Utila – Week 1, Day 6: A Rescue Diver Appears
UTILA
Week 1
Day 6: A Rescue Diver Appears
November 18, 2022
I opened my eyes, and, through the hangover haze my groggy awakening, I started to slowly make sense of things. Looking at Amelia sleeping in the bunk bed right next to mine, it all came rushing in – the previous day’s events.
The whale shark… The dives… Emma and Julia’s farewell… And then… my decision to stay in Utila to become a divemaster… Without wanting to, I could feel my lips stretching wide into a huge smile as my eyes welled up. “I’m doing this! I am really gonna do this!” I told myself, still in pure disbelief. I stayed there for a few more minutes, trying to take it all in. This was gonna be my life for the next few weeks. Man I love my life.
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I’d be diving in the afternoon, so I took my sweet time to get up. Having had our big goodbye before heading to bed, Emma and Julia had already left – catching the early morning ferry to La Ceiba, and were already on their way to Guatemala. It was gonna be tough to get over not having them around all the time!
From CPR to WTF
I can’t say I had much time to wallow their loss, though. Having decided to extend my stay, I had signed up for the PADI Rescue Diver Course – a prerequisite to be able to start the divemaster training. Amelia was well on her way to finishing hers, and so, we’d be starting our divemaster training after I’d finish.Â
And so, after a morning spent sulking and journalling, I made my way to the pier where Leah, Natalie 2 and I would have our first confined session for the course. Our instructor, Rachel – a French-Canadian lawyer who’s the definition of a sweetheart – would be joined by Ava and Adah, two DMTs from Sweden and Israel respectively, who’d be assisting on the course. It was quite a long one, having to practise a plethora of skills over and over until we got each and every one of them right. Like having to share air with someone who’d run out of it, helping out an unresponsive diver, and even giving CPR.
Part of this course would be the Emergency First Responder section – something I’d be exempt from doing, being a fully qualified doctor – saving me some time and money. That said, diving first aid isn’t quite what I was used to. Turns out, it’s much easier to perform resuscitation in a hospital than it would be in the middle of the ocean – just in case you’re wondering. And it’s not just the CPR part that’s difficult – it’s the actual extrication and transfer to dry land. Ava is witness to that – while trying to get her out of her scuba gear as part of an exercise, her hair got tangled in my wetsuit zipper and she went from fake distressed to real distressed in a split second. So yeah, I guess there was still room for improvement.Â
Dorm Life and Sunset Vibes
Back on the island, for the first time since I’d gotten there, there wasn’t much going on. There’d be beer pong at Captain Morgan – another diving school – but everyone felt exhausted after a week of non-stop diving and partying.Â
Now that I’d be staying here for a while, I knew I’d have to learn to find time and space to savour some me-time, being so used to having my own personal space. While I’d usually be staying somewhere with my own private room, I now found myself living in a dorm for at least a month – albeit with Amelia who was the best roommate I could have ever hoped for. That said, we still had two available beds in our dorm – meaning our equilibrium was vulnerable, to say the least.Â
Also, I had to learn how to carry on with the things I was used to doing and keep up a good pace – especially with my writing and reading. And so, with my first free afternoon, I had some time to relax, catch up on some writing and then, with a couple of beers and in good company, I enjoyed the surreally gorgeous sunset that would grace our eyes almost every day here in Utila.
Stay wild,
Marius
Post-Scriptum
Olivia ruptured her eardrum and was told she wouldn’t be able to dive for a whole month. She therefore decided to leave Utila and go on her journey. As a memory of her, Monkey asked whether he could take a photo of her. Acceptable. A photo of her wearing only a towel after taking a hot shower? Not acceptable. She was nineteen, he was in his fiftees. He was, of course, reported.