Over 6 dives on Santa Barbara throughout the first day, the diving and bug hunting was in large part a disappointment. Santa Barbara is known for its great underwater visibility, but unfortunately the strange weather patterns that California has experienced throughout the year had clouded the water – at times the visibility was only about 15 feet. Additionally, the water was unseasonably cold, and as such, the lobsters were not to be found at their usual depths, which made finding bugs more difficult than it should have been.

That being said, the night dive on Halloween (and the 6th dive for Jimmy and me on the trip thus far) changed the course of the ship (literally). The dive itself was incredible (my first night dive in California), the water seemed warm, and I even caught a bug (too small to keep, though). We also received our fair share of Halloween spooks, when sea lions would rapidly swim into the light cast by our flashlights and back out of it again. After the dive, the captain of the Peace decided to cut our losses on Santa Barbara and over the night we sailed to the island of Santa Cruz.

The captain made the right choice, since one could not have asked for better conditions for our three morning dives on Santa Cruz – the sun was shining, the temperature was in the 70s, the seas were calm, and, most importantly, there were bugs on the sea floor. It was at Santa Cruz where Jimmy, Jeremy, and I each caught ourselves a keeper (with many more caught that were just under the limit and therefore had to be released).

The hunt itself was quite exciting… Jeremy, Jimmy, and I dove as a team, and as we swam a bearing away from the boat, we would comb the sea floor looking for bugs. When one of us found a bug, we would signal the others and try to retrieve it. Since lobsters usually hide under rocks, the key is to not hesitate, lest they move further back into their hole, making it more difficult to grab ‘em. The retrieval involves simply getting a good grip on the lobster, either at the base of the feelers or by grabbing the carapace (upper shell). (Since the lobsters we were hunting were California Spiny Lobsters, we didn’t have to worry about claws.) Once one of us had a lobster, somebody else would measure the lobster with their lobster gauge, and if the lobster was a keeper (i.e., the carapace measured longer than 3 1/4 inches), we would bag it and bring it to the surface at the end of the dive.

Usually after a diving trip, we go home to cleanup and relax. However, since we had three lobsters to cook after this trip, we went to Jimmy’s and cooked up a delicious feast. Overall it was an incredible experience and a great success for our first trip hunting bugs – I look forward to the next bug hunting expedition!

I assisted with two Open Water courses from start to finish. Each Open Water course was four days: the first two days were spent in the pool learning the 20 basic Open Water scuba skills, and the second two were spent on the Great Barrier Reef refining scuba skills in the ocean (i.e., open water).

The open water portion of the Open Water course was conducted on a 3 day/2 night liveaboard trip to the Great Barrier Reef. In brief, the liveaboard trips included lots of diving (up to 11 dives for certified divers), plenty of sun, and all the food you could eat. Since I was primarily being evaluated on my divemaster duties over two Open Water courses, that meant I got to go on two liveaboard trips.

On each liveaboard trip I was evaluated both in and out of the water. In the water I assisted with Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses, and out of the water I helped out with deck duties such as logging divers in and out of the water and filling tanks. In other words, the practical application involved the actual duties of a divemaster, and take it from me that you certainly learn by doing! Here are a few photos from the first liveaboard trip.

My brief stay in Brisbane was followed by 3 weeks spent in Cairns; I was in Cairns to complete my PADI Divemaster certification, and inherent to the course, I was able to do some awesome scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. That being said, the next few posts will be highly diving-centric, so buckle up your cummerbunds, make sure you have your diving buddy, and prepare to make a giant stride into the adventures of a Divemaster Trainee. We’re going to have a great dive!

And for fans of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Starálfur by Sigur Rós.

One of the courses I took was my Wreck Specialty, which involved laying line through the Coolidge’s chain locker, taking my mask off (i.e., blinding myself), and navigating my way out. On another dive, I logged my deepest depth yet: 53 meters (174 feet). Great fun!