And, she's a diver!

I finished my PADI Open Water course this weekend and I am now, officially, permitted to dive to 18m!  

Yesterday we did two boat dives, one to Boarfish reef and the other to a horseshoe-shaped reef called Pope's Eye. The water was 20º and we saw a variety of fish, a cuttlefish and even one mysterious, brown spotted Weedy Seadragon!  Our first dive was to 14m and our 2nd to 10m under a quick current.  The boat also took us out to snorkel with seals at the end of the day!  

The course was certainly harder work than I thought it would be but I enjoyed it.  Underwater we had to take off and replace our masks (which I did not like doing at all - it takes serious concentration to keep a regular breath while trying not to inhale water up your nose!!); hovering, fin pivots, buoyancy tests, regulator to snorkel exchange, using a compass in the water etc, etc.  By the end of Sunday I was exhausted!  

Now that I've passed all the tests the fun can begin :)