Scuba diving Part III

Okay...long post about diving... this will be the last of it..

Well.. I could never have imagined that the underwater world was so interesting. Things there come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.. and better yet, amazing neon colors that strikes you from far far away. Some creatures on the other hand choose to be more camouflaging and take on the appearance of the surrounding background. These are even harder to find.. and more elusive as the only way to track them down is to watch for any sudden and slight movements. All in all.. the first dive ended well with a good introduction to diving. Up we went on the boat around 43 mins later.. and there we headed back to the resort. Lunch was up, and a short nap. Then off to the next dive, which lasted about 43 mins as well. Now, underwater control was slightly better and we practised removing and replacing the regulator.. this was easy, just have to remember to blow out before taking the first breath in when regulator is back in place. Finally, our last dive was after a teabreak. Here, we practiced mask clearance, removal and replacement. On all the dives, hovering and fin pivoting were key skills that we practiced. This I realised was not the easiest to master. I thought I would have panicked at the mask removal bit, but it went along fine. At the end of day one.... I was pooped... Had a short dinner and debriefing where Rory went through the diving log with us. Easy enough, we filled in the details of everything we learned and all the animals we saw.

Day two and three were about the same, but came all too quickly.. I managed to control buoyancy much much better on day 2 when we had the CESA practice.. I think it was Rory's pep talk about how not to follow PADI's slow and deep breathing all the time advice. Just have to remember to breath out when ascending.. the rest is really relative to what you wanna do. I was happy when he was beaming with pride when all of us managed to control out buoyancy for the 3 min safety stop very well. yay!!! scored!!

Day three came and off we went. Monica's grp saw a HUGE manta ray about 5m width..but we missed it.. anyway, she took pics of it which I'll grab from her later.. The sad thing about Pulau Dayang and diving is that diving is one of the contributors to the death of the corals and the dearth of sea life. But it is the divers that will help to fight for future marine life conservation as well. :)

Day three ended tiringly as we made our way back to Singapore.. another 9hrs trip back. Reached home and started to dream again about the next dive, I did... and to reflect back on how beautiful the world is. Here's hoping that everyone will have a chance to "fly" through the waters and have a short peek at whats underneath the vast blue ocean. Sometimes, life is all about taking half a step back then leaping waaaaay forward to do extraordinary stuff... :)

so trudge on, my friends, and find whatever it is that is remarkable in the world that will make you all feel happy about living...