JUPITER, FL – This year, Mr. Spingler hosted a slightly challenging but fun, beneficial, and interesting R.E.A.C.H. Week.

This R.E.A.C.H. Week allowed students to get their scuba diving certification. When I decided to choose this R.E.A.C.H. Week, I expected getting a certification for SCUBA diving would be easy, but it is actually pretty challenging. Getting SCUBAcertified takes place over four mandatory days and an optional boat dive which I couldn’t attend because you have to wait a certain amount of time in between your last dive and a plane flight which I had that evening.

The first day of getting certified consists of getting all your gear secured and making sure everything is done, including paperwork and the textbook reading that needed to be completed prior to the week. It also includes a review of all of the different contents of the book as well as a test on each chapter and a final test. Getting all your gear fitted and making sure you know how to assemble everything and the process of assembling it is also a part of the first day.

The gear consists of your cylinder (air tank), BCD (buoyancy control device), wet suits, regulator (set of tubes and a computer that allow the air to be breathed through tubes), fins, and a mask with a snorkel. After the first day, our work was not done; we had to bring all our gear home and ensure everything was correct for the next day at the pool. When I started, I asked myself “Why SCUBA dive in a pool?” I later found out it is to make sure we know how to use all our gear and we do all our different safety protocols with our buddies who double checked gear and help you out should you need air or any help in and out of the water. Some of these protocols require using alternate air sources if your buddy or you were to run out of air, being able to clear water out of your mask underwater, and other types of special maneuvers to use in different situations.

SCUBA instructors were required to make sure we could do all the different protocols in the pool so we could pass and be able to do them in the ocean the next day.

The next two days took place in the water near Blue Heron Bridge completing the same skills but in actual ocean conditions. On Wednesday, the water was cold with low visibility as it was raining. This made our first ocean water dive very challenging. On Thursday though, it was fairly clear and warmer since our SCUBA instructor brought us double wet suits so we could be warm underwater. It was sunny too, making it a pretty fun diving day since we also had completed most of our dive protocols the day before. Then, we went back to the dive shop to get our certifications and clear our gear!

Overall, SCUBA was so fun, and it’s an experience that anyone who isn’t too scared can definitely take on!