I'm a @PADI Certified Scuba Diver!!!

Underwater and still photogenic lol

I've been missing in action the last few weeks because I was in the process of studying for my PADI Scuba Certification!! I'm so freaking excited to scream from the blogging rooftops that this past weekend I passed all of my tests and am now a PADI Certified Open Water Scuba Diver!! What does that mean? That means I can scuba dive with the best of them to depths up to 130 ft. I got in 5 dives this past weekend at Haigh Quarry (check out my review here), and am looking forward to logging a few more on my vacay in a few weeks.

I did all of my training at Underwater Safaris in Lincoln Park (2950 N. Lincoln Ave.) and had the amazing instructor Orest (like Forest without the O). His combination of experience, patience and comforting humor made my time in the water and classroom top notch. I would highly recommend him and the center to anyone curious about scuba diving.

As long as you know how to swim and have an overall comfort in the water scuba diving could be for you. Underwater Safaris offers a nice "Discover Scuba" course for $50 which gives you an opportunity to have an instructor brief you over the basics and try the gear out in the pool. It's a lot of fun and offers the chance to see if scuba diving is something you want to pursue.

Scuba Gear

** On a side note, I want to say that I wish more black people would get into the sport. Let's dispel the stereotype that we can't swim, don't get our hair wet, or do anything active. Over the weekend there were at least 100 divers at the quarry and I was the only black woman - - *insert crickets here**

I have a quick video from one of my dives this past weekend, but need to edit it. The visibility in the quarry averaged 10-20 ft so it's not the best, but it's still pretty cool to see yourself underwater. Like always, if you have any questions please feel free to ask away in the comments section! Happy Diving :)