Destin SNUBA Trip Report Aug 28, 2011

[noahsan]

I arranged to go on a SNUBA tour with Destin Snorkel, mainly because I wanted to go deeper than my limited freediving abilities are able take me. I also wanted to get a feel for diving to see if I would like to take the next step and get my SCUBA certification. All I can say is am officially hooked!

The trip was great, we headed out with a incredibly friendly and helpful crew, and managed to spot a friendly dolphin swimming along side our boat. He was really curious and kept looking at us and put on a little show for us, which was very well received! Once we reached the jetties, we had short introduction to SNUBA diving and some brief safety procedures.

Soon enough we were in the water with all of our gear and ready to go down. As soon as went down about 10 feet I started to feel the pressure building in my ears, so I try to equalize them as we were instructed and my right ear equalized right away and felt great, but my left ear still hurt a little. Further down the pain became excruciating, I was still trying to equalize my left ear, but for some reason I could not do it. My dive instructor showed me a trick to equalize it, to hold my good ear shut and then try to equalize, and it worked perfectly! Once I got my left ear equalized I could start to enjoy the view with out constant pain! I soon found myself going as deep as my breathing line would allow, which instilled in me the inspiration to get my SCUBA certification so I can go as deep as I want! After spending about an hour swimming around, soaking in all the beautiful fish and sites, we headed back to the surface.

This was my first time using my new Sealife MINI II underwater camera, and being a pretty decent amateur nature photographer, I was expecting to have a leg up on the camera work, I was wrong! It really is a whole different world under the water, I found that my regulator bubbles were constantly blocking my viewfinder, and several pictures came out very blurry because I am not familiar with underwater photography as of yet. But I did get some really great video footage, and even some of the pictures came out decent for my first time.

All in all it was a fantastic trip, I had a blast, the crew was great and the water was amazingly clear! Now all I have to do is get my SCUBA cert and practice on my underwater photography! Noah

 

[Chris Cheatwood]

Glad you had a great experience. The first time I tried scuba in the water, I knew I had to get certified. I finished my open water course about three weeks ago. Bit the bullet and purchased all my own gear. It is a great sport to get into!

 

[pamawi]

I didn't even realize they offered SNUBA in the panhandle. I'll have to get some of my friends who are on the fence about diving to try it. I did SNUBA in the Keys before taking SCUBA lessons because I was concerned about my ability to clear due to childhood ear problems. It definitely enticed me to sign up for SCUBA class right away.

 

[Chris Cheatwood]

Besides SNUBA, lots of dive shops in the panhandle offer discover SCUBA. One of interest that I am aware of is Panama City Dive Charters. They do their Discover SCUBA classes at the St Andrews State Park Jetties. I would recommend this to anyone that is thinking if SCUBA is right for them. I think this gives you a better experience because you are using all the exact same gear. Not just a tank floating on a raft. You are accompanied by a scuba instructor and the maximum depth is 20-30 feet. I did a discover scuba at a local quarry and knew then that I wanted to become certified.