They are finally off to the confined water, the final part of the #PADI IE here in Costa Rica. Everyone is starting to "bounce around" but inevitably you will here my voice ringing out like Mary Poppins in the background....."stay focused. It is so easy, during the course, as each section passes on, to relax more and more, yes, the IE is supposed to be fun, but you have to keep you eye on the goal until the end. This IDC +Oceans Unlimited & Go Pro Costa Rica has been fun, with 7 fun candidates from all around the world including Italy, Spain, Canada USA and Poland. Laughs have been had, but as we are approaching closing I know that some beer will be drunk as well! Conveniently scheduled for "Superbowl Sunday" The after party is going to be a mixture of Orange, green (or is it silver?) and scuba shirts. At +Oceans Unlimited & Go Pro Costa Rica do we get a chance to breathe? Negative ; )
Tomorrow we start our Enriched air instructor training, followed by Deep, search and recovery and then AWARE shark conservation instructor training. I am not starting the class early, and whatever time I decide to start the class I know I will get some groans, they will fall on deaf ears however. I am going to enjoy the superbowl, more importantly enjoy the celebration of successful instructor candidate and then get ready for busy coming week.
I snuck in a "fun dive" the other day on the IDC. We went deep diving off of one of the less visited sites, snapper rock. I managed to spend some downtime, just by myself, hanging and exploring. I was peacefully watching a group of grunts when a nice big amberjack came swimming past. He did a couple of circles around me, just him and I, all the divemasters where off exploring by themselves. It was a great few minutes, before he disappeared and then I was faced with 2 of my students, hurriedly swimming over the reef towards me. Damn it, peaceful moment over. I slid off over a ledge by myself again waiting for some more quiet time but alas... I lost everyone on the safety stop though so that was a bonus!! No really, before you start talking about "solo diving" as a technical diver you are always self sufficient so this has never been too much of a problem. Speaking of which, there are more technical diving courses scheduled for this month...with the warm blue water right now it’s the perfect time to go deeper.....