I recently did the 2-day PADI Open Water certification, and it was amazing! On the first day, I had Pascal as my instructor. He has been diving all around the world, with a tremendous level of experience to share and learn from. He was very informative, and genuinely enjoyed answering all my questions. In the morning, we did some skills tests in a small lagoon near the shop. After lunch, the students and instructors went out on a short boat ride for our first proper dive. Everything went smoothly, as we learned to use all our equipment and continued with more testing, both at the surface and approximately 30 ft.
My second day of training took place at the sister shop, Island Divers (same company). Sammy was my instructor for the day. She is a very experienced and knowledgeable diver, and helped me understand how to calibrate ones breath for proper buoyancy. We did some morning tests in the pool, followed by lunch, and then final assessment tests off the boat at Koko crater. Many turtles hang out here.
For the last dive of the day, we were fortunate enough to have the right conditions and personnel to do a drift dive (my first). A special thanks to Matt for making this possible, and thank you Sammy for being our trusted leader. The dive took place at the ‘China Walls’/‘Spitting Caves’ site - a long stretch of rock wall with a variety of caves and ledges to explore. The visibility was excellent, and we saw some whitetip reef sharks, a baby turtle, and an octopus. It was such an incredible experience.
I cannot say enough good things about Island Divers/Honolulu Scuba. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Thank you for picking me up and dropping me off each day. I hope to dive with you all again soon!
Cheers!
Tim
