SCUBA SCUBA Doo, Where Are you?

Canoes in the sunset off Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
Canoes in the sunset off Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

Today I had the classroom part of my PADI Open Water Dive certification. I rocked. I’m good at test taking. I’m taking my instruction at Lahaina Divers, which seem like a pretty good outfit (the fact that they’re a block away from my hostel doesn’t hurt either).

SCUBA is something I’ve never really given any serious thought before. You see it on TV all the time, but I never really bothered to think about what goes into it. You strap a tank of air on your back, you breathe the air, you go underwater. Pretty simple.

What I never gave any thought to was the issue of pressure. The brilliance of SCUBA isn’t strapping a tank of air on your back. The brilliance is in how it regulates the pressure of the air. The modern SCUBA set up was invented by Jacques Cousteau (or as it was originally called the Aqualung).

Tomorrow and Friday I actually get into the water and at the end, I should be able to dive anywhere. By the time I leave the Pacific, I should have my Advanced Open Water certification.

I’m looking forward to diving in Truck Lagoon and Palau.

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