One of the nice things about Miami is that there is always someone you know who either owns a boat or has access to one. I just so happened to make friends with some pretty serious divers in Miami. They not only had a boat, but had their own equipment and tanks too. So when they asked if I wanted to tag along on a diver’s trip to the Bahamas and possibly learn how to scuba dive, of course I had to say yes. My first time scuba diving was quite interesting!
Diving in the Bahamas
We set off from Miami early in the morning on our 3-day adventure. Then, we stopped somewhere off of Cat Cay a little while later. Our boat was anchored in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight. It is a little intimidating being out in the middle of the ocean, not knowing what’s under you or how deep the water is. But, my friends were really familiar with diving and diving in the area, so I trusted them.
The guys immediately pulled on some diving gear and disappeared under the water. I have to admit, I was nervous to learn how to scuba dive since I wasn’t PADI certified (I don’t necessarily recommend doing it this way by the way. I’m PADI certified now). So I was a little relieved when I wasn’t included right away.
Instead, I spent the afternoon tanning and wobbling around on a paddleboard in the middle of the ocean. And wondering if there were any sharks circling below me.
Dive Equipment
After the guys had come back from their afternoon excursion, I received the run down on diving equipment:
Regulator + Tank: your source of air
BCD (Buoyancy Compensator Device): holds your tank, allows you to stay balanced underwater as well as float upwards or sink downwards
Mask + Snorkel + Fins: essential tools for helping you see and swim
Gauges: track your pressure and depth
Weights: used to help with buoyancy in the water
Dive Computer: tells you how much dive time you have remaining while taking into account depth and time for decompression
The complicated parts are usually left up to the dive master, which is why you always want to make sure you’re diving with someone extremely qualified, if you yourself are not.
Next, I was handed some pink flippers and a snorkel and was told to practice breathing underwater. This part is easy enough but important nonetheless. You want to make sure you are used to breathing regularly through another device. Also, no one should ever smile while wearing a mask.
Learning the gear and practicing with a snorkel and fins were the only thing I learned the first day, as well as the hand signals. You’ll need to know how to communicate underwater whether something goes wrong or not.
It’s a lot of information to learn and it does take some time to get familiar with everything. In a proper diving course, you’ll spend quite a bit of time in a classroom learning the ins and outs of gear and safety precautions.
First Time Scuba Diving
The second day was when my real training began. I went over some rules and protocols before suiting up to take my first dive. I jumped in the water to have help getting my tank on because, well, some of the members of our group foresaw me potentially falling over due to the weight of it. And they probably would have been right. Who knew that those things were as heavy as they are!
But they are, they are very heavy and you can easily fall over with them on. It might be why you always see people flipping off the side of a boat backwards –because the tanks will literally pull you.
Dive #1
I started breathing through my mouthpiece and slowly sank below the surface of the water. I tried to remain calm and focus on regulating my breathing but the feeling of relying entirely upon the equipment on your back is a little terrifying of a thought.
Once under water, I followed my diving partner around and tried to find little reefs to explore. We stayed at around 30 feet for my first dive but were able to see some fish swimming around the reefs and we were in an area where the ocean floor was quite shallow.
It took me awhile to get used to my newfound freedom. Though I could move my body in any which way, I still felt confined somehow. We kept our time underwater relatively short and made our way back slowly to the surface.
My friends hauled my tank out of the water for me and checked the gauge. Apparently first time divers tend to use up a lot of oxygen in attempts to get used to breathing, but I had surprised them by keeping my oxygen usage fairly low.
I wasn’t surprised by that because while I was underwater, I had to remind myself that I could breathe regularly. It’s just a weird feeling breathing through a tube. For some reason I just tend to hold my breaths underwater and breathe deeply, but most people tend to breathe heavily because of their nerves.
Dive #2
Later that afternoon, my friends decided that they wanted to take me on a more ambitious dive that would take us pretty far under water. They told me it was no different from being 30 feet under and that the process would be the same. This time, we sank below the surface and steadily lowered ourselves to the ocean floor, which was at 75 feet.
A 75-foot dive on my second attempt!
(This is not something you’re supposed to do btw. I was with trusted divers who were absolute pros underwater and have taught many people how to dive. And while it’s not illegal to dive without certification, the certification is there for a reason. Most dive centers and shops adhere to the rules of certification for safety measures.)
It was pretty surreal being that far under the water. The guys had spear guns with them so I felt pretty safe and spent my time working on my coordination by doing flips and underwater acrobatics. I swam along the reefs spotting barracudas and lobsters.
The Underwater World
I was starting to feel quite comfortable with my underwater self when one of my friends tapped me on the shoulder to look behind me. Sure enough, there was a shark, maybe 6-8 feet long, swimming just yards away from us. For whatever reason, I didn’t feel any sort of panic. I don’t know why. The shark was just swimming lazily and off he went, so off we went too.
I did panic when one of my friends speared a lobster and handed it to me to carry back (it was during lobster season, which I also learned about for the first time).
I wasn’t fond of the idea and clearly the “dead” lobster wasn’t either because as soon as I started to swim with it, it came alive and freaked out in my hand. All of its 100 legs were scrambling about trying to escape and the sudden awakening from it’s supposed death was enough to make me freak out as well and drop the thing.
It sank to the floor and I had to do some acrobats to get my partners attention because I wasn’t about to pick it up and have it attack me again. I was relieved to be fired from that job real quick.
I couldn’t help but think about how many other sharks were in the area that we just couldn’t see as we made our way back slowly to the surface.
FYI: When you dive to certain depths, you need to do safety stops to help with decompression. You never want to come up too quickly.
What is Scuba Diving Like?
For me, the scariest part of scuba diving is the visibility. You can only see about 20 feet in front of you and never know what you are going to swim up to until it’s right in front of you. And being out in the middle of the deep, dark ocean is a feeling all on it’s own.
For others, like I mentioned before, I think breathing is more difficult. People can be anxious and nervous about diving, and that will reflect in their quick breaths.
While diving is really fun, you understand how serious it is real quick. You’re relying entirely on your gear and yourself (and your buddy!) to survive underwater. It’s important to remain calm under water, know your dive gear, know the signals underwater, etc. Problems can and DO arise and it’s important to know what to do when those things happen.
And I’m not gonna lie, I was a little relieved to be back on the boat. Diving is incredible and my first time scuba diving went pretty flawlessly (despite the lobster attack) but I was good with just the two dives. It’s something that has been on my bucket list for awhile and I also got to check off another one:
Swim with sharks!
READ MORE: Diving in the Red Sea of Egypt
Scuba Diving Tips
- I know this is an oxymoron, but being PADI certified is the smartest way to go. (My 2nd diving trip was to get PADI certified in Thailand) There are definitely places in the world that don’t require it and will take you anyway, but as far as safety goes, it’s the smartest way to do it.
- Always stay with your partner. You are never supposed to dive on your own and ALWAYS supposed to have your partner in sight.
- Equalizing will be your best friend (aka clearing your ears). When you start to descend, the pressure builds in your ears and let me tell you, it HURTS. Hold your nose and keep your mouth shut while trying to blow to help clear your canals. You’ll need to do this often.
- Know how to clear your mask. If your mask gets bumped or if it just wants to leak, it will leak. I don’t think I have to say this, but you kinda need to see underwater. And having your goggles fill with water can cause some panic. Do your goggle test many, many times before diving so you know how to take them off and put them back on underwater.
- Maintaining your weight is not something to overlook. Having the correct amount of weights added to your weight belt will help you have a smoother time diving. You’ll be able to know if something is off, but by that time, you’ll already be underwater.
- You may experience seasickness, especially if you’re going out into open water. Make sure you come prepared if you know you are susceptible.
- Make sure you don’t dive within 24 hours of a flight. You’ll be at risk of getting decompression sickness if you do.
Diving is a lot of fun and like anything else, has its safety precautions. But it’s definitely worth doing.
Need more bucket list inspiration? Check out these awesome things to do!
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