Fiji is to dive for

The traditional first anniversary gift that married couples are supposed to give each other is something paper. Chelsia and I put our own twist on the concept this year and decided together that our gift to each other would be paper certifications; more specifically PADI certifications.

As paper as it gets! ;) 

PADI is one of the most broadly recognized scuba diving certifications in the world. With the PADI scuba diving certification, we will be able to dive just about anywhere we go. When you have the travel bug like we do this is very important. It was for this reason, and because it sounded like an awesome new hobby to pick up, that we decided to spend a large portion of our vacation “working” to get what we feel is the best first anniversary gift we could have imagined.

We took the course with an awesome young engaged couple from the UK whose names are Tom and Chrissy. We learned from a fearless dive instructor named Api. The stories that guy told us were the stuff of legend, and I didn’t fully believe him until I saw him in the water on our last dive (more on that later).

It was a four day course that was a lot of fun. The day to day activities of the course went something like this:

Day 1

The first day we spent working on classroom stuff; mainly reading the PADI guide book and taking some quizzes and knowledge review exercises after each one.

In the afternoon we met up with our instructor and our PADI buddies Tom and Chrissy to go over some diving theory over a round of drinks.

Day 2

The second day we did a long pool dive session in the morning. We covered about 5 days’ worth of pool diving in one long session to get it out of the way in one day and move on to the open water dives.

In the afternoon we met up with Api, Tom, and Chrissy to go over some more diving theory over another round of drinks.

Day 3

The third day we did two open water dives then had more theory and had to take some quizzes and a test in the afternoon with our diving crew (you guessed right, over another round of drinks).

The first dive was at the beach where they shot the movie The Blue Lagoon (our hotel has the name and the crystal clear blue water; theirs has the actual filming site and some more crystal clear blue water). I must say it was a pretty epic spot to do our first dive. Going under for the first time was a bit nerve racking, but it wasn't nearly as hard or scary as we thought it would be. It is actually an amazing feeling being down there meters beneath the surface.

The second dive was a straight boat ride out from our hotel at a spot that our dive instructor called Api’s Legend. This was the first dive where we had to jump out of the boat (hold one hand over your mouth and one at the back of your head, then tip backwards!). We did some basic skill stuff here like taking off our masks and putting them back on under water and working with our buddies in simulated situations where one of us runs out of air.

Day 4

The fourth day we did two more open water dives, followed by some paper work and the awarding of our certificates; happy anniversary!!

The first dive of the day was out just passed what they call Honeymoon Island at a site called Wonderland. It was a beautiful dive and we were starting to get more used to being deep underwater at this point.

The second dive of the day was the most beautiful of the four dives. It was at a site called Cabbage Patch. The site was named after the large flowing coral that is shaped like the folds in cabbage. The coral itself was some of the most beautiful I have ever seen, and the ocean life there was magnificent. Along with all of the beautiful fish, we also saw a sting ray swimming along the ocean floor and a sea turtle swim out of the “cabbage” right in front of us. Amazing.

The day after our course was finished we already had another dive set up with our dive master and trainer Api. The four of us had been toying with the idea of doing a shark dive all week, and on Thursday we set it in stone and officially gave Api the confirmation that we would be going.

The shark dive is exactly what it sounds like; a dive with sharks. The difference between the shark dive in Fiji and others all around the world are that the one in Fiji, specifically in the island group we were staying actually, there aren't any cages to keep the sharks away from you.

The day before the shark dive at lunch a gentleman staying at our resort volunteered the information that he had spoken with another girl who did it and she said that she didn't actually feel safe on the dive and implied that the sharks were really aggressive. This got us feeling apprehensive and we were very close to backing out. We lost a lot of sleep the night before the dive worrying about whether or not we should pull out and whether it was worth it. In the end, we decided that it was an opportunity that we just couldn't pass up and we would go for it.

The next morning, we got up and tried to force down as much food as we could at breakfast then headed over to the dive shop at 8:30 am get ready to leave for the dive site. Before we got on the boat we rented a camera and split it with our dive buddy Tom (his fiancé Chrissy ended up backing out of doing the dive). This is how we have the picture and videos that follow.

The shark dive was the most exhilarating and insane thing we have ever done. It started out with a twenty minute boat ride out to the dive site; it felt more like two hours. The water was insanely choppy and we were experiencing our first overcast day in Fiji so the sky and water were a bit darker than usual. The boat was more crowded since there were 7 people going on the dive and 4 guides leading us (including Api), so it was dragging a bit and taking on water.

When we finally got to the site, we all suited up and started getting ready to jump in the water. Right as I was getting ready to jump in the strap holding my foot in my fin broke. They told me to get in and give it a try anyway. It was still usable, but I was apprehensive to keep going without perfect conditions. I figured that I couldn't swim away from a shark if it wanted to eat me whether I had a perfect fin or not so I continued on anyway.

After jumping in the water and pushing my fin on as far as I could I swam over to Chels and we did our buddy check. We were supposed to do it on the boat, but we forgot in all of the commotion. As soon as it was done, we put our masks on and started our descent. The descent felt quicker than any we had done before which was odd since this was our deepest dive yet (down to 22 meters, approximately 70 feet).

As soon as we were all down there we lined up next to a rope so we could all hold on and watch the show. Before we even reached the rope I started seeing sharks swimming around in my peripheral vision.

Api had pulled down a trash can full of dead fish to start attracting the sharks before the rest of us descended, and was just pulling the lid open and starting to feed them when I was able to focus on him and realize what was going on. The other members of the crew were stationed with prods made out of rebar to poke the sharks if they got too close. There was one stationed at each side of the line of people, and one with Api to keep the sharks in line if they got too aggressive. There wasn't anyone behind us, which made us nervous because there were still sharks swimming around behind us. The fact that we were positioned in the middle of the line also made us nervous since we were the furthest on either side from the protection.

I can’t say that I ever felt fully safe down there. I can say that the crew does a great job at working to keep you safe and make sure that nothing goes wrong. There were times when the sharks would turn and start swimming directly at us, then quickly dart in the other direction. There were others when they would swim at us then need to be chased and prodded before turning away.

I mentioned earlier that Api talked a big game when we were training about his underwater antics. I believe him after watching him handle the sharks. There was one instance (actually documented in the video below if you pay close attention) where he pulled a hook out of one of the sharks mouth. The shark then circled around to confront him (probably because it hurt) and he punched it to make it go away. He said it was just thanking him and that he made a new friend. I saw it as a pretty intense moment, and it was just one of many.

The sharks themselves are beautiful and fascinating creatures. There were three types of sharks that we saw down there were Black Tip Reef Sharks, Lemon Sharks, and Bull Sharks. The Bull Sharks were by far the most plentiful and the most dangerous. They are huge creatures (the ones we saw were all between 10 and 15 feet) and extremely aggressive. Chelsia read somewhere that the majority of fatal shark attacks every year are caused by Bull Sharks. There were between 12 and 15 of them swimming around down there with us. It was amazing watching how quickly they change direction and how powerful their jaws are when snapping up food. It was truly a pleasure to watch and something that we will never forget.

That didn't change the fact that I couldn't wait to get out of the water. After about 40 minutes, we ascended back to the surface happily. One of the guides gave Chelsia and me a shark tooth on the way out (not sure if he found it on the ground or if someone ripped it out themselves). We were elated to be back on the boat again within about 10 minutes with our lives and all of our limbs intact. We are so happy that we have that experience in our memories, but I don’t think it’s something that we will ever do again.

-S

Scuba classwork

Before going on our pool dives.

Our dive boat, Tai Maria.

Chels and Api driving the boat.

Me coming up after a practice emergency ascent.

What a place to learn to Scuba.

Our amazing dive instructor, Api.

Our villa from the Tai Maria.

Before the Shark Dive!

Videos of the Shark Dive.

A picture of us from below.

Crazy  big fish.

So happy to be alive!!

Tom, Chrissy, Api, Chels and me