Scuba Diving - Hawaiian Style (Of Course)

Before we went to Hawaii, we decided it would be a good idea for me to get scuba certified. We knew we wanted to go scuba diving while we were there, and Dave was already certified. I took classes at a place in West Valley. They do a few sessions in the pool, then they take you to the crater in Midway when they think you're ready. It's a pretty scary feeling at first. It's almost like claustrophobia. But after I made myself calm down, I had tons of fun.

I obviously needed to get some gear for my class, and I found a really good deal at Sam's Club.

Unfortunately, thanks to my husband, my mask is now somewhere at the bottom of Lake Powell, but that's another story in and of itself.

Diving in Hawaii was definitely one of my favorite things we did while we were there. It was a completely different experience than diving in a pool or the crater. For one thing, you're way more buoyant. I had a really hard time getting under the surface. The dive master put a bunch of weight on me, but it didn't do much at all. I finally grabbed onto the anchor line and pulled myself down until there was enough water pressure to keep me under. That part of the dive experience was not so fun. The waves beat you around pretty badly when you're on the surface, and I definitely was in panic mode. Lots of bad things can happen while you're on the surface. Slamming my head into the side of the boat was my number one concern. Once I was under though, it was an awesome experience. Seeing all the different fish and other sea creatures was pretty darn cool. The science books you read in school don't do the ocean justice. A huge sea turtle came up to us and just checked us out for awhile. He seemed pretty interested in us. He was so close to me, I was actually able to reach out and touch him. When we got back on the boat, I was really excited to tell everyone that I had touched a sea turtle. One of the workers told me that it was illegal. Oops! Thankfully she just laughed it off and didn't report me :)

R.I.P. Mask: February 2010 - July 2010. You will be missed...