[Sportsandrec] Scuba diving

[Audrey Farnum]

Hi Doug,

I got certified when I was low vision. I just went through the dive
shop that was right down the street from my house and explained my
situation to the instructor. I actually didn't know there were
adaptive instructors until after I got signed up, but this lady was
very supportive and I had no issues with the class. In fact, after I
became totally blind, my instructor was trying to talk me into
continuing to dive which I thought was very cool. I know I still could
do it but just don't have the interest since I couldn't see anything.
Anyway, I just had to make sure I was positioned close enough to see
the hand signals. I could read my gages if I held them up to my mask.
The only dive related problem I had that was connected to my vision is
that when doing a dive in Hawaii, I almost got bitten by an eel that
was camoflauged in some coral and I couldn't see it. But, it was more
of an inexperience issue because I wasn't controlling my buoyancy and
let myself get to close to the reef.  This happened on my first dive
after getting certified, and I got it worked out and never had any
other close calls after that. I always had a dive buddy, of course,
and felt perfectly safe doing it. It's a very cool activity and I hope
your daughter enjoys it and all goes well with her certification.

Audrey

On 6/15/11, Doug Gottschlich <doug.gottschlich at gmail.com> wrote:
> HI,
>
> Any blind/VI scuba divers out there?  My daughter just tried an introductory
> (pool) dive and enjoyed it, so I'm trying to find out how others have gotten
> trained/certified.  I have made contact with our local adaptive instructor
> who is very enthusiastic, but would be interested to hear experiences of any
> blind/VI divers.
>
> Thanks,
> Doug
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