Hello TTOLers,<br><br>We are still working on our BVI trip report, but are eager to share the incredible experience we had scuba diving for the first time in our lives! When we began last Fall to plan our July family reunion in VG, we only had a general idea of what we wanted to do, and scuba diving was not even on our list at the time, largely because we had never done it before, but it is now at the top of our list for future vacations to the Caribbean! 10 of us, from age 12 to 54, dove together, and we are all in agreement that it was the most amazing experience of our lives!<br><br>Most of us prepared for our diving experience by taking PADI lessons at a local pool and dive shop in Charlottesville, Virginia. We cannot say enough good things about Dive Connections and the extraordinary instructional help we received from Chip Earle and Joe Marcinko. They were thorough and patient with us and prepared us very well for our diving experience in the Caribbean. We encourage persons in central Virginia who are interested in diving to check them out at: http://www.connect2diving.com/. Other members of our extended family had similar positive experiences learning how to dive in Annapolis, Md., and Huntsville, Al.<br><br>Once we arrived in VG, we had an incredible diving experience with Dive BVI, http://www.divebvi.com/, out of their Leverick Bay location. I should say that even before we arrived, Mike and Marcia Goldberg were very helpful in answering numerous questions we had via email. 2 members of our group enjoyed their diving lessons so much that they were certified in Alabama before coming to VG, but the 8 of us from Charlottesville waited until VG to do our 4 open dives for certification. Cori, Kevin, and Ken were outstanding Dive Instructors who are very professional and knowledgeable, but also very enjoyable and easy to work with. The same can be said for Tudor, Caspar, and Mike, who dove with the certified divers. The Sea Lion boat was a 45' catamaran powered by twin Yamaha 200 hp outboards that was spacious and well equipped, with lots of shade. Plenty of drinks and snacks were provided, and the head worked well thanks to Kevin's plumbing skills . The dive platform off the back of the boat was large enough for 3 divers to sit comfortably and easily dive into the water by leaning forward. By the way, on the boat, we were thoroughly informed about our dive and the skills we would be doing before each dive began.<br><br>Our 1st dive, The Chimney, at Great Dog, was an easy dive to about 35' which acclimated us well for our open water diving. It was a relaxing and enjoyable opportunity for us to feel comfortable about diving. On the surface, we practiced some of our diving skills, including cramp removal, removing and replacing scuba gear and weights, and tired diver tow. It did not dawn on us that we are about to do all of these skills and more underwater on our next three open dives, but none of us had any problems at all on any of our dives. (A special thanks to Cori who had to put up with some of us !) TIP for first time divers: take your time going down, equalizing your ear pressure as often as necessary, which is probably every few feet. This is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL in order to avoid ear pressure problems. There are many different ways to equalize, including holding your nose and blowing gently, swallowing, and rolling your head back and forth. If the presure on your ears begins to hurt, go back up a few feet, equalize, and slowly descend again. Take as long as you need to equalize. Often you will be going down a rope, which helps your sense of depth.<br><br>About an hour and a half later, we did our 2nd dive, Coral Gardens, also off Great Dog. On a sandy bottom in about 40' of water, surrounded by beautiful coral and curious fish, we did some of underwater skills, including flooding and clearing our masks, and sharing our regulators during a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. TIP for 1st time divers: under water, you will continue to need to equalize your ear pressure from time to time when your depth fluctuates, either higher or lower. <br><br>We went home tired, but excited about our next day's dives. Our 3rd dive was the long awaited dive at The Wreck of the Rhone, off Salt Island. After reading so much about the Rhone, we could hardly believe we were actually diving it. It was remarkable how close the ship was to Salt Island, and we were fortunate to be the first boat to arrive the day of our dive, enabling our imaginations to run wild about the terrible huricane that wrecked that huge ship so close to the shore in 1867. We dove the stern section only, to a depth of approx. 55', where some of our open water skills included flooding our masks, removing our regulators, and underwater compass navigation, which we also later did on the surface. By the way, when we surfaced, another 6 to 8 boats had arrived at the Rhone. TIP for first time divers: if you are having a dfficult time descending, then look to see if your weight belt is still on! Susan had a problem descending on this dive until Cori retrieved Susan's weight belt from the bottom near the boat in about 30' of water. <br><br>Our 4th dive was Alice's Backside near Ginger Island. Diving to a maximum depth of 50', we swam with lots of fish and saw an incredible amount of coral. Our underwater skills included removing and replacing our regulators, as well as our masks, and we also had to demonstrate our Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent to the surface with one breath. Susan and I also practiced through our regulators, but that is not a PADI requirement! We rode the Sea Lion proudly back to Leverick Bay as newly certified divers (with the exception of a little paperwork)! TIP to first time divers: Do not worry or panic. You have practiced your skills many times in the pool and you will successfully complete your training in the ocean. Your well qualified instructor is near at all times and will assist you when needed.<br><br>Two days later, we did an exciting and fun-filled charter on the 4th of July with Cori, Tudor, and Kevin that included 2 dives, lunch at Willie T., and snorkeling the Caves. Kevin did an amazing job of filming our 2 dives and editing a 30 minute video, complete with background music, and we have thoroughly enjoyed watching our video. (Athough we still wonder at times if that is actually us or our body doubles who did those dives! - I am fairly certain the one with the bad form is my body double...)<br><br>Our 5th dive, Shallow Chromis near Cooper Island, was a fascinating dive to 65' feet in order to explore the Beata, an aged tug boat that was intentionally sunk a few years ago. The current was fairly strong but created a beautiful collage of waving sea fans on the ocean floor. TIP to first time divers: Once you become certified, diving becomes much easier, at least with DiveBVI! The instructors do all of the work for you in terms of preparing your gear , and all you have to do is enjoy your dive...<br><br>Our 6th dive, The Indians, near Pelican Rock and Norman Island, was an absolutely incredible dive, probably my favorite. The Indians are 4 jagged rock formations protruding above the surface, resembling an Indian headdress. Below the water, we swam through a series of underwater canyons and grottoes, covered with hard and soft corals, teeming with all kinds of ocean water life, including sea turtles. The 2 snorkelers in our group thoroughly enjoyed this location as well. TIP for snorklers: Please do not forget to put sunscreen on your back - youch!<br><br>The following week, another brother-in-law vacationed with us, and Mark participated in a resort dive with DiveBVI. This is a helpful way to be introduced to diving without taking a full course. In an hour or two, a person is given a basic introduction to diving skills in a pool, and then has the opportunity to do a shallow dive in the ocean under the close supervision of a Dive Instructor.<br><br>Most of us went along with Mark for our 7th dive, a different location at Coral Gardens near Great Dog Island. 85% of the different species of coral in the world is found at Coral Gardens, making it a beautiful dive with an incredible underwater panorama. While Mark dove with a single instructor to about 30', the rest of us dove approx. 50' to the remains of an airplane. The now defunct Atlantic Air BVI lost a plane off Beef Island a few years ago (no one was injured), and DiveBVI persuaded the company to donate the fuselage as a dive site, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed.<br><br>We had an incredible experience diving for the first time in our lives, and could not have picked a more beautiful location than the BVI, nor could we have picked a more professional, as well enjoyable group of persons to work with than DiveBVI out of Leverick Bay[img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img]<br><br>We are happy to share a few pictures of some of our diving experiences with you at http://community.webshots.com/user/suelarhast. For those of you interested, the first 16 pictures were shot at the Rhone by my brother, Casey, with a disposable camera that claims it works to 35', but did alright at 55'. The remaining pictures were taken by my daughter, Amy, with a Sealife ReefMaster Camera that she requested for her birthday. Susan and I were only too happy to oblige. And, we are also happy to share these pictures with you, as well as answer questions about our diving experiences....<br>