Nassau, Bahamas

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-16-2004
Nassau, Bahamas
4
Sat, 05-21-2005 - 10:01pm

Some of you may remember that I started with a Scuba class about two months ago. It was a regular open water class and last week I ventured to Jamestown RI with one other student to complete the testing in the nice 42 degree weather. Actually I did keep a little warmer by dodging all the jellyfish that were swimming around (uggggh!). And the two instructors were nice enough to share the secret of staying warm in this type of water (it involves drinking a lot of coffee on the way down and not going #1 until you hit the water in your wetsuit - if you know what I mean).

Well - I'm off to Nassau Bahamas on Wednesday for my first boat dives in any water over 20 feet. I've gone diving about 12 times in the pool. I'm also enrolled in a buoyancy class (I tell you this Scuba stuff is never-ending) and the class is on the next 4 Mondays so I probably won't be in Monday chat for several weeks.

I'm pretty sure that at least one of the people going (there are 18) will have a good underwater camera so I hope to bring back copies of some pictures. They also seem to dive a lot near where there are sharks so I'm hoping to grab a few shark teeth (I won't actually remove them from their mouths -- but will try to search where the dive operations hold shark feedings).

So it's a busy week going from the Grassy Knoll all the way to Bahamas. Naturally while I'm gone I won't have any Internet access.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2003
In reply to: lg1964
Sat, 05-21-2005 - 10:08pm

Oh wow. How exciting for you. I've been to Nassau. It's beautiful. What you're going to do though scares the daylights out of me. SCUBA is not for me. I have a friend who's a dive instructor. For ages she used to try and convince me to let her teach me. I wouldn't hear of it. Just putting my face in the water with a snorkel

 

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-16-2004
In reply to: lg1964
Sat, 05-21-2005 - 10:17pm

I found Scuba to be the ultimate relaxation. When I'm in class -- I enjoy being a student - which is a big switch from my consulting job where I'm constantly the teacher/answer man.

The whole underwater thing is not as bad as it might seem. Now mind you I say that never having been farther than 20 feet underwater....

There are some safety issues - but your entire course is spent getting comfortable with nearly everything that can go wrong underwater -- mask falling off, running out of air, shark attack, etc (I'm kidding about the shark attack).

Every time you dive you go with at least 1 buddy and the rule is to stay an arms length apart. Everyone dives with an alternate air source. So in an out-of-air situation you can generally make it to the surface by using your buddy's air source.

It is however an expensive sport if you buy the gear. My instructor recommended buying gear early if I was going to stay interested. So I paid close to $3,000 for the recommended setup.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the people who moved in next door to me are Scuba Divers as well -- and are interested in doing some local dives. So I also found a buddy to go with! (Which was one of my fears).

Yeah, I'm not leaving until 6am Wed AM -- but will probably not be around a whole lot between now and then.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2004
In reply to: lg1964
Sun, 05-22-2005 - 11:20am
I am going to the Nassau - Bahamas on 6/5 :) I am following you around. Just kidding.
Hope you have a great time on your vacation!
I am looking forward to mine.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-02-2004
In reply to: lg1964
Mon, 05-23-2005 - 2:59am
Have fun in the Bahamas...it is beautiful there!!!