SCUBA!

April and I have been talking about geting our PADI scuba certification for a few years now. The Open Water Diver course means that you can easily rent gear and dive when traveling, as the renter and tour operators know that you have been trained properly and can dive safely. And their insurance will still cover them if you screw up and drown while wearing gear they rented you. Because you were PADI certified. So it's your fault!

Anyway, we started classes last week, and it has been a blast. April had a run-in as a child and almost drowned, so she has been a little apprehensive, but honestly she's taken to it amazingly quickly! We have been in the pool in full gear several times this week, getting ready, going over all the safety skills, like dealing with a mask flooding, running out of air and having to use an alternate source, etc.

But today it was time for the real thing... diving in the ocean!

We spend about an hour and a half diving in Malibu this morning. The weather was very calm, and the water was flat, but the visibility was awful-maybe 5-6 feet, so we didn't really see very much, besides a little bit of kelp and some other underwater plants.

Oh, and this guy:


This Pacific Harbor Seal showed up when we were on the surface, about a hundred yards off the shore, getting ready to dive. Apparently he trailed us the entire way under water. One of the dive-masters said he saw him a couple of times under water. I took this photo of him as I was getting ready to head to shore. He was only about 8 feet away!

So we have one more day in the classroom, one day in the pool, and next weekend we are off to Catalina Island for diving in the Kelp beds! The visibility should be much better, and hopefully we will have lots of photos to post!

Cheers!

-jh