When did you learn to scuba, and what made you interested?
I finally got my Open Water certification in May 2020. Tyler was my instructor, and I still feel a little guilty about what I put him through. There is definitely crying in scuba. Ugly, fog-your-mask, “I hate this and I hate equalizing” crying.
The rest of the ZooKeeper team got certified in 2018. I sat on the boat watching them splash in and disappear while I stayed topside as official shore support. I handed out towels, tracked who was still down, and smiled like I was fine. I was not fine. I was so jealous it hurt.
My ears just would not cooperate. After a few ENT visits we figured out a lot of it was anxiety tightening everything up. The tubes were not broken. I was clamping down on them before the water ever had a chance. So I got stubborn. I was done being the one waving from the swim step.
I practiced equalizing every single day. In the pool, in the shower, sitting on the couch pinching my nose like a weirdo. At first it took me a full 15 minutes to reach 60 feet. Fifteen minutes of pinching, swallowing, and listening to my own heartbeat while everyone else was already on the bottom having fun. By the time I finally got there I had maybe 20 minutes of air left. That was the dive that flipped the switch. I decided I was going to beat the boys down and still have gas when they were already heading up. The teasing had to end.
It worked. These days the second I hit the water I am equalizing and dropping. I am usually the first one on the bottom, and I am still hanging out when most of the guys are already thinking about their safety stop. About a year and a half after that miserable Open Water course I finished my Divemaster. The short version of how I got here is on my team bio. The longer version is the ear story.
If you are the person still sitting on the boat, this is for you. Slow does not mean you are not a diver. It means you have not finished the part that actually matters yet.
Need help equalizing?
I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. If you have pain, a history of ear problems, or anything that does not clear, see an ENT before you force it. What follows is only what actually saved me.
- The instant my face hits the water I pinch my nose and start working the pressure before it has a chance to build. Equalize early, equalize often, and never wait for the squeeze.
- While I am getting ready in the morning I open and close my mouth a bunch of times to wake the tubes up. Jaw movement, a few gentle swallows, a yawn if I can fake one. It sounds silly on the boat. It works.
- Flonase the night before if I even think I might need it. Congestion and a dive do not mix, and no fish is worth a reverse block on the way up.
- Cherry lozenges. That menthol hit in the back of the throat is weirdly helpful for me. Your mileage may vary.
- I descend feet-first when I can, stay ahead of the pressure, and I abort the second something feels wrong. A slow descent with air left beats a heroic one that ends the day.
- I stopped treating equalizing like a test I could fail in front of the team. The anxiety was doing more damage than the depth.
Once the ears cooperated, the next fight was air and buoyancy. I was burning through a tank because I was tense and over-weighted. Peak Performance Buoyancy is the course I wish I had taken sooner. Less weight, less kicking, more time on the reef. If you want the bigger picture of what is worth taking after Open Water, we laid it out in Do I need a scuba certification to hunt lionfish? Advanced Open Water is the usual next step. Deep, navigation, and a buoyancy dive will change how the ocean feels.
The thing that finally made the suffering worth it was lionfish. My first real encounter was snorkeling and lobster hunting in Islamorada, which is a whole other story: What was your first experience with a lionfish? Hunting is still my favorite thing to do underwater. If that is where you are headed, the Lionfish Specialty is the clean way in, and the Hunter Package puts the course, a ZooKeeper containment unit, and a sling pole spear in one shot so you are not piecing it together on the dock.
Two practical notes from the boat, not the brochure. Keep a surface marker buoy on you once you are comfortable enough to be off the line, and do not skip emergency oxygen training. We run DAN BLS and Emergency Oxygen in the Sunrise classroom for a reason. And if the money side of this sport is already making you nervous, read Wanna Go Scuba Diving: The Underwater Money Pit before you buy a third mask.
The full course list lives on the certifications page. Gear is in the shop. If your ears are the only thing standing between you and the swim step, start there. Pinch early. Go slow. Get stubborn.
