We are Certified Open Water Divers

Since, well - my whole life, I have been terrified of the ocean. I think that as a kid, I was taken under a wave and thrown around and just never got over it. Also, in college I took a Marine Biology course that opened up my world to all kinds of crazy (read: terrifying) underwater animals and the fact that there are whales out there that are as big as 747 airplanes (and there is more than just one - what?!) makes me want to barf, just a little. In reaction to my fear, for as long as I can remember, I have wanted to get SCUBA certified. There has just always been something else going on, it is too expensive, no one I know wants to do it with me, the list goes on. I decided on my 28th birthday that I would give myself the year to get certified. I convinced Rachel, who has also always wanted to do this, to do it with me, so we set off to find a dive shop where we could take the courses and then headed to Monterey for the certification dives.  An Alpha Gam friend of mine suggested checking out Bamboo Reef in San Francisco - where she and her husband got their certifications. The instructor for the classroom and the pool was awesome. He was patient and listening to our concerns all while curbing our fears of breathing under water. Without a doubt, if you are looking for a dive shop in SF, I would recommend this place.

Now back to my goal, I was certified on the 11th, my birthday was on the 9th. Even though I didn't make it before my 29th birthday, I will still count it as a win!  We drove from SF to Monterey on Friday afternoon, we stopped along the way in Pescadero for some World Famous Artichoke Bread at Arcangeli Grocery Co - it was the best thing, I think, that I have ever put in my mouth - omg. In Monterey we stayed at a Diver Friendly hotel - Lone Oak Lodge because on Saturday and Sunday our dives started before 9am. The check out dives require you to go on two dives on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, we finished both of our dives with still an entire tank of air left, so we decided to go on our first dive as certified divers. It was awesome! We ended up tagging along with another group and the instructor was super helpful and pointed out different sea life. We were wearing so much equipment that we didn't even have time to be cold!  It was such a cool experience and I can't wait to take a trip to a warm water location to practice our skills! We have a boat dive scheduled for Monterey in December and I know we are all super excited!