My First Certification. by Christopher Robinson

So there I was...fumbling with a mountain of gear, a heavy tank and a belt of lead weights. I staggered through the gate to the pool deck where the rest of the class was assembled. I did not do it gracefully. Taking a seat at the far end of the bleachers, I sipped coffee and tried to look like I had some sense of what I was doing. So began my first day of learning to scuba dive.

Looking back on it, I think I was pretty normal, but at the time I felt like little more than an uncoordinated clod. I was paired with the only other person who wasn’t already coupled up, a young actress named Molly, and we immediately hit it off. For the rest of the day we progressed through skills in the pool before moving to the classroom in the afternoon. The class gelled. Brian, our instructor, sent us all home confident and pumped up for the next day’s adventure to Catalina and our first Open Water dives.

Reality check number one

Before dawn on a September morning I drove to the boat docked at San Pedro. Yesterday’s confidence was taking a back seat to healthy dose of nervousness. Suddenly I was happy I listened to Brian’s advice about taking sea-sickness pills. Getting my gear onto the boat I discovered a number of new ways to fumble around like an uncoordinated clod. Fortunately I had plenty of time to settle down during the ride over to Catalina.

Donning gear in the slight chop, I realize how little I truly know. The experienced divers on the boat seem to be geared up and in the water within seconds of the engine shutting off. They’re already on the bottom while I’m searching for my left bootie. OK...relax...calm down get settled...buddy check...NOW...one giant stride and I’m in the ocean. And it ain’t no swimming pool. It takes all of 5 seconds for me to realize that slight chop on a 45 foot boat is double overhead when you’re treading water.

Ok...relax...breathe

With everyone in the water and a descent line in place, Saturday’s pool skills edge their way back to the forefront of my mind and I tell myself to relax. Almost before I know it, I’m descending. I’m scuba diving. Knees in the sand, we collect in a circle on the bottom and run through the skills. There just off the coast of Catalina, doing the most basic of scuba drills, I was overwhelmed by the experience. It was like a switch was thrown somewhere and the course of my life veered in a new direction—downward. In that instant, my life changed.

During the long ride back to San Pedro, I suffered from “permagrin.” The captain would have thrown me overboard just to shut me up, but we hadn’t settled up on the softdrinks and food tab yet. During the long week until my next class, all I could do was think about how much I wanted to be back in the water, hearing my own breathing and the soothing sound of my bubbles.

Reality check number two

Another pool day, more skills, a written final exam, a pair of Sunday beach dives and just like that I’m certified. For years I remember hearing people talk about being certified and now I’m one of those people. The members of my class are all beaming as we receive our temporary PADI Open Water certification cards.

Looking at the flimsy piece of paper, I realize that I’ve had exactly 5 actual ocean water dives up to this point. Yes, I’m certified, but in that moment my definition of the meaning of that word suddenly changes. I realize that I’m certified to be a beginner. The card tells dive masters and fellow divers that in me there’s someone who has the base skills required to begin learning the art of scuba diving. The mystique of the ocean’s depths are within my grasp, but the journey has only just barely begun.

100 dives

Open Water certification in hand, I’m taking my first steps to becoming a true scuba diver. In the coming months, I plan to be diving near my home in Southern California as well as traveling to exotic locales. Future PADI certifications like Advanced Open Water, Digital Underwater Photography, Enriched Air and others are on my agenda. Most of all, I’m looking forward to my first 100 dives and the adventures that await. I know there will be some rough outings, but there will also be some magical days and I’m jumping in with both feet.