Scuba diving the Kerama islands

After a full day of sightseeing on Saturday, I was feeling a little guilty about the dive trip I had planned for Sunday. Senior staff reinforced their opinion that we should enjoy the time off while we had it before heading out to Beijing in a couple of days though, so we followed through with our plans.

Although it had been over 10 years since I had been underwater with a tank on my back, Kim and I had signed up for a two tank boat dive earlier in the week. I got certified in Hawaii when I was stationed there 15 years ago, but it had been so long I couldn't remember through which organization I had gotten certified. After a discussion with the marina dive locker manager, it was decided that the quickest way for me to be able to do a dive here was to get a refresher class in the pool with a dive master and then do a supervised dive on Sunday. After a couple of hours in the pool one night this week with Liz, dive master extraordinaire, I relearned the safety basics and felt comfortable enough to go deep in the ocean again.

So, bright and early yesterday morning Kim and I along with Scott, one of the throws athletes took a cab out to the marina to catch the dive boat. The boat captain briefed the 20 or so excited divers that the winds were pretty strong so we'd have to head out a couple of miles to see how choppy the waters were going to be before he made a decision on whether the trip was a go or not. The destination for the dive was the Kerama Islands which are a chain of subtropical islands located about 20 miles southwest of Okinawa. Only four of the 22 lush islands with pristine beaches are occupied making it an ideal getaway for divers and snorkelers alike. Although a bit choppy, the hour and a half boat ride was actually quite enjoyable. I love being on the water and we all commented that even if we couldn't dive once we got out there, the $75 we paid for the trip would be worth it just for the boat ride!

As luck would have it, we made it out to the dive site and were ordered off the boat by the captain. He didn't have to tell anyone twice as we all suited up and flowed out the back end of the vessel. Scott snorkeled while Kim and I dove down the 40-50 feet with Liz. Here we encountered lots of live coral with starfish, tropical fish, sea snakes, eels and urchins. We even caught a glimpse of a sea turtle off in the distance. Kim and I had brought down some cheap disposable cameras that allowed us to capture some of the sea life. Liz dove with a nicer digital (that's her with Kim right under the boat) and and she gave me this one of Kim and I giving the OK sign.

After about an hour of bottom time, we surfaced and ate sandwiches as the captain maneuvered us to the next dive site. The day and water was comfortably warm, but it still felt good to sit in the sun as we waited out our surface interval before going back down. The next dive took us down to around 70 feet in and out of coral reef trenches full of sea life. Kim and I didn't find out until later, but apparently there was a white tip shark swimming with us for the majority of our dive and we never saw it. The other divers all told us they had gotten pictures but we were still disappointed that we didn't get to see it in real time! We did a drift dive and popped up about an hour later wherever the current brought us and the boat captain brought the boat around to pick us up. Even though we still had air left in the tanks, the waters down at that depth are chilly and we were ready to surface in order to warm up a bit. Although we couldn't stay down as long as we would've liked, it was still worth it to dive in a bikini and t-shirt! Now that I've gotten the dive bug again, I'll have to keep reminding myself that diving in the 7 mm wetsuit with boots and hoodie required for the chilly California waters do not make for an enjoyable dive. For now I can only dream of the day I'll live near warm waters again. . .

That's it from Okinawa and Kadena. We have a farewell dinner tonight then fly out tomorrow for Beijing. Not sure how much I'll get to post from China, but I haven't had many problems on my three previous trips so I anticipate being able to keep everyone up to date. Still watching Hurricane Gustav's path and anxiously awaiting word on how my family and Houma make it through the storm.