Learning to Scuba Dive Opens up New Worlds
Learning to scuba dive opens up new worlds
Greg Shamus, SHAMU IN THE BLUE
PUBLISHED: February 11, 2004
Like Jules Verne once imagined when he penned "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,'' the ocean is as wondrous and mysterious as his words suggest.
My wife and I stumbled upon the beauty of the sea while scuba diving two years ago during our honeymoon on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
We stayed at a hotel that offered a crash course in the basics of diving, and then took participants on a shallow dive about 30 feet off the shore.
After a single dive, we were hooked.
Once I strapped on all the gear -- a buoyancy control vest, air tank, regulators for breathing, gauges to check air supply and depth, a weight belt, fins and goggles -- I felt as if I was schlepping the weight of the world across the sand and into the sea.
It wasn't easy.
But as soon as my body hit the water, all the weight seemingly disappeared, and I was floating weightless beneath the waves, breathing effortlessly through the regulator mouthpiece.
Fish in vibrant colors as varied as a box of Crayola crayons and creatures of every shape and size wiggled, squirmed and drifted by with the ocean's surge.
Then we saw them.
A group of massive sea turtles, gentle and calm, resting atop a bed of coral. Their faces seemed to say, "We're older than you, wiser than you. Now leave us alone.''
One by one, the turtles began to leave the resting place and swim toward the surface, brushing past us as they rose. They were nothing less than majestic.
When our fleeting encounter with the turtles and other sea creatures was over, we were eager to dive again.
But we knew that to truly get a glimpse at what's hidden under the rolling ocean waves, we'd have to get scuba certified. So back to Michigan we came.
Lincoln Park's Scuba Centers of Michigan gave us the chance to learn how to properly use dive equipment. Our instructor, Julie Huff, with her infinite patience, showed us how to communicate under water. She taught us what to do in case of emergency and how to safely ascend and descend.
We took our newfound skills back to Hawaii in December. This time, we visited Kauai, and got our certification through a company called Ocean Quest in the city of Koloa.
Our four certification dives -- done over two days -- were from the shore at Koloa Landing. We walked into the surf with all our gear, swimming out to a place where we could follow a line to the bottom of the ocean.
We demonstrated the skills required for certification on each of the four dives, then went to explore the marine life around us.
Swimming through schools of fish, we were startled at the sight of a sea turtle that had been injured by a boat propeller. There were starfish and crabs, an octopus and sea anemones.
We loved it so much, we signed up for a boat dive.
The boat captain took us out to Sheraton Caverns and Three Fingers, where we rolled off the side of the boat and followed the anchor line 75 feet to the bottom to explore. The visibility wasn't as good as we'd hoped, but we still got to practice our skills and see some of the creatures that live so deep below the ocean surface.
To my wife's relief, we didn't encounter any sharks on our dives, but most veteran divers say they're amazing creatures to see.
Maybe next time.
Greg Shamus is a freelance writer and photographer for The News-Herald.
Greg Shamus, SHAMU IN THE BLUE
PUBLISHED: February 11, 2004
Like Jules Verne once imagined when he penned "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,'' the ocean is as wondrous and mysterious as his words suggest.
My wife and I stumbled upon the beauty of the sea while scuba diving two years ago during our honeymoon on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
We stayed at a hotel that offered a crash course in the basics of diving, and then took participants on a shallow dive about 30 feet off the shore.
After a single dive, we were hooked.
Once I strapped on all the gear -- a buoyancy control vest, air tank, regulators for breathing, gauges to check air supply and depth, a weight belt, fins and goggles -- I felt as if I was schlepping the weight of the world across the sand and into the sea.
It wasn't easy.
But as soon as my body hit the water, all the weight seemingly disappeared, and I was floating weightless beneath the waves, breathing effortlessly through the regulator mouthpiece.
Fish in vibrant colors as varied as a box of Crayola crayons and creatures of every shape and size wiggled, squirmed and drifted by with the ocean's surge.
Then we saw them.
A group of massive sea turtles, gentle and calm, resting atop a bed of coral. Their faces seemed to say, "We're older than you, wiser than you. Now leave us alone.''
One by one, the turtles began to leave the resting place and swim toward the surface, brushing past us as they rose. They were nothing less than majestic.
When our fleeting encounter with the turtles and other sea creatures was over, we were eager to dive again.
But we knew that to truly get a glimpse at what's hidden under the rolling ocean waves, we'd have to get scuba certified. So back to Michigan we came.
Lincoln Park's Scuba Centers of Michigan gave us the chance to learn how to properly use dive equipment. Our instructor, Julie Huff, with her infinite patience, showed us how to communicate under water. She taught us what to do in case of emergency and how to safely ascend and descend.
We took our newfound skills back to Hawaii in December. This time, we visited Kauai, and got our certification through a company called Ocean Quest in the city of Koloa.
Our four certification dives -- done over two days -- were from the shore at Koloa Landing. We walked into the surf with all our gear, swimming out to a place where we could follow a line to the bottom of the ocean.
We demonstrated the skills required for certification on each of the four dives, then went to explore the marine life around us.
Swimming through schools of fish, we were startled at the sight of a sea turtle that had been injured by a boat propeller. There were starfish and crabs, an octopus and sea anemones.
We loved it so much, we signed up for a boat dive.
The boat captain took us out to Sheraton Caverns and Three Fingers, where we rolled off the side of the boat and followed the anchor line 75 feet to the bottom to explore. The visibility wasn't as good as we'd hoped, but we still got to practice our skills and see some of the creatures that live so deep below the ocean surface.
To my wife's relief, we didn't encounter any sharks on our dives, but most veteran divers say they're amazing creatures to see.
Maybe next time.
Greg Shamus is a freelance writer and photographer for The News-Herald.
posted by DP at 11:06 PM
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