As a young person, I learned about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and I thought how exciting it would be to go there. It was a dream I held onto. The biggest challenge, however was learning to scuba dive. That is one challenge I wasn’t willing to chase at the time. I’ve not found enjoyment being underwater, in fact I barely put my face in the ocean, and then it’s only to snorkel (on the surface). Jumping the waves, boogie boarding, walking on the beach? Sure. But no surfing or swimming in the ocean for me. I let my dream of seeing the barrier reef simmer on the back burner, thinking of it only occasionally as the years sped by.

It’s been easier to enjoy the ocean since I moved to Baja Sur, because I’ve spent more time snorkeling, swimming in the waves, and I learned that I can dive under the waves to get out farther. Before I would only go out as far as I could and keep my feet on the bottom. Now I do more than jump the waves like I did as a kid. But a respectful fear of the ocean has always been with me.

Coming through the whole cancer treatment gave us both a pretty clear message: We have to live. Really live. Experiences are what we crave now. We have always been frugal, saved money, not spent much on travel, etc. Owning things has much less significance to us these days. Adventures have greater appeal. I don’t think I’ll be on my death bed talking about how I owned an iPad or a great closet full of clothes. No. I’ll be talking about the trips I’ve taken, the thrills and the risks I’ve had.

So let’s go to Belize. We’ve paid for the airplane trip, put a deposit on the hotel and some excursions offered by the hotel like cave tubing and zip lining in the Belize jungle. When I learned that Belize had the second largest barrier reef, my old dream came swimming back into my consciousness. It isn’t Australia’s barrier reef, but Ambergris Caye in Belize is known for diving and snorkeling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize_Barrier_Reef

I’m including this next link to an article about the wonderful sights and activities in store for us.

http://www.thisisinsider.com/ambergris-caye-best-destination-in-central-america-2016-7

This will be a trip of a lifetime so I must face my fears. Why would one go all the way to this famous dive paradise and not dive? Greg is all in. He’s a water man already and has been most of his life. We have done a fair amount of fishing together in a 16′ aluminum boat of our own when we lived in the Pacific Northwest. Since moving here, he’s drawn into the sea to surf almost everyday, and he loves to snorkel, diving down while holding his breath. He has reminded me many times of all the things I miss by staying on the surface.

Apparently now, as I approach my 72nd birthday, is the time to learn how to scuba dive. I’m nervous, but like I said, “I want to live before I die.” Some girls go swimming; real girls go scuba diving.

Our longtime young friend, Michele, recently took up free diving/spear fishing in Cabo San Lucas, so we asked her if she knew anyone in Cabo who could give us scuba lessons to become certified. We’re in luck. She knows Benoit, who owns The Ocean Tiger’s Dive House, a hostel in Cabo. He is a member of PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors). He has all the skills and the equipment and he partners with Cabo Diver so he can get us out into the open ocean.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/mx/ocean-tigers-dive-house-cabo-san-lucas2.html

After a week of thinking about this leap into scuba diving, I decided to reach out to Benoit. I set us up for the open ocean diving class, and we decided to do it in three days. First day is watching an information video (4 hours long) and then doing skills in the pool. We spent 11 hours the first day immersing ourselves into this new activity. Lots to learn. Second day is the first real ocean diving. Third day is another couple dives in the ocean proving you can do all the skills.

It took me 15 minutes to get into my wet suit. It was still wet from rinsing it out from the last person who used it, making it even more difficult. I was a sweaty mess by the time I pulled it all the way on. Greg had to help me (a lot). Next we got fitted with our BCD (buoyancy control device) and our fins. Off we go to the Cabo Diver boat in the Cabo marina. Am I nervous?  You bet. But I’m going to do this.

The boat trip out for our first dive was crazy. There are a bazillion boats in Cabo. Some are filled with drunken tourists (many of them, in fact) and others bring thrill seekers who want to snorkel, jump from the rocks, and scuba dive.

The thrills of diving are numerous. The ocean is another world, rich with beauty and filled with creatures I’ve only seen in photos. Learning to be a scuba diver is hard for me. I did  well after the first 12 minutes of flailing around trying to get down. I did everything wrong. Did I apply anything I learned the day before? No. Instead I started hyperventllating and lost control of my body and mind. Benoit is looking at me like, “What are you doing? This isn’t what you learned.”

Finally, I settled into it and found myself at the bottom seeing the sights you can’t see from a boat. No photos there, as we are spending a lot of time performing our tricks (skills) and reality is we are too distracted with being in the water with a heavy tank on our backs and all this stuff on. Controlling our breathing and our bodies to make them get to that weightless place gliding in the water is enough for now.

We got to experience rays jumping in between dives. Always a thrill to see.

My second dive of the day was pretty much a disaster. I was tired already and really had experienced all I wanted for one day, but the plan was to make two dives. I probably should have opted out and taken more time for all this fun. But I went back in at the appointed time, and while I’d done pretty darn good during the first dive, I lost control of myself and began breathing in really deep and exhaling with the same vigor. Not the kind of breathing necessary to perform a dive, that’s for sure. What a disappointment I was to myself.

 

People learn at different rates. Greg had the advantage of being comfortable in the water, having been a surfer since he was a kid. He’s more of a dare devil in the first place. No fear. That’s him. Me? I resemble a chicken sometimes.  We have another day coming where I can redeem myself. Oh my! Two more dives and I have to prove I can do it.