The current on the main wall proved to be a definate factor, something that required real consideration as to whether to continue or call the dive for another day. After weighing up all the options, we carried on to complete the dive. Had I been in any doubt for anyones safety and their abilites, that would have been a different matter but they aquitted themselves admirably with calm level heads, the mark of a good diver in challenging conditions. The kids all done good.
After a warming hot chocolate and a debrief, the second dive was made far less taxing by the appearance of turtles (like the first dive) and an added bonus of a very large mature eagle ray gliding past us over the sand. Things like that make worth getting out of bed some days. Of course, as I was teaching, there was no camera being carried to record said marine life but three other witnesses will back me up!
P.S. There was only a camera made availbile for the shots here after all the performance criteria and dives had been completed, before anyone gets up in arms about a breach in PADI standards.
The final dive was a doddle as it's effectively just a tour of the loacl area but conditions were taking a turn for the worse both at the surface and underwater as well so we didn't push our limits and just drifted back to the dock with the current before a final debrief and congratulatory handshake all round.
One thing I will admit is that up until this point, I'd been an old fashioned kind of MI with filling in paper PICs but now I've used the PIC online for the first time, I must admit it is a quick and relatively painless way of getting PICs done. I'm shocked and surprised! PADI have come a long way since I started teaching.
Next week will be the nav spec, weather/conditions permitting, so who knows what we'll see then?
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