hard. I watched loads of YouTube videos on scuba training. I’m a kinesthetic learner: I need to actively do a thing in order to fully comprehend a thing. Watching the videos at least gave me an idea of what I was in for. I. Was. Ready. Monday afternoon I would be meeting with a different instructor from the shop, who I’ll call Will. Chris was booked into another class but Will had an Advanced Class in the morning and could meet with me in the afternoon. Destination: Lake Denton, which is tucked away far from any Florida city you’ve probably ever heard of, about 90 minutes southwest of Orlando. It’s another diving hotspot for those who don’t live on the coast, ...

originally published July 1, 2017 So… after my experience of having struggled through most of Confined 1, I was sure to do my homework. I practiced in the pool until my eyes were on fire from chlorine overload (dang community pools always use too much), and had my mask removal down pat. Or so I thought. Time to get back to school! I met with Chris and picked up my rental gear. This time we were heading to his preferred training spot, Blue Grotto, near Ocala. It’s a beautiful place, geared towards divers and dive training. They have a pool for confined water training and, just a few steps away, the spring for open water diving. Things went much smoother this time around. Chris hooked me up with a 63 cubic foot cylinder rather than an 80, which is about 5 inches shorter and a few pounds lighter. Even so, my old lady knees were not too happy with me. Climbing up and down the stairs at the pool with the full kit on was doable, with a helping hand from Chris. In the wat...

originally published May 28, 2017 As mentioned in my “Diving 101” post, there are several confined and open water dives a new diver must progress through in order to become certified. I had done my book work, taken my tests (scored a 93% thank you very much), completed my in-class final exam. I was ready! Let’s do this! OMG I’m so nervous. Am I crazy?! I met with my instructor, a friend of Guy’s who owns the dive shop near where I lived, and we mapped out our plan. Most students can complete their in-water testing in a couple of days. We were to begin at DeLeon Springs, a state park about 30 miles west of Daytona Beach. Here in the clear, calm waters of the spring, we could knock out confined 1-4 and open 1 on Saturday, then move on to confined 5 and open 2-4 on Sunday. I went home armed with tanks, regulator, BCD, weights and wetsuit, wondering if I’d be able to sleep. It would be an early start the next morning. DeLeon Springs State Park has a limited capacity and only all...

originally published April 24, 2017 As my lessons have begun, I’ve oft been asked “what got you into diving?” Dating a scuba diver is the obvious answer but there’s more to it than that. The more complex answer is… I don’t want to live a life in fear. Take a little walk into the past with me. 1982: The year my mother turned 50, the age I am now. Remember how old 50 seemed when you were a teenager? I was 16 when mom turned 50. I was youthful, immortal, courageous. This may sound harsh but...I don't want to be like my mother. My mother never properly learned to swim. She is afraid of the ocean and the deep end of the pool. When she was a teen growing up in New York, going to Coney Island was all the rage and, one day at the shore, an errant wave knocked her down and pulled her under. She never went past her knees in the ocean ever again. She’ll only go up to her waist in the pool. She doesn't eat popcorn. Why? Because she once got a kernel stuck in her throat and thought ...

originally published April 10, 2017 So. I'd met my knight in shining Aqualung. I'd had my first taste of breathing underwater. I was ready to pull the trigger and get my Open Water certification. But, as they say, life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. Let's go with the Reader's Digest version, shall we? There's an old saying among dive professionals: if you want to make a million dollars in the scuba industry, start with two. Guy's shop was forced to close unexpectedly and thus began a two year adventure of address changes and road trips. His work took him to North Florida, the mid-Atlantic coast, back to Central Florida, the Southeast Florida coast and, ultimately, back to North Florida.  All the while, I had been dealing with my own challenges - a house full of kids & (gulp) a grandkid, taking care of my elderly mother, working full time as well as being a part-time freelance writer. Guy, who wanted me in the hands of so...

originally published April 3, 2017 When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. How badass would that be, buzzing around up in the air like Maverick in Top Gun, blasting the Bad Guys and saving the world? By the time I was a tween, I had to accept that this would never happen. My eyesight was far too poor to ever qualify. Contact lenses and 5 G’s just don’t mix. Not to mention that this was an era in which women weren’t even allowed in combat, much less flying fighter jets. Still, I wanted to soar...somehow. Swimming was kind of like flying. Finning across the pool, somersaulting and cartwheeling through the water - it was a freedom I didn’t have on land. Here in the Present, Guy offered to give me my first taste of diving through a “discover scuba” experience. Many dive shops offer these introductions to scuba and it’s a great first step that requires little to no investment. Guy brought all his gear to my pool - masks, fins, snorkels, BCD, cylinders, regulators, weig...

originally published March 31, 2017 So, what would drive someone to want to learn to scuba dive at ... (I can't even type it) 50 (eep!) years of age? Crack a beer and let's chat. ​ Water has always been a big part of my life. Summers at the lake house, weekends at the Jersey Shore (way pre-Snookie), plunging into our backyard pool - these are my earliest childhood memories. In the mid 70's our family moved to South Florida. There I could be in the pool practically year round, my parents often remarking that I spent more time under the water than above it. ​ As a teenager, I dreamed of joining the high school swim team... only to have the team disband the summer before my freshman year. Bummer. But, my pals and I were always heading to the beach, taking the bus or piling as many as could fit into whoever's car we could borrow. Water, water everywhere. ​ My parents divorced when I was in high school and one of my cousins moved in with my dad and me. He was workin...

originally published March 30, 2017 This blog focuses on my personal journey as an older woman who is learning to scuba dive. There is no age cap on diving, but older would-be divers may wish to get the okay from their physician first, just to be on the safe side. Certain health conditions like having high blood pressure or heart disease are risk factors in diving, whatever your age, but that’s not to say these preclude you from getting under the surface. There are even some proven health benefits to diving when you’re older. Check out this blog post for more detailed information. http://www.leisurepro.com/blog/scuba-guides/health-benefits-scuba-diving-seniors/ Scuba diving certifications have many levels, and start at what is called Open Water. Classroom sessions (or online learning, which is more the norm these days) are combined with in-water training. Students progress through a series of skill tests, first in a confined water environment like a swimming pool or a s...