Thoughts of a virgin diver

Ben helping Katie assemble her gear before her first dive. Photo by Christopher Southwick.

Where was I when Katie talked Ben into taking her diving for the first time in her life? Who knows. Taking a nap? Floating in the pool? Talking with Siteri?

Anyway, Christopher was there (to document it) and Katie later wrote about it on her own blog. Here’s an excerpt:

I have always wanted to go diving, and now, here in a pristine Fijian paradise, I have the chance. So I start in the resort’s pool, and go off-jetty dive within the hour, sinking in my heavy equipment to watch the clouds of multicolored, flashing sea life—fish of a dozen varieties. When they disappear, and it’s just this murky, light-strewn three-dimensional world, I tell myself not to care that I feel seawater in my nose and can taste it in my mouth, try to slow my breathing and study the coral. I tell myself that this is fun. That we are not that deep, and it’s mostly the fact that worst-case scenarios are running through my head. I had neglected to ask the dive instructor what happens if I start coughing so hard I lose the regulator, inhale water, and, unable to breathe, am rushed to the surface. Will my lungs explode at the top? I shut this thought out.

To read more, go to: http://kbotkin.com/2012/02/23/in-the-waters-of-royal-davui/