How I fell in love with Scuba Diving
Written by Juli Cole,24 January 2024.
It was my idea to first start diving. I had some knee problems and the doctor said “Take up swimming” – ugh, no offense, but I find it so boring to swim laps. I went to physical therapy. Lo and behold, there was a sign for classes to learn to scuba dive, offered by none other than Flow.
My husband was not so certain he would enjoy it and I also worried I would find the equipment claustrophobic so we opted for a Discovery course first. Not a problem for either of us, and we enjoyed our time in the… pool. Pool experiences are very, very different than in the open water. We signed up right away for an Open Water certification course. Fast forward a few months later, and we are in Tioman completing our Open Water and Advanced certification. We decided to do it all at once. Our instructor was great; the dive center was helpful; the weather was perfect. And I hated it. It got so bad I refused to go on our last dive for the Open Water, the actual fun dive part.
I can give you many reasons why I hated it, but I think those of us having an adverse reaction, the reasons are too various to relate. What was important was I got myself together and completed the Advance section with the help of a kind instructor and I was certified.
Then we began diving in earnest. At first, it was about the excitement over all the fish I could see – everywhere! And I wanted to know all about them. Then I got a Go Pro and of course I was going to record everything. We got our own gear and that became the next diversion. Then all the novelty of these things began to wear off. At one point, within forty-five days, we did four dive trips, almost one per week. And I wasn’t so sure I was so excited about diving. This was when I hit about the 50 dives mark. I was tired physically and I wanted my own bed and I was not sure I wanted to see another fish underwater, no matter how spectacular. I even told my dive buddy to lay off the diving, there were other things to do. Can you imagine?!
We went to Bali. The shore dives were physically challenging. And I hated wearing a wetsuit. But we saw a Mola Mola and a manta ray – my first time seeing bigger creatures. We did a fantastic night dive on the Liberty Wreck. Diving was wooing me back.
Our subsequent dives over the last few months since Bali have made me fall in love with diving. It is a more mature love, not the giddy overexcited diving from before. I even don’t mind the sound of my breathing – it was one of the top things that drove me crazy in t
he earlier days. Literally. I would try breathing really slowly just to keep from ending the dive, just so I could get a break from hearing the blub blub blub sound. I find the sound reassuring now. I like the action of the current and waves. Even clinging to a rock against a strong current; I don’t mind.
What has changed? For me, it has been a journey of relinquishing control, of accepting the experiences for what they are. I think this was some of what I hated in the beginning – being constrained by equipment and safety procedures, only going where I am led, maybe some anxiety about what if this or that happens. I have learned to accept these things, and rather than feeling limited, I have accepted they are necessary so I can experience what is underwater. Taking more classes like Wreck and Rescue Diving, as well as just diving more, has helped me feel more confident.
I enjoy the people we meet! I love hearing their stories and I love reconnecting with friends on subsequent dive trips. One of our best trips last year was with a couple of friends together at a dive center we had frequented often. It felt like we were visiting family. On just a recent trip to a very busy area, we quickly formed an “on site” group with some other divers who became our buddies while there. Without them, I don’t think the trip would have been as fun.
Mostly I love being underwater. One of my favorite sights are little tiny fish swimming in and out of a shelf of coral; I often miss out on other things because I am busy watching them. They just make me so happy! My dive buddy’s weakness is anemone fish. I can’t tell you how many photos he has of them, staring boldly up into his camera lens. I love the open water – the “blue water”, suspended in the nothingness, waiting to see what I can see. I love testing myself against maze-like terrains, going up and down and cornering through the boulders or maneuvering through small spaces
I still get physically tired, I still miss my own bed. Sometimes towards the end of a longer dive trip, on land I am a stumbling zombie. But once I don my scuba gear, and fall back into the water, all of that is forgotten and I am again mesmerized by the wonder of the ocean reef.
If you have not gotten your scuba diving licence – you should! If you have been dry for long periods of time – it’s time to come back! Whatever your diving needs are, speak to Flow (www.flowdive.center, +6012.5229257 or hello@flowdive.center). They are happy to hook you up with a refresher, a dive trip or even just a small community event to pique and to grow your interest towards the scuba diving.