Col. Panic's Journal: Advanced Open Water Course

Well, I finished the course and it was amazing. Saturday we did underwater navigation in under 10 ft. visibility, which was good because we actually *had* to rely on our compasses.

Sunday was awesome. We did a deep dive (to a wreck), although not as deep as we were planning, and then navigated underwater to another wreck. Then we did a drift dive along a reef.

I learned something I will never forget: don't forget your weights. You can get a weight-integrated bcd, but I have a 16 lb. weight belt and for the first dive I left it on the boat. Doh!

I kept trying to submerge and after I would get about 5 feet down I floated right back to the surface. Finally a divemaster dragged me under to about 7 feet and I was able to invert and kick down to the bottom at 78 feet. Then the instructor put 5 lbs. in the pocket of my bcd and I managed to stay under. What a workout! I had to point head downward and kick most of the time so I didn't float away.

But the dive was incredible. The visibility was near 100 ft. and the water was almost perfectly still. The wrecks were great. We swam through a small part at the top of the first one. As we approached the second, there were two jewfish that had to be 200 lbs. each - they were bigger than us! It was like being in a huge aquarium and getting to touch the fish. We also saw a big green moray eel and a 3 ft. wide ray. Just incredible.