Col. Panic's Journal: Night and Wreck Dives

So I decided to enroll in the Advanced Open Water Diver course. Tonight we did a wreck dive in 70 feet of water followed by a night dive at 40 feet. Diving just keeps getting better.

Visibility was good, but the current was pretty strong and the surface was rough. The coolest thing was swimming *through* the wreck. This took pretty good buoyancy control to avoid hitting anything and remain almost motionless in a confined space. There was a large school of small fish in the body of the vessel and colorful coral hanging on the sides. I expect that wreck diving is going to become a favorite pasttime.

The night dive was really cool - it was like being inside a giant aquarium (with currents). The fish were very colorful and they didn't try to swim away. We saw a couple of baby rays too. This was a fantastic learning experience because it was very different not being able to see without a light. The only problem I had was when ascending the second dive. It is important to release air from the bcd as you rise because at shallower depth the air expands and you rise FASTER. This can be bad if you require a decompression stop. I was concentrating on the pain in my sinuses and forgot to release air from the bcd. All of a sudden I realised I was rising too fast and my depth guage showed 7 feet. The plan called for a stop at 15 feet for 5 minutes. From now on I will make sure to release the air and stay neutral.