This month our community intern, Kaela, went on a discovery dive! A discovery dive is a basic introduction to diving for someone who is interested in diving but does not yet have any certification. You do not need any prior diving knowledge or qualifications to do a discovery dive, and you are fully monitored by a trained instructor throughout the entire experience. Kaela shared that she was very terrified before the dive but was put at ease by her trained dive instructor, Kyle Nelson Devine. Before even entering the water, Kyle gave Kaela a briefing of basic diving procedures as well as went over the equipment and what it is used for. Once the briefing was completed Kyle and Kaela got suited up and made their way down to the beach!
Once at the beach the pair entered the water to about their waists and began the in-water section of the discovery dive! Kyle helped Kaela deflate her buoyance control device (BCD) and get her mask sorted before eventually getting on their knees and taking their first underwater breaths! Kaela said taking her first breath underwater was one of the best highlights from the experience. Once Kaela understood how to breath underwater Kyle went on to teach her how to clear her mask, as well as how to recover and clear her regulator. Kaela also was excited that she got to learned how to assist a fellow diver in case they were to run out of air!
After all the basic skills were taught Kyle then took Kaela further out into the water where she went on her first ever dive! To begin he helped her inflate her BCD and obtain natural buoyance under water. She said she has never experienced anything like being naturally buoyant and claimed she loved the feeling that she was floating!
While diving Kyle assisted Kaela as they navigated through our reef. Before the dive Kaela was scared she would run into something and was very relieved that she did not touch any coral during her entire dive! A highlight of the dive for Kaela was getting to see a Nudibranch (a sea slug)! She also enjoyed getting to have a better look at all the coral on our reef as well as all the fish.
Overall Kaela had a great first diving experience and highly recommends it to anyone who thinks they might be interested in going on a dive while in Madagascar!
Are You Curious About Doing A Discovery Dive?
Then Check Out Our Dive SchoolOr Our Marine Conservation Program!
