During my visit to San Andres, I took a three hour scuba diving lesson followed by a 45 minute dive down 15 meters (about 50 feet) into a beautiful coral reef near the island. Everyone in the group wanted to go deeper but you need to have "open water" certification in order to go deeper than 18 meters and it was the first time for all of us.
We spent the first hour learning about the equipment - how the tank works, the oxygen gauge, the mask, etc. After that, we loaded our tanks and headed off to an Olympic sized pool where we spent the next 1.5 hours getting accustomed to using the equipment and practicing breathing through your mouth, learning how to easily get rid of water in your mask, and using the proper procedure to control the buildup of pressure in your ears as you descend.
The best part of course was the dive. After you've strapped on your 40 pound tank, vest, and other equipment including flippers, you jump about 10 or 15 feet smack down into the ocean. We had to acclimate ourselves to the pressure (it could be quite painful if you went down/up too quickly) so we held onto a rope to gradually lower ourselves down to about the 15 meter mark. Once down there, your ears get accustomed to the pressure and you can then enjoy the scenery.
We had a group of about 15 people with three licensed instructors who put our safety first and I felt in very good hands with them. The best part was - about 20 minutes into the dive - when a huge barracuda swam by us. The water was perfectly clear and we saw a ton of small tropical fish as well as the coral reef itself.
Here's a short video of me in my scuba gear:
For more photos from this adventure, click here.
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