Guess who's SCUBA certified?

This GIRL is!

When we first moved here the FIRST thing I wanted to do was get SCUBA certified. Well, one year later and I've finally done it. Hurray!

I was actually really nervous and had a ton of anxiety about the class. I thought I would get claustrophobic and freak out under the water.

The course was a week long starting on Sunday and going through the next week ending again on Sunday. The first two days we met at 3:00 p.m. and did bookwork until 9:00. I felt like they were shoving so much information down my throat and they used this line about twenty times, "This is super important because if you don't know this you can get decompression sickness or even die." By the second night I felt like I was actually starting to absorb some of the information but instead of studying for the final test I was in the hospital snuggling my sweet Hunter who was really sick.

I traded with Rhett so I wouldn't miss the final test and was pleasantly surprised that I remembered everything and got a 98 on the test. It was pretty easy! :)

Anyway, we got a night off and then the next three days met at the pool. I got so COLD the first night. The pool was great and felt so nice, but being in there for four plus hours SUCKED. We had a pretty big class so it took a long time to teach everyone the skills that they need. By the third night I felt pretty good at doing everything from buoyancy, to clearing my mask, to even taking off all my gear under the water and putting everything back on. I even felt pretty confidant with the compass. Amazing I know! :)

We had the next day off to hydrate and after that we headed to the Ocean. Our instructor's boat broke in the process so we were all a little bummed that we would be doing shore dives instead of boat dives. The first dive was AWESOME. I was able to equalize my ears great and all the skills were easy enough to remember. We saw a stonefish and he pointed out lots of cool coral formations with thousands of bright colored fish.

We went back to shore and changed out the tanks and headed in for a second dive. This dive was a little hard for me. My nose was a little plugged and made it really hard to equalize my ears. I FINALLY made it to the bottom and got all the skills checked off. We headed home for the day and I was so tired of being in the water.

The next morning we headed out for our third dive and it was RAD. We did all the necessary skills required and were given plenty of play time. It is so amazing to be right next to all these cool creatures. To see them up close.

We went in and changed out gear and headed out for our fourth and final dive. The water was perfect. I could see a good 30ft in all directions. We did our last two skills. Taking off the complete mask under water and hovering for 1 minute. Then, we all followed Ed around the Ocean bottom. I was near the front of the pack with lots of air to play around with. We saw so many really cool things. We saw another stonefish, some striped catfish (Super Poisonous), and 5 sea snakes playing on the bottom. We followed closely just watching them slither through the water. Then we came around a bend and saw the shark. It was right above a coral reef. We were about 20 feet from him and he was so graceful in the water. We excitedly gave the shark sign to one another and then it took off. It was a white tip reef shark about 6 feet long. What a perfect end to a great week!

I can now say I AM SCUBA CERTIFIED. I have wanted to get it for so long and I can't wait to go out with my best friend, Rhett, and check out the water and creatures below. Stay tuned for "Diving with the Whale Sharks." That is my next fun and exciting goal while here in Okinawa. :)