Diving, Exam and Open Water Qualification!

Hello!

I am just on the boat back to land after successfully completing my course to be a certified PADI Open Water Diver :) :) :)

Yesterday morning we did our PADI exam... I got 47/50 which I was pleased with :)

In the afternoon we did our first sea dive and had to complete a number of skills under the water. We did a mask clear, regulator retrieval, BCD removal, weight removal and a controlled emergency accent. Under the water we saw a few fish but to be honest it wasn't that great :( When we got back to the surface we did some more skills and this is when I began to feel really ill! Basically the Malaria tablets I take, Larium, increase sea sickness which isn't great when you're diving!! As we went back to land on the boat I felt bloody awful and was out of it for about 30 mins! Luckily, just as we got to the shore I came round and was back to normal! Just in time for one of the lads to stub his toe on a rock and get half of it embedded under his toe!!

I got my first aid gloves on etc and managed to remove some of it with some tweezers... I then patched it up and he hobbled back to camp. At camp another leader called Danny took over... He was a medic in the Marines for a number of years and obviously knew what to do! I assisted though as he took more rock out, cleaned it and applied Steri Strips...:)

I then got changed and enjoyed the BBQ I had arranged for the group. This of course was completely over cooked and looked like charcoal! This camp also have Jim Beam behind the bar so I thought I would see if it was ok :)

Today was the final part of our PADI Course... I decided to take some travel sickness tablets today which helped a lot! During the dive we completed a few more skills and then went to explore the reef! Visibility was a lot better and we could see a lot more fish! I even found a sea snake sat on the bottom! There was only 1 scary moment during the dive and it was all my own fault... When I was doing my mask removal skill I accidentally knocked my regulator out my mouth and as a result I couldn't see or breathe! I then dropped my mask and some how instinctively found my regulator and shoved it into my mouth! I could now breathe but not see... I searched around for my mask on the bottom, found it and then put it on... I cleared my mask and all was well :)

This afternoon we are going to a local hotel to enjoy their swimming pool and some snack food! I'm pretty fed up of rice and casseroles now!

See you all soon x