Location: Mountain Point, BVI
Today was another eventful day on Ocean Star! After breakfast, the open-water divers, including myself, went down to the saloon to learn about dive tables. There, we learned how to calculate the maximum time you should spend at a certain depth, along with the many other uses of the dive planner. While we were doing that, the advanced group went for a fun dive along the rocks. Once the open-water students finished learning about dive tables and the advanced students returned, we were able to do our first open-water dive. We did a few drills, including flooding, clearing our masks, and breathing from our buddy’s alternate regulators. It was our first real dive! Then, we all returned to the boat for lunch.
After lunch, the open-water students prepared to head back out to the water for their second open-water dive while the advanced group continued on their second fun dive of the day! For this dive, some of the divemaster students tagged along with us to shadow the dive. We completed a few more dive skills at 30 feet below the surface – what an incredible experience! Once the drills were finished, we had the opportunity to swim around and explore the coral, where we saw numerous types of species, including parrotfish, trumpet fish, and even an eel! Although learning how to breathe underwater can be a little challenging and weird at first, I think we all did a really great job! After returning from our dives, it was shower time! Here, we all challenge each other to try tricks off the deck, including dives, front flips, backflips, and a few others. Today, Yi finally learned how to dive without belly-flopping! Everyone was so excited. During shower time, the divemaster students completed a swim test where they had to treat water for 15 minutes, and the last 2 minutes had to be with their hands out of the water. It was pretty entertaining for everyone else who was watching. We finished showers and ate dinner, which was concluded by making a call to Cole’s dad for his birthday, during which we all sang to him! Tonight, we will have our first marine biology class led by Annemarie, and that will conclude day 6 of this program!