Dive Weekend

Superman

I went diving this past weekend.  It's the first time I've been in the water since before I left for Korea.  Me and my dive buddy, a Recon Marine named Adam, went out and hit some pretty tough dives sites.  Sites on Okinawa are rated from 1 to 5, 5 being the most difficult.  Things like sea condition, surf, tides, ease of entry/exit all are factored in to the difficulty of each site.  We dove two different sites, The first was a 4, the second a 5.  It was difficult but worth it.

Underwater Cliffs

Cuttlefish

Grouper

Shaka

Comments

[Sweet Dreams]

Wow.  Those are really cool pictures.  I think I'd be scared to death to be in deep water like that.

 

When did you learn to dive?  I know that wasn't one of the things dad handed down to us.

[kawetijoru]

I took the Basic Open Water Course in November of 2006.  I have since taken an advanced course which certifies me to go down to the deepest recreational depth of 130 feet (I have accidentally been down as deep as 140 feet).  I was pretty scared about learning to dive for several reasons; how vast the ocean is, the amount of deadly creatures that are masters of the depths and the fact that I cannot swim.  However, since I've been certified, I have logged nearly 25 dives, four of them at night.  Night dives are scary, but you see things at night you cannot see during the day.  There are microscopic animals and plants (plankton) that emit light when excited.  At night, as you move through the water, the plankton light up leaving showers of green lights in your wake.  It's awesome.  If you ever come to visit, I'll set up some dive classes for you.  Once you do it, you'll be hooked (no pun intended).

[Sweet Dreams]

I would panic, especially at night.  A massive shark could just swim right out of the darkness and scare the crap out of you in addition to any other damage he could do.  And the ocean is like drifting in space.  When I went to Panama by myself, Arturo took me to Taboga and I was floating in the water because it was flat and calm and before I knew it I was way out and I freaked.  I didn't know how deep the water was and all I could imagine were large fish and God knows what else swimming under me.

I think you should share these pictures with dad, he would really like them.

[kawetijoru]

I have not seen a single shark in any of my dives.  I would like to see some,  provided they are not hungry maneaters looking for a diver to snack on.  Even so, all you have to do is swim faster that your dive buddy and you'll be okay. 

Panama is different than Okinawa.  There are definately sharks in them waters.  I would still dive there because most sharks are not looking to eat people and you can swim with them in relative safety.  At night, most shark species are dormant, since the majority prefer to hunt in the daylight. 

Dad has access t my flickr page where most of these pictures are posted.  I'll send him a link, but I'll send him a link anyway.