THE OCEAN ; CALM YET CHAOTIC 

This trip was my third dive. I officially logged 18 dives after this trip. I did not have a great experience going through my Open Water Course. I really don't want to go there but I will summarize it. My instructor was a lady and she was so demotivating. I thought I can never be a diver after her first open water lesson. Part of me even wanted to go back home. I'm a teacher and I know not everyone can be a good teacher.However, I think there are benefits of having a teacher like that, I learnt to be independent. But I would still advise you to make a wise decision before choosing your dive school.

Diving is my favorite hobby and I take it very seriously. I enjoy being underwater since I learnt swimming. I remember my swimming instructor once told me that I'm super calm underwater and he was surprised that I can't swim. I'm not a calm person but I think being underwater makes me calm. It is the best feeling ever. 

During this trip I improved a lot. I used to fear backroll,descending and I don't even go near the fishes. Now I backroll like a pro and descend like a boss. But I still suck at my buoyancy control. Hence why my underwater photos aren't that great. If you don't understand a thing i'm talking about, just continue reading because this story is just about to begin. 

We decided to do two dives per day because we wanted to chill in the evening. First two days were okay. The current was strong and visibility wasn't great. The last day,we joined a bigger group. I think there were like 

12 of us including the dive masters.When the group is big,buddy system comes in.You will be paired with another fellow diver.You guys just have to look after each other.

I was paired with my fiance and my sister was paired with a random diver who came alone. After backrolling, I swam near my fiance so we could descend together. When we reached the bottom, I realized the visibility wasn't great. I saw my dive master right in front of me. How I knew it was him even though the visibility was bad ? You could identify divers by looking at their fin colour. I also saw three other divers including my fiance. The dive master signaled us to wait right there while he went up to help the others who had problems descending. 

That was the last I saw him.I was waiting down there patiently wondering what is taking them so long.Suddenly, I realized my view was changing.As in I was seeing different corals in front of me.I'm moving without fining. Wait,what ??? I started swimming back but I couldn't fight the current.Okay,let that sink in. The CURRENT WAS SUPER STRONG. I was trying to be calm as I could see three other divers rounding me. I could see the others trying to fight the current as well. I was still trying to process what was going on and where are the others. I was still thinking that they will be coming for us.

I swam as hard I could to reach a stone. I held on to the stone. I couldn't see my fiance anymore. He was gone. Another diver held on the same stone as me. We both held hands. I told her that I want to end this dive but you can't just ascend. She told me to be calm. I'm sure she was way senior than me. After a few minutes, she signaled to end the dive and replied her with a 'okay, ascending' hand signal..We were still holding hands and we started ascending.At this point, I couldn't think of anything else but to reach the top.  

Ascending is not as simple. We need to do a safety stop. What is safety stop ? Every diver should stop at 5 meters for three minutes to help off-gas the nitrogen absorbed while diving. Thank god, I paid attention during my lesson. We started ascending super slow. I was also worried about the boats. If you ascend in the middle of the ocean, a boat could just hit you. So I was making sure my hands reached the top before my head. That's lesson number two. 

It felt like forever to reach the top. Just when I reached and inflated my BCD, I heard someone calling me. It was my fiance who I totally forgot about. He said he came out in the middle of the ocean alone. He said he couldn't fight the current as well so he decided to end the dive. Good that I held on the stone so I did not go very far into the ocean.We waved at the boatman and he came to pick us up. I was worried about the others. We were waiting for so long on the boat. According to the briefing before the dive, dive master will end the dive if anyone goes missing. I was thinking why are they not out yet.

After a good 10-15 minutes,we saw them. My sister said that they were waving at us for so long and the boatman didn't notice. So, they actually ended the dive immediately. She was also saying that the dive master was worried and he didn't know we were on the boat already.   

Phewwww.Everyone was unharmed and safe.

Am I afraid of diving now ? No,I'm not. In fact, this incident has taught me a lot. I'm a confident diver now. I'm even planning to dive in Europe next year. Every hobby teaches us something and helps us to be a better person in many different ways.Diving has made me a stronger person mentally and physically of course. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, might as well enjoy doing something you love today no matter how risky that is.

Love,

Molly