Diving was such a unique experience for each of us that we though we'd each write our own blog. Some of this entry is repetitive so you can skip it if you want but I needed to write my own story.

I was never really comfortable around water and having had a near drowning experience as a child did not help so, as you can guess, I always thought I had about the same chance of becoming an astronaut as I did a diver. I am not a strong swimmer and my patented stroke leaves me breathless within minutes so it was only through sheer luck that I discovered snorkeling in Mexico 2 years ago. I only went in the water because I had a life jacket on, but once I put my head in the water I saw a whole new world down there. I spent more time in the water and grew a tad more comfortable and when the ocean is not so rough I even take off my life jacket. I talked with some divers before I left home and, of course, they all recommended I try it. When I tell them I'm a poor swimmer, they always say the same thing – that you don't need to know how to swim to dive. This may be true but it sure helps, especially if you plan on coming back up.

On this trip, I did consider the possibility that I might do a dive course but I was a little nervous to say the least. Once we did the Introduction to Scuba course in the HI Resort on Phi Phi I felt a lot more confident but I guess I was still nervous as I never went and talked to anyone about going further. Amie did not enjoy the course as much as I did and she was not sure she would try to get certified and that took the pressure off me. In Tioman we had booked a snorkel trip and were planning on leaving the next day but we were the only people who signed up for the trip so it was canceled. We mulled over the idea of just leaving the island but since we had already paid for our accommodation, we decided to stay and talk to someone about diving even though we did not really plan to sign up. We just wanted to know what was involved and how much it would cost. We had heard that other places in Asia were cheaper to dive but probably not by much and in Tioman we were the only 2 in the class so we would get the individual attention that we surely would need. The first place we stopped at was DiveAsia and after talking to Glen we both felt it was something we wanted to try so we signed the paperwork and Glen handed us 2 books so we could start studying. We spent the rest of the day reading until it got too dark and we reluctantly put our books away.

The next morning we met our instructor, Rob from England, who sat us down and made us watch videos for a few hours. After lunch we picked out our scuba gear and were shown how to set it up. Now with all our gear on we headed for the sea. In the first stage, we were to practice in confined water like a pool but our confined water was a rope with a few buoys tied to it and this was the only barrier between us and thousands of miles of ocean. The only way the rope would make a difference is if I got tangled up in it as I was being dragged out to sea. Luckily, the rope was never put to the test and I managed to complete all the skills required even though I did have a little trouble clearing my mask. I was very determined to complete every task and I would muster up all the strength I had and blow through my nose with full force to try to clear the mask as Amie and Rob watched on in horror. It was not until the last day of the course that I realized I was just trying too hard and if I gave short easy blows it would work much better.

The next morning, when we arrived at the dive shop all our gear was set up and we went straight out into the open sea, even beyond those little buoys which were my last line of defense. We were now 12 meters above the ocean bed and were about to descend into its depths. After doing our prechecks, we were emptying the air from our BCDs (buoyancy control devices) and sinking with only a thin rope as our guide. At first, Amie and I were going down simultaneously but after 2 meters or so my ears began to hurt and I grabbed the rope to stop my descent and would not let go until my ears cleared. When I started moving again, Amie's head was by my fins so I let her go down and then I continued down some more. I was no more than 5 meters down when I started worrying about my situation and now I was on my own as Rob was with Amie a few meters below. I looked down to see what was going on but all I could see were Amie's air bubbles coming up at me. My ears were blocked again and I felt I was losing control so I signaled that all was not well but there was no response. I waited for an eternity (maybe for 10 seconds) and still no sign of Rob, just bubbles coming up at me. I thought about the cost of the course but felt it did not matter – my life was worth more. So I filled my BCD with air and rose slowly to the surface. My short stint as a diver was over.

When I saw all the bubbles, I was sure Amie was gone, but now that I was back on the surface, I could see she had managed to survive and had made it to the bottom. Now Rob was right under me and tugging at my fin asking if I was OK. I signaled that I was OK but my ears were giving me problems and then he signaled for me to descend again. What! Was he crazy? I didn't know what to do but decided I could give it one more shot, so with a quick prayer I went against my better judgment and let all of the air out of my BCD. This time I made it down with only a few stops to clear my ears and my diving career was back on track. We did all the skills again except now we were in open water as opposed to being protected from the mighty ocean by the line of buoys. Once we returned to the surface, I was able to laugh at my near premature retirement from diving.

We went back to watching videos and then did some quizzes before heading back to the water to do crazy stuff like removing our equipment above and under the water. I did struggle a little with putting back on my gear but eventually I figured it out. We went for one more dive even though it was after 5 pm and I seriously thought about giving it a miss as it was so late. Luckily this time it was a lot easier going down and I didn't even have a rope to hold on to. It was during this dive that it hit me why people actually do this for fun; it was amazing to not only watch the sea life but also see the fields of coral spread before us. The next day we did 2 fun dives and we had no problems on either dive; by now I was able to clear my mask and it gave me a lot of satisfaction as I watched the water line fall and then completely disappear from my mask.

On our second dive we were swimming around these coral formations just like you see on TV. We even had a current to deal with and at one stage I was lucky not to be wiped out by a huge sea fan as I was watching Rob and not paying enough attention to my surroundings. After the dives, it was back to the classroom where we took our final exam and both Amie and I passed with flying colors (even if she did get one more correct than I). Overall it was a good experience even if it was quite frightening at times. I was surprised that I had a similar reaction to Amie's where I like diving but I don't think I love it. Once we had finished the course we both felt like we were a little incomplete so I think that means there will be more dives in our future. OK, that's enough from me, I better get going. I think Houston is on the other line.