What happens when you take 3 city girls and stick them on a hippie diving island? No, it’s not the start of a joke, it’s what happened the week we were in Utila. From having never breathed through a snorkel on Monday, by Thursday we were headed out so they could try a Discover Scuba Diving course. Melanie decided she had enough of the water and sat the diving out, so it was just Steffi, Liz and me jumping in.
Despite the relative disasters of the day before, my girlfriends are on the same page as me when it comes to the finding the best deal possible, so they decided to keep with the same dive shop for their course. Discover Scuba Diving is a one day, no certification class meant to be a “taster” for diving.
First they sat down and learned the basics of staying alive and not being eaten by sea creatures.
Then everyone settled into prime sunbathing locations (Dive shop in the background)
Soon we were seeing some of the most beautiful water on this trip so far…
While some had second thoughts…
They bravely got in anyway…
And soon they were underwater…
Happy new divers!
Photo by Melanie
I have to say it was weird watching someone other than Mark teach. I kept wanting to reach over and correct something but I managed to keep my hands to myself! The instructor was very sweet but memorable moments include when the boat captain and the head instructor (who was teaching a different course) got into an incredibly professional and reassuring-to-new-divers screaming match in French in front of everyone. I also loved watching how Steffi swam sideways the whole time (she didn’t even notice she was doing it!) and Liz was just fearless, swimming away chasing fish, totally unafraid, the exact opposite of me when I started, which was swimming on top of the instructor.
Not many Discover Scuba Divers get their own personal photographer/videographer coming along, but what can I say, these chicas are VIP. A few notes on this video: it was shot on my point and shoot so quality is lower than most of my videos, also, the song might not make much sense to those not traveling in Honduras during August of 2010, but for those who were, ya’ll know IT WAS EVERYWHERE.
[youtube=https://youtube.com/watch?v=TFWPzkOeOS0]
I’ve loved reading your diving blogs Alex! I’m heading to South-East Asia soon and I was wondering where you would recommend to obtain my PADI Open Water course? Any advice would be appreciated!
Hey Sarah, thank you! Take a look at my posts about Koh Tao and Gili Trawangan — both are popular and wonderful places to do your Open Water! Best of luck and happy diving 🙂