Turtle - Divemaster cutting off fishing line that was entangled on it. This trip taught us to bring bandage scissors.
Date: Sat Sep 17 20:18:46 2011
Views: 27007
Catalina - 2007
Our first 'real' SCUBA dive! My local saltwater reef aquarium club bought gift certificates for the Mrs. and I at the Visalia Sports Chalet as a thank-you for being the webmaster. It was an awesome gesture!
We had been on the verge of getting certified ever since our 'discover SCUBA' class a couple years prior. Initially, we were not looking forward to the 1-way hour commute to do the classroom and pool work in Visalia as compared to somewhere local. But quickly into the process, we learned that we got quite lucky w/ an awesome and extremely enthusiastic Instructor and assistants truly passionate about the hobby! I am quite confident that this single open water certification has hooked my wife and myself for life!
We were also primarily interested in doing tropical diving and had reservations of how much (or little) we would enjoy 'cold' water diving. (Relatively speaking of course!) In a 7mm suit, we were quite warm and it was a BLAST!
A few weeks later, the Mrs. and I got open water certified on this trip and met a lot of new friends along the way. The instructor and classmates were the best! Here are some of our memories.
