Under the Sea

Back in February, John and I became certified scuba divers. Yes, February, it was cold even though we live on a tropical island! I won't go into all of the horrific things we had to do in order to get our certification, I believe I have suppressed some of those things from my memory! Basically we spent a few days going through all sorts of scenarios (in the water, no less) of bad things that could happen to us in the water so we would know what to do if any of these situations arose. Scary. Anyway, we made it through and are PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) certified Open Water scuba divers! John left for the States a week after we were certified, so we had to wait until he came back to go on our first dive on our own.

This past weekend was an absolutely gorgeous weekend and it was a perfect time to get in the water.

We woke up early and headed to the ocean. Luckily, we don't have to go very far. Five minutes later, we started putting on all of our gear. It takes FOREVER to put everything on! The wetsuit alone takes me around 3 minutes! So after the wetsuit, weight belt, BCD with the tank attached (buoyancy control device--the vest looking thing), regulator, snorkel, mask, and fins were all on we could finally get in the water! Here is a link for further equipment info: http://www.padi.com/scuba/scuba-gear/intro-to-scuba-dive-equipment/default.aspx

Finally we got in the water and I heard a really annoying sound. It was a discomforting sound of leaking air. Oh great. So John tried to check it out, but there is only so much you can do standing in chest-deep water and quite a few pounds strapped to your back. We had to get out, take everything off and drive back to the place where we rented our gear. Sure enough, there was a leak in my BCD. Not exactly something you want when you are out in the middle of the ocean and that is the device that will keep you floating in the water!

So, round two. We geared up again and got into the water to experience our first dive by ourselves.

It is such an amazing experience seeing things that you could never see just snorkeling.

The coral was stunning. I have never seen anything like this. I never knew some of these types existed.

There weren't a whole lot of fish where we were, but we did see a little sea snake. I kept my distance. I do not feel the need to attempt to befriend those guys.

Here we are hanging out at 40 feet underwater.

Afterwards we decided to go to one of our favorite cute little coffee shops right by the beach, relax and check out the pictures we took underwater.

I am really glad my adventurous husband convinced me to get certified with him, it was such an amazing experience.

We hope to take a day trip this summer to a small chain of islands a few miles off the coast of Okinawa, called the Kerama islands for a dive excursion. I hear you can see 200 feet down, that is how amazingly clear and beautiful the water is there. Stay tuned for more adventures of the Franklin's!