Rick Inman:
I was going to write a nice report about all of our great experiences with
Pacific Scuba, but you already wrote it!
We did our certification dives with them on January 31 and February 2. The class was me, my wife Becky, and a police officer from Yellowknife named Mike. Our instructors were Javier and Armando.
Our first dive at Los Arcos was a real eye-opener for my wife and me. Javier and Armando heard me yell "Holy Sh_t!" when a giant manta glided by right over my head, then swam around us. We saw lots of other wildlife too, fish, eels, rays, puffers, etc. I tried hard to relax and breathe, but I still sucked air way too fast. We surfaced when I ran low and we were on the far side of the island from the boat. The current was taking us away from the boat, so Javier tells us to stay there while he gets the boat. Just before he dove down to swim/crawl back to the boat, he looked back and yelled, "Have you ever seen the movie Open Water?" So I yelled back, "Thanks a lot!" I don't know how long we actually floated there waiting for the boat, but it sure seemed a lot like the movie. There we were, floating together out on the ocean, all alone, the nearest thing we could see was a small rock of an island and a dot of a boat near the horizon. Becky managed to kick a fin loose, I dove down and put it back on her foot. It was super fun! Hey, we dove in the Pacific and survived!
Our second dive was nearby at Mismaloya Beach. A bit less visibility and I had a hard time getting back into my BC near the end of the dive. I think it was because the tank was buoyant, but was told I finned too much. Still, I had a blast. Becky loved having Javier hold her hand and guide her around showing her things.
Our third dive was at Majahuita Beach. We saw humpbacks with babies on the longer boat ride. Becky lost her $norkel entering the water. I was much more relaxed, we dove deeper, did fin pivots, cesa, etc, then dove deeper and explored while listening to whales sing. I managed to make my air last quite a bit longer. A diver from Twin Dolphins found Becky's snorkel and returned it before we got back. We soaked up sun on the beach afterwards.
Our fourth dive was back at Mismaloya. Becky lost her $norkel entering the water... again! I was very relaxed. We held hands and explored, watched fishes, used a lot less air, had lots of fun. Javier found Becky's snorkel under the boat when we returned. We saw lots of mantas on the ride back. It was a fantastic day.
We would love to dive with Pacific Scuba again. :bang:
