As a little girl I have always been fascinated with the natural world. For years and years I considered going to veterinary school just so I would be able to help animals on a more intimate level. It was only until my Tio Art proceeded to tell me that I would have to stick my arm up a cows ass that I realized it wasn’t for me.
Still the longing for nature was there, even if I did have “PTSD” every time I saw a milk commercial.
My eyes were really opened up to the underwater world while snorkeling in Belize this year and my love affair with the sea started. We had no intention on getting our Advanced Open Water certification but much to Shaun’s dismay, it sealed the deal with the ocean. My poor pasty almost ginger husband who struggles with “sea sensitivity” and fries in the sun now has a wife that never wants to be separated with the ocean.
Our Advanced course was freaking amazing and we came across quite the adventure on the way. Somehow we saw more in out 13 dives than most people on the island do in years.
As we surfaced from one of our dives the captain shouted for us to quickly get on the boat as he had spotted a pod of dolphins ahead of us. Lucky for me I was already in the ocean because I think I peed a little. Seriously. WILD DOLPHINS?! We get to snorkel with them!? All my Nick at Night/TVLand Flipper wet dreams were coming true.
We sped out toward the pod and slowly slipped into the water with our snorkel gear.
I was shivering in anticipation.
The moment you stick your ears into the water you hear it: their chatter, coming from all directions. They flipped, turned, came within a ridiculously close range and jumped out of the water. These playful animals were interested in us and we were their new toys.
I was overjoyed.
They did get a bit bored of us and we headed on to our Peak Performance Buoyancy dive site.
I was really skeptical that I would even like this class but it was surprisingly cool. We swam through rings, did Mission Impossible drops, stopping 2-3 inches above the sea floor, knocked over a weight with our regulator upside down – all with meditation and controlling our breath.
HOW FREAKING AWESOME IS THAT?! AND I DON’T SUCK AT IT! OMG. I DON’T SUCK AT AN “EXTREME SPORT”!
And as we were concentrating on the task and class at hand, there it was, in all it’s glory…
A waving flaccid penis surrounded by waving hair descending from above.
Holy shit. It is a naked dive.
A “pod” of divers, male and female, came to do some of their Peak Performance Buoyancy classes.
Just to let you know, when you smile or laugh your mask starts flooding due to the seal breaking from your cheeks raising.
Needless to say our class was derailed as we stared in disbelief.
I can say without a doubt that we had an interesting and fun experience while getting both our Open Water and Advanced Open Water certifications. It was definitely an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything else in the world.
I’m already starting to think, “Hmm, I wonder where I should get my Dive Master.”
Shaun: “/facepalm”
So awesome. Not so much the flaccid penis, but the other stuff. I never tried the peak performance buoyancy test, but I have a feeling I would really struggle with it. I think some people look at scuba diving and think it is more or less a piece of cake, but controlling your buoyancy is a serious skill. It took me a long time to get the hang of it and even still, I think I would crash out in a course like that. Pretty awesome about the dolphins, too 🙂
SO awesome (minus the penis imagery!) I’ve snorkeled a few times but I am ridiculously freaked about sharks so I am not sure if I would ever get comfy enough to get into diving. Swimming with the dolphins sounds beyond cool tho – sounds like you guys are having a blast!
@Phil: I thought I was going to BOMB at PPB but somehow I did really well. It is all about visualization to be honest. The more you dive the more comfortable you become.
@Tricia: Sharks are pretty much like any other animal where if you leave them alone they tend to leave you alone. That hasn’t stopped you from hiking through any forests has it? There are a million different things that can kill you there too. The dolphins were a life dream. I can’t believe we ran across them. SO AMAZING.
Good point Erica – I guess my dad didn’t torture me as a child about bears or spiders or poisonous plants…. but he sure did about sharks. I think life under the water is amazing so I am sure one of these days I will be able to kick the childhood nightmares. Until then I will enjoy your pics & stories! 🙂
Oh my god, one of my lifelong dreams has been to swim with Flipper! And I didn’t have to watch the show on Nik at Night or TV Land LOL
Sounds like you have really enjoyed your new found love of diving.
I’m so glad you got to pursue certifications and you had such fun, successful, and *cough* interesting dives 🙂 I bet once you get started it’s *very* difficult to stop. How are you gonna leave and move on?!
I’d love do snorkel again in clear water. Once was not enough!!!
ROFL! Definitely one of the dives I shall never forget! When you’re ready for divemaster, look me up. I can be your instructor for it. 😀
@Tricia: Feel free to live vicariously! That is what we are here for!
@Debbie! LOL! Hopefully you can partake in the dream as well. It is super cool!
@Heather: I was so scared that I would hate diving and now that I’m obsessed with it, I’m scared to stop! What if my life won’t be as complete!? I need to see Flipper! More sharks! Fishies! Coral! LOVE IT ALL. I was already in love with snorkeling. Scuba solidified the love.
@Talon: I’m glad you could be there on one of those memorable dives that will cause you to chuckle randomly the rest of your life. As for DM, no worries, we’ll see what we can do when we cross that bridge. Too much money right now!
hahaha – have never heard of a naked scuba diver, never mind a group! What an experience (especially the dolphins, of course =) I really need to get over my ocean fears and try diving – sounds like magic!
You can dive naked??!! I had no idea. But congrats on being a pro!
BAHAHA! I was so engrossed in this post. It felt like the flacid penis was in MY face. Your Peak Performance Buoyancy dive sounds amazing. You’ve made me want to go out and do more diving… hopefully without as much nudity.
@Andrea: For some reason the ocean never really scared me for diving. The only part that gave me a heart attack was doing a night dive to get my Advanced cert. Thought I was going to have a panic attack but it obviously turned out okay.
@Candice: If you find the right dive shop and the right people they are usually down with it. Tradition has it that on the 100th dive you do a naked one. These guys just wanted to do it for fun.
@Tawny: LOL! The PPB class is super awesome and if you ever get the opportunity to do it I highly suggest doing so. I thought I would be god awful at it and somehow I didn’t suck. I’ll take it! I’m not the most athletic person in the world so it felt good.
I, too, fell in love with snorkelling on my RTW trip last year. I can’t get enough of the water it’s so exhilarating!
I’m planning to get certified in Utila next year. Can you recommend a place or any tips on finding one?
Thanks!
@LA: Water water everywhere! I LOVE IT! We went with Bay Islands College of Diving (our scuba video was made there) and they have the best facilities on the island including a hyperbaric chamber and an indoor pool to practice in. I know the guys over at Deep Blue Divers are super nice as well. 🙂
Swimming with dolphins sounds amazing! Swimming with naked strangers sounds less amazing, but it makes for a pretty good story.
@Emily: Well, now that you put naked strangers it sounds much more daunting!
Oh my god, a naked dive, how awesome!! (Probably only a European would say that 😉 ) Love that you got to swim with the dolphins, so jealous… I hope we get to do it one day.
@Dani: I thought it was rather awesome as well! I mean, those people have some serious BALLS (pun intended) to be diving naked. I couldn’t imagine doing it as a guy. You have something attached that looks like food to fish.
I did my advanced in Bonaire last year, and after finishing the last dive, we sped back to shore through a pod of 200 dolphins!!! Sadly, we didn’t get to swim with them, as the driver was afraid us stopping and offloading would scare them off.
Have you gone diving in Roatan? If so, how would you compare it to Utila?
@C&C: We had to slowly slip in and snorkel. Luckily they were just as curious and played with us.
Have not gone to Roatan. It was a bit pricey to make our way over there. I hear everything is better but more expensive. All the shark dives are over there as well.
LOL, that’s one quirky adventure. The way you got into the ‘imagery’ was quite humorous.
So many things accomplished in some training! And spotting the dolphins must have been a wonderful surprise- funny thing is was snorkeling with sharks while you were doing this!
Hahahaaaaaaa. Naked divers. Love it. But, what I love even more is the awesomeness of diving with dolphins! So cool!
@Nomadic Samuel: LOL! Well, we were laughing so hard all of us were flooding our masks. I had to be legit!
@Fede: I’ve only seen nurse sharks while snorkeling. I’m jealous! I would love to have a shark experience!
@D: Diving with dolphins may have been the highlight of the entire Utila trip… and it was only snorkeling, not diving!
Naked diving. That’s hot. But I think I’d be worried about the fishes nibbling at the bits… 🙂
@Raymond: I am determined to do it on my 100th for SURE. But yes, I was always curious how guys don’t worry about being munched on.
bow chica wo woooow
@HOGGA: Rawr!
I got to swim with wild dolphins with the dive school I attended in Utila also. Such an incredible experience. They spotted the dolphins, and we all just grabbed our masks and jumped in the water. But I don’t have great photos like these.
@Stephanie: I would have been so sad if we didn’t get to swim with them to be honest. I think the only other thing that could top it would be whale sharks.