Letter to the editor — University of Idaho scuba diving class offers adventure

The hours in the cold water of the Hood canal was worth it. We had worked our bums off for this — the open water dive, the ocean.

The scuba class offered at UI may seem a little out of the ordinary, considering we are landlocked, but trust me it will blow your mind.

Anna Huckabee

I’m not going to tell to take this class but I’m going to tell you what our experience was and maybe you will come to that decision on your own. We all started out not really knowing what we were getting into. No one knew what the class was really about. Maybe we were just going to swim in the pool?

No. We were so wrong.

Our instructors Barry and Ian guided us through a Naui SCUBA class here at the UI pool. The first day, we got our first taste of what it was like to be on the air. Even though it was the pool, I’m pretty sure everyone called their parents that night to tell them how cool it was. From the regulators to the tanks to masks and fins, there it seemed like a lot to remember. Each time you go down you get that “Archangel” feeling — the feeling that your endless, flying but submerged, totally weightless.

When we found out there was a chance to become certified Naui divers, everyone jumped at it, by undergoing skills, a written test and pool time. Throughout the class, everyone became very close and we all became a little “scuba family.” One of the main things you learn is “you always swim with a buddy.” And in this class, I came out knowing that what makes a good diver is trust and knowledge. We all bonded in a way that there is no question, I would dive anywhere, anytime with this group.

It got better. The first weekend of fall break, all of us were in Anna’s Bay in Palouse, WA. You probably couldn’t find any colder water to swim in at that time, with temps ranging in 42 at the surface and God knows what at 40 feet down. No one knew what we were really getting into. All we knew that it was going to be cold and that there were sea lions.

We got up and looked out at the cold foggy water, sea lions barking and sitting on the dock just waiting for us to get in. Internally, I was scared out of my mind. What if they ate me? The water was freezing, I was freezing and the sea lions were looking at me like I was a snack.

“Masks on, “regs” in.”

We dropped down and I couldn’t see anything. We swam out and we were having so much fun we didn’t even realize we were practicing our skills, octopus breathing, rescues, mask clears, etc. We felt like everything was right with the world when we were down there, totally at peace.

Anna Huckabee, University of Idaho student 

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