Diving Ft. Lauderdale
Scuba diving was by far the coolest thing I have ever done. Sure, one woman had to be taken off the boat by paramedics after our first dive and many other people (some other divers, some snorkelers) took that opportunity to get off the boat as well (there was a lot of sea sickness going around) but I loved it. Well, except for being at the surface. I need to work on my snorkelling skills.
I was totally comfortable underwater. On our last two dives we went down 60 ft and it was AMAZING. I descended into a school of angelfish and a few queen triggerfish. So cool. Soooooo cool.
Unfortunately, after we surfaced during the second dive, I couldn't catch my breath (I think I had pulled my weight belt too tight while kneeling on the bottom and then when we got to the surface I overinflated my buoyancy control device) and panicked. It was not pretty. The instructor managed to calm me down but after that, every time we approached the surface I felt myself getting anxious. So I ended up not demonstrating all my surface skills (you have to show you can take your tank on and off at the surface, take your weight belt on and off, snorkel, remove a cramp in your foot, tow a tired diver, etc.). So I have to do two more dives and demonstrate all those things. I didn't have any problems with the underwater skills.
And the hotel wasn't bad either. Remind me to take the comments on TripAdvisor with a very large grain of salt. No, it wasn't the Marriott but it had to be one of the largest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in with a very comfortable king-size bed and a private balcony overlooking the intracoastal waterway.
