You are here: Home / Archives for dive tips

How did I get here? Part 2 – The Indirect and Complicated Route to PADI Discover Scuba Diving in The Philippines

July 31, 2015 By Dive With Mia

Last week, inspired by some people asking me about my life and how I ended up where I am today, I posted my initial feature entitled:  How did I get here?  The Indirect and Complicated Route to Scuba Diving Happiness – Part 1.   At the moment, I am spending time in the Turks and Caicos Islands while starting my own Truli Wetsuits business in Canada and almost every time I meet a tourist, they ask:  ”So, how did you end up in Turks and Caicos?”  There is a simple answer (I accepted a job offer as Purser on the scuba liveaboard Turks and Caicos Explorer II), but there’s also a way more interesting and convoluted answer which I’m having a lot of fun writing about.  In my last post, I ended with me taking a job as an English Teacher in Tokyo, Japan upon graduating from university in Canada and now I will continue to tell my story of finding a way to try scuba diving and adventure on my first backpacker’s trip to The Philippines…

Now that I was unleashed on the big wide world as a Truli independent adult, I was determined to follow my passions and do what I had always wanted to do.  1.  I wanted to travel and explore.  2.  I wanted to try scuba diving.  After working 6 months at the language school I was entitled to some vacation days.  All the teachers would talk about their amazing adventures in Thailand and rave about the lovely culture, food, and fantastic shopping, but I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing already.  There was this free magazine for foreigners in Tokyo and there was a page that advertised all of the prices for travel and I noticed that the Philippines was pretty much the same airfare as Thailand.  I decided I wanted to go to the Philippines.  I went to the international bookstore and bought the Lonely Planet guidebook to the Philippines as well as  the Frommer’s guide to South East Asia and started to study where was the best place to go scuba diving.  Although the most famous places for scuba diving were advertised as Cebu Island and Boracay, I fell in love when I read about the island of Palawan in the south west side of the country.  The guide book described this place as “The Last Frontier”.  I booked my flight from Tokyo to Manila and then straight to Puerto Princesa on Palawan and back.  I was feeling pretty nervous about this big adventure all on my own, but it was what I had always wanted and I felt like I finally had the opportunity to do something amazing and bold and I did not want to let that pass me by.  But luckily for me, I think my enthusiasm inspired some excitement in my co-worker because just at the last minute she decided to join me on my trip!  I was stoked!

People had warned me about Manila being super dangerous and I was quite anxious considering I didn’t really know what I was doing.  I had booked one night in a little hostel near the airport before we flew the next day to the island, but we needed to call and confirm when we got there.  But neither of us had any money or coins for the phone.  We were standing by the phone trying to figure out what to do when a man who looked like he was in the military (they were all over the airport) and with a very large gun walked over to us.  He generously offered us his phone card so we could use the phone.  This was the first of hundreds of positive cross cultural encounters I would make in my life.  Although I was still on edge of my new surroundings, the kindness of the “scary” stranger breathed some life and confidence into me as we hopped into a taxi to head to the hotel.

That's Mia snorkelling for the first time off a boat in The Philippines!

Palawan, The Philippines

Over the next week we took a Jeepney across the island, which fell off the road at one point.  We paid some local guys to travel even further up island by water.  They caught us some fish and put us up in a hut on a deserted island with no electricity.  But more importantly, they lent me a scuba mask.  This was the first time in my life that I swam in an ocean and looked beneath the surface to see the colourful wildlife below.  I remember being absolutely enthralled.  It’s interesting to think back to that moment and wonder if it relates to how much I love introducing people to scuba diving.  I love that I am the one that gives others the opportunity to see all the amazing things below the surface of water.

Our final destination was El Nido, which is on the northern tip of Palawan.  We arrived by boat and I faintly remember a light drizzle with rainbows as we arrived with a back drop of tall craggy cliffs jutting out of the ocean amongst the multitude of blue hues of the sea.  We immediately signed up for a PADI Discover Scuba Diving course for first thing the next day.  I was so elated that not only was I going to get to try scuba diving, but it was going to happen in this exotic little village in the South Pacific!  The next morning we went to the dive shop and travelled by boat to a secluded white sandy beach on some island.  There were three of us girls and one instructor.  Besides my friend and I, the other woman was a Filipino from Manila who, much to my surprise, had never tried scuba diving.  She told us her brothers were all instructors and she loved the water, but just never had the chance to go.  I could totally relate, but couldn’t believe with all the beautiful waters that surround her country that she could wait

That wetsuit is exactly the reason I decided to design my own Truli Wetsuit line!

El Nido, Palawan, The Philippines

so long!  Our instructor made us some lunch and then briefed us on the skills and dive we were about to do.  We walked across the white sandy beach and into the ocean to do our “pool skills” and then we swam off together!  I felt like a natural and was so excited to see a black and white sea snake!  It looked so amazing as it slithered through the water column.  I don’t think in all the diving I’ve done since then that I’ve seen anything like that again.  So that was the day that opened a whole new world to me and started a journey that has taken me to where I am today!

We desperately wanted to stay longer in the village and do more scuba diving, but alas, I had very responsibly booked a return flight from the town all the way at the southern end of the island and needed another day of travel to get back there, so off we went.  As soon as we got back to Tokyo, I was on a mission to figure out how to become a certified PADI Open Water diver as soon as possible, which you can read about in my next blog post!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How did I get here? Part 1 – The Indirect and Complicated Route to Scuba Diving Happiness

July 21, 2015 By Dive With Mia

I went out for a drink last week with some people who we had become friends with over on Long Bay Beach on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.  We

Long Bay Beach, Provo, Turks and Caicos Islands

Long Bay Beach, Provo, Turks and Caicos Islands

spend a large portion of our days over there escaping the relentless heat of our non-air conditioned house in the heat of July in the Caribbean.  There you can always find some relief from the heat via the wind or a dip in the ocean.  It’s only a 1 minute drive away.  The beach has become famous for kiteboarding and most tourists visit at least once, fall in love with the soft sand, shallow calm waters, and decide to return again and again.  After some casual chats about life on the island and about the Truli Wetsuits business I am starting up, this tourist began to probe me with questions about how I got to be where I was today.  I realized that I have answered those questions quite a few times over the years and as time passes the stories seem to get more and more interesting.  Life is not a smooth ride, but my determination to combine work with my passions has taken me all over the world and has challenged me in ways I never thought possible.  I’m addicted to those challenges!  And so it began…

Did you ever want something as a child that you weren’t able to have that followed you into adulthood?  That was how scuba diving was with me.

I remember being a kid and wanting to learn to scuba dive so badly, but was never allowed to due to the cost it would entail especially if all 3 of us kids were to learn.  Growing up in Canada we had the good fortune of spending summers at my grandmother’s cottage on a lovely clear lake where I learned the expression:  “water-logged”.  We swam in the lake, went fishing, canoeing, water-skiing, and even sailing.  I loved to gaze into the water and imagine what was below.  My curiosity was endless when it came to what lay beneath the surface of the water.

As I grew older, I often looked into things like scuba clubs, but while at university, I had other priorities that put the scuba diving on the backburner again and again.  Instead I focused on non-profits and began my volunteer experience as the Trip Coordinator with Habitat for Humanity.  I learned about leadership, fundraising, and having fun while doing something meaningful and it finally started to lead me on some unforgettable international adventures to builds in Jamaica and Costa Rica.  Upon graduation from Wilfrid Laurier University at the age of 22 and with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Language & Literature as well as a minor in Development & International Studies, I packed up my bags for a dream-come-true-first-real-job adventure in the vast metropolis of Tokyo, Japan.  I was a brand spanking new English Teacher at a conversational school in a city of 13 million or so people who spoke a language I knew nothing about.  I had never even eaten sushi before or been on an airplane beyond Costa Rica.  I’ll never forget how I felt when my dad dropped me off at the airport in Toronto for my flight to Tokyo.  I had no idea what I was doing having never been to an airport by myself before let alone travelling across the world alone for a new job.

As strange as it might seem, Tokyo, Japan is where my scuba life began!

In my next blog post, I will write about the first time I tried scuba diving while on my first backpackers trip to the Philippines!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Part 5 – Your Lungs & Scuba Diving: Easy, Breezy, Breathing!

November 25, 2013 By Dive With Mia

What’s the most important rule in diving?  Never hold your breath!  If you remember one thing from your dive course, that’s usually it; but do divers really know why it’s so important?

This is the final post in a series on air and its relationship to 5 key areas in diving that I’ve been writing about.  If you haven’t already done so, take a peek at the introduction for some important background notes to ensure you understand the basics about air and pressure.  These are directly related to what we’ll be talking about here and I encourage you to explore any of the other topics as well to expand your diving knowledge!

Understanding Air and its Relationship to 5 Key Areas in Scuba Diving

Part 1 – BCD Air Inflation/Deflation and Buoyancy: A Balancing Act!

Part 2 – Equalizing Your Ears: Let’s Get Popping!

Part 3 – Equalizing Your Mask: Don’t Squeeze Me!

Part 4 – From Tank to Breath of Fresh Air: The Journey!

What happens if I hold my breath while scuba diving?

Do you remember when I talked about how the air inside your BCD will expand as you swim up, even just a metre or a few feet?  And the need to let some air escape to maintain your position?

What would happen if you didn’t let that air escape?

Well, you would continue to float upwards and the air would continue to expand and cause you to float up faster and faster – a potentially very dangerous situation because divers need to ascend slowly from every dive (no faster than 18m or 60ft/minute).

Just like your BCD, your lungs have air inside and if you don’t let the air escape as you ascend (even just a metre or a few feet) you can do some serious, if not fatal damage to your lungs and body.  Considering that, let’s get back to that #1 rule in diving again – Never hold your breath and always keep breathing! If you do hold your breath and you ascend, the air in your lungs will expand and keep expanding until any of these life threatening possibilities might happen:

1. Lung over expansion injury where your lungs over stretch from the expanding air that is forced into the chest cavity, otherwise known as pneumothorax (collapsed lung).

2. Lung over expansion injury where your lungs over stretch from the expanding air that is forced into the space between the lungs and around the heart, otherwise known as mediastinal emphysema.

3. Lung over expansion injury where your lungs over stretch from the expanding air that is forced under the skin, otherwise known as subcutaneous emphysema.  I saw this once when a teen was goofing around on his safety stop and the surge brought him up while he held his breath.  The sound of his voice sounded strange and he told us what he had done.  We gave him oxygen and he stayed in the hospital for observation for a day or two, but was okay.

4. The most dangerous of all, Arterial Gas Embolism where the expanding air pushes its way through the tissues of the lungs and into the blood stream where it could cause a blockage to your brain or elsewhere.

To learn more about these and other news and research in diving, check out the DAN website and these articles I referred to when writing this:

Decompression Illness:  What is it and What is the Treatment

Mechanism of Injury for Pulmonary Over-Inflation Syndrome

So, if you are ever in an out of air situation and you need to get to the surface in order to breathe (and your buddy is nowhere to be found or also out of air), remember to swim no faster than 1ft/second and look up while making an “ahhh” or humming sound with the regulator still in your mouth.  The air that is in your lungs will expand as you go to the surface but will be able to escape as you swim up.

Breathing and Buoyancy

Ensuring that you are always breathing during scuba diving not only protects you from fatal injuries, it also allows you to enjoy a more comfortable dive.  Let me explain how your lungs and breathing contribute to buoyancy in scuba diving…

At first thought, it may be difficult to imagine your lungs like a big internal balloon that gets bigger as air goes in (inhale) and smaller as air goes out (exhale), most likely because we don’t actually think about the act of breathing as it happens.  However, the image of a balloon is a perfect example of what our lungs are like.  Just like a balloon, when it is inflated, the balloon floats and when it contains very little air, it sinks – just like our bodies in diving!

Maybe you’ll remember a time when you were VERY excited about a dive…or maybe even a bit nervous and no matter what you tried to do, you could not descend at the beginning of your dive.  You probably didn’t realize it, but you were most likely breathing very quickly with short breaths in and out.  This would have caused your lungs to stay very full of air – which would have made you float!  Remember – Breathe out! Your body won’t forget to breathe in, but by thinking about your exhales:

1. You will feel more relaxed and in control of your breathing as you deliberately push air out of your lungs after each breath in.  If you are excited/nervous, this is also the way to regain control of yourself and feel calm.

2. You will be able to descend more easily as you remove air from your lungs by consciously pushing a nice breath out as you go down and then continue to breathe naturally once you are underwater.

3. You will use less air by producing nice long exhales with every breath in and not have to end a dive early due to low air.

So, if you’d like to descend a metre or a few feet, a nice slow exhale out will cause your lungs to deflate and your body to drop down in the water.  This works the same if you would like to rise up a little – just take a deep breath in, exhale a little bit out, and then another big breath in, and you are likely to start to ascend.  In order for you to keep yourself from ascending more, breathe out completely and to maintain your position in the water (not go up, or down), a steady rhythm of inhale/exhale will keep the volume of air in your lungs consistent to keep you hovering in the same spot.  It is important to note here that while you may not be breathing in a regular rhythm while you are adjusting your position in the water, you must never hold your breath – even just for a few seconds – to maintain your position.  This is called “skip breathing” and can result in carbon dioxide levels which are not being expelled properly to become elevated in your body and may result in you passing out underwater.

Using your breathing as a tool to manage your buoyancy is a technique divers are always trying to perfect.  Practice every time you go out diving and don’t forget the number 1 rule in diving!

I’d love to hear from you – Please don’t hesitate to send me a message here, or on my Facebook page and let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

Safe and Happy Diving

DiveWithMia – PADI Scuba Diving Skills, Experience, and Passion for Life!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Part 3 – Equalizing Your Mask: Don’t Squeeze Me!

February 27, 2013 By Dive With Mia

The third part in the scuba dive relationships with Air discusses the impact that air has on our masks at depth.  If you haven’t done so already, take a look at my briefing on how air is affected underwater to give you some background information first.

Have you ever wondered why scuba divers can’t use swimming goggles for diving?  Well, there is a very important reason that relates to air and pressure.  Your dive mask covers your eyes as well as your nose (unlike swim goggles) because just like the air space in your ears/sinuses, the air inside the mask becomes denser as you go underwater.  As the air becomes denser inside the mask, it pushes up against your face like a suction cup.  We need to achieve the same goal as with the ears and BCD – maintain a normal amount of air inside the airspace and we do this by pushing air into the space through our nose and into the mask and letting air escape as it expands.  This is called “equalize the mask”.

Mask Squeeze

Sometimes (not all times), if we forget to blow air out our nose and into the mask upon descent, we may end up with a “Mask Squeeze”.  This happens when the mask suctions onto your face so tightly that it bursts some blood vessels leaving a lovely bruise ring around your eyes, perhaps a black eye or two, or more commonly, bloodshot eyes!  This is very easily avoided by giving a puff or two out the nose as you go down.  Don’t worry about expanding air in your mask as you ascend because the air will naturally escape through the skirt of your mask .

Mia’s Helpful Tips!

  1. To select a properly fitting mask, place the mask on your face without putting the strap around your head.  Breathe slightly in through your nose.  If the mask does not fall off your face and you don’t hear or feel any air being sucked in around the skirt – You’ve got a good fit!
  2. If you tend to be a ‘nose-breather’, an exercise you can try in order to train yourself is to wear your mask while you are out of the water (around the house!).  Open your mouth to breathe in and then close it to exhale through your nose.  You will notice the mask popping off your face just a little and the air escaping easily just beneath the skirt of your mask.

Tusa Freedom One Scuba Dive Mask

Mia’s Dive Mask Recommendation!

The mask I am using at the time I wrote this article is called the Freedom by Tusa.  It has an exceptionally soft skirt, a lovely field of vision, and if you have any interest in liberating yourself from unattractive goggle-y eyes – this mask definitely tops the sexy list!

 

 

 

Feel free to send me a message via Contact Mia if you have any questions regarding this topic and definitely check out the other articles in this 5 part series including Understanding Air, Your BCD, and Equalizing Your Ears and Sinuses, Your Tank and Regulator, and Your Lungs & Breathing.  If you “Like” it make sure you let me know on my Facebook page DiveWithMia!

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Part 2 – Equalizing Your Ears: Let’s Get Popping!

April 10, 2012 By Dive With Mia

In my introductory post, I explained, in basic terms, what happens to Air when you go beneath the surface of water and in Part 1 I talked about buoyancy and the relationship between Air and the BCD.  In this post, I will describe the part that Air plays on our Ears and Sinuses and how we adjust our bodies to that with some super tips to help you in one of the most common challenges as new divers!

Even if you don’t know anything about scuba diving, there is a general understanding that something happens to our ears when you dive down deep and similarly when we’re on an airplane.  Many people even feel afraid to give scuba diving a try because of some discomfort they felt while free-diving.  Sometimes they think that the discomfort will be worse while scuba diving because typically it’s deeper than free-diving, but this is not necessarily true!

Ear Diagram

Ear Diagram

Let me first explain a little about our Ears and Sinuses… There are tubes leading from our ears and sinuses to our throats and they are filled with air.  As soon as you go underwater, our bodies feel the pressure and the weight of the water on these spaces as the air inside them becomes “smaller” (read my intro for more info on why air becomes “smaller” underwater).  The tubes are squeezed together by the pressure and the result is discomfort.  Our goal is to maintain a normal amount of air inside this airspace and push open the tubes, so we “equalize” it to the surrounding (“ambient” pressure for each depth).  We do this as soon as we go underwater and every 1m/3ft before any discomfort is felt.

It’s so easy to prevent any discomfort simply by pushing air into those spaces as you go down and we do that in 3 common ways:
1. Take a breath in through your mouth, plug your nose with your mouth now closed, and then try to breathe out your nose (while it is plugged).  This will push the air from your lungs into the ear tubes and sinuses instead of out your mouth/nose where they normally go.  Your Ear and Sinus air spaces open up!
2. Swallow and wiggle your jaw.  You can tilt your head from side to side and try to stretch your neck to try to help your body in letting the air get inside those tubes and air spaces.
3.  Do #1 while doing #2!

It’s also important to note that, as we talked about in the previous posts, not only does air change when you go down↓, but it will change when you go up↑.  You will remember that, as you swim up, you must manually release air from your BCD to adjust for the expanding air; however, with our Ears and Sinuses, we are lucky in that our bodies will release the expanding air naturally for us.  There is nothing you need to do with your Ears and Sinuses upon ascent.

So, just before I go into my tips, I want to point out a main difference I’ve noticed between free-diving and scuba diving with regards to equalizing your ears.  Many people (including myself) feel discomfort while free-diving because the descent tends to be very rapid – you’re holding your breath after all!  Whereas, with scuba diving a typical descent is slow and controlled, so you have the time to “clear” even the most sensitive of ears before ever feeling any discomfort.  Just like anything else with diving, it does take practice, so make sure you take your time!

Mia’s Helpful Tips!
1.    Prevention. Remember – equalizing is a preventative measure.  It’s a common misconception that you should wait until you feel discomfort and then try to equalize.  Don’t Wait!!
2.    Having Difficulty. Don’t push too hard!  The tissues inside your ears and sinuses are very delicate.  If you are having difficulty equalizing, ascend up 1m/3ft where the pressure is less and try again.
3.    Cold and Allergies. If you have a cold or allergies, the tubes and sinus air spaces will be swollen and filled with mucous (fluids).  You won’t be able to push air into these areas sufficiently OR the air that does get in may not be able to get out upon ascent.  As you swim up, it will expand inside the tubes and sinuses resulting in much pain called a Reverse Block and possibly permanently damaging these delicate tissues.  Try snorkeling on days that you have a cold/allergies!  Sometimes the salt water is just as good as a nasal spray with saline solution to get those boogies out!
4.    Changing depth. Remember – equalizing is not limited to your first descent along a line.  As you follow a sloping bottom, don’t forget to continue to equalize.  You will always need to adjust the amount of air inside those spaces depending on whichever depth you go to.
5.    Ear Plugs. If your ears are prone to infection, you may be using ear plugs.  My preferred ones are Doc’s Pro Plugs.  Make sure you purchase the ones with a pin hole so air is able to escape upon your ascent!
6.      Cleaning. I usually use a half and half mixture of alcohol and vinegar after I’ve been in the water.  The alcohol dries out all those little crevices in your ear that are prone to infection and the vinegar gives it all a good clean (and you get to smell like fish and chips – Yum!)

As you may be aware, I began this 5 part series with a goal of addressing some common queries I get from various dive students as well as certified divers.  While everyone receives the same training from PADI around the world, a lot of the practical tidbits of useful information are shared pre and post-dive on the boat or over a beer at the end of the day.  I know for me when I first started out diving, I only had the chance to dive maybe twice a year if I was lucky, so my learning curve was slow.  I’m hoping that these blogs will be able to provide some additional insights my divers can refer back to.  I hope you enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think via my DiveWithMia Facebook page or click on Contact Mia!

DiveWithMia – PADI Scuba Dive Skills, Experience, and Passion for Life!
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Understanding Air and its Relationship to 5 key areas in Scuba Diving

April 2, 2012 By Dive With Mia

Air was a topic that I had wanted to write about for some time now as it seemed to be the common theme when discussing buoyancy, equalization, air consumption, safety and more; but, as I started writing I kept branching out on the topic and ended up with a super long blog!  Soon I realized and quickly decided that my topic had evolved into a 5 part series!  So, I am excited to present this blog as the introduction piece to this series and the topic that I am going to zero in on is all about Air and the impact that the underwater world has on that; Afterwards, I will go into more detail on 5 more specific areas of diving that all have important relationships with Air:  the BCD, our Ears, our Mask, the Tank & Octopus, and finally our Lungs & Breathing.


Some of the ins and outs of diving and air include a wee bit of background knowledge of a basic scientific principle.  Considering science and math have never held my interest for too long, I remember over 10 years ago when I did my Open Water training, I really brushed over these topics with a passing score yet not fully understanding the key concepts.  Now that I am an Instructor I see students struggling in the same way I did and I hope that I can offer some advice I wish an Instructor could have provided me earlier on!
So here goes for my little scientific introduction to air and diving…
As we all know, water has weight (when you pick up a bucket of water – it’s heavy!).  That means, when you go underwater there is a lot of weight on you; this is otherwise known as “Pressure”.  We are lucky though because the weight of water doesn’t have any effect on similarly composed liquids like the makeup of our body, so we can swim freely below the surface without feeling the weight of water on our bodies.  However, this weight does affect “Air Spaces”.  Air is made up of many molecules that are spread out all around us on the surface.  Underwater, air can be found inside our Buoyancy Control Devices (BCD), in our ear and sinus spaces, inside the mask, and in our lungs (of course!).  As you go underwater, the air molecules will get closer and closer together in each of these areas (air becomes “Dense”).
If you look at the Density arrow in the picture below, you will see that on the surface, Air Density = 1x and at 30m/99ft, Air Density = 4x.  That means, for example, that if you compare a breath you take on the surface to a breath you take at 30m/99ft, you would, in fact, be taking in 4x the amount of air you would breathe on the surface.  In addition, consider that as you ascend from your dive, that air becomes less dense and will naturally expand in the air spaces found in your BCD, ears/sinuses, mask, and even your lungs if you hold your breath!  It is quite a simple principle that is very helpful (and extremely important!) for you to practice fun, enjoyable and safe diving experiences.

Click here to read my next blog which will be about how Air and your BCD interact, including tips and equipment recommendations from DiveWithMia!

air-under-pressure

This is a good picture of what happens to air as you scuba dive underwater.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Claustrophobia vs. Freedom

February 17, 2012 By Dive With Mia

Time and time again, when people discover I am a scuba dive instructor, many respond with “Oh, I would love to try it, but I am claustrophobic”.  For many who haven’t experienced it, scuba diving instills a feeling that they are trapped, confined and restricted.  They see diving as being trapped under so many feet of water and confined behind their mask and their movements restricted.  Diving is a sport that is fundamentally psychological where your mind is actively involved in all the physical components as well.

For me, as soon as I enter the water and begin to descend below the surface, air slowly being released from my lungs in the form of bubbles, I am embraced by a gentle sense of peace.  Movements are slow underwater and the hectic sounds of the day are removed and engulfed by my everlasting companion, the water.  Even when the ocean is rough and seems to be pushing me around, I give myself to him and trust my experience and instinct to move with him and vow not to fight him and the encounter is always better below the surface.

At the bottom of the ocean, hovering just above the sea bottom, a new and fascinating world is exposed.  Colours that don’t exist on the surface with animals seemingly hand-painted by some concealed artist flick in and out of coral crevices oblivious to my unseemly presence.  In pairs, butterfly fish dart over the reef in a life they will live together forever.  Opposite to feeling entrapped, a sense of freedom is unleashed upon me as I glide through a medium others believe to be inhibiting.  Drifting through water is what I imagine a bird feels like who soars through the sky, but only slower and more meditative.

When you learn to dive, for many, there can be overwhelming feelings of excitement, apprehension, exhilaration and even downright fear.  Not to mention, there tends to be an added dose of adrenaline thrown into the mix.  These can be alleviated significantly when you take your dive training with someone you trust and who is attentive to your learning.  The more you dive, the more tranquil the experience will be and the trust that, in the beginning, you give to your instructor or guide becomes the trust you have in yourself.

 

canyon-diving-dominican-republic-sosua

Judy and Mia at Canyon

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Night Dive

May 26, 2011 By Dive With Mia

Have  you done a night dive before?  The first dive I ever did following my PADI Open Water Diver course back in 2001, or thereabouts, in Guam, USA, was a night dive.  It was a bit of a nutty experience for me as there were a million people on the boat and it was Christmas time; each person was given a glow stick and then at some point underwater, you had to line-up with your buddy and when it was your turn, swim to an underwater Christmas tree, put your glowstick on the tree and then smile for a photo.  Your 5th dive after the 4 in the course can generally be a bit topsy-turvy, but mine, well, that was a lot topsy-turvy!!

The night dive I had the other night with Merijn was the complete opposite.  We met just after 7pm despite threatening rumbles of an afternoon thunder cloud.  I had taken the carrito over from Cabarete and could see a rainbow meshed into a beauitful glowing pink sunset through the clouds.  In the parking lot, we prepared our gear, did our buddy checks and walked into the quiet waters of Sosua Bay just as the sun went down.  We enjoyed our surface swim out to the dive site while curious tourists looked out from their hotel balconies.  As we descended, I suddenly remembered something I will, from now on, never forget when preparing for a night dive – you absolutely need defogger for your mask, be it retail types or just hand soap.  I used the traditional saliva method and a slightly foggy mask on a night dive, just won’t do!  Don’t forget your de-fogger, folks.

We swam along the inside of West Wall and then to the wall and we were not disappointed!  With so many awesome caves and crevices that look pretty cool in the day, turned into something spectacular while illuminated with a flashlight.  The first one held a stunning octopus that glided along the back wall in a luminescent green colour that just cannot be compared with any other animal.  You have to see it to believe it.  Merijn and I continued together, but in our own exploratory worlds as we swam back to shore.  Merijn found a beautiful Snake Eel, which many people had told me were around here, but I had yet to see.  Then we both found one of the strangest animals both of us had ever seen.  Imagine a cross between an octopus tentacle, a sea cucumber, topped with the tentacles of a squid!  Ew!  Not so handsome!  Truly alienesque!   Merjin later learned this is a “Sticky Snake Sea Cucumber” or something along those lines.

All in all, we had a gorgeous relaxing night dive from the shores of Sosua with some refreshing beers to follow at the Jolly Roger.  Thanks Merjin for a great night!

night-dive-sosua-dr

Night Dive with Merijn from Sosua Bay, DR

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,