We get up early to move to
a new hotel and prepare for our dive. We've got four more days in
Mexico which gives us plenty of time to complete the last two dives
of our SCUBA course, and then chill out before we leave.
I'm a bit anxious when we
get to the dive shop and find that we're going out to do a drift
dive. Because the current is so strong, we'll be drifting with it
while we're underwater. This is a pretty challenging dive and not
normally recommended for trainee divers. But our dive master assures
us it'll be fine... We get on the boat with 5 other people who are
experience divers, two of which are Americans and they give us lots
of encouragement.
When we jump in the water and things start to go pear shaped. Everyone's descending further and
further down into the ocean and when I start to have trouble with my ears. I can't
equalize! I sign to the instructor that I'm having problems and he
motions that I should keep trying to pop my ears. Then he descends
with the rest of the divers.
So I'm alone at 11meters
under the sea, while the group is down at about 30m. Because the current is stronger
at the surface, I begin drifting away from the group. Now I'm alone in
the middle of the ocean, unsure of what to do. Rich, my diving
partner, my partner who is never supposed to leave me, is busy
looking at turtles at the bottom of the sea and doesn't even realize I'm not around. Hmmm I guess all that safety talk didn't stick in his
head. The dive master finally realizes that I'm not gonna make it to the bottom and send up a balloon to alert the boat. I have no choice but to head back to the surface. I get stuck
on the rocking boat for the next 40 mins. Rubbish!
Rich comes up looking
triumphant on completing the dive with the rest of the party, and he is apologetic when I explain that he wasn't supposed
to leave me alone to get eaten by sharks.
The water's pretty rough
and the American woman from the dive party isn't feeling too well, so
we return to shore to drop the two of us off before everyone else
heads back out for their second dive. And apart from a minor
equipment malfunction, this one goes well and Rich is now a fully
certified diver. Finally! Unfortunately, I will have to wait...
