The First Open Water Course of the Year!

April 28th & 29th the Saturday and Sunday marked the first open water course of the year for Busan Scuba. My role during the course was to help out where I was needed. It was Jen and I working with Drew to make sure that the new students were all set up and everything was in it's place. We were there to help make Drew's job just a little bit easier.

April 28th the Saturday and first day of the course Jen was there helping Drew throughout the day. I had to tutor, so I came later. I had other things to do as well, so I didn't stay that long for that day. The parts I did stay for was the students watched parts 1 ~ 3 on the DVD. Drew sat in the room and talked to them about the knowledge reviews in their books as well after the DVD. Jen and Drew had gotten the gear around in the morning, so basically everything was set up already. When Drew was not talking to the students, he was giving Jen and I pointers as too help us out in what to do for a class time sessions. Well after they were done in the classroom came the time to demonstrate how the gear worked to them. We had two tanks, two BCD's, and two sets of regs. Drew demonstrated how to assemble the kit, and then he let the students work on it. While the students were working on their kits, Jen and I would walk around watching and help the students out. We also used this time to order lunch. All the students did a great job for their first time ever putting a kit together. By that time the students had got all the gear assembled and the questions were asked and then the lunch arrived. We ate and talked about different things. After the lunch it was time to get into the pool, however as things go, I had to leave. Jen and Drew got them set up in the pool and took them in. I said my goodbyes and that was it for me on Saturday.
Sunday I arrived around 8:30 in the morning. Drew was already there by that time setting up the gear and getting it all collected, so it would be easier to put into the van. I started to help him pack and then I got my gear together. The students arrived at the shop and there was this sense of excitement in the air. We all got into the van and we headed to Taejongdae where we dive locally. We met one of the students and Jen there. Drew took the students to the beach to show them what they were going to do. While Drew did that Jen and I set out the gear for the students, and we got into our suits and waited for the students to come back. The dive center was busy with life. There were a lot of Koreans there this weekend, and this could mean only one thing. Dive season has started for them too, and it was just going to get busier and busier as the summer continues.

Once the students go back they put on their gear and started doing their buddy checks. Drew, Jen, and I watched them as they did this, and helped them when we could. I was paired with the girls, and Jen had the guys. After the final ok's were given, we walked to the beach with the gear on. We got on the beach and Drew talked for a minute to review what was going to happen. We put the masks on and got into the water. We showed them how to put the fins on and we let them work on that. We also helped them when they couldn't get them on properly. When we were all floating in the water with all of the gear on we swam out to the buoy. Jen went down with the guys first and I stayed at the top with Drew and the girls. On the way down one of the boys just sank like a rock, while the other one took his time. Drew went down after him after him. After the guys were down and situated it was the girls turn to go down. I walked them through the 5 point decent and we started to go down. We went down the line very slowly, because one of the girls had problems equalizing her ears. It was no big deal, Drew came up to where we were and took the other girl that was doing ok. I remained with the other one and we just took our merry time going down. I was really proud of her for doing this. I know that sometimes when you see the other people in the group you want to rush into things and not be the last one, but she took her time and made it down safely. Once we were down there we go the students somewhat buoyant, and we took them on a swim. We were around 9m (29.5ft), and the visibility was around 1m (3.2ft) the water temperature was also 15C (59F). While swimming around I really couldn't see how Jen was doing with the boys, I was too busy trying to keep the girls moving. One of the girls was doing alright, but the other one had a floating issue. She kept on rising while she was swimming. She was a small to avg girl, and she had 12kg (26.5lbs) around her waist, so it wasn't her weight. I then noticed she had gotten her Low Pressure Inflator buttons mixed up. Anyways, I grabbed and dragged down, but in doing so we both started to rise. I dumped my air and I then I maneuvered her to a vertical position and dumped most of her air in her BCD. I was really proud of her during this time, because she remained calm and didn't panic while I was tossing her around in the water trying to get her to sink. Well with that out of the way we continued on. I had the girls by the hand and we swam around for about 20 some odd minutes. Around that time the students were getting cold and wanted to go up to get warm. We got on the surface and started to swim to the shore. Once everyone was there and the gear was off, Drew informed them that they had to do a swim part of the course. They looked at him with doubtful eyes, but they all got back into the water with just their fins, snorkel, and masks. Drew even got in with them and they swam around the bay. After the swim Jen and I took the students back to centre to warm up. We took the tanks with us and Drew stayed with the gear. While up at the centre They got warm and Jen went down to the beach so drew could come up and get warm as well.

After about 20mins at the centre we all gathered and grabbed tanks and carried them down to the beach. We assembled the kits and got geared up for the second dive. However on this dive the beginning part of this dive the students had to work on their skills. Just like before we go them all out the the buoy, and the boys went down first followed by the girls. This time going down with the girls we went down a little bit faster this time. Drew did have to come up for one of the girls and I stayed with the other one and we took our time again. Well when she got down there the other students had completed the skills and it was her turn. She did her skills and we went for a swim around. This swim was the same as the last in terms of stats. However on this swim around the girls did a lot better with their buoyancy. I swam above them this time making sure that they didn't rise up, but they all did really well. Towards the end I did end up taking their hands and swimming with them a little faster, because they started to get cold again and we were a little farther out than last time. Well after around 20 some minutes we got to the surface and got out. We got cleaned up and they sat around talking about the dive. Drew helped them with the log books and Jen and I worked with the gear. After they did their log books Drew, Jen, and I packed up the van. everyone was really hungry, so we stopped for some Korean kimchi pork soup. We finished the lunch and headed back to the dive centre.

Overall the day went really well, at least I thought it did. It also gave me a better understanding on what a divemaster does when working with an instructor in the ocean. I learned new things and it was an overall great learning experience. I can't wait for the second part of there course this weekend.

A Mid-Week Night Dive

Well last night we went on a night dive at Taejongdae. Drew had a customer that was from Sweden and he wanted to get a dive in while he was in Korea. Tuesday the the 24th was the only day that he could get one in, so Drew told him that it was alright and that the conditions were good. Well I arrived at the dive shop around 5:15ish, no one was there and a few minutes later Drew showed up. We sat there for a bit and talked about what we were going to do during the dive. We then got some food and waited for the guy to show up. Well 6:30 rolls around and he is not there yet. The customer called Drew a few minutes later explaining to Drew that he was on the subway, but had gone past the stop that he was suppose to get off. Anyways, he turned around on the subway and headed back to where he was suppose to be, and Drew and I went out to go meet him. Well he finally showed up and we all when back to the shop and got his gear for him. We headed out after getting him gear, and on the way we stopped at the nicest ATM that I have ever seen in  GS 25. It actually had an English button on it, which is great to know that they had updated their ATMs.
Well we got to the dive center and the shops around it were busy with customers wanting to eat delicious seafood. We got all of the gear laid out and arranged. We then headed into the ocean. The visibility was about 1m (3.2ft) and the temp was 15C (59F).  On this dive the bioluminescence was really strong. It was amazing how it glowed green every time we moved in the water. Well we went down about 11m (36ft) and started to swim around. There was a lot of night life out. We saw some octopus, crabs, shrimps, sea hares, scorpionfish, and cuttlefish all of the usual animals you would expect to see at Taejongdae. Then from nowhere, there appeared a mackerel. I was really shocked to see a mackerel at that dive site. It was great to see that there. I can now say I saw a mackerel living underwater and not dead or cooked in a store. It is really amazing what different things you can see while diving in Korea. For instance on the second dive of the season, Drew and I found some sea horses that are never here at Taejongdae. Well we continued to dive. The customer started to feel cold so, we headed back to the shore. At the surface he got a cramp in his leg and Drew and I helped him out. The dive itself was around 43mins and overall it was a really fun dive, besides the low visibility. Again another great time diving with Busan Scuba.

Wet and Rainy Weekend Diving on 4/21/12 part 2

Well once we got down on the bottom. Francois and Drew started to work on his diving patterns. He worked on his squares and his reciprocal paths. I just followed them and worked on my buoyancy.  There were a couple of times I had to poke Francois and get him back on track, but other than that he did very well in the conditions I thought. They were absolutely less then favorable. That dive we were down about  45mins. After the dive we got out of the water, and we talked about the possibility of diving at night. We all came to the conclusion that going into the water again was just too much for all of us to do.

JoLeen and Jen getting ready to dive.

Me, Francois, and Drew getting out of the water.

All of us finally out of the water and on shore.

Francois holding our fins while we help the Korean student.

Drew and I helping the Korean student out of the water.

Me

Drew

Jen and JoLeen in the water.

Drew helping out JoLeen and Jen.

JoLeen with her SMB

Jen trying to fight the waves as she gets out.

Drew and I helping out Jen.

Drew, Jen, Me, and JoLeen

Jen and JoLeen

All of us getting ready to go diving.

Overall the dives were all good, but the weather just sucked... Either way I would chalk these dives up into the good column. I am sure that there will be more days like this, because there is a lot of rain in the summer months of Korea. Well are the pictures of our dives that Francois's wife took from the shore. I hope that you like them.

Wet and Rainy Weekend Diving on 4/21/12 part 1

Well this is the first of many updates about our weekend of dives. Saturday the weather was far from perfect. It was rainy, windy, and cold outside, but the dedicated few (JoLeen, Jen, Drew, Francois, and I) toughed it out. It started out with us meeting at the dive centre and loading the gear into the van. We started out, and when we got there we this is what we found. The conditions were less that good, but we decided to see what would happen when we got into the water. We got our gear out and got it on and went into the water.  To my surprise and to the surprise of the others the conditions were actually pretty good for the weather. On our first tank we made two dives the first of the two, we went down around 8m (26ft). The water temp was around 15C (59F), and we were down there for around 23 mins. The visibility varied on where you were in the water. On the left side the visibility was around 2m (6.5ft) and on the right side it was around 1m (~3ft). We came up and chatted for a bit, then went right back down. This time we we went a little bit deeper 9m ~ 10m (29 ~ 33ft). We swam around and on the second dive JoLeen worked on sending her SMBto the surface. Once we got out of the water, we met up with Francois. He was there to work on more of his Advanced Open Water Course. Once we got off the beach we went into the dive centre at the beach and talked about what we were going to do on the dives. We decided Jen and JoLeen would go on to do their own dives and to work on their navigation skills underwater. Once all that was said and done we went got our gear back on and headed back in to the drink. We swam out to the buoys and talked a little more about what we were going to do. Francois had a little trouble getting down the first go, but once he was under about a meter (about 3 feet) he started to sink like a rock and it was all good from there. Once we got down on the bottom Drew and Francois worked on his underwater skills and buoyancy. My main purpose on these dives were to help out and make sure Francois's dive went smoothly, also Drew wanted me to get use to following and making sure the students were doing everything safely and in the proper way. Francois worked on his skills for about 43 mins and then we came up.

Well since that we were down for about an hour, the weather had progressively gotten worse. The wave size had kicked up and the rain seemed to have gotten stronger. Well that made for a very interesting time trying to make it out of the surf zone and onto the stone beach. In normal to ideal conditions you can walk out of the water somewhat easily, but in these conditions it takes a certain finesse. The only good way to describe how it get out of the water is just plant your feet and just take baby steps until you are out of the water. Once Drew, Francois, and I were out of the water. We saw another Korean instructor and her male student getting out of the water. Well the instructor made it out of the water just fine, but she sort of left her student to fend for himself. It was a sight to see. He was on his hands and knees trying to crawl out of the water with his fins still on his feet. So, Drew and I went over to help him. When we got there, his regulator hit the rocks and started to free flow. Well I don't know what it was, maybe it was the sound, but he started scream like a little girl. His instructor seemed to be more worried about getting the regulator to stop flowing than getting her student calmed down and out of the water.

After that Francois went to the centre to warm up, Drew and I waited on Jen and JoLeen to help them get out of the water. We waited with Francois's wife and she took some interesting pictures. Once the girls surfaced we helped them out of the water and we all went back to the centre and got some lunch. After the lunch Drew and Francois went outside to work on his navigation. While they worked on that we got set up and ready to go back into the water. The weather got worse and worse by the moment. The rain was coming down harder and the waves were getting bigger as well. We got in the water, and this time there were no minor hang ups this time. We went straight into the drink.

First Dive of the Year in Busan!!

These are just some photos taken before we went on our first of the year. These were taken on March 24th, 2012 at Taejongdae. This was a good dive, but it was a bit cold in the water. The water temp was around 14C (57.2F). We went down about 8-10 meters (26-32ft), for about about 20 some odd mins. We got to the surface had a chat then went right back down for another 20-30 mins. The weather was really nice out. It was sunny and maybe one or two clouds in the sky. The visibility in the water was pretty good as well, it was about 3-4 meters (9-13ft). While we were down there we saw some wildlife that we don't normally get to see, because of all of the fishermen in that area.

Pictures:
Top
Left to Right - Drew and Rachael
Middle
Joleen
Bottom
Left to Right - Me, Joleen, Drew, and Rachael

Start of a new Dive Blog

Well I am starting this blog in hopes to help promote the wonders and joy of diving in South Korea. To anyone reading this feel free to comment and add to this blog to make it better. I will be updating this blog every week with new dive activities and the activities that we have done during the week.

With all that being said, this is a little bit about me. I started diving with Sea World Dive Centre in Busan last year in September. I have done my Open Water Course, Advanced Open Water Course, and my Rescue Diver Course all with the same instructor and centre. Since then my love for diving has grown, and I would like to share it with the rest of Busan and the whoever would like to learn more about diving. I am currently working on my Divemaster Course. I will be working really hard to obtain this level this summer in the waters of Busan. In the fall I will be going to Roatan to work on my IDC. My hopes and wishes would to become an IDC Staff Instructor someday.

Here is a little information about the centre that I dive with. Also here are some of the things that they do at the centre to keep it fun and exciting. Busan Sea World Centre is located 2nd F 693-7 Jurye dong Sasang-gu, Busan, South Korea. There you will find Mr. Lim and Mr. Cha who run the centre and the foreign instructor Drew Mcarthur. All three of the men that work at the place are very hard working and have grown to become my new scuba family. I also consider these men my good friends and mentors on my journey into the diving world. During the week they are preparing for the dives on the weekends. The dives on the weekends consist of diving from Taejongdae in Busan, but some of the times depending on the courses you are taking they will make weekend trips to Pohang. The guys at the centre are always looking for ways to make diving here in Korea more interesting. They also plan international trips as well. For example, I will be going with them on a trip to Cebu this coming June. We will be there for 3 nights and it will be with all the people from the centre and their friends that also share a love for diving.

Well with all that being said. I hope that this blog helps. Feel free to contact me anytime. Also if you would like to know anything more about the dive centre, I am sure that the people in the centre would be happy to help you out with any questions.