So, there I was, floating in the middle of the sea. With an oxygen tank on my back and a dozen gadgets around me, in a wetsuit and flippers which I had struggled to put on with dear life, there I was.
It was only when the instructor, there were 3 of them thank God, asked us to press the button so that we would sink into the waters, that I realised that was it. "Oh shit."
I've never dived before. As cool as it looked, I never thought I would be doing it. I didn't quite think it through before booking the "Discover Scuba Diving" course with Leanne. C'mon, it'll be fun, I said. Okay, she said. Plus, Priscilla, my Anti-You teammate was having an internship there. Wouldn't it be cool if she was the one teaching us?
And as it turned out, she was the one teaching us. And 6 other Caucasians who picked up the theory part really quick. But I digress. Where was I?
Ah, yes. In the middle of the sea. I pressed the button, and soon I sank. It didn't feel cool the first time I felt my head go underwater. It was horrifying. Like, oh shit, what did I just do? A million thoughts about dying went through my head. I'm going to drown, I'm going to die, I'm going down and never coming up. That is, till I discovered the power of the regulator, also known as the thing you'll wanna suck on and never let go ever.
Well, of course, during the theory part, Priscilla did a great job explaining the mechanisms of diving and the functions of the equipment, including the regulator which you use to suck oxygen. But when your head is underwater, and all you want to do is breathe through your nose, which you can't, obviously, and you see a million new things that you've never seen, what happens is panic.
It's a different kind of six feet under.
After a while, I calmed down. I guess survival instincts kicked. If I don't calm down, I'll just die in that sea, which would be silly considering the surface was only about 10cm away from the top of my head. Plus, I saw that the rest of the beginners had no trouble getting to about 4 metres deep, and the other instructor, Mike, was already beginning his lessons with them underwater.
Singaporeans die die also cannot lose face. And in this case, it was literal.
So I decided to buck up, and swim to where they were, forcing myself not to breathe through the nose but through the regulator. But then, another problem presented itself. The deeper I went, the more the eardrums and the brain felt like bursting. It was like being in an airplane, only 100000 times worse and more painful.
Ok. Maybe I'd rather lose face than die.
In the end, I went back upwards to the surface- by then I knew how to go up to the surface, that's probably the only thing I learnt. Leanne was there, at the surface too, with the same problems. We couldn't equalize, Priscilla said, but it's okay, because it's an issue a lot of new divers face. So for the first part of the day, we floated along the surface looking down into the sea. Snorkeling, in a diving suit.
During lunch, Priscilla explained the ways to equalize. Just close all your airways and force air out, like how you try to stop a sneeze.
After lunch, we went back down and tried again. This time, Mike took me while Pris took Leanne. I got the hang of it after a bit, and the equalizing thing worked. After a few seconds, the head didn't feel like bursting anymore- YAY! No more deathly images of my own brain matter floating in the sea. Breathing through the mouth became easier as soon as I told myself, if you start breathing through your nose, you'll die.
While Leanne had not much luck equalizing- it's really scary as hell feeling your brain stretch, I had the opportunity to swim around with Mike. Wasn't swimming much, anyway. Rather, it was him pulling me along. Anyway, we were at a famous shipwreck site, so I got to see parts of the ship and the aquatic life that now lived in it. It's amazing how much beauty there is in the water, but of course, you have to calm down first to appreciate them. Mike pointed out a whirling school of jack fishes. There must be hundreds of them, swimming in one ball. Spectacular. He also led me through the wreck, and I mean THROUGH the wreck. Of course, I had to stop everytime we went deeper to equalize, but I probably went about 10metres. Which was good enough for me, a first timer.
You can die diving.
But to see life underwater is like being in the world of Avatar, totally unreal and different. I can't say that all the risks involved are worth the experience, but what I can say is, the human body is highly adaptable. Maybe one day, I'd have the time and courage to get the license.
But that's another day. And that will be another story altogether.
* I had the urge to write this down lest I forget how scary being impulsive actually is.
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