Each New Day

Yesterday, we went scuba diving in a lake just north of Huntsville, TX. This lake, or really two lakes, is known as Blue Lagoon. Is was made just for divers so there is no need to worry about boaters. We drove up and spent nearly the entire day at Blue Lagoon. When we got there, the attendant said they were nearly full and there were no shelters available. We did not realize you could reserve these ahead of time or we would have (though we are still not 100% clear on if individuals can reserve these or only dive classes.)

We drove around to where our instructor had recommended us to go. It was pretty full but we found a vacant spot. Just as we got everything unloaded, a group came saying they had reserved this spot. (It was not a sheltered area) So, we threw everything in the truck and parked in the shade and started unloading. We decided we would just put everything in the water and leave it at the edge between dives. This worked out pretty well, but luckily, the group in the shelter next to where we were was just finishing up and gave us their shelter!

The water was warm, calm and pretty clear (though as the day wore on, visibility grew less.) Even though they were full, we found it not to be a problem. We never felt too crowded by other divers or swimmers (you can apparently go to just swim.) We were in a really nice spot to play and swim between dives. The kids (and us) had fun swimming, snorkeling and jumping off the rocks. The lake is really pretty and was a great place for us to get in some good practice and gain some confidence in our new adventure.

When I woke up this morning at 6, I turned on the news to see the weather. It was already 80 degrees! It is a beatuiful sunny day. My husband walked in and said he wished we were at the lake diving! One day soon we have got to get out there and put our new skills into practice. I just learned about another diving lake. It is not as nearby to us, but sounds like it would be worth the drive up for a weekend.

Athens Scuba Park , in East Texas, looks nice. Spring fed warm water, visibility averaging about 35′, 25′ deep, 12 docks and lots to look at. There are about 30 underwater wrecks to swim through, there is a Greyhound bus, a double deck houseboat and a C-140 Jet Star plane! There is a fully stocked dive shop on site from which to rent gear as well as tanks. There is camping RV sites available, a pool and hot tub, and bath house too. Sounds like a nice weekend getaway!

We finished up our classroom portion of our scuba diving class last night. The kids both passed with 78% and my husband and I both passed with 88%. Whew! Now all we have left is our open water diving skills, which we will do this weekend.  Hopefully we can pass the skills that we already learned in the pool!

We all passed our pool skills in our scuba diving class last week. I was very nervous, but wanted to give it another go. The skills that we must pass are all very scary to think about, but are vital to survival if we are going to pursue this hobby (which I am still not convinced that we should!)

My daughter was my partner and she is the one who gave me the courage to go through with it. She had been encouraging me all day before class. And in class, she did all the skills before me. So watching her stay so calm and go through each skill with such ease made me HAVE to do the same! She is really awesome and loves the class so far.

My husband was able to go to the lake on Saturday and he passed his test in the lake. My kids and I will go out this weekend for our lake test. Hopefully I will be able to stay as calm as my daughter!

Tonight was our first night in the pool at our scuba diving class. We got to the indoor pool ready to take our swim test. We thought we had to swim six laps, it was only four, which was good news! The water was COLD, but we got our laps done (fairly) quickly and moved on to the tread test. We had to tread water for ten minutes. That was a little intimidating sounding, but it went by quickly. An instructor came in with us and kept time and we all chatted, so it did not seem so bad. Then it was time to get gear, suit up and get in the water.

After much waiting around, we finally got our stuff together and ready to proceed. The instructor told us to open our air and push the purge button on the breathing regulator. Mine went kind of nuts, since it was a different one for deeper dives. I kind of lost composure then. It really scared me. But we continued and I got in the pool with everyone else. It is really hard to make myself breath deep and slow, but “regular” at the same time. I had a hard time with the concept and in the end ended up losing composure again. By that time, the instructor said I was hyperventilating and was too cold and needed to get out and get into a hot shower.

The shower felt good, but I felt bad. I hated letting my husband down (he says I didn’t) and of course the kids too. Who by the way did AWESOME! I hope that next week will go better. Especially since the kids did so well and liked it so much, we are looking forward to some family dives over the next few years.

I am still not really sure what caused my loss of composure (twice!) nor how to prevent it next week. Especially considering the fact that I had already passed the basic class last summer and did a forty foot dive in the ocean!!

Last summer, my husband took me on a cruise for out twentieth wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful time. One of the coolest things we did was take a introduction to scuba diving course in Roatan, Honduras. He really fell in love with it and has been talking about getting us certified to dive.

Last night we attended our first session of scuba training. The certification will be good for life (though for my daughter she will have to renew) and the teacher is really trying to keep the costs down as much as possible. We think this will become an awesome way for our family to vacation together. Thursday we take our swimming test…then we will really begin!

We did it! We actually went through our Discover Scuba Diving course! We were the only two people in our Discover Scuba Diving Class. We spent a short time filling in a medical release and watching an instructional video. Then we were suited up for instruction in the water. This took place just off the beach, about 20 feet deep. After practicing breathing, and learning to clear our mask and regulator, (and seeing an octopus who had caught a crab!) we were off for our dive, about 40 to 50 feet down to a coral reef.

We took a short boat ride through the glass-like waters. After entering the water, we followed a rope down, being sure to stabilize our ears every few feet. Then, we were off to explore the reef for about 50 minutes! It was absolutely amazing! The best description I have is it was so dream-like! I loved the weightless feeling, the slow moving kicking. I was pretty scared of losing my breathing apparatus (though I knew what to do should that happen). This dive was so wonderful and Wolfgang and Steve were awesome instructors who were so careful and patient with us. Thank you for sharing your underwater world with us!

In preparation for our upcoming cruise, my husband said he wants to scuba dive. That’s great, except we’ve never dived (or is it dove?) before! But in looking at all our options for things to do on shore, we found “discover scuba” classes. These classes are for those who have never done scuba before. It is an introductory course (you will not get certified, but it could count towards certification) in which you learn the basics of scuba and then get to do a shallow water dive (anywhere from 25 to 40 ft). We intend to try this out!