#47 Get scuba certified

My co-worker Kelsey is a marine biologist and an avid diver who convinced me to "take the plunge" in 2019 in one of her scuba diving pool classes with Blue Planet DC.

I also realized that this is a pre-requisite for my trips to #19 Galapagos and #24 Southeast Asia as well as potential future site visits to my work's projects. Gotta see the corals before they're all gone because of climate change! :/

Our pool diving class in March 2019

PA and I completed the online and pool classes for PADI Open Water Diver certification in February-March 2019 but were delayed in completing the open water dives because of my back injury in April. With the clock counting down to finish the certification within a year, we joined a Blue Planet DC trip to Grand Cayman in January 2020 to do our last training dives and first "real" dives.

The natural pool for shore diving at Sunset House

Our time at Sunset House was just perfect for learning to dive - you could walk right into the water or hop on the boat from the resort! We finished our four Open Water certification dives in the first two days, then got to enjoy eight more dives just for fun, including the wreck of the USS Kittiwake and swimming through amazing tunnels and arches within the reefs.

We ended up spending about eight hours underwater checking out the corals, stingrays, lobsters, crabs, and so many different fish! My new favorite fish is the peacock flounder, which lays flat on a rock and blends in perfectly even with its neon blue circles.

Peacock flounder!

It was a wonderful five days of sun, diving, and good food (check out Bacaro if you're ever on Grand Cayman), and I can't wait for my next diving adventure!

Item 47 Completed 1/19/20

24/47 items complete = 51%