We are Certified and Certifiable Open Water SCUBA Divers!!!

Have we had quite the adventure!!! We drove to Florida, Gainesville area to get our open water Scuba certification. It was a whole lot more than we expected.

We passed our certification but it was a whole lot more than just that!!!
We arrived on Friday after driving the 9 hours to get there. On Saturday morning we left for the Ichetucknee River for a drift snorkel to pass our snorkel requirement. It was 32 degrees air temp and we had to change from our warm clothes into our 3mm wetsuits in an open air dressing room. BRRRRRRRRRRR ...I thought this was Florida! -- Anyway we got into the water which was 72 degrees ( supposedly) , we drifted for 1 hour in the river, and saw lots of fish, turtles and gar fish .Now came the tough part. We had to hike back to the cars in wet wetsuits for about 25 minutes. I was really shivering when we got back to the car but the temperature had risen to 50 degrees or thereabouts.
We dried off and then drove to Ginnie Springs for our first dive. It had warmed up to around 58-62 thank goodness and we got into our SCUBA gear. We did our required safety things at 15 feet, mask clears, mask off, out of air octo share, and regulator out. Then we went into a cave with the instructor down to 40 feet. The water was 72 degrees and the cave was really neat. We took 2 dives there and then headed back to the hotel for dinner and sleep!
The next morning we left at 7:30 am and there was a frost everywhere and 30 degrees! Major frost warnings for the citrus growers. Of course when we go to Florida for our check out dives!!! GRRRRRRRRRR, BRRRRRRRRRRR. Anyway we arrived at Devil's Den at 8:15am. Here is a video I found of it on YouTube you might like.  It was a great dive there again to 40 feet. The water was 72 degees. We worked on buoyancy, safety stops and hovering. We practiced BC removal and donning in the water. We practiced gentle fin kicks and simply dove around to practice various skills. It was wonderful.
After our dive we drove a piece to Crystal River to snorkel with the Manatees who overwinter there because of the warm springs. that feed the river and keep it a toasty 72! The afternoon had warmed up to 65 and we were enjoying the sunshine big time. Even though it was cooler than expected for Florida, the sunshine was tremendous all weekend.
Here is a video I found on youtube that shows exactly what we did with the manatees.We petted them, stroked them and simply enjoyed swimming with them. We took a boat out past their sanctuary and they would come out to hang with you . They have many propeller injuries on their backs and the coast guard monitors all our activity with them. The fines are heavy if we even swim after them. They are to come to you and they do because they are so gentle. They are endangered due to the need for so much of a certain type of seagrass.
It was an amazing adventure.
We returned to the hotel, ate and collapsed!!!!
The final morning in Florida we went to dive at Blue Grotto Again cold in the morning but warming up fine. Here is a video I found on you tube of exactly what we did.

However the actual depth is 87 feet in the cave because unless you are skinny you can't get down to those last 13 feet!!! It was amazing and a bit scary when all you have is a tiny tunnel to go through with a rope for a reference. I got my octo hooked on a rock ledge and got stuck and had to back up to get loose! A bit scary for sure.
The Blue Grotto dive site also had a compressed air bell at 20 feet where you could hang and talk to your buddies . That was a real plus. You could also do your safety stop there for your 3 minutes of decompression.
We left Florida around noon and got back to Durham at 10:20 pm . We stopped for a picnic lunch and dinner along the way.


We are now certified and certifiable!!! Pictures of us will be coming soon. We didn't have a waterproof or underwater camera so we are relying on our instructors to provide some of theirs.
Love
Anna and Myron