Scuba Comic – Open Water Saga

Scuba Comic: Antarctica

To be a professional diver in Antarctica you often need to be productive in both commercial and scientific diving. Commercial diving programs in the United States can last 6-12 months and involve a lot of hard work, so you have to have put in the time and money to get the proper qualifications.

Scientific diving credentials are easier to get in theory, but the programs are selective and it can be hard to find a place that will train you. Programs are most often offered through universities, sometimes only to enrolled students.

On top of that, you need experience ice and drysuit diving. Drysuit diving courses aren’t hard to find, but ice diving is extremely location-specific! During my research I found the best places to ice dive in the US are in the Midwest.

Diving recreationally in Antarctica is expensive. You can’t just fly down for a weekend trip. If you’re in North/South America, you travel first to a city called Ushuaia in Argentina. From there, you sail to the Antarctic continent over the course of 3 days. Most people visit on a liveaboard trip, which means you “live aboard” a ship rather than staying on land in a hotel or resort. Your home base for the trip is the boat itself, but you can often join excursions on the land. In the case of Antarctica, snowshoe hikes are common land excursions.

Roundtrip airfare is expensive, and the liveaboard trips are expensive. It’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trip. But what a trip it would be!

Unfortunately I don’t do well in cold climates anymore, so Antarctica might not be the best place for me to visit. I wouldn’t turn it down if I impressed a rich billionaire patron, or found the perfect research opportunity, or entered a sweepstakes for an all-expenses-paid vacation though…!

So, what’s the big draw? For most people, it’s the wildlife. Emperor and Adelie penguins are the stars of the show, alongside many species of whales and seals. For others, it’s the almost alien landscape and beauty of the ice and snow. For some, it’s the remoteness and the peace that comes with it.

And for me, it’s the truly alien life hidden in the water.

Polar and deep-sea gigantism are fascinating: some things that live in extremely cold, extremely deep water have evolved to grow big. Scientists still aren’t sure why, but a leading theory is that it’s related to oceanic oxygen content. Colder water holds more oxygen, which promotes growth.

Similar animals in colder waters are normally larger than those living in warmer waters. I’ve seen this in real life and have been able to compare sizes! For example, the frigid Pacific Northwest of the United States is home to the Giant Pacific Octopus, which dwarfs the Caribbean Reef Octopus of the Yucatan Peninsula.

When you reach Antarctica, the water is so cold it encourages truly gargantuan growth. The aptly named Colossal Squid (different from the Giant Squid) is in the running for the heaviest known invertebratehe Giant Phantom Jellyfish (I made an art piece for a zine featuring this animal!) is one of the longest jellies to exist. The Giant Volcanic Sponge is even more impressive because not only does it get huge, it’s apparently extremely long lived — like over 10,000 years old. How is that even possible?! What is life like for a sponge that’s lived for millennia?

Actually seeing any of these animals is difficult because they don’t often come up to the surface. They live far below the limits of recreational, and in some cases technical, diving. But it’s very cool knowing there’s stuff out there so different and strange. I feel like just knowing about these possibilities makes the world seem like a fuller, more exciting place. Think of the possibilities! I’m getting excited just thinking about it, even if I never actually visit.

Well, a girl can dream and watch documentaries. Speaking of which, if you’re interested in the Antarctic documentary I mentioned, check out Antarctica: A Year On Ice. It follows an Antarctic crew over a year, and while it doesn’t feature any scuba, it’s well worth a watch.

Scuba Comic: Eye-To-Eye Shark Dive

I visited some friends up in Washington, and we went on a shark dive at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium!

The Eye-to-Eye Shark Dive is pretty cool because you don’t have to know how to scuba in order to participate. You don’t have to learn to use any equipment, and you don’t even need to swim (no fins necessary!). This meant it was perfect for my friends, as they’d never gone diving before.

Of course, since my friends had never been diving before, they were a little nervous. I thought this experience was the perfect way to ease into being underwater and experiencing scuba, because you basically stay in one spot the entire time and it’s incredibly accessible.

You get into a large cage (completely open at the top) with easy access to the deck via a ladder, if you want to end the dive early. For those who need assistance, there’s a lift to help you get in and out of the water. You wear a drysuit, so you can wear comfortable clothing underneath and stay dry, and you breathe through a regulator attached to an enormous tank on the surface. No need to strap a heavy tank to your back or fiddle around with a BCD!

You really just get to sit back, relax, and watch the sharks swim by. It’s low-stress, and you have a staff member in the water with you at all times. It’s a really well-designed activity! You’re provided everything you need.

There were 4 species of shark in the tank, but we only saw 3: the white– and black-tipped reef sharks, and the Indo-Pacific leopard shark. Another, the wobbegong, was hiding too well for us to spot.

I’ve actually seen white-tipped reef sharks on dives in Mexico. They’re very shy! The ones in the aquarium were initially very curious, swimming in front of the cage in rounds to check us out.

_{OTP is short for “One True Pairing,” sort of like your ultimate celebrity couple you love to follow}. _{Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce ain’t got nuthin’ on Peanut & Butter!}

My favorite thing about the event was actually the people. The viewing window for the people visiting the zoo/aquarium looked in at the cage, so I got to watch the looks on people’s faces as they realized there were divers in the water! The kids were generally more interested in watching the sharks, but all the parents were pointing at us and very excitedly waving. It was pretty cute.

The star of the show was definitely Ms. Peanut the leopard shark, who was doing great work contributing to the survival of her species. You can read a couple articles about her, Butter, and the zoo’s conservation program in this article, and get an update on some of their babies in this post! Hip hip hooray!

The cage had a little door that opened up for us to better see the white- and black-tipped reef sharks swimming by, but as soon as it did open, the sharks got shy and stayed away from us. Dang it! So much popular media shows sharks as being aggressive, but in my experience they’re pretty wary. Plus, the average person is way larger than a white- or black-tipped reef shark. They don’t want to mess with us!

The dive was about 45 minutes long, the average time for a shallow scuba dive. After we got out, one of my friends said they enjoyed it so much they’d be interested in learning to scuba dive for real! There’s nothing quite like sharing the love you have for something with another person. How satisfying!

The outing was a success. We got to try something new, the sharks got some enrichment, and I think we added some fun to some random zoo visitors’ day. Next time I’m in Washington, I’ll have to go see Peanut again.

Now I may not be the #1 Biggest Peanut Fan in the world, that honor probably falls to one of the zoo’s aquarists and shark-wranglers, but who else can say they have a homemade Peanut Fan Club badge? Maybe I’m her #2 Biggest Fan haha!

🦈 Looking for more information on the Eye-To-Eye Shark Dive at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium? Check out their webpage here!

🦈 And many thanks to my friends for joining me in the adventure! You can find them online–they’re both artists!– as Vaquero-Azul on Instagram and Chaotic-Zora on Tumblr.

Scuba Comic: Divemaster vs Master Diver

There are two separate certification levels you can get that have very similar names: Divemaster, and Master Diver. One is a professional certification, the other is kind of like a certificate of achievement. What’s the difference, and why does everyone keep mixing them up?

The thing that makes it even more confusing is, for the most part, you take the same path to get to both Divemaster and Master Diver. You start with your Open Water certification, get your Advanced Open Water certification, then get your Rescue Diver certification.

From Rescue Diver, the path splits into two options: Divemaster, and Master Diver.

The Master Diver path ends. There are no further certifications that require Master Diver as a prerequisite.

The Divemaster path continues, and is a prerequisite for all the professional certifications like Instructor.

Master Diver doesn’t teach you new skills, and there’s no dedicated course you have to take in order to receive the title. There are requirements you have to fulfill to qualify:

50 dives

Rescue Diver certified

5 specialty classes

Then you submit an application through a dive shop and get a spiffy new card!

What are specialty classes, then? Specialty classes teach an already-certified diver a specific scuba skillset, rather than teaching how to dive in general. Some are really technical and can be difficult, some are super easy and you basically just have to pay for the class to get the certificate. Some classes just teach you knowledge, others certify you to go to new depths or environments.

_{Courtesy of PADI}

Specialty classes like Coral Reef Conservation or AWARE Specialist don’t require dives, just a short classroom session. You don’t learn skills. I took both and thought they were valuable!

Classes like Emergency Oxygen Provider don’t require dives either, but they’re very hands on and teach you skills (usually first aid).

Classes like Underwater Naturalist, Boat Diver, or Night Diver require dives and teach you new skills, but don’t give you new permissions. Anyone can dive at night regardless of whether they have the Night Diver specialty certification; the class is still a good idea to take if you’ve never done a night dive before.

Classes like Cave, Deep, and Drysuit require dives– more than the average Specialty class– and give you permissions to do new types of dives. These are classes for which the type of diving carries more risk and/or you need to use specialized equipment, so you really need good training. No dive shop or guide will let you near a cave if you don’t have your Cave Diver certification.¹

Enriched Air Diver is a weird one because you aren’t required to dive for the class, but you can’t dive with enriched air unless you have the specialty class.

Since you don’t take a “Master Diver” course, this is considered a Rating rather than a Certification. However, nobody in real life calls it a Rating (except me, because I’m that nerdy about this stuff).

Divemaster is a whole course and it’s very involved. I have a couple comics on here about my Divemaster learning experience!

Here’s the thing: you can be BOTH a Divemaster AND a Master Diver. They are not mutually exclusive! If you are at least Rescue Diver certified, with 50 dives or more, and 5 Specialty classes, it doesn’t matter if you’re an Instructor or Divemaster or a Course Director, one of the highest levels where you can teach Instructors. You qualify, you can get the rating. Most Divemasters I’ve met have never applied for Master Diver though– I think they see it as a waste of time and money since they’re already professionals.

I think it’s an excellent excuse to get another spiffy card. I want to be a Divemaster and a Master Diver! Maybe I can combine the two names and call myself a Master Divemaster…

It’s a common question I see online: is getting Master Diver worth it? The general consensus is, no. I think it’s worth it, depending on what you want from scuba diving.

For example, if you’re an Open Water certified diver and you’re just interested in diving on vacation maybe 1-2 times a year, then any further certifications wouldn’t be needed. Unless of course you love diving and are interested in training more for the love of the sport.

If you’re a Rescue Diver, you’ve already got a huge requirement out of the way and you’re probably really interested in scuba. In this case, having Master Diver as a goal would be great in my opinion. Taking the 5 specialty classes and getting in more dives will make you a better, safer diver. I think it would also make you better prepared for if you wanted to become a Divemaster.

In sum, the biggest differences between Divemaster and Master Diver are the required training and what you can do with the certifications. You need to do a specific training course to become a Divemaster, and you then get to professionally guide people and potentially make money. Master Diver has requirements you fulfill on your own time, and is not a professional certification. You can be both if you’d like.

So, what do you think: would you be interested in becoming a Master Diver someday? Or maybe even… a Master Divemaster!

Courtesy of diver below

Well… they shouldn’t, but shops and guides make terrible decisions too. Don’t! Go! Cave! Diving! Without! The! Proper! Certifications!!! ↩︎

Scuba Comic: The Night Dive

I didn’t have any trouble with my sinuses, just an itchy throat, so I decided to risk it. I never ended up getting a sore throat, but I’m happy I went diving when I did because once the illness really took hold I had a stuffy nose and pretty gunked-up sinuses. I squeezed in that dive just in the nick of time!

Night diving reminds me of cavern diving. It’s very dark– in most cases it’s actually darker than a cavern or cenote. Different animals come out when it’s dark, or the animals you see at day have different behaviors. There were so many octopus on the reef, which I have never seen around here during the day.

The weird stuff swimming around in the water freaked me out a little. They didn’t bite, but they were attracted to our lights and hands and kept bumping into my skin. A couple looked like they were going for my face. I have no idea what they were! Where do they go during the day, and why do they only come out at night? So many questions…

Scuba Comic: Caverns, Caves, and Cenotes– Oh My!

The sargassum stink is bad. It’s not all day, but I smell it for at least part of the day every day. And I’m a 10 minute drive from the water! A lot of tourism in this area is dependent upon the beach, and if the beaches reek of rotten eggs, people won’t visit.

Courtesy of Riviera Maya News and Events

You can see in the image above, the sargassum–when not being removed by beach workers practically 24/7– piles up in a significant amount along beaches.

What can I say! I like bats.

_{IDC stands for Instructor Development Course.}

We dove The Pit first, even though according to the handy graphic on the right, you’re supposed to begin with Level 1 and progress through harder and harder cenotes. I initially asked the dive shop if I could join an easy, beginner cenote… but when I told them my certification level and number of dives, I got the impression that they figured I’d be fine starting in a more advanced cenote. I’m happy to say they ended up being right.

I can’t believe how clear the water was. It’s so clear, you forget you’re underwater. It really feels like you’re flying through space.

I wish I could do the experience justice, but it’s hard to capture the weird beauty on paper. You kind of have to experience it!

Entering the halocline is very sudden, there’s no gradient. I blinked, and suddenly the world was pixelated. If I held my hand up about 4 inches from my face I could read my computer– otherwise, the salty water reduced everything to grainy colors and vague shapes. Having unique, or brightly-colored gear might be a good thing to invest in…! It’s not very thick though, so you aren’t in the halocline layer for long enough for it to be a true safety issue.

I was marveling at everything when I saw a huge commotion to my right– tons of divers were waving their flashlights at something near the bottom, getting everyone’s attention. There was a guy swimming right on the sulfur cloud, dragging his fin tips. What struck me as odd was that nobody went down to try and pull him up or physically get his attention.

We had been told, under No Circumstances should you touch the cloud. Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200, Do Not Touch The Cloud.

Why exactly? We were assured it isn’t a hazard to anyone (I dunno about that, but okay), but up until 6-8 years ago divers were allowed to actually pass through the cloud and descend to the bottom, or swim on/in it. The cloud ended up being agitated to the point where it rose, filing more of The Pit. This reduced visibility and made the available area much smaller. Smaller space means fewer people can dive, which means fewer people visiting, which means less money is being made. And when it comes to money, people can get very serious.

Most cenotes are on private land, and often owned by collectives of indigenous locals. Entrance fees can be their main source of income, so anything that threatens their livelihood is bad news. The Pit was closed temporarily in the hope that the sulfur cloud would eventually sink back down to its pre-agitation levels…

And thankfully, it did! Since that incident, it’s strictly forbidden to agitate the sulfur layer. Like I noted above, it’s taken so seriously there was talk of calling the police. Photos were taken of the offending individual, which were shared among the staff, so I have a feeling this guy got banned.

Divemaster Course (2)

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.

Divemaster Course (1)

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.

Scuba Comic: Fire Coral

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…?

Scuba Comic: Bull Sharks

Exhilarating stuff!!

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…!

Divemaster: Equalization

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.