Scuba diving in the Arabian Gulf

Just enjoying the ride out to the dive site.

Sea Scouts paid off.  Holding the boat in at the Coast Guard office

Gail all suited up!

Mark waiting to take the plunge

Gail getting ready for her first dive

Check out the form!  Just like a pro

Not the most attractive photo of us!

Mark, bobbing around on the surface

Gail smiling post dive

Fish

Bubbles

Mark at the bottom

Beautiful lady on our way home from the dive.

Gail and I got out of bed early on Friday morning and headed to the port for a dive trip!  Those of you that know Gail are probably raising your eyebrows right now.  Really, I didn't force her into doing it!

She found a deal on Groupon and didn't need to ask me twice if I'd like to get out diving.

We met up with the dive master, Magdi, on his boat and got acquainted with the other three folks going out for their first dive.  This was labeled a "Discover Diving" trip and was perfect for gearing up, doing a shallow dive, and determining if it's something you want to get into.  As with Gail, the others had never scuba'd either.

We took a 40 minute ride out to the site and watched the deep blue water change to a beautiful light green as we got into the shallower water.  After anchoring we went through some hand signals and general safety stuff.  Those of you that are divers are surely questioning the ability of one man to corral five rookie divers.  I know I was.  I think he was relieved that I was certified, and that I could help get people geared up and keep an eye out for trouble.

I was first in the water, and bobbed around for what seemed like an eternity as I waited for the others.  Gail was next in, doing her back flip off the rail like a pro.  Next was one of the ladies from Liverpool, England.  It took a lot of persuading to get her to fall off the boat backwards, and when she floated back up she immediately started hyper-ventilating.  I grabbed her hand and helped her to the anchor line, but knew she was having issues.

Fast forward......all of us are in the water, and the freaked out lady flat out says, I'm getting out..I can't do this.  So the dive master has to get her out, I'm still bobbing, the next lady bails, I'm still bobbing.  Finally it's Gail's turn to go down.  The dive master started letting air out of Gail's BC and the three of us descend.  Gail says she really doesn't remember much about going down, but before she knew it, she was on the bottom.  I tried to get in position to get a picture, but was under weighted and had to struggle to stay at the bottom.

After a couple minutes Gail decided that she had enough diving and signaled that she would like to go back up.  Although her dive time was brief, she got a feel for diving and will know what to expect if she tries it in the future.

The kicker is, of the four first timers, Gail was the only one to get to the bottom.  With everyone else on the boat the dive master and I had a great dive.

We had a glorious post dive ride back to the port and sipped on some special "juice" that we brought in a bike bottle.  I know, a little lame, but we cheated death and wanted to celebrate!