My first open-water dive was on June 10 2011, about 1 month since I was spending 4 hours a day in a pool at Aqua Sport Scuba Centre over the course of a weekend. The pool was great. Very warm water, visibility stretching from one end clear across to the other and the comfort of shallow water in case I needed to surface and breath naturally. That was then…
Today was a beautiful day in southern Calgary, especially so at Lake Chapparal. The temperature was about 21c/72f, sunny not a cloud in the sky. We pulled into the parking, parked, checked in with the community lake centre then went to scout our dive site. My instructor lead us down the paved walkway to the beach. Some of the first things I noticed. This little community lake didn’t seem so little, it had to be at least a 1000 times bigger than the pool, probably more. It had a very soft welcoming beach, FULL of people that would stare at me if anything went wrong. That I was sure of. All in all, it looked awesome and I was ready to dive in!
We went back to our vehicles and started gearing up. I was full of questions and my instructor had all the answers. I got my drysuit on, hooked my tank up to my BCD and regulator. Checked for leaks and got my starting air pressure, 3000psi. After a few final questions we headed back down the walkway to the beach. We did our buddy check, Bcd Weights Air Releases Final ok, and mask snorkel fins. Everything was ready so we entered the water. Now things started getting really cool. I wasn’t getting wet! (drysuit diving) We started with a nice gentle surface swim for about 25-35metres at a rough bearing of 180 degrees. Now we were in the water with nowhere to go but down. My instructor again briefed me on what was to be done once we descended beneath the surface and reached bottom. This was my first dive for my drysuit elective. We would simply practice some skills such as inflating/deflating, dealing with trapped air and removing/installing the low pressure inflator underwater. If all went well we would finish with a small tour of the concrete structures that lay at the bottom. I knew and understood what had to be done, but at this point I wasn’t really hearing it.
Here we go. Signal to descend, Orientate yourself with 2 landmarks, Regulator in mouth, Time, Inflator in the air. I kept my eyes on my instructor, now my dive buddy, and hit the deflator as I started to exhale. Bubbles and air! Thats all I could hear as soon my head went under. We were about 3-4ft under when I got my first OK signal. I did a quick check with myself, and sure enough everything was good, so I signalled back OK. Hand up high holding my deflator and a big breath out, and we continued to descend. Equalize, equalize, equalize and of course always breathe and never hold your breath. I looked down. The water had a green tinge to it and I could see a good 15-20ft, but it was nothing like the pool and I couldn’t yet see the bottom. There it is! I could see the gravel pad I was told would be there. Bunk! Now I was there. I’ll have to work on my buoyancy in the future cause nothing in any of the books or instruction said to land like an anchor lol. I looked up and there was my instructor. OK? Mmm, YES! I gave the OK back. There I was, kneeling on the bottom of Lake Chapparal with about 19-20ft of water over my head, dry and probably breathing like someone who just ran through the rain to get into their car. It was awesome. I can’t describe the sensation of being underwater breathing through scuba gear and just taking a minute to relax, especially on one’s first ever dive. I can tell you though that you will not find anything on the surface or in the air that comes close. Everything from that point on went great and I’ve been diving as much as I can ever since.
To find out more, open a phone book, google scuba in your area, contact a diver and get in the water!!
