Underwater St. Croix
First time diver takes plunge with Dive Experience

St. Croix The Avis - printed Feb 6, 2008

Stephanie Hanlon St. Croix — No one can argue that the warm, clear water of the Caribbean is one of the greatest sights in the world, but as far as how intimately one wants to observe those waters, well that is a preference. Some are satisfied with a Caribbean-view screen saver on their computer, while others prefer to view the ocean from a tiki bar while sipping on a pina colada. But if you ask the avid divers of St. Croix, they would prefer to submerge themselves far beneath the surface of the ocean seeing and listening to a world completely different from the dry world most humans are familiar with.

Somewhere in the middle you will find someone like me. I love the ocean - snorkeling, swimming, watching it, playing in it - I love the water. So naturally the many divers on St. Croix are constantly telling me how much I will love diving. I, of course, am filled with fears. What if I get water in my mask? What if pressure builds up in my ears and I loose my hearing? The bends, oh my God that sounds horrible. Forget about the fact that I'm breathing underwater and seemingly trapped in a world completely unnatural to me.

So with the help of the longest-standing dive shop in the territory, Dive Experience, and the expertise and patience of its owner Michelle Pugh, I took the plunge. I realized that my fears were rooted in reality – they were legitimate. But as Pugh showed me, they had a corresponding resolution. And along the way I realized that although experience and professionalism are essential, the most important quality that a dive instructor brings to a "discovery dive" is patience and understanding.

Sam Halvorson, dive instructor and underwater videographer at Dive Experience for the last 20 years can still remember the fears from his first diving experience. This memory, he says, helps him relate to first-time divers.

"If your not concerned about your safety there is something wrong with you. I stopped because it felt a little weird breathing out of the regulator. I had a brief moment of fear, but kept going" Halvorson said of his first time diving 28 years ago in Montana.

Many people that participate in the discovery scuba dive have similar fears, said Halvorson. As I did, they fear not being able to get water out of their mask, getting used to breathing out of a regulator and being under water for long periods of time. But, he says, it's just a matter of learning the right ways to do things and getting used to doing them. In the end he said about 75 percent of people who do a discover dive love their experience, and about 50 percent end up getting certified.

"I get no better thrill than bringing people diving for the first time - getting them to see something cool, you can see the delight on their faces," said Halvorson.

Halvorson and Pugh have dived thousands of times all over the world, and although they recognize something special about each location, they say St. Croix is one of world's best diving spots.

For me, knowing that I live on an island surrounded by diverse reef, various sea creatures, ship wrecks, a sea wall that descends 3500 feet and a deep pier beaming with underwater life, I decided diving is something I have to do at least once.

So after I filled out paperwork, alleviating Dive Experience's liability over me, Pugh sat me down and explained the basics. She started by telling me that a discover dive was meant to get me comfortable with breathing underwater and building my appreciation for the experience, and that she would control most of the technical stuff. Although there were some things I would need to know before I could explore the "other St. Croix."

She stressed that if not educated, a fun experience could turn into a dangerous situation. I would be wearing a scuba vest with valves and a regulator and a tank with 3,000 pounds of pressure. For a discover dive, she would watch my gauges, while I focused on breathing.

I learned how to control my buoyancy by wearing weights and using a buoyancy compensator devise that fills my vest with air. I learned about pockets of air underwater - how air in the vest will bring you to the surface and releasing the air will help me go deeper into the water.

But more importantly I learned about air pockets like your lungs, sinuses and ears that need to be treated correctly. For instance, Pugh told me that one of the most important things to remember while diving is not to hold my breath; holding your breath can cause a lung to rupture. Also important is equalizing the pressure that builds up in the ears and sinuses. As one descends deeper into the ocean, they must equalize, or blow out the pressure that build up, or they could rupture their ear drums.

Pugh also broke down what "the bends" really is. The bends is when too much nitrogen builds up in your body. Underwater the human body doesn't use up nitrogen, so it builds up. This is why it is important to not stay underwater for too long and to take breaks in between dives.

Once I understood these safety precautions, in the water I learned the basics of actually doing it. First, Pugh taught me how to blow water out of my regulator and if necessary breath out of the alternative air source, that each regulator comes with in case another diver needs to use the air in your tank.

Then I learned the hand signals, but I couldn't break the habit of giving a thumbs up when some one flashes me the OK sign. A thumbs up actually means I need to go to the surface.

Clearing my mask of water turned out to be really easy. At first, I filled with panic as water began to drip into my mask, and again I panicked when I tried to blow the water out and more water came in. But after doing it several times and having Pugh show me how easy it really is, I realized that it is as easy putting your mask on.

Once I stopped freaking out long enough to do my eight-feet deep dive, which is nothing compared to the 30 - 100 foot dives certified divers usually do, Pugh showed the real point in it all. We saw a live conch, which Pugh says is a rare sight these days. We saw a white sea urchin, trumpet fish, a barracuda, angel fish, a spider crab, an arrow crab, feather dusters, worms and damsel fish. Even more fascinating than the sea creatures, was just being able to sit underwater, in silence. It is almost like I imagine outer space to be like.

For me it was weird and uncomfortable. All I could think about was equalizing and staying in one place. But for those who have mastered the technicalities, it has become like a second home for them.

Pugh recalled the moment when she new she was completely comfortable under water. She was on an assignment to photograph killer whales in the wilds of Canada when she got caught in a current and she got stuck between the boat hull and the boat motor. A killer whale came just a few feet from her face and let out a loud noise. She said she was not afraid, and felt completely comfortable - that is when she new she was destined to spend most of her life under water.

Pugh has done, and continues to do, many things for the dive industry in the Virgin Islands. She was placed in the Women Divers Hall of Fame for, among other things, spearheading the initiative to have dive buoys put around the island. She is the only recreational diver on St. Croix who is on the Department of Planning and Natural Resources' Fisheries Advisory Council, which advises the commissioner on issues relating to the territory's waters. And Dive Experience is the only dive shop on the island who is certified to train diving instructors.

One of Pugh's many arguments for protecting the ocean, when she is trying to make people understand it's importance, is explaining it's tourism value. When she is trying to fight for the protection of the waters on St. Croix, sometimes the only way she can get through to people is by saying, "A living sting ray is worth thousands of dollars in tourism money."

Everyone in the Virgin Islands uses the ocean in some form. We get food from it, we swim in it, we travel through it and sometimes we just look at it. And when Pugh isn't exploring it and introducing people to it, she is fighting for it. She has dedicated her life to protecting it so visitors and locals alike can enjoy it.

For more information on Michelle Pugh or Dive Experience, call 773-3307 or go to www.divexp.com. -- Stephanie Hanlon St. Croix Avis Reporter Office: 340-773-2300 Fax: 340-773-5511 www.stephaniehanlon.com