Lets face it, we all have some sort of bucket list. Whether it deals with relationships, material things, or experiences. We have mental notes of things we want to obtain or accomplish in our lifetime.
Since moving overseas, I've been able to check off many items on my list. For as long as I can remember there has been one item on my list that I was afraid to do or even mention, Scuba Diving. I've snorkeled and swam in dark caves but was afraid to comment to be fully emerged into an enormous body of water. That fear came to an end during my week long vacation in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Me and my underwater camera, along with my monopod (selfie stick) found ourselves walking along the bottom of the Red Sea. Moses was not there to guide me. Not only did my fear go away, I actually gained the confidence to do it twice.
While minding my business laying on the beach, my friend and I were approached by a local vendor about various activities available for purchase. We chatted with him for a while and he offered both of us 10 FREE minutes of scuba diving. 10 minutes might not be much to some but to me those could have been the last 10 minutes of my life. I have a fear of being in large bodies of water, especially when I can't see the bottom. Sounds crazy considering you have probably seen my past vacation photos. Trust me, you have no idea what is being said before, during, and after those pictures were taken. I didn't even swim with dolphins while in Thailand (already paid for it too) and that was in a large pool, I couldn't see the bottom and it freaked me out.
Okay, back to the fun stuff. The guide assured me it was safe and I agreed to it. My friend went first and I watched her disappear below the water and she popped up 10 minutes later with a new level of excitement. Now it was my turn to get geared up. The hardest part for me was getting fully submerged. I had a few false starts and my friend didn't think I would be able to do it. After regaining my composure, I found the courage to just do it and just like that I was scuba diving. We had hand signals to help communicate with each other since yelling was out of the question. I went as far as my mind would allow me to go without freaking out. He tried to push me closer to the sea floor but I quickly stretched out an open hand that meant "stay at this depth". After taking a short video and some snap shots I felt it was time for me to return to the surface so I gave the instructor the thumbs up signal, which means just that "Take me up".
WHOA!!! I survived!!!!
Prior to our free mini lesson we booked an excursion to travel to Tiran Island and snorkel above the coral in the Red Sea. We get to our pick up location and they give us the option to add scuba diving. YES PLEASE!!! So I go from being afraid one day and the net day I'm ready to do it again. This time further away from the shore and in deeper water. Oh well no turning back now. We get to the first of three stops and we suit up. Our diver took us one at a time because he knew we were beginners and I was still a bit scared. Honestly the toughest part of it was having to breath through my mouth. I actually sat and practiced breathing through my mouth, for some reason I equate mouth breathing with a stressful situation. Dang this post is exposing all my crazy thoughts. We weren't allowed to take our personal underwater cameras. He told us it was so we could focus on paying attention during the dive but it's really so we can buy the prices taken by the professional guy. Well it worked because we purchased both discs.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let the pictures below speak for me. Enjoy!!!!
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| tip toeing in my flippers!!! |
The next big item on my list is sky diving. According to Sky Dubai's website, I am too heavy to do it so I guess that's that.
