Advanced Diving!

Once upon a loooong time ago, I started to do my Level 2 PADI Adventure Diver training with (of course) the one and only Wulfy Diving. 

Then lots of stuff happened and so it got shoved to the background. But after Friday, I am happy to report that I am officially a Level 2 PADI Diver yay. 

The first few dives were mostly fun...we did navigation training which was followed by an underwater champagne party to celebrate Richard's new job. (Only in France.) If you're wondering, champagne tastes...saltier... underwater.

The goal for Dive 3 was to  practice identifying and photographing the flora and fauna. This resulted in...my first underwater photos! So voila, I present to you that dive through my eyes:

Richard taking his level 1 Test...

It went well :)

a sneaky octopus!

and a grumpy/incredibly poisonous fish

After that, things started to get serious.

The dreaded night dive. I love diving...but I'm not going to pretend to be one of those people who never looks over their shoulder for sharks. The buzz about the attacks has created a palpable fear on the island...and I am definitely not immune. 

I'm going to be totally honest...I really believed that the possibility I would be eaten by a shark was very good. I reasoned I had about an 85% chance. I can't remember any other time in my life when I was as terrified as I was that night. So I brought along some moral support and slapped a fake smile on my face:

The full moon that night was dubbed a "supermoon" because it was incredibly close to the Earth.. She slowly began to rise. We were alone on the rocks and Wulfy was doing the safety briefing. The ocean was rolling and crashing around us. I was trying not to cry. The fear rose up my throat every time I thought about stepping into the blackness moving below us. We suited up and luckily, Aurelie volunteered to get in first. My turn. I walked up to the edge, my heart beating out of my chest. The supermoon shone a spotlight on me. I wanted to conquer this fear. I wanted to experience Divine Trust. Things became very serious. An blue inner calm started to swirl around with the flames of panic inside me. It felt like something important was happening on a deeper level...a soul level...that I wasn't able to grasp. My breath caught. I jumped. 

Blackness swirled around me. Blackness and millions of glittering flecks of light, as if I was surrounded by a swarm of playful lightning bugs. I don't remember what Wulfy later told me these little light creatures are...but that moment was so gut wrenchingly beautiful that time stopped. I was descending in suspended slow-motion. The only sound was my own Darth Vader-like breathing and bubbles rising to the surface. The supermoon was beaming down on me with pride, and the ocean greeted me with a very personal light show. It was pure magic. 

We hit the bottom and I immediately grabbed Wulfy's arm and didn't let go again until the end. The first 15 minutes were still pretty alarming, as you only see what you shine your light on. Everything else is lurking in darkness. I took that as a nice metaphor. Do I choose to focus on the dark, the fear, the unknown? Or shall I see what's waiting for me in the light...

A poisonous snake!

A Spanish Dancer let us pet her. And lion fish are EVERYWHERE at night! 

When it was time to come up, I was incredibly at peace. The lightning bugs came back to say goodbye, and for a moment we lay on our backs, basking in the glow of the moon from the bottom of the ocean. I silently sent up some words of thanks, and I swear...she winked back at me. 

The deep dive was last Friday; 130 feet. It was my first time diving in this part of the island, and I was intimidated. But aside from a strong current under the waves on the way back, it was a success! 

So in the end, I got my certification and I also got to experience what it's like to be courageous in the face of my own raging fears. A double win, if you ask me.