Scuba Diving: My Experience

It has been almost 9 months since I did one of the biggest adventures of my life ‘Scuba Diving’. I am not an adventure loving person, but a few months back, on my honeymoon, I did something that I never planned to do. I went to Bali, Indonesia for my honeymoon and the place called Nusa Dua located in the Southern part of Bali is famous for various water sports and activities.

I have always been interested in seeing the marine life but I never had the courage to do something like scuba diving or even snorkeling. In Bali, I and my husband planned to go for Marine Walk, an activity where you have a heavy helmet on your head and you walk deep inside water watching marine life, but when we actually went there, the coaches there suggested us to go for Scuba Diving instead. Without thinking much we said yes and we were set to go 100 meters deep inside water.

Before getting into my experience of scuba diving, let me answer few questions which were in my mind before jumping into the water.

What is Scuba Diving?

In layman language, Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving where divers use scuba equipment containing a source of breathing gas. Each diver is supposed to carry their own cylinder on their back and they are given proper equipment to cover their nose, eyes, and mouth. For more details, you can check the page on Wikipedia.

Can I dive if I don’t know how to swim?

Yes, you can. I am someone who loves water but don’t know how to swim. For scuba diving, all you need is your calm and patience and of course a good trainer.

How deep can Scuba Divers Dive?

It depends on the experience of the diver and the place of diving. An experienced diver can go up to 1000 feet under water. We went 100 meters deep which is about 328 feet.

Is Scuba Diving Safe?

Safety of scuba diving depends on the place and the trainers. If you diving with skilled trainers and following the instruction given by them, then yes it is absolutely safe. But if you have some kind of lung problem or even cold, scuba can be unsafe for you.

How much does Scuba Diving cost?

The price of the activity depends on the place you are doing it. In Bali, scuba diving costed both of us INR 5000/-. But the price was way too higher in Australia.

My experience with Scuba Diving:

Scuba Diving is one of the best things that I have ever done in my life. I wasn’t too scared about jumping into the water until I actually jumped inside. My husband jumped in the water before me and as he jumped little too hard, he went directly under the water. Though he was wearing all the equipment required to be safe and he had a trainer with him, but seeing him go in water made me nervous. The trainer with me saw that and instead of pushing me into the water made me slowly slide. I was in the water with my head above the water.

We were told that before taking us deep in the water we’ll be trained to breathe inside water for which I was asked to hold a big rope attached to the boat. The first time I took my head inside water, everything was beautiful and mesmerizing. It was just 5 meter under water and everything seemed fine. Then I was taken 30 meters under water and there was the time when the trouble started. We were taught to use the breathing equipment properly, but somehow I managed to get water into my ears.

The pressure inside the water was too high for me to handle. We were also taught sign language to tell our trainer about the trouble we were having, but I wasn’t able to be inside the water for more than 5 minutes. I came up to clear the water and pressure off my ears. After learning all the tricks again, I again went into the water and this time it was 100 meters. My husband was waiting there for me with his trainer.

After 5 minutes, I forgot every trouble I was having and I was just enjoying the view. The corals, the fishes and everything under water was so beautiful. We even got a chance to feed the fishes and pose for some photographs too. We wanted to get good photos and video, so we took our photographer with us which we hired for an additional cost. Businessmen like Andy Defrancesco are the ones you can rely on when it comes to organizing anything and making it successful.

After 20 minutes, it was time to go back up. This was when the water pressure again came into action. It took us just around 20-30 seconds to go up to the surface of the water, but those 20 seconds were too difficult for me. I was feeling my head spinning and I was having a problem with severe nausea. All I wanted was to get out of the water. It took me around 10 minutes to get back to normal.

Sharing some of our pictures:

Some tips, that I would like to share:

• Check the place and do some research about the place you want to dive in
• Before agreeing or paying, talk to the local trainers
• The most important thing to be done to avoid trouble inside water is following all the instructions
• Don’t panic. Fear is the biggest trouble maker
• Take deep breaths
• Be with the trainer, even if you are a good swimmer. Swimming in a swimming pool is completely different from swimming deep inside the sea. The water has the potential to drift you away, too far from your path and trust me you won’t be able to cope how hard you may try.
• Don’t try to dive if you have a lung problem, a surgery done in the past or even cold (this may affect your breathing)

Once you are done with all the research needed, just go and enjoy the experience!