Day 3:
After falling asleep the night before reviewing pictures, I woke up early to get ready to going diving. We had problems immediately when we started driving to the dive site. First we found out that the boat we had believed we had chartered for ourselves was actually filled with eight “punters” as Jason referred to them as (one of the many Australianisms I was now acquainting myself with.) This was clearly not acceptable for shooting and Jason worked out renting a new dive charter just for our own use. After waiting for Jason, Saleh, Simon and the dive master to finish their first dive, I finally got my chance to do a trial dive. Under close supervision by the aforementioned instructor, I got in the water and began to explore this new world for the first time.
Having just snorkeled before, I was only familiar with reefs a few feet from the surface. Immediately I realized that Scuba diving was amazing!! Why did I not get certified when I was in Fiji?!? 10 meters down, the life of the ocean took on a whole new meaning. Despite the murky green color of the water, fish of every size and shape were clearly visible all around, schooling together or darting in and out of amoebas. I quickly forgot about the fact that I was breathing underwater for the first time. Unburdened by the camera (I did not have the proper underwater housing for mine, find $30K for that somewhere?) my head was on a constantly rotating swivel, looking around as fast as my head would move. Moray Eels rested below tangled coral, while barracuda patrolled the outer edges of the reef. Because of my novice scuba diving, I burned through my first tank quick. So quick that I was able to strap on another and stay down till the rest of the group completed there first.
Despite the few pictures taken, I was deeply satisfied with the day. My eyes opened to a whole new world of life and possibilities, all I could think about on the boat ride back was how I was going to get PADI certified and get my camera underwater. Also I didn’t miss dinner tonight!
