It has taken me a few days to write this, but I feel it is a very important story that others may learn from.

I have a relative named Pedro De Pacas, who will now be referred to as Pedro.

Pedro has shown up at many dive debriefings and has actually added to many diving events with his cooking, food and short videos, but has always escaped mention in this blog for one reason or another – maybe because he might be an illegal alien (Oh, sorry, maybe an “undocumented guest”).

He is known in the local diving circle as “The guy who can barbecue beans, and not have them fall through the grill.”

However, as I stated before, this is a very important story, and with the status quo, chances are, he will never get deported.

Pedro has been around for many years, but is not a certified diver, and has not been able to take advantage of the actual underwater scuba diving events.

For years everyone has been asking him, “When are you getting certified?”

“When I have the time and money,” he would say.

Curb side fruit vendors don’t make that much money.

Well, recently Dan from Divevets had an Open Water Class, and Pedro recently got the time, but not the money to spare.

No problem, Dan made the class so reasonably priced, that I paid – diving has done so much for me, I wanted to pass it along.

I signed him up for the class, and he spent many hours being tortured by the SDI online course; I believe Pedro finished 13 of the 15 lessons.

04/13/2013

So now, it was time for pool training and a short lecture on using the dive tables, dive computers and diving in general at the shop.

We met at the pool in Hawthorne around 1 PM.

The class had four other students.

Pedro was quite winded after the swimming test, and even more winded after putting on his wetsuit for the first time; it was tight and very constrictive according to him.

He started with 28 pounds of weight, but still was not neutrally buoyant – Dan and Mean Bob (who will now be referred to as Instructor Bob) put more weight on him so he could kneel and get used to breathing underwater.

The class practiced skills – regulator ditch and recovery, mask clearing and breathing through a free flowing regulator.

I had never done the free flowing regulator drill, although I had to do the real life scenario a few times, which was always resolved with a few hand hits to the regulator.

I tried the drill myself, and it was not very comfortable.

The giant stride and going to 12 feet was not very comfortable for Pedro either – equalizing really hurt.

He survived the brief pool training, next was the ocean test the next day at Veterans Park.

04/14/2013

I invited Professional Debriefer Paul to document Pedro’s first dive in the ocean, but he was not able to make it.

The surf was sort of rough, but the dive wasn’t called; it was manageable.

Some how I figured, I shouldn’t take my camera – I would have other things to worry about.

Pedro asked, “You’re gonna be there if I get in trouble?”

“Yes.”

After dawning his wetsuit and putting his gear together, Pedro was already sweating bullets, and even more so carrying his gear down the stairs to the beach.

The class entered the surf; I stayed with Pedro, just in case.

The entire class made it out; Pedro was lagging, walking through the surf, with his regulator in his mouth.

“I’m having a hard time breathing,” Pedro said.

As the waves were breaking across our chests, I said, “Let me check your regulator…”

“No, it’s not my regulator, I’m having a hard time breathing.”

I should have called the dive.

I should have called the fucking dive.

In case you missed that, I should have called the fucking dive!

I had promised that I would not interfere with the class, and I would have gotten a lot of shit – but I should have called the fucking dive.

Instructor Bob yelled at us that we were spending too much time in the surf zone.

“Pedro is having a hard time breathing!” I yelled.

Not sure if he heard me, but he started to swim over.

“Get through the surf and you can rest,” Bob said.

Instructor Bob towed Pedro out.

We made it to the buoy, where the rest of the class was.

We rested, Pedro did not look comfortable.

Logged SCUBA Dive #434

Dove with the class
Veterans Park, Redondo Beach, California, USA

In With: 2000 psi
Out With: 1000 psi
Max depth: 33 feet
Waves: Manageable swells, but sucked
Visibility: 8-10 feet
Water Temperature: 54 degrees
Air Temperature: 70 degrees
Total Bottom Time: 20 minutes for me, at best

Instructor Bob buddied with Pedro; I was a spectator.

The class went down the line of the buoy, Pedro and Bob last.

Pedro, I found out later, had a hard time equalizing and was still hurting when he reached the bottom at 33 feet.

Visibility sucked – 8 feet, maybe 10 at best, and with a bunch of students kicking up sand, it went to nothing quickly.

We started to swim back – students tend to suck down a tank quickly, and I, at one time, was the same.

I had a hard time telling one diver from another.

Out of the silt, I saw Pedro, on his knees, next to Instructor Bob – Pedro was fucking with his regulator, bubbles coming out from the side of his mouth, his eyes were the size of golf balls.

I thought, “What kind of skill test is this? What the fuck is going on?”

We were in 20 feet of water.

Pedro spit his regulator out of his mouth and bolted to the surface; Instructor Bob was right with him and jammed his regulator in Pedros’s mouth just before they broke the surface; I was right behind.

Typical text-book panic ensued – Pedro was hyper ventilating, mask off immediately – “I started breathing water!” Pedro yelled.

Fuck, I should have called the dive before we got in.

Dan surfaced to see what was going on.

Bob took Pedro’s BCD and tank off and floated it to me.

“Take care of this, I’ll bring Pedro in and come back for his rig,” Bob said.

The rest of the class followed ashore.

So, I’m floating around, just outside the surf zone, reliving just what happened.

Man, fuck.

I’m floating around with Pedro’s rental gear and I had flash backs of the story of the 15 year old kid who died at Old Marineland about eight years ago.

As the story goes, the father got his sedate and “unmotivated” kid into diving to try and get him a passion that he could follow.

Wearing his sister’s gear that didn’t fit him, his mask leaked and he freaked out at 15 feet and apparently drowned.

I actually sobbed a bit – did Pedro really want to do this, or was it peer pressure?

Was he counting on me to call the dive when he was in distress?

We always stressed that “You can call a dive yourself, if you don’t want to go.”

This scenario could have turned out much worse, and thank God it didn’t.

I took the regulators that Pedro had used and breathed on both, with my head under water – they worked fine.

Maybe he was over breathing and water came in the side of his mouth?

The hose was sort of short, and maybe he twisted his head too much, allowing water in?

I have dove with Dan and Bob for the last decade, and have never needed help from them, but seeing their teaching style and how they manage emergencies, my respect for them has quadrupled.

I was the dumb fuck that should have called that dive in the surf zone.

Pedro made a fast recovery.

Over a few debriefing beers in the parking lot, Dan asked Pedro, “So, at what time did you think it was better to spit your regulator out of your mouth and breath salt water, than to try your other regulator or share air with your buddy?”

“I had no air in my lungs, I didn’t want to stay there where I couldn’t breathe.”

It was panic.

Pedro also told me, “I get 20 minutes underwater in a pool and I’m thrown through the surf in shitty visibility?”

Well, I understand that.

I should have called the fucking dive, I was there, nobody else was nearby.

Dan said that Pedro can come back to the pool, and when he gets in better shape can finish the ocean part of the class.

The morale of this story?

Never pressure anyone into SCUBA diving; if they want to do it, they will – eventually; or at least try.

Pedro might eventually get certified, and maybe he will have fun SCUBA diving in the pool, and get in better shape from jogging, or running from Immigration.

“You guys make it all look so easy, but the shit you guys carry is so heavy – that’s why you call yourself macho,” Pedro said.

Actually, in all honesty, I’ve always been sarcastic.

The “macho” divers are the ones who either get hurt or die.

With the weather here in Southern California being rather cold and rainy lately, I haven’t been in the water this month – sorry.

However, I have been compiling a list of extreme places to SCUBA dive to help me plan future diving trips; I thought you may be interested in my list thus far.

If you find something inaccurate, or more “extreme,” post a (non-spam) comment so I can update my list, if proven accurate.

1. The Coldest, and Most Remote Place To Dive

Antarctica

This is one diving trip that’s on my bucket list, however, with the initial $13,000 price tag for 14 days, it currently far exceeds my budget on any planned trip.

You have to be Advanced Open Water Certified, with at least 20 dives in a dry suit.

You must be in excellent physical and mental health and will be required to demonstrate your diving abilities before departure.

2. The Highest Altitude SCUBA Dive

Lake Titicaca, Peru

Almost twice the altitude of Lake Tahoe, at 12,500 feet above sea level, Lake Titicaca isn’t the highest lake in the world, and SCUBA diving here won’t set any altitude world records, but this is the highest altitude dive that an average recreational diver could hope to make; at least that I could find.

And when I say hope, I am serious about that.

My Spanish “es no bueno,” so I can’t refer you to any place that I know has diving trips to Lake Titicaca; however, there are plenty of people on the internet who have dove there.

You may be able contact perudivers.com and see if they can arrange, or know who can arrange, a trip to dive Lake Titicaca.

3. The Most Dangerous Place To Dive

Berbera, Somaliland (Officially Somalia)

Somaliland is the “safer” northern part of Somalia that declared independence in 1992; unfortunately, nobody recognizes it’s independence, so “officially” you are going to Somalia.

Apparently, there is (or a least, was) a Diving Club run by a British guy in Berbera, which touts some of the most beautiful and unexplored reefs in the region.

I have emailed him to see if he is still in operation; I have not heard from him as of this date.

By law, to venture outside of the city, you must hire at least one armed guard with a Kalashnikov for $10 a day.

You’ll need a Visa, and be prepared to pay an entrance and exit fee along with being forced to exchange $50 into the local currency at a rip off rate once you arrive at the airport.

Professional Debriefer Paul and I were watching some YouTube videos of Berbera; he made the comment, “That place looks so dangerous, you’ll probably get jacked once you step off the airplane.”

These guys are just going snorkeling (starts at 5:30), but it gives you an idea of what to expect:

4. The Most Desperate (or Unique?) Place To Dive

Valhalla Missile Silo, Abilene, Texas

You are in the middle of Texas, away from any lake or significant body of water and want to go diving.

Where to?

Well, I guess outside of diving in your swimming pool or bath tub, diving in a missile silo could be considered “desperate,” or in a way, “unique.”

The Midwest is very resourceful when it comes to SCUBA diving; lakes and quarries are king, and even though this missile silo isn’t the only divable one in the world, it is the best known.

The missile silo is an old 1960s era ICBM site located 32 miles southwest of Abilene, Texas.

As another website states, “At 2,420 feet above sea level, the site has the distinction of being a place where you can dive underground to get an altitude certification.”

5. The Most Endangered Dive Spot

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

This is probably the most famous diving destination on the list.

Rising water temperature, over fishing and agricultural run off have wreaked havoc on this delicate ecosystem.

One Australian Scientist warns that the entire coral reef could die out within the next four decades.

6. The Most Expensive Single Dive

Mandalay Bay Aquarium, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Is watching sharks in an aquarium through glass getting boring?

Assuming you haven’t lost your ass in Vegas, if you have $650 left and are a certified SCUBA diver, you can dive the Mandalay Bay’s 1.3 million gallon Shipwreck Exhibit to swim with sharks, rays, sawfish, green sea turtles and schools of fish.

The dive lasts 45 minutes, or until you run out of air, whichever happens first.

If you can stretch that tank to 45 minutes, your dive will cost $14.44 a minute, however, you do get an aquarium tour and some dive instructions along with the cost of the dive.

7. The Most Macho Place to Dive

Saranda and Himara, Albania

The reason that this is the most macho place to dive?

Because currently, the Albanian government does not recognize SCUBA diving as a recreational sport, there is no infrastructure at all for recreational diving, no medical facilities to treat diving related sickness and Albanians can’t own boats larger than skiffs or peddle boats.

For a number of years, there was the Polish Diving Base in Saranda, but due to investor problems, they left in late 2011, leaving no other facility to take their place.

This is the only diving place on the list that yours truly went on.

I was fortunate enough to hook up with a diving local this last July, who knew a lot of the dive spots and had connections to air sources.

You can read about my entire trip on this blog.

8. The Most Politically Incorrect Place To Dive

Kish Island, Iran

Well, most politically incorrect, if you are a U.S. citizen.

This small island is a free trade zone, and the only part of Iranian soil where an American can enter Iran without a visa.

I have made one contact on Kish Island, via the internet, and was assured, “Kish Island is beautiful and safe, even for Americans.”

The problem is, to get to Kish Island, you would most likely have to enlist the help of a Travel Agent specializing in hard to get to locations.

Travelocity.com, Kayak.com and Expedia.com do not recognize Kish Island as a valid destination, probably purely due to political reasons.

Your lady, by Islamic Law, will have to cover her head while in public, and there is no alcohol allowed – unless you know a local and have money (so I’ve been told).

9. The Saltiest and Lowest Elevation SCUBA Dive

The Dead Sea, Israel

Although there are bodies of water that are saltier, The Dead Sea is the saltiest body of water that is dove on a regular basis and, at 1,385 feet below sea level, it is hard to argue that this would also be the lowest altitude dive available.

The Dead Sea is so salty, a person can float without any effort or buoyancy device.

Diving here has been described like “diving around diamonds or ice, but the heat and intense weight that you must carry reminds you otherwise.”