Pittner-Oesterle Scuba Diving Challenge
March 30th, 2007Well, we finally sacked up and did what we came to Taganga for: Scuba diving. Yep, that’s right, after over a month of being here, we managed to get off our butts to the dive shop and signed up for our first course, Open Water Diving.
Well, we were pretty sure we were going to like diving, but now we are DEFINITELY sure. So sure that even before we have taken our final exam, we have alreay signed up for the advanced course. Also, the dive shop we went with, Poseidon, offers two free fun dives if we score 100% on our final exam - needless to say, we are studying hard tonight.
What can we really say about scuba diving? For starters, if you have been snorkeling, you have gotten a taste of the fun, but really and trully, scuba diving is a different beast. Part of the fun is just completely taking yourself out of your element. Your natural instinicts must be sublimated and you learn to rely on training so as not to panic. You also learn to become neutrally buoyant, so then you can control your hovering over the bottom with only your breath - a completely different way of learning how to move your body in space. Also, a little meditative, as you must concentrate a lot on the type and frequency of the breaths you take. It seems a skill that is easy to understand but very tough to master. You do all kinds of drills, like dropping your regulator (the mouthpiece that gives you the breaths of life down below) and recovering it, taking off your mask and replacing it and then clearing it of water, compass navigation underwater and on the surface, and a few others, and then you get to explore the reefs of the Colombian Caribbean.
Our dive instructor, Holly, is very chill and has a pretty sweet set-up in life right now… She is from the bay area (yo yo ALEXA) and she lives right on the beach with her boyfriend, dives pretty much everyday, and can go to some of the most exotic places in the world and get paid to be there. She has been really great and we are taking our advanced course with her as well.
Today, we dove to 18 meters and saw ten calimari, which we have only every eaten and had no idea they were so beautiful in their live form, completely different than the yummy grilled version. Yesterday we saw a HUGE eel chilling. We saw brain coral the size of a large tree, elk coral, French angel fish, schools of sardines, and much more. The cool part is, you can just go down and chill with the creatures and watch them feed or partner hunt or whatever. Yesterday, we saw a sea horse and he was much bigger than we expected. Okay, we will stop, but suffice it to say we have got the BUG! Good times. Furthermore, Colette would like to gloat that she is the first certified scuba diving Pittner and recommends that everyone else get in gear… Tony, Jano, Francisco, FORGET SURFING! You can still use your wet suits… As a further note, Blair is the first Oesterle to be certified. And, we plan to explore the wrecks in the Great Lakes this summer, so do it soon people!
On another note, the wedding is fast approaching, and we have finalized the hotel situation, so please familiarize yourself with that part of our site if you are planning on joining the Pittner-Oesterle group rate at the Fairfield Inn.
And one final note, our kittens are getting frighteningly independent and silly. Their interactions with the puppy that the couple next door has are hysterical. We will upload those pictures soon. We are working on developing kittens masks and snorkels so we can make them face a shark soon.