So! I went on a Discovery Intro scuba tour yesterday  . I have to say...it was pretty awesome  ! Got to see with my own eyes what I could only see on TV. Still scarey as hell to me  , but with more exposure I'm sure my irrational fear of the ocean will dissipate. The gf small kine freaked out though. She'll try again next time  ! I'll just have to make her go free diving a little to build up some tolerances and gain some experience points.

Should meet up with her in a pool. Just put the scuba gear in the shallow end, and let her breathe in and out.   Or do it in the shower under the spicket.

Word of caution.

Never hold your breath on scuba and surface.  You will blow your lung out because of expanding air in your lungs.

You MUST Exhale while ascending.  Never go up faster than the bubbles of air that you are exhaling.

Also Never Panic.  Maintain your calm under All conditions.

That's all you need to remember and you'll be OK

Have fun

Thanks for the tip guys!

Pool idear sounds like the perfect thing!

I always wanted to try scuba, but I have real problems with sinus pain whenever I get just a few feet under the water.  I mention this, and people say "Oh, you just need to learn to equalize" or "Oh, you just need to take a Sudafed" or something equally helpful.  I dunno... I'm pretty sure that anything that easy, I've tried somewhere over the last 43 years! 

Well if it's sinus pain instead of ear pain that's probably an indicator that it's not about equalizing. But then again I'm a noob at this.

There's really nothing to learn about equalizing anyway. You do the same thing you do when driving H1 by Red Hill - swallow, or pinch your nose and blow - except you do it underwater, and every few feet of descent.  I had a dog of a time controlling my buoyancy so I had to equalize every 60 seconds or so, and had to clear my mask at about the same frequency.

I don't know if this means anything at all, but I have sleep apnea. One of those things where apparently I choke and gasp for air all night long without the assistance of a CPAP. 

Tom, most likely you have a lot of snot in your sinuses.

FYI, Not for the timid.

While on scuba, stand on your head, let air and water fill your sinus cavity.

Stand upright and VERY SLOWLY surface.  May feel Some Pain.

When you surface, all the stuff in your sinus will be in your mask (Really YUCKY)

Drop down a few feet and remove mask and clean it and your face.  Blow a lot of air out thru nose.

Amazing how well you can breath after you get out of the water.

Don't ask how I know this

Then there's the time a 5 pound tako on a T bar got on my friend's back at 150 feet.
   grabbed his arms, ripped off the mask and regulator.

Forced him to make a Free assent from 150 feet and have the guys on the boat remove the tako......

Tom, most likely you have a lot of snot in your sinuses.

FYI, Not for the timid.

While on scuba, stand on your head, let air and water fill your sinus cavity.

Stand upright and VERY SLOWLY surface.  May feel Some Pain.

When you surface, all the stuff in your sinus will be in your mask (Really YUCKY)

Drop down a few feet and remove mask and clean it and your face.  Blow a lot of air out thru nose.

Amazing how well you can breath after you get out of the water.

Don't ask how I know this

Then there's the time a 5 pound tako on a T bar got on my friend's back at 150 feet.
   grabbed his arms, ripped off the mask and regulator.

Forced him to make a Free assent from 150 feet and have the guys on the boat remove the tako......

lol, take this for note...

This is why you don't dive with the "old guys" .  Lots of locals seem to do things that will end their arse in the hospital lol. My wife's dad is a old school "commercial diver", hawaiian backpack and all.  No telling how many time him and his buddy had the bends. Take the knife, stab the octopus and get a regulator int he guys mouth. Free assent from 150?  He is lucky to be alive.

FYI:  When "those guys" were diving, scuba was just invented.  The bends didn't exist like it does today.........

In "those days" everyone dove alone.  Hit the water and went on their different ways, came back to the boat only when
their "T Bar" is full or ran out of air.

Beacon Restaurant in Aiea Used to have a lot of photos of old time guys and their boat load of kumu catches and other stuff.
   Those guys were just ahead of me by 10/15 years.

Those days they did a minimum or 5 dives a day. Most I ever did was 4 dives in one day.  First dive was 150', 100', 60' and then 25'

Yep lucky to have All my body parts still working, more or less.

When I go into a scuba shop today, I'm amazed at the costs and the kinds of equipment being used now.

Now one of  my friends wants to go into re-breathers and push 500 feet or so he says.

Talking of Selling All or most of his guns.  He has great Stuff, I know, I got a lot of them for him.