Discover Scuba Diving

Instructors: The instructors were knowledgeable, caring, kind and so much fun! They made the entire experience wonderful! They were upbeat, and happy the entire time. You could tell they loved their jobs, and that they wanted you to have an incredible time. They stayed on top of everything, so all we had to do was learn and enjoy our time! Experience: This experience was once in a lifetime!! My husband and I had not tried scuba diving before and we weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into, but we had a blast! We were provided with everything we needed, equipment, scuba suits, and flippers. We were picked up from our hotel, and then driven to the starting point. It was a little uncomfortable in the car as they didn’t account for the number of people being picked up, but it wasn’t a big deal as the starting point was literally up the road. We started on the beach getting signed up, sized for our scuba suits, and flippers. Next we jumped on a smaller boat for a short ride to get us to the bigger boat that took us to the Catalina Archipelago. It was a long ride but so so so worth it. They provided water and smaller snacks throughout the tour. We participated in two 40 min dives. In our group there were 3 of us that weren’t certified so we were paired with 2 instructors, another group were certified and went on a deeper dive, and the 3rd group were snorkeling only. Our instructors walked us very quickly through the important information we needed to know, it was a little overwhelming but they mentioned that they would be keeping track of us at all times and they didn’t want us focusing on things other than our breathing, which took a lot of the pressure off of us for our first time. The instructors took us through safety practices and some skill practices during the first dive, assessing us and correcting us to make sure we were diving safely. They kept track of our oxygen, our vests, and our person the entire time. They made sure we were comfortable at all times, I even got sea sick once I was in open water and I was apologizing and the instructor was so kind and reminded me that this is not the first time someone as gotten seasick and it won’t be the last, and to make sure I am comfortable as that is the most important thing. They made sure we were comfortable in our gear, comfortable above water, and helped us get our bearings in the water. The first dive the instructor held onto us and escorted us underwater, and showed us different animals. The second dive the instructor assessed we were ok to hold hands with each other only, and allowed us to roam alongside them. We explored the ocean floor about 15-20 meters below, had an incredible experience and were so proud we were able to accomplish this and mark it off of our bucket list! We saw so many different types of fish, puffer fish, a shark and dolphins. I would 100% do it again! Things to keep in mind: - If you have motion sickness/sea sickness you are going to get hit with it. Come prepared. I am a pharmacist and asked my doctor to give me some scopolamine patches (which worked, but I ended up getting sick anyway). - As a first timer scuba diving is very mind over matter, if you get anxious or scared I would suggest doing the 2 day option and practice in the swimming pool first. There was someone on our boat that wasn’t able to complete the second dive because their anxiety got the better of them and they used up all their oxygen before going under. - Your mask with cover your nose, so you really have to put your mind to work to focus on your breathing. - The second dive gets easier as your body has already adapted to the breathing techniques - we almost sat it out and are so thankful we pushed through! - The most important thing is to stay calm, the instructors are there for you for everything!