Are you for scuba?

I cannot help of thinking about the movie Along Came Polly every time I think about scuba diving. Who cannot laugh at Claude's line in the movie..."are you for scuba?". Well, Randi and I are for scuba. Today has been a great in Boracay. Randi is into her first day of getting certified as a PADI Open Water Diver and I am into my first day of getting qualified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver.

Randi hit the water for the first time and is in the process of practicing the technical aspects of diving. According to her all is well except for the mask clearing exercise. Apparently that is not going that well...but, she is plugging away and I am sure she will master it in the short run. Tomorrow, Randi will get to do her first true dive and she is looking forward to it with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. I think, as most people initially are, she is a little nervous about going into a different world where you are the guest. I have to say I can remember my first dive and I recall the apprehension that I felt for a brief second before another world was literally opened up. I think since Matt (my brother) and I spent so much time around the water (pools, lakes, oceans, etc.) we were probably a little more acclimated to the underwater world than most. I do have to say that I am proud of Randi for her adventurous spirit...which we all know she has...after all she did marry me.

I had an awesome day. The Advanced Open Water Diver course is basically the next stage for progressing with your diving skills. Basically you start to experience more advanced dive types. Today I did two dives and tomorrow I have three more. Today I started with a standard dive around Crocodile Rock (a small island off of the coast of Boracay); the first dive is basically to get use to the local buoyancy (all water is different - salinity) and for the instructor to get comfortable with you and vice-versa. The second dive was awesome...I did a night dive. Wow, being underwater is one thing; being underwater at night is an entirely different thing. Half of your senses are useless. All you really have is a limited visual sense (the flashlight beam) and your hearing. I was amazed at how much I could hear...everything from the water rushing around coral to a boat engine on the surface and the changes in engine speed. Very cool.

We did a beach entrance for the night dive and the instructor and I just headed out and went exploring for almost an hour (57 minutes to be exact). I really noticed that I sucked a lot less air than I normally do. After almost an hour underwater I had only sucked down roughly a third of my tank. I have to say it was actually very relaxing. I know a lot of you will think that it is crazy to dive...much less at night...with all those man eating sharks out there. But, let's be honest you have a hire chance of dying while walking your dog than you do of scuba diving. Some research shows that the actual risk of dying while scuba diving (from anything and everything) is 1:200,000. That means it is safer than driving your car to work every morning. So, that raises a very interesting question...why is scuba diving in the same column of "dangerous" activities as professional race car driver on most life insurance application. Anyway, back to diving at night...it is super cool and you see a lot of stuff you normally don't see. We saw octopus, shrimp, all sorts of fish, sea snakes, and a bunch of other really cool stuff...I hate to say it but, no man eating sharks...darn. I have to admit I was hoping (seriously) that as I swept my light beam I would catch a glimpse of a shark in the distance. Supposedly there are some sharks in the area...but, the Philippines are mostly known for their whale sharks. Unfortunately we are not in the area for a possible sighting. The best we can hope for are some little reef sharks.

Tomorrow I will get the chance to do a deep water dive (30 meters), a navigation dive, and then a wreck dive. I am really looking forward to the wreck dive as I think that will be really neat. I will also probably join Randi on a few of her dives...mostly for support...but, also because the diving here is awesome and I want to get as many dives in as I can.

Well, beside the diving (which occupied the entire day) we had a nice night. After my night dive we headed to the center of Boracay "d'mall". The "d'mall" is filled with restaurants and shops. We ate at an excellent Italian restaurant and were able to listen to an awesome percussion band playing next door...complete with fire dancers. Very tribal and very cool.

That is all from Boracay; we hope all of you are safe and sound.