After we proved to Shane that we were confident with the basics in shallow water he took us out on our first proper open water dive the next afternoon. Poor Sienna got a bit too boozed the night before and was feeling extremely hung over - not exactly ideal for diving. Heading down to the sea floor I had a moment or two of irrational brain panic but managed to bring everything under control and begin to enjoy the sensation of being underwater. Something that’s crucial to diving is becoming what’s called neutrally buoyant – effectively weightless – in the water. When you get it right it is such a cool feeling! You can just hang mid water and control the way you go up and down with your breathing. It was a bit scary having to remove our equipment and put it back on again at 10m down but we all managed to do it without any problems.
 Pre dive briefing from our dive master |  Over we go! |  Remember to equalise! |
During our second open water dive that afternoon we had to practice the techniques for emergency ascent if we run out of air while diving, and navigation. I don’t have very large lung capacity so the idea of swimming to the surface from 9m down without running out of breathe didn’t exactly put me at ease, but it turns out that your breathe can last a lot longer when you serenade the fishes on the way to the surface.
A bit of exploration around the reef, where we spied a Moray Eel, a Barracuda and plenty of Parrot Fish, and then it was back to the shore. One really confusingly worded multi choice exam later and we were all officially qualified! Stoked!
While I had been studying Ty had been out on a couple of fun dives and we signed up for 2 fun dives together after I got my licence. We dove in an area they call ‘off the reef’ which was so cool. It made me feel a bit like the diver in Finding Nemo, peering at all the fisheys – without stealing Nemo of course! We also got extremely lucky seeing 2 Eagle Rays and 2 Turtles, along with plenty of Parrot fish, Barracudas, Trumpetfish and other bright colourful ones. It was so cool being able to dive together and Ty was a really good dive buddy which made me confident about diving together in future. The fact that my sister is studying to be a dive master at the moment is awesome because it means we can all go out together.
A bit of exploration around the reef, where we spied a Moray Eel, a Barracuda and plenty of Parrot Fish, and then it was back to the shore. One really confusingly worded multi choice exam later and we were all officially qualified! Stoked!
While I had been studying Ty had been out on a couple of fun dives and we signed up for 2 fun dives together after I got my licence. We dove in an area they call ‘off the reef’ which was so cool. It made me feel a bit like the diver in Finding Nemo, peering at all the fisheys – without stealing Nemo of course! We also got extremely lucky seeing 2 Eagle Rays and 2 Turtles, along with plenty of Parrot fish, Barracudas, Trumpetfish and other bright colourful ones. It was so cool being able to dive together and Ty was a really good dive buddy which made me confident about diving together in future. The fact that my sister is studying to be a dive master at the moment is awesome because it means we can all go out together.
 All 'OK' |  Scoobering |  Pretty fisheys |
As part of the 2nd largest barrier reef system in the world, and with more than eighty diving sites around the island Utila has a way of capturing your imagination. It would be very easy to laze away our days here, on the search for the elusive Whale Shark, but unfortunately we need to keep moving so we resisted the temptation to sign up for more dives and headed back to the mainland.
Next stop: Leon (Nicaragua)
Next stop: Leon (Nicaragua)
 The reef |  Hey, Look! |  Tired but happy at the end of our dive together |
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