cnoren
11-19-2006, 08:34 PM
Alright so I finally got to get wet after weeks of swimming in nothing but nasty pool water and man was it sweet. I am right now in college and a PE activity in college was...Basic SCUBA, so I of course indulged myself and signed up (actually I based my whole schedule around taking SCUBA even taking a class at 8:00 am each morning just so I could do it). This weekend was my open water certification trip so we headed up to Hoodsport, Washington to Mike's Beach Resort. Unfortunately, the canal I was in was a preserve so no spearing or crab diving (it even decided to spit in my face with a sign near the entry point stating NO SPEARFISHING) and no photo's either because I have no way of uploading them even if I wanted to waste my money on a cheap disposable camera. Overall though it was a nice place except for some girl the night before turning around and exclaiming "we're all going to die" and then went on to explain how it felt a lot like a horror movie, I wasn't worried of course but I still slept in my running shoes just in case :cool: .
The dives were actually very exciting even if a little cold, we saw big ling cod, rockfish, and sole (all of which stared right at me and let me touch them before swimming off :mad: , I probably could have hunted them with my knife, its obvious that they have lost their instincts and need to be hunted a little just to remind them :p ). I also got to see this very cool thing called a cockrel dance (sp?) where the instructor got a clam and put it under a giant sun star and the clam opened up and started to "kick" the sun star with its foot, it was very interesting and you really have to see it. I also saw a giant octupus although he was underneath a boat, but his suckers were easily 3 inches in diameter, I definately would have loved to swim with it (gotta wait until next semester's night dive). Other than that there was a lot more life than I expected with large schools of baitfish, many crabs, broad leaf kelp, and a plethoria of tiny sculpin-like and other unknown fishes.
Also, SCUBA diving in and of itself was pretty fun, I wasn't really that impressed with it during my pool dives but it is much more fun in the canal (even VERY cold water, it didn't help that all the instructors were in dry suits and calling it "bath water"). There were things to look at, many people I could impress with my bubble rings, and it was just all-around fun. Also, I got to brag that I went the deepest out of anyone since the deepest we were supposed to go was 60' but one time I completely ****ed up my bouyancy when my dive buddy accidently dropped right on top of me (he's cool though) and not thinking I dumped all the air out of my BCD and tumbled down an incline to about 75' before regaining neutral bouyancy and swimming up really fast before the instructor saw me.
Over all though it was a great trip and a lot of fun, I can now officially rent equipment, plan, and dive to 60'. Next semster I figure I'll take advanced SCUBA and search and rescue so I'll get a few more reports up this year. Although I can't wait to get back to San Diego and grab some bugs and spear some fish for Christmas.
EDIT Oh and Mike's Beach resort is a pretty chill place as well since its geared for diving, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to experience diving up there which is very pretty in an alien sort of way (poke the anemones).
The dives were actually very exciting even if a little cold, we saw big ling cod, rockfish, and sole (all of which stared right at me and let me touch them before swimming off :mad: , I probably could have hunted them with my knife, its obvious that they have lost their instincts and need to be hunted a little just to remind them :p ). I also got to see this very cool thing called a cockrel dance (sp?) where the instructor got a clam and put it under a giant sun star and the clam opened up and started to "kick" the sun star with its foot, it was very interesting and you really have to see it. I also saw a giant octupus although he was underneath a boat, but his suckers were easily 3 inches in diameter, I definately would have loved to swim with it (gotta wait until next semester's night dive). Other than that there was a lot more life than I expected with large schools of baitfish, many crabs, broad leaf kelp, and a plethoria of tiny sculpin-like and other unknown fishes.
Also, SCUBA diving in and of itself was pretty fun, I wasn't really that impressed with it during my pool dives but it is much more fun in the canal (even VERY cold water, it didn't help that all the instructors were in dry suits and calling it "bath water"). There were things to look at, many people I could impress with my bubble rings, and it was just all-around fun. Also, I got to brag that I went the deepest out of anyone since the deepest we were supposed to go was 60' but one time I completely ****ed up my bouyancy when my dive buddy accidently dropped right on top of me (he's cool though) and not thinking I dumped all the air out of my BCD and tumbled down an incline to about 75' before regaining neutral bouyancy and swimming up really fast before the instructor saw me.
Over all though it was a great trip and a lot of fun, I can now officially rent equipment, plan, and dive to 60'. Next semster I figure I'll take advanced SCUBA and search and rescue so I'll get a few more reports up this year. Although I can't wait to get back to San Diego and grab some bugs and spear some fish for Christmas.
EDIT Oh and Mike's Beach resort is a pretty chill place as well since its geared for diving, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to experience diving up there which is very pretty in an alien sort of way (poke the anemones).