Are you for SCUBA?
So far so good with our SSI instruction at Big Blue. Our instructor, Charles, is from Quebec and looks to be mid 20s. He’s very friendly, clear, and knows the coursework well. He’s certified around 300 people over the last 2 years he’s been working at BB.
As for SSI, it’s the newer, more flexible (teaching-wise) instruction from some of the guys at PADI (the most popular diving certification). It was suggested to us that SSI was a little less hardcore on the product purchasing and overall sales guide. But fuck, the majority of the SSI book we’ve seen so far (lent by the school; for PADI you buy for 800 baht) has read like a sales catalog that we will later be graded on.
What it makes you realize, tho, is that humans were not engineered to dive, see, or breathe underwater. It is only through the engineering of SCUBA equipment we’ve been able to experience the underwater world untethered and outside of a vehicle. As such, if you don’t understand, respect and take care of this expensive equipment, a lot can go wrong.
But even considering the importance of equipment, the sales pitch has been pretty hard. We have yet to get into the water and already we’ve been pressured to buy a mask - and the SSI book pressures you to buy all you equipment before you even finish the Open Water course.
Still, we’ve received sufficient info on the ins and outs of diving - theoretically. Next we jump in! Well, the pool first, ocean tomorrow.
Some fun facts to think about. The body loses heat 25 times faster in water than in air (which is why a wetsuit is necessary in most diving below 85F surface temp). Light is absorbed by the water, starting at the lower frequencies (red and orange), then yellow, green, purple and blue. With a mask on, objects appear 25% closer and 33% bigger.
Almost all medical problems come from not breathing or rising too quickly. They include bubbles of oxygen in the bloodstream, excess nitrogen converted from liquid to gaseous state which travels to other parts of your body (joints, spine, brain) and can cause pain and temporary paralysis, and rising too quickly where air expands in your lungs as the pressure reduces and can cause your alveoli to explode. Finally, most serious accidents in diving happen on the surface of the water where people drown with all their equipment because they don’t properly inflate their vests (BCV). Underneath the waves, things are usually pretty calm.
Will write soon.
