In my last scuba-related post, I mentioned my goal to become certified as a scuba instructor. During that trip to San Carlos, Mexico, I got the second certification level I need: Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW). A few weeks later, I returned to San Carlos to complete the third certification: Rescue Diver.
As I did for my Open Water and AOW certifications, I decided to do the Rescue Diver certification through my local dive shop in Tucson, Planet Scuba. They organize a trip to San Carlos at least once a month, and I love their owners and staff.
Day 1
This was my third trip to San Carlos, so I’m used to the drive now. As usual, I drove down Friday after teaching. There was one thing different this time though; this was my first time driving by myself. I didn’t run into any issues though, and made it to San Carlos with time to spare before dinner.
Tucson to San Carlos.
I stayed with one of the other divers in the same house I was in last time. It has an impressive view of the bay and when I got there, I could tell that the waves were a bit too big and the sky was a bit too dark. A storm was on its way.
Most of the seafront restaurants were closed due to the impending storm, but we did manage to find one that was open. By the time we left, we had already heard the bad news: no boats could leave the marina before 1pm the next day at the earliest. This meant that, at best, we’d get a couple of dives in instead of the planned 4 dives.
Moon right after sunset.
Day 2
On the bright side, we got to sleep in! I usually dive in the mornings, so this was unusual for me. When I did wake up, I took a look out the window toward the bay and realized immediately that we wouldn’t be going out for any diving that day.
The storm had overturned two boats in the bay, and both had crashed against the rocks. It was still extremely windy, and the waves were way too big to risk taking a smallish boat out. On top of that, the color of the water had changed because the storm churned so much of the seabed, so we wouldn’t be able to see anything underwater anyway.
The town also suffered a lot of damage from the wind. I hadn’t realized it, but the storm that came through was actually a tropical storm. No wonder it had caused so much damage!
Although it stinks to travel somewhere and then not be able to dive when you want, there’s really nothing you can do about the conditions, so nobody bothered getting upset about it. I was slightly concerned about getting enough dives in for my certification, but fortunately it was Labor Day weekend so we had an extra day of diving planned for Monday.
In the end, I actually had quite a nice, relaxing day reading, writing, and chatting with some of the other divers. I also wandered around outside a bit in the afternoon after the wind had calmed down. As usual, I found plenty of fun critters 🙂
A beautiful grasshopper.
Millipede!
Praying mantis.
Day 3
Good news! Although the sea conditions near San Carlos still left a lot to be desired, we did make it out to the main diving island, which took about an hour and half by boat to get to. We also managed to fit in three dives at the island, so my instructor, James, and I made good progress on the rescue diving course.
I had previously completed reading, a classroom session, and two pool sessions for the course, but it was good to practice the various skills in the sea. If you’re not familiar with the rescue diving certification, here’s the PADI description:
“The PADI Rescue Diver course prepares you to deal with dive emergencies, minor and major, using a variety of techniques. Through knowledge development and rescue exercises, you learn what to look for and how to respond. During rescue scenarios, you put into practice your knowledge and skills. Topics include: self rescue, recognizing and managing stress in other divers, emergency management and equipment, rescuing panicked divers, rescuing unresponsive divers.”
We stopped at three different dive sites: Cascadita, Punta Norte, and Los Pulmones. Water temps were around 86F for all 3 dives, and my dives were all between 50 minutes and an hour, with max depths of 52 ft, 67 ft, and 44 ft. We were mainly focused on the exercises and rescue skills, but I did see lots of blennies, balloonfish, and sea lions. I also saw a few eels, a sea turtle, a scorpionfish, a giant hawkfish, and some shrimp. Oh – also, a pretty big octopus that swam around for a while, which was unusual because typically during the day they find a place to hide pretty quickly when they see divers coming.
I didn’t take any photos this day. I’d like to say it was because I was so focused on my rescue diver training but actually it was because I left the lens cover on when I created the airtight seal for the camera housing that morning at the house. It’s never worth risking it and opening up the housing on a boat, so no photos for me!
Day 4
Local conditions were still less than ideal the next day, so we made the long trip back out to the island for our last day of diving. Most of us were driving back the same day, so we only had time for 2 dives. Still, this was more than enough for me to complete my rescue diver training so I was happy.
This time, we dove at Punta Sur and Punta Zebra. The water temperature was still 86F, and we went to 48 feet and 60 feet, respectively. Both dives lasted about an hour (side note – I had tons of air left after every dive of the weekend).
James and I finished all the rescue exercises during the first dive (and between the two dives), so I was free to just enjoy myself on the second dive. Highlights of the day were triggerfish, sharp-nosed puffers, more sea lions, hermit crabs, another very brave octopus, and brittle stars. See below for some pictures and a couple videos of a curious sea lion and the brave octopus. You can see in the pics/vids that even out at the island, visibility was pretty poor.
Baby brittle star.
Green moray eel.
Tiny blenny – its head was the size of a pencil eraser!
Octopus coming out to say hello.
A curious sea lion checking me out.
Sea star.
A very, very skinny fish.
I drove back to Tucson as soon as we got back to the marina, in my swimsuit and everything. I’m glad I did, because I ended up having to wait at the US/Mexico border for about an hour and didn’t get home till around 10.
All in all, it was a successful trip, despite the fact we could only dive for two of the planned three days. All I really cared about was getting my Rescue Diver certification, and now I have it!
Next up: another trip to San Carlos this weekend. This one is just for fun – no training planned 🙂
And then, a pretty big trip coming up to do the next certification: Divemaster. I’ve booked flights but haven’t officially booked the training, so I’m going to keep it a secret for now. But let’s just say I plan on having a very summery winter break!
Dives this trip: 5
Total dives: 42
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