you two for scuba?

What we did over the hollidays...

Chillin' in back of the SCUBA Kombi

For our Christmas gift to echother this year, Melinda and I gave eachother SCUBA lessons! (That is, other than stuffing eachother's stockings ...(that we went out, bought material for and made!--yeah, hard core missionary types eh?) with candy and other toiletries that we were low on) We went with Obzside SCUBA, who were great fun.

PADI high five! Yeah!

After a couple theory lesson days and exam, we spent a 10 hour day in a pool in Cape Town learning the skills. Then Wednesday and Thursday we tested our mettle in the open (frigid) Atlantic seas. After calling to get permission from the South African Navy, we dove right off the military base in Simonstown--one of the southern suburbs of Cape Town.

Windmill, Boulder's Beach

Our final certifying dive was at Windmill--a brilliant site. Although we didn't get to see all of it as the surge underwater was so strong our instructor feared for our nascent skills. We turned back and sought shelter under the massive kelp beds after venturing into the open sea for 30 minutes or so. What a blast! The underwater world...our last uncharted territory... dun dun dun duuuuuuun!