We last talked about the Gear Exchange, and how I initially failed it.
“Instead of exchanging masks, divers remove and replace their own masks.”
The PADI Instructor Manual had the info! That’s official, baby! And with just that one little change, I felt much more calm. I successfully completed the Gear Exchange the second time through, and it was shockingly easy when I had the right mindset.
With the hard part over, it was time to work on some other tasks.
I had no instruction on how to create the Emergency Plan or the Map. There’s also not a lot of guidance online!
Ah, Rescue Scenario #7! This is an assessment for Rescue Diver too. When I did it over ten years ago, I had to pull a fellow diver onto shore. This time, I had to tow the diver to a boat. I can barely remember my Rescue Diver training, but I feel like this time the assessment was so much easier.
I’m never going to live down the fact that I couldn’t tie the damn bowline. I was doing so well, but it was like all my practice and skill disappeared the moment I got underwater. I got water in my brain or something hah! And don’t even get me started on the 5 Point Ascent/Descent…
And the struggle didn’t end there. The next part of the course felt like a complete disaster. Nothing I did was right, and anything I thought I did well wasn’t good enough. Endless issues, endless frustrations. The stress kept building until it basically turned into a negative feedback loop: the instructor would get stressed, which would make me stressed, which would make the instructor stressed, which made me stressed… you get the idea. It was miserable, to be completely honest.
Oh boy!!! This is a long one because there’s so much that happened and so much to say about it.
A dive shop I visited told me about their Divemaster program, and I figured, why not do it now when I have the time and the motivation! Divemaster used to be a dream of mine as a kid, but as an adult I put the idea on the back burner . I have some chronic pain issues, so working a very physical job was probably not in the cards for me. I also had been enjoying just taking Specialty classes, and didn’t feel like I needed a professional rating.
Despite my many reservations, I decided to go for it. I thought if anything, it would make me a better diver. Plus, if I got in enough dives, it might be a cheap way to fill up more of my logbook!
Now that I’m done with the course I have mixed feelings about my training. Spoiler Alert: I passed! But I didn’t enjoy the experience. We had to figure out the training schedule as we progressed through the course, which made everything difficult because we had such a limited timeframe. As much as I like to think I’m spontaneous, I’ve discovered I learn a lot better when academic activities are streamlined and mapped out in advance (as much as possible).
All things considered I did get the certification, and after a lot of thought and rest… I think I did indeed become a better diver. And I did get in a ton of dives for cheap once I did the math.
Divemasters, once certified, can run and assist several programs. I have personally never met an instructor who had a divemaster as an assistant–it’s probably not cost effective– but that is a career option. Another career option is leading dives as a solo guide, and that’s been my experience.
Equipment! I love scuba equipment. Every time I walk into a shop, I want to buy *everything* even if I don’t need it. I just love all the tools! I needed to buy a few things for the course, and my wallet wept… I mean good grief, who knew a simple dive light could cost so much! Why is my beloved hobby so expensive!?
My course experience was unfortunately marred by some weird behavior from a potential instructor. Happily, I was able to switch to another instructor, but the last-minute nature of the change, the drama, and the fallout contributed to an already stressful learning environment. It’s a great reminder to really check the people who are going to be taking care of you. Plus, never accept bad treatment!
I found the eLearning to be pretty easy. The final module covers the harder topics, but you get access to reference material for the final exam. I was afraid the test was going to be extremely hard because everyone I talked to spoke about it fearfully. I’m terrible at taking tests, but with a little dedicated study I passed with 95%. Not too shabby.
Like I said, it’s an expensive hobby! There are so many costs associated with this course that aren’t talked about–I could barely find info online!– so if you’re considering taking the course yourself I hope this cost breakdown helps you plan/budget.
Nobody EVER believes me when I tell them I need extra weight. I’m buoyant! I’ve had a surprising number of Divemasters and Instructors comment that it looks unprofessional to wear a lot of weight. I think that’s dumb. I’d rather look unprofessional than not be able to get under the water, or shoot up to the surface at the end of a dive.
Ah… the gear exchange! Nightmare!
I do not panic under water. I haven’t ever been in a life-or-death situation that I can remember, but I really don’t panic when I’m diving. This is the first time I’ve done that! I was overexerting my lungs, clearing the ill-fitting mask, then having to hold my breath… it was a recipe for disaster.
For all that I internally panicked though, I somehow kept it together enough that the instructor didn’t realize I was panicking at all. According to him, I was very calm and everything was going great when I suddenly signaled to abort the dive. He was so confused on the surface.
Oof, I cried my eyes out after. I felt like I could barely breathe the rest of the day. It’s upsetting to me that I can consciously understand that I am not in danger, but have my body do its own thing and decide there’s a life-threatening emergency happening. I learned some interesting things about myself that day.
I finished my Divemaster course and made thank you notes for the dive shop staff. They ended up putting them on their respective tip boxes on the front desk, which was a lot of fun for me to see.
From top left going clockwise:
Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Spotted Garden Eels ft. Flounder & Conch
Moray Eel & Lionfish ft. Lobster & Harlequin Shrimp
ow… I was trying to show another diver something cool on the reef, and I didn’t even feel my hand touch anything! There was just a sharp, painful burn on my finger. I thought it was a jellyfish at first, but when I examined the wound later it looked like a nasty 2nd degree burn. I correctly guessed fire coral was the culprit.
Fire coral is horrible! The pain lasted a week, went away, and then came back worse than ever. Sea water, isopropyl alcohol, steroid cream, and vinegar are all said to help the burn but honestly nothing worked as effectively as I hoped it would! With time it’s definitely healing, but wow. That sucked.
Divers aren’t supposed to wear gloves on this particular reef, but I think I could have gotten away with it without getting in trouble.
I ended up not wearing gloves because… I was doing my Divemaster course! I was having enough trouble managing everything going on around me, plus attaching/reattaching the 6 different tools clipped to my BCD that I had to constantly remove and use… it was just easier without gloves.
Well, it made handling my tools and BCD a little easier, but was it really worth it when the trade off is a multi-week burn…?
I visited Playa del Carmen in the Riviera Maya (Mexico) for a few days, and saw a dive shop advertising bull shark dives. It was a little expensive– the cost of two dives in one– but it was well worth it. The sharks get in your personal space, which I loved. I would feel something jostling my fins, and every once in a while a shark would cruise overhead a little too close and bump my head.
Something else was getting up close and personal too…!
This is a crazy one, folks! I had some scuba theory I had to learn, and I think drawing it all out helpped me remember the principles.
I accidentally drew on both sides of this paper. Marker bleeds through this brand of drawing pad so no colors this time!
I didn’t even get to the Haldanean Model before I ran out of time. I had a limited amount of time I could study, and drawing was just taking too long!! Modern recreational dive planning tables are based on a LOT of research and theory developed over decades. Haldane was a man who theorized that different organs in our bodies absorbed and released gas at different rates, when put under pressure. Lungs absorb a lot of gas fast; brains are the opposite and take up gas relatively slowly.
Ol’ Hal (that’s my nickname for him now) made a chart and some calculations for determining how fast a diver will become saturated with gas (nitrogen gas for example) and how quickly the diver will release that gas.
This information isn’t very practical. Nobody needs Haldeanean (how many different ways will I incorrectly spell this…?) tissue compartment gas saturation tables to dive. You can use your dive computer and/or dive tables that someone else already programed and designed.
It’s probably useful to know because understanding the theory and details behind why something works can help a person understand the whole thing better. Or maybe someone at PADI really likes Ol’ Hal and doesn’t want his name to be forgotten. Maybe it’s both!
I’m sick! I think it’s a head cold that could turn into a sinus infection if I’m not careful. Unfortunately, this means I can’t dive while I’m ill.
I’ve met plenty of divers who still go out when they’re feeling under the weather– and they’ve been fine– but the potential for complications and injury are high when you’re sick in certain ways. Anything involving your sinuses or inner ear could more easily lead to an injury that ends your diving career.
A traumatized sinus will eventually heal, but it will take a long time and it might be too sensitive in the future to handle the kind of pressure changes that happen during scuba. A blown-out eardrum on the other hand doesn’t heal or repair itself, so a diver will need surgery. Even then they probably won’t be able to dive in the future.
Don’t dive sick! It sucks to lose your deposit, and its a pain to change your plans, but in the end it’s worth it not to suffer through a major injury that could stop you from diving forever.
This is an illustration I submitted for a for-charity zine, Polar Lights. The publication focused on Arctic and Antarctic flora and fauna, and proceeds are donated to an Arctic environmental charity. The stuff everyone produced is so gorgeous, it should be in a museum. It made me want to rise to the occasion and make something equally amazing.
Each participant submitted plants or animals for consideration; I was approved for the Giant Phantom Jellyfish.
I am not usually frightened by sea animals, but to be perfectly honest, this thing freaks me out haha! I think it’s because it’s just SO BIG. The Giant Phantom Jellyfish can get as long as 33 ft/10m…
That’s just too big, especially when it looks like a UFO. Happily I will never see it, because it’s only been spotted about 100 times, in the last 100 years. I haven’t seen proof that it’s ever been sighted near the surface either– all sources describe it around the 5,000 ft/m depth. I’m safe!
Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore (Monterey Bay Aquarium)
I initially had a papercraft idea for this piece, which I eventually scrapped. I think it could have worked as a standalone piece, but not against the other submissions in this particular publication. I need more practice with this style before it’s ready for human consumption!
I joined a charity zine in December ’25 called Polar Lights. It’s focused on Arctic and Antarctic life, and participants can submit written and visual works based on an appropriate animal.
Someone wrote a very cool piece about Spotted Seals, and last minute asked if anyone in the group would be able to create some spot pieces for their story.
Spot pieces are small works of art that accompany text. They’re placed on the pages with the text, rather than being a separate illustration on a separate page.
I whipped these up and submitted them for consideration. I adore seals and sea lions so this was very fun for me!
Polar Lights was published on April 6th, 2026 and you’ll be able to see my full art piece I made for it, plus my spot pieces accompanying a wonderful written work! You can:
Yep, I got scammed trying to buy scuba equipment. It was a really interesting experience, and while I’m happy to say I got my money back, I never want to go through that again! I also got my money back in a rather unexpected way.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened:
I bought a BioSeal Neck Gaiter listed for $20USD, but when I was charged through PayPal, it said I had been charged $300USD.
Then, when I checked my actual PayPal account, the total was 45k Japanese Yen. That’s about $285USD.
Then it gets weirder! The amount charged was increased to 51k yen.
And then… when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, I got a notification that my package had been delivered… in the past! It was the 25th of December (what an awful Christmas present, am I right???) when the scam happened, but the package was instantly delivered on the 9th of December to an address that’s not mine. Christmas Magic!?
I immediately reported the seller and started a claim through PayPal, and once the holidays were over I called my bank for advice. The seller didn’t get access to my banking information because I didn’t put in my card/bank info when making the purchase– I used PayPal as a proxy– and I think that saved me a LOT of trouble.
Unfortunately, the PayPal claim was ruled to be not in my favor! They determined that the charges had not been made fraudulently. Er, so what about the magical, instantaneous delivery and the unauthorized price increase? Or the fact that $20 somehow turned into $300?
Fortunately, the seller refunded my money! I submitted a ton of screenshots to PayPal and described exactly what happened, and made a fraud report to the Federal Trade Commission:
All of that was shared with the seller. Maybe they got scared and decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. My next step would have been to call my bank and all to dispute the charge, but I didn’t need to do that.
So, buyer beware! Be careful when purchasing stuff, especially when it seems too good to be true. Also if something bad does happen, act immediately, don’t panic, and don’t back down.
Here are some links that have good info on online scams:
