Last month, I attained one of my goals by finishing my first scuba diving certification, the PADI Open Water Diver. And I did it in a beautiful place, Barbados.
Like many people who want to dive but live somewhere with chilly waters, I did my online and pool training locally. Larry from Ocean Paradise Dive & Travel in Clackamas, Oregon, gave me a good foundation during our dives in a local pool. Then I ventured off somewhere warm for the open water test dives.
Scuba skills
In Barbados, I spent two afternoons with Edwin Blackman of Hightide Watersports. Edwin was funny and friendly, but also a tough love kind of guy. He wasn’t quick to help when I fumbled with my gear. “You are a diver. Figure it out.” Which I eventually did. Nor did he see taking photos during a dive course as a priority. “Put that camera away. Concentrate on your gear.”
On our two afternoons together, he ran me and a British couple through skills like getting in and out of scuba gear while in the water, doing a controlled emergency swim to the surface to simulate an out of air situation, and even using a compass to do underwater navigation. I’m thrilled to announce we all passed!
Diving in Barbados
Edwin has been diving the waters of Barbados for 35 years. “I spent my early years as a lifeguard in most of our more popular beaches,” he told me. “And then as you know, being a lifeguard, one of the skills involved will be learning to dive. So I took it up as a hobby. And then eventually it became a fulltime job. Here I am.”
Edwin sees Barbados as “one of the undisclosed secret spots” for divers. “It’s not advertised as a big diving destination,” he said. “So divers that come here are surprised when they see the kind of fish and the wrecks and stuff we have.”
Wreck divers often have to dive in deep water. But Barbados has many close to the shoreline. “Like in Carlisle Bay, you can swim from the shoreline out to the wrecks.” Wrecks range from as shallow as 20 feet down to 50 feet.
Lionfish invasion
During our dives together, we saw lots of fish and corals. The most exciting looking fish we saw was the gloriously frilly lionfish. While I marveled at its beauty, Edwin was wishing he had his speargun. “They’re a very invasive species,” he said. “They eat almost anything that fit in their mouth.” With no known predators, divers have permission to spear them for food.
“I’m really, really glad you didn’t spear that fish today,” I tell him from the bottom of my vegan heart. He laughs.
Love of scuba diving
Edwin still loves diving after all this time. “I get away from humans. I get to explore nature in peace and quiet. It’s a different world down there. Total peace and quiet and relaxing. You become part of nature. You feel different. You just feel something different to explore.”
After my first dives, I see what he means. And can’t wait to dive more.
