Self-contained underwater breathing

We had two SCUBA classes scheduled this week: one Wednesday night, and one last night - in addition to two this weekend. But Nick was due in court Thursday morning, and worked so late Wednesday night that we were obliged to miss the Wednesday night class. 

So last night, Thursday night, the instructor told us that he could get us caught up on the previous night's class AND teach us everything we would have been learning last night - two classes' worth of skills in one session! 

Well, it nearly killed us! We didn't get home until almost midnight last night, and we could barely move this morning. But the good thing is that we're up to speed on all of the skills. Who knows if we'll remember them, come this weekend... 

I'll say that it would have been fun, if we hadn't been rushed and if we hadn't been learning "skills" ... take your breathing tube out of your mouth! Take your mask off - now you can't see! Take your equipment off underwater! Fill your mask with water and clear it by blowing through your nose (that one nearly killed Nick) or sit underwater for one full minute without your mask, and then I'll tap you on the shoulder to let you know that you can put it back on (that one nearly killed me!). I think we were just too rushed to fully comprehend the reality of "oh, hey, we're breathing underwater!" much less to be comfortable with alterations in the basic arrangement. So, I didn't really like it. I don't think Nick liked it either. I think we're both kind of ambivalent about this weekend - if we can just swim around and not have to do "skills," it'll be fun. If we have to do things that make us scared or uncomfortable, it will not be fun. There is a lot of pressure (no pun!) in the classroom setting, where each student in turn is on the spot to do the skill, without a chance to work up to it - no chance to just play with your equipment and get used to it, or to try X skill above water, or standing in shallow water, or just sticking your face in the water, before you have to do it under the water, while everyone waits for you. 

So I don't think that there is anything inherently difficult or scary about SCUBA, but I would recommend anyone thinking about learning it to get private lessons with a patient teacher, so that you can take as much time as you need to feel comfortable with each skill covered.