PADI Open Water SCUBA Diving Class

I started the SCUBA class right after my vacation. It was a lot more challenging than I thought. The SCUBA class definitely put me out of my comfort zone and made me realize I am more capable than I thought. I didn't even know I was capable of learning so much in such short period. I am glad I took it with my HS pal Los and very thankful it was just me and Quoc in the class. Los is a great instructor and was very patient with us. I wouldn't have stick with (and pass) the class without those extra attention and lessons. Thank you Los, Thank you Quoc, I am very grateful and happy (now is double happy cuz tummy is still full from dinner at Ruth's Chris).

Here's the timeline and a summary of my experience.

Monday - Oct. 1, 2007:
Due to flight delay, finally went to bed at 2AM.
Woke up at 5:30am, went to work.
Left work at 2pm and went to OC to meet up with Los and Quoc to look at SCUBA gears, took the swimming test, and did some knowledge review.
Got home and went to bed around 1am/2am-ish.
Totally exhausted!

Tuesday - Oct. 2, 2007:
Woke up early go to work. Left work at 2pm, went to All Things SCUBA in Lake Forest to buy and rent gears. Had a hard time putting on the thick (6mm) wetsuit. I was very frustrated, I was on the brink of tears, wondering why am I torturing myself with wanting to learn SCUBA instead of doing easy things like watching TV, almost want to quit. Spent 30+minutes just trying to fit into one wetsuit. Finally got in the wetsuit with help from Los. Spent 2.5 hours on getting the rental and buying the personal gears. Spent twice as much as I thought I'd be spending on gears.

Wednesday - Oct. 3, 2007:
First confine pool session.
Woke up early go to work. Left work at 2pm. Last minute change of class location so stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours to get to the new location. Uploading vacation pictures while waiting for others to arrive. After dinner, putting on the impossible wetsuit again. Slightly easier this time but still took good 20-30 minutes. SCUBA gears are very heavy (~50 lbs), almost fell backward trying to walk with it. Shoulder hurt from carrying the gears. I need more fat on my shoulders for padding.

I made every mistakes that newbies would've made, including panicking underwater and end up drank half the pool water, panicking and scrambling up to the surface (which is a big no no and I could've kill myself if I was in deep ocean), taking short and fast breathes, and pulling a leg cramp.

Further doubting my ability and decision. Exhausted!

More knowledge review. Went home at 2am! Exhausted!!!

Thursday, Oct. 3 2007:
Second confine pool session.
Read other newbies' experience on ScubaBoard during lunch. I felt better knowing I am not the only one that got frustrated during the first lesson. I also learned a few tips. Left work at 2pm, in the pool by 3pm. I've learned not to panic since as long as I've regulator in my mouth, I've air. I was much more comfortable in water and was able to learn most of the skills, happy with myself. Regaining some confident of my ability and wanting to learn more. Since wetsuit are hard to put on, I was told to pee in my wetsuit. Excuse me? :O

Friday, Oct. 4 2007:
Played with BCD and regulators. Walked around the house for hours with mask and snorkel to practice only breathing out of my mouth. Mom wondering if I've gone nuts (since she never snorkel nor dive).

Saturday, Oct. 5 2007:
Third confine pool session and first ocean dive.
Woke up at 7am. Although I felt I improved a lot and came a long way since Wednesday, I was still not ready for Ocean. Los said it's OK if I don't want to do the ocean dive. Into the pool ~9:30am. Practicing and learning new skills non-stop till ~3pm. I was amazed at how much stuff I've learned in short time. And was amazed my tummy did not grumbling for food yet. Must be the fact I was actually into what I was doing. I felt ready for the ocean dive when the confine pool session ended.

Had a quick lunch. It was very hot with wetsuit on and the SCUBA gear was very heavy. I couldn't wait to get into water so I could cool off and let water help carry some of the weight. We walked down the stair to the beach (damn heavy SCUBA gear, shoulder and back in lots of pain), walked some more to be near the wave crashed into the shore. More lesson on the beach, then swam out to the ocean. My first ocean dive was messy. I didn't have good control my buoyancy. If I was not dragging on the ocean floor, I was floating above everyone else. I was very glad we were not near the reef most of the time so I couldn't do much damage. After 33 minutes under water, we ascent. Swam back, walked away from the shore, walked up the stair (carrying the goddamn heavy SCUBA gear the whole time), walked two blocks with the back breaking gears to the dive shop so the gears can be rinse off.

Finally got home and went to bed around midnight. Exhausted!

Sunday, Oct. 6 2007:
Second, Third, and Fourth Ocean Dive.

Woke up at 7am, into the ocean by ~10am. Demonstrated skills (learned in the pool) in the ocean. After second dive, we had to carry the heavy tank from the beach, up the stair, and walk 2 blocks to the dive shop to get air refill. Shoulder hurts. I need more muscle to lift the tank and more fat on the shoulders for padding. I got better control of buoyancy with the more time we spent underwater. On the fourth dive, I was able swam above the ocean floor at a consistent distance. Very happy! Both Quoc and I demonstrated all the skills in the ocean that are necessary to get the license, we passed! Yay!

Home and bed around 10pm. Exhausted, but happy!

Monday, Oct. 7 2007:
Ouch! My shoulder, my shoulder! Ouch!

Hey, why is my heavy laptop bag feel light like a feather?

Oh...
:)