This town needs an Enema

Of course I am ready to dive. Let's do it.

Decided it was time to try that Scuba diving thing that I've heard so much about. I wanted to test, yet take it easy on the eardrums after Honduras last year and figured this was an ideal situation. It has always taken me a bit to equalize and I had a couple of problems at various levels on the way down, but it worked out and I took it slow. The kit that I was diving with was average, but had no depth gauge (I don't know why this was, maybe everyone is expected to have dive computers these days?). There were only a couple with me and the dive master so it wasn't the end of the world, but uncomfortable. The depth was a bit deeper than what I would have preferred for my "trial" as I was told that they never dive deeper than "open Water" specs (that would put it at 60ft). As it turned out, we hit 90ft early and stayed there (we were all qualified to do so and nobody pays attention to these things anyways, just that I was told one thing and I ended up in quite another situation).

After spending so much time puffing my chest out to the sea, trying to take up space and fight the feeling of insignificance, it was a strange feeling to want to roll my shoulders forward and slink back into my shell. The landscape is harsh with big basalt monoliths all around (some will get that reference), not great visibility and eerie colours. Saw some smaller fish (Lion and stone fish are interesting mostly because they can hurt you), some smallish groupers, but no big predators. 40 minutes later is When all the fun started. As we went up, I got what was called a "push" in my right ear. I had heard about such things, but this was the first that I had experienced (high pressure on inside of ears, unable to equalize with the pressure that is lessening on the outer ear). hmmm. It fucking hurts. Same thing as problems equalizing on the way down, you retreat slightly and try again. No luck. As I describe the remedy, you will likely have an idea of how much it hurts by the fact that anyone would actually do such a thing. Close eyes (I wear contacts) inhale salt water through nostril, gag, repeat, wretch, repeat, projectile Sinus explosion, ahhhhh. I am not clear on what the published "by the book" procedure on this is, but it was time to take an active approach to the situation and it worked... and it was absolutely vile. Another vile experience is watching the other two divers do their second tank dive (with Hammerheads and Mantas) while I sit on the surface contemplating my navel (another first.. the waiting for divers thing, not contemplating my navel of which I have some experience).

I'd rate the dive 5/10. Everything else was a -9/10. I would say that I have something wrong with the old ears... and a cold perhaps? Don't rightly know, but diving is off the to do list for now.