Xtreme 13: Scuba Diving

Xtreme13 has struck again, and our second Adventure was Scuba Diving. We purchased a Living Social deal last year and thought this would be fun to do. While it wasn’t as easy as I thought (we’ll discuss in a minute) it was well worth the $20 spent. Living Social/Groupon/Google offers are great ways to try new adventures for a small amount of money.

We trained at the Chesapeake Underwater Scuba place in Annapolis Maryland. This is a small little place that has likely been around for a really long time. The class is scheduled for groups of 10. We were a party of 6 that became a party of 9 when we befriended the other 3 girls that were there for class.  We spent about an hour going over equipment, safety procedures, the 101 of scuba diving and then watched a video. What I did learn about Scuba Diving is it involves a lot of science & math. You have to know how much air you need vs. how deep you are going vs. time. You also need to know and understand how the lungs work and to make sure you are breathing correctly, to make sure you aren't holding your breath (which you do naturally when in the water) and you have to make sure you don't come up too fast. Is your head spinning yet? Oh did I mention that you have various scuba suits that are best suited for the types of water, temperature, needs for safety and warmth. Why do people scuba dive again?

After our lesson and lots of humor from our party of 9 we headed over to the Arundel Olympic Swim Center. They have a very nice pool by the way. We got dressed, and started to put on our equipment THAT WEIGHED A TON! First up you get a vest, you attach your tank to the back of your vest. They turn on your air, make sure you have the correct tubing, give you goggles that also cover your nose (a very odd feeling), lastly you get a pair of flippers. Flippers help you move in the water by trying to stand up with them on is a joke. I couldn't stand up on my feet to save my life. I gave them a try again before quitting them all together. I had a cute vest with some pink in it, I had on pink flippers and I rocked a new bikini from Target. Shout out to my post baby gut that isn't as bad as I thought or as it appears in jeans. (I'm working on it) After all of that we got in the pool, yes we were "scuba'ing" in a pool. hahahahaha

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Here is a video of us having a little fun in the water.

From this experience I don't really think scuba diving is my thing. I was able to get my breathing under control but to breathe correctly, fill my mask with water and clear it out, then remove my mouth piece to practice retrieving it, and blow water out of my face mask was a bit over whelming. From what I've seen on TV they certainly make it look much easier than it actually is. It was fun trying it out though but maybe I should just snorkel.