I'm with flyboy...
To Catch the Dream: My Journey from Open Water to Dive Instructor
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OP
I am glad you are all enjoying my journey. I am working on the next piece now where I get to do my first ocean dive out here......or will I??? 
The UAE is definitely an interesting place..... Enjoy your first Ramadan!
JBFG
Contributor
Great read. I will follow this.
OP
Thank you! The next part of this first dive weekend is coming very soon.
OP
Catch the Dream: Hoping for My First Ocean Dive
The last I left you in the post Catch the Dream : My First Dive Trip on the Journey from Open Water to Dive Instructor, Brendon and I had gone to sleep after a day of being in the pool but no success with an actual ocean dive to the weather. Now we begin the last half of this weekend, Catch the Dream: Hoping for My First Ocean Dive.
We wake up, have some coffee and get ready to head to the Freestyle Divers . Prior to leaving as we were sipping our coffee and tea, Brendon talks to me about the day before and after a long talk I realize I really need to dial back my self-criticism. I am trying to do things with the end goal of being a high-quality dive instructor with top-notch dive skills but I have 7 dives under my belt and need to see the learning curve as it is. It also helped that he told me that he has seen other more “experienced” divers who could not do in the pool what I did the day before. I have to remember that I have time to get there and a lot of this is just muscle memory which is built over many dives.
We head to shop, pull our gear out from the gas fill room and unpack things prepping for the first dive of the day. The site looks good, very little wind and looks to be a perfect dive day. Well, the Coast Guard had a different idea. Apparently they look at the weather in Abu Dhabi and use that one site to determine if dive boats can leave the harbor all across the country. This seemed rather short-sighted to me but I was told they are also making sure someone can’t leave Dibba where it is nice and take a dive group on a long ride to Abu Dhabi and dive those sites. So even though I feel it is a less-than-ideal way of doing things, I have to remember that this country is VERY big on safety! They will always err on the side of the caution and I can’t blame them for that.
The winds were blowing 15 knots in Abu Dhabi and creating some waves that would cause the small dive boats all kinds of issues. But Freestyle was trying to contact the Coast Guard and talk to them to see if they could be cleared to dive Dibba Rock and sites just off shore due to how calm it was there. So we sat and waited yet again. As the morning got later and we still had no word, Brendon was getting antsy and I think he knew I was as well. Plus we had seen some turtles earlier so we pulled up our wetsuits and went for a little freedive/snorkel. We hit the water, swam out a bit and since there wasn’t much to see we dove down and picked up any trash we saw which mainly consisted of plastic bags. I always look for trash on any dive and will bring it back to shore with me where it belongs. The way I see it, this is part of being a good diver and ocean conservationist.
While looking for trash and just enjoying being in the ocean, we ran into an anemone. It was sitting in the sand surrounded by nothing but more sand. These are common homes for clownfish, also know as Nemos, and I had never seen one in person that was not in a fish tank of some sort. So we dove down and sure enough there was Clownfish living in it. So we would take turns diving down to it when Brendon noticed a little baby one hiding in there as well. So off I went to see the little fella…or gal. And sure enough there was a tiny little baby clownfish. I don’t think the adult clownfish was happy about me checking out the baby as it came up and “bit” me on my face. More like a love peck than a bite but it was unexpected. Apparently they are quite playful and will peck away at you. Kind of the like the red-headed step kids of the Pacific off the coast of Southern California, the Garibaldi which is a part of the damselfish family. We did that for a bit and then swam back to shore. Sadly no turtles as they knew we were there and had moved. So we hop out to find that there was still no word as to if we were going to get to dive that day.
Relaxing and Warming up after the snorkel Session
In order to warm up a bit we headed to the Starbucks on site and got some coffee and sat outside to watch the waves. As we stare out we find out where the turtles all went. About 100 yards from where we were snorkeling is where they had moved. We saw one that was quite big and a few smaller ones. They would come up to get air, hang out for a bit and down they would go presumably to graze on sea grass. Those darn turtles are smart and still elude me to this day.
(Part two in next post)
The last I left you in the post Catch the Dream : My First Dive Trip on the Journey from Open Water to Dive Instructor, Brendon and I had gone to sleep after a day of being in the pool but no success with an actual ocean dive to the weather. Now we begin the last half of this weekend, Catch the Dream: Hoping for My First Ocean Dive.
We wake up, have some coffee and get ready to head to the Freestyle Divers . Prior to leaving as we were sipping our coffee and tea, Brendon talks to me about the day before and after a long talk I realize I really need to dial back my self-criticism. I am trying to do things with the end goal of being a high-quality dive instructor with top-notch dive skills but I have 7 dives under my belt and need to see the learning curve as it is. It also helped that he told me that he has seen other more “experienced” divers who could not do in the pool what I did the day before. I have to remember that I have time to get there and a lot of this is just muscle memory which is built over many dives.
We head to shop, pull our gear out from the gas fill room and unpack things prepping for the first dive of the day. The site looks good, very little wind and looks to be a perfect dive day. Well, the Coast Guard had a different idea. Apparently they look at the weather in Abu Dhabi and use that one site to determine if dive boats can leave the harbor all across the country. This seemed rather short-sighted to me but I was told they are also making sure someone can’t leave Dibba where it is nice and take a dive group on a long ride to Abu Dhabi and dive those sites. So even though I feel it is a less-than-ideal way of doing things, I have to remember that this country is VERY big on safety! They will always err on the side of the caution and I can’t blame them for that.
The winds were blowing 15 knots in Abu Dhabi and creating some waves that would cause the small dive boats all kinds of issues. But Freestyle was trying to contact the Coast Guard and talk to them to see if they could be cleared to dive Dibba Rock and sites just off shore due to how calm it was there. So we sat and waited yet again. As the morning got later and we still had no word, Brendon was getting antsy and I think he knew I was as well. Plus we had seen some turtles earlier so we pulled up our wetsuits and went for a little freedive/snorkel. We hit the water, swam out a bit and since there wasn’t much to see we dove down and picked up any trash we saw which mainly consisted of plastic bags. I always look for trash on any dive and will bring it back to shore with me where it belongs. The way I see it, this is part of being a good diver and ocean conservationist.
While looking for trash and just enjoying being in the ocean, we ran into an anemone. It was sitting in the sand surrounded by nothing but more sand. These are common homes for clownfish, also know as Nemos, and I had never seen one in person that was not in a fish tank of some sort. So we dove down and sure enough there was Clownfish living in it. So we would take turns diving down to it when Brendon noticed a little baby one hiding in there as well. So off I went to see the little fella…or gal. And sure enough there was a tiny little baby clownfish. I don’t think the adult clownfish was happy about me checking out the baby as it came up and “bit” me on my face. More like a love peck than a bite but it was unexpected. Apparently they are quite playful and will peck away at you. Kind of the like the red-headed step kids of the Pacific off the coast of Southern California, the Garibaldi which is a part of the damselfish family. We did that for a bit and then swam back to shore. Sadly no turtles as they knew we were there and had moved. So we hop out to find that there was still no word as to if we were going to get to dive that day.
Relaxing and Warming up after the snorkel Session
In order to warm up a bit we headed to the Starbucks on site and got some coffee and sat outside to watch the waves. As we stare out we find out where the turtles all went. About 100 yards from where we were snorkeling is where they had moved. We saw one that was quite big and a few smaller ones. They would come up to get air, hang out for a bit and down they would go presumably to graze on sea grass. Those darn turtles are smart and still elude me to this day.
(Part two in next post)
OP
(Continued)
Finally we got word that the Coast Guard had said no to any boats leaving the harbor. A two and half hour drive to the site, two days and no dives is very disappointing. We were about ready to put the gear away and face the drive back when Brendon had an idea. He suggested we shore dive to get some time in the ocean. We would probably not see much but what the hell, we were there and might as well make the most of a bad situation. The plan was to surface swim towards a buoy, take a heading towards Dibba Rock, descend and them swim until we hit the half way mark of our air supply and turn the dive for shore.
L to R: Brendon of Desert Reef UAE, Ahmed Gabr and his two students discussing a shore dive.
As fate would have it, Ahmed Gabr and his two Middle-Eastern students were close by so Brendon told him the plan and asked if they wanted to get salty with us. After all, he had been waiting for the same amount of time to get his students in the water and check out their skills before he did the deep dives with advanced decompression (deco) procedures with them. He said yes and they began to gear up. There was also a Russian man from Moscow who had been waiting to dive as well and he was on a two-day trip, this being his last day. You wait long enough to dive and it becomes less of what you will see and more of just getting in and being able to experience that calm serenity I can only find underwater and through meditation.
My eighth dive ever and here I was gearing up with the word record holder and a retired Special Forces Combat Diver. I was more nervous prior to him joining than I had been on any other dive. Maybe because with the new gear configuration (backplate and wing vs the back inflate BCD I was sued to) , being half way around the world and wanting very bad to show my instructor that I had what it takes to follow the path I had been dreaming of since watching Jacques Cousteau and his undersea adventures. Now that we had a scuba legend and current record holder with us, the nerves were at an all time high. I was ready to go and just needed to strap on my rig as we waited for the tech dive guys to gear up. This is when Ahmed asked me to help him lift his twin set up so he could get into it. Yes, I am fan-boying a bit but that was ******* rad. Of course I would assist you Mr. Record Holder. We lifted his rig up on the edge of the rinse tank and off I went to gear up. Once set we did a buddy check to make sure everything was working and off to the water we went.
Turk and Ahmed Gabr Happy to Be on a Dive.
Once Ahmed and his students got in the water we descended and headed towards Dibba Rock to see if there was anything to find on the mostly sandy bottom, We were about 5 meters down and weren’t seeing a thing. Brendon found a full beer can and an empty one as well and gave the empty one to me to hold onto. We swam for a bit as I worked on my frog kick. I later found out it was atrocious looking and understand why I was unable to keep up with Brendon. I was not turning my ankles nearly enough so I got very little push. Add into that a little bit of current and I struggled to stay with them. I got down to about 1000 psi and then Brendon game me one of his second stage regulators to breathe off of for a bit to help extend bottom time. He was diving sidemount so he had the air to share with me. I eventually switched back to my regulator and kept diving.
In the Gulf of Oman with Ahmed Gabr bad visibility and all (Logged Dive number 8)
Once I was at 300 PSI I surfaced with my new Russian buddy and we were going to swim back to shore. This was no easy task. Using my Deep Six fins for long surface swims has not been ideal. My legs tend to cramp without the split fins but I had left them back in the states. We kept kicking and getting pushed in sideways by the current and felt like we were not getting anywhere. I eventually got very tired and my buddy had to do a tired diver tow for a bit. We headed for the rocks to the right of the beach as you are facing the ocean. Once there we climbed up, which was quite the treacherous task. I cut my hand in multiple places on barnacles with the cut on my left little finger being the deepest and worst. It was not bad enough to need stitches but was bad enough to drive me crazy for the next week and half as it healed.
We finally get back to the beach, take the gear off and I am exhausted. About 15 minutes later the rest of them surface and head in to us. I asked Brendon to do a post-dive debrief with me so I could learn from the dive. He said Ahmed would do it and I think I laughed nervously. We sat a bit longer and eventually Brendon asked him what he thought of my dive and he said I did very well for my eighth dive. That made me feel pretty damn good. All the nerves about my first dive in a new country, new gear, with my friend/instructor AND a world record holding tech diver and were all for nothing. As was the heavy dose of self-criticism I was dishing out the night before. I also found out I did 46 minutes of dive time, 41 of which was on my own tank. The work Brendon had done with me in the pool allowed me to double my bottom time which is quote impressive.
Post-dive we sat around a bit as our gear was drying and we all got to talking. Ahmed’s student asked about my neck tattoo and I mentioned I was in the Navy which got Ahmed’s attention. It didn’t take long for us to start sharing stories as both him and Brendon were veterans. Crazy enough Brendon had even served with one of Ahmed’s good friends years before. It is very big world but I find divers and veterans seem to make the world feel much smaller and more intimate when we get together.
This first dive in the Gulf of Oman and first in the UAE taught me many lessons. Things I needed to work on personally, skills I needed to develop and also allowed me to see how beautiful and welcoming the dive community can be, much like the veteran community I had been a part of back in the U.S.
Until next time, always keep working to #CatchTheDream !
Finally we got word that the Coast Guard had said no to any boats leaving the harbor. A two and half hour drive to the site, two days and no dives is very disappointing. We were about ready to put the gear away and face the drive back when Brendon had an idea. He suggested we shore dive to get some time in the ocean. We would probably not see much but what the hell, we were there and might as well make the most of a bad situation. The plan was to surface swim towards a buoy, take a heading towards Dibba Rock, descend and them swim until we hit the half way mark of our air supply and turn the dive for shore.
L to R: Brendon of Desert Reef UAE, Ahmed Gabr and his two students discussing a shore dive.
As fate would have it, Ahmed Gabr and his two Middle-Eastern students were close by so Brendon told him the plan and asked if they wanted to get salty with us. After all, he had been waiting for the same amount of time to get his students in the water and check out their skills before he did the deep dives with advanced decompression (deco) procedures with them. He said yes and they began to gear up. There was also a Russian man from Moscow who had been waiting to dive as well and he was on a two-day trip, this being his last day. You wait long enough to dive and it becomes less of what you will see and more of just getting in and being able to experience that calm serenity I can only find underwater and through meditation.
My eighth dive ever and here I was gearing up with the word record holder and a retired Special Forces Combat Diver. I was more nervous prior to him joining than I had been on any other dive. Maybe because with the new gear configuration (backplate and wing vs the back inflate BCD I was sued to) , being half way around the world and wanting very bad to show my instructor that I had what it takes to follow the path I had been dreaming of since watching Jacques Cousteau and his undersea adventures. Now that we had a scuba legend and current record holder with us, the nerves were at an all time high. I was ready to go and just needed to strap on my rig as we waited for the tech dive guys to gear up. This is when Ahmed asked me to help him lift his twin set up so he could get into it. Yes, I am fan-boying a bit but that was ******* rad. Of course I would assist you Mr. Record Holder. We lifted his rig up on the edge of the rinse tank and off I went to gear up. Once set we did a buddy check to make sure everything was working and off to the water we went.
Turk and Ahmed Gabr Happy to Be on a Dive.
Once Ahmed and his students got in the water we descended and headed towards Dibba Rock to see if there was anything to find on the mostly sandy bottom, We were about 5 meters down and weren’t seeing a thing. Brendon found a full beer can and an empty one as well and gave the empty one to me to hold onto. We swam for a bit as I worked on my frog kick. I later found out it was atrocious looking and understand why I was unable to keep up with Brendon. I was not turning my ankles nearly enough so I got very little push. Add into that a little bit of current and I struggled to stay with them. I got down to about 1000 psi and then Brendon game me one of his second stage regulators to breathe off of for a bit to help extend bottom time. He was diving sidemount so he had the air to share with me. I eventually switched back to my regulator and kept diving.
In the Gulf of Oman with Ahmed Gabr bad visibility and all (Logged Dive number 8)
Once I was at 300 PSI I surfaced with my new Russian buddy and we were going to swim back to shore. This was no easy task. Using my Deep Six fins for long surface swims has not been ideal. My legs tend to cramp without the split fins but I had left them back in the states. We kept kicking and getting pushed in sideways by the current and felt like we were not getting anywhere. I eventually got very tired and my buddy had to do a tired diver tow for a bit. We headed for the rocks to the right of the beach as you are facing the ocean. Once there we climbed up, which was quite the treacherous task. I cut my hand in multiple places on barnacles with the cut on my left little finger being the deepest and worst. It was not bad enough to need stitches but was bad enough to drive me crazy for the next week and half as it healed.
We finally get back to the beach, take the gear off and I am exhausted. About 15 minutes later the rest of them surface and head in to us. I asked Brendon to do a post-dive debrief with me so I could learn from the dive. He said Ahmed would do it and I think I laughed nervously. We sat a bit longer and eventually Brendon asked him what he thought of my dive and he said I did very well for my eighth dive. That made me feel pretty damn good. All the nerves about my first dive in a new country, new gear, with my friend/instructor AND a world record holding tech diver and were all for nothing. As was the heavy dose of self-criticism I was dishing out the night before. I also found out I did 46 minutes of dive time, 41 of which was on my own tank. The work Brendon had done with me in the pool allowed me to double my bottom time which is quote impressive.
Post-dive we sat around a bit as our gear was drying and we all got to talking. Ahmed’s student asked about my neck tattoo and I mentioned I was in the Navy which got Ahmed’s attention. It didn’t take long for us to start sharing stories as both him and Brendon were veterans. Crazy enough Brendon had even served with one of Ahmed’s good friends years before. It is very big world but I find divers and veterans seem to make the world feel much smaller and more intimate when we get together.
This first dive in the Gulf of Oman and first in the UAE taught me many lessons. Things I needed to work on personally, skills I needed to develop and also allowed me to see how beautiful and welcoming the dive community can be, much like the veteran community I had been a part of back in the U.S.
Until next time, always keep working to #CatchTheDream !
While you weren't able to go out on the boat because of the CG, I'm glad you were able to at least get some bottom time with the shore diving. Can't wait for part 3!
Great story! This is like Star Wars, I can’t wait till the next episode. I am happy that your confidence is building up. I think all scuba divers are hard on themselves as we as a group try to attain the perfect trim, buoyancy and air usage. I hope that the coast guard lets you dive soon.
OP
As a GIANT Star Wars nerd/geek your comment made me giddy like a school girl. LOL
I will jump ahead in the story (I am now on dive 20 and this above part was dive number 8) just for a second, I still lack confidence in certain aspects and I beat myself up quite a bit for not having things dialed-in more, but it is a learning experience and with each dive I learn something about myself, my diving and how to have more self-compassion built around realistic expectations.
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