Decompression Redemption: The Day I Died in a Volcano

Diving in Laguna de Apoyo

I became a certified open water diver over ten years ago. I completed my two open water dives between the Santa Barbara coastline and the Channel Islands after I relocated to California for a new job. My final certification dive was highlighted by an adult harbor seal who swam around me as I ascended the rope back to the boat at the end of the dive.

A look back at the Santa Barbara Coastline

The seal circled around my legs, then once more around my waist before stopping directly in front of me - her head only a few inches from the front of my mask. She hovered in front of my body for what seemed like an eternity. Her eyes were dark in color, but maintained a tone of softness as if she was just as curious about me as I was of her - which I can only imagine was the case.

Humpback whales surfacing in the waters near the Channel Islands

My arms instinctively went around her waist but I was still a bit cautious to pull her any closer than the few inches currently separating her blubbery skin and the soft material of my wetsuit. However, she then leaned in and kissed the tempered glass of my black framed dive mask. Clearly embarrassed, she turned and escaped into the shallow waters surrounding the island of Santa Cruz.

As the weeks turned to months and the months turned to years, I slowly watched the time pass since my certification dive and the stolen kiss from my aquatic mistress. Ten years would pass before I would once again do a safety check with a dive buddy, and it would take place on the small Caribbean island of Utila off the east coast of Honduras. I was a bit scared when I began my first descent into the warm tropical waters to begin my refresher course. I bobbled around a bit until I gained control of my buoyancy and slowly began to re-learn what it's like to live underwater.

A sunset on the island of Utila

Squirrels, angels, and spotted drums would be just a few of the many types of colorful fish that would scurry around as bubbles would escape my mask. Giant crabs and black colored coral would pass by my field of vision as I swam through rock caves and over small shipwrecks during my six dives on the island. Rays of sun piercing the shallow waters and clouds of sand after an eel would scurry past - these are the scenes that can make up the underwater world. I was glad to be back.

The balcony of The Peace Project Hostel on Laguna de Apoyo

Once I left the island, I assumed it would be a while until I would strap on an aluminum dive tank again. Although I had redeemed my ego by literally diving back into this hobby, I wasn't sure when I would plan to take that giant step again. So when I arrived at the edge of Laguna de Apoyo - a twenty-two thousand year old dormant volcano in the middle of Nicaragua - and learned that my hostel shared a building with a dive shop. It was an easy decision to schedule a day of diving in a volcano.

My tent site while staying near the dive shop

My dive master, Elois, gave me and my dive buddy, Braedon, a brief introduction to the unique wildlife that exists inside of the ancient crater that has been filled with water since its last eruption. Cichlids, lizard fish, sardines, and enormous schools of freshwater fish engulfed us as we traversed the steep rock walls of the inclined slopes of the ancient caldera. As the tiger fish parents protected their babies from predators, we found exposed vents where warm water and gaseous bubbles were still escaping from the grasps of the underlying, albeit dormant, magma chamber deep below bottom of the lake.

Schools of dish swarm near the dive site

Our second dive was more pragmatic. We stayed in the shallows and used our increased allowable bottom time to pick up trash that had accumulated in the soft bottom algae that covers most of the lake bottom. In a relatively short period of time, trash can be consumed by the algae and almost disappear from sight, with the top of a bottle or the strings of a forgotten shoe as the only evidence of the foreign object stuck in the muck.

Thankfully Braedon had a camera with him!

My lips were smiling and my soul was happy when we returned to the dive center to clean our gear and sip some coffee with my new friends. As the afternoon continued, however, I would get one more opportunity to strap on my tank and go underwater. Another instructor, Michaela, was finishing a Rescue course for a local diver, and they were in need of some help. They needed someone to rescue.

At the bottom of Laguna de Opoyo

Now on my third dive of the day, I found it quite comical that someone would find themselves in my position - one that requires me to pretend to be unconscious, while breathing compressed air at the bottom of a lake in a twenty-two thousand year old volcano crater. The trainee finally reached the point of his checklist to bring me back up. Once at the surface, he inflated my BCD and continued his checklist of items to "save me" properly. 

I hope it's not another ten years before my next dive. I'll make sure that's not the case.

The entryway to The Peace Project Hostel

A big thank you to The Peace Project Hostel and Volcano Divers for allowing me the unique opportunity of diving in a volcano, and making this part of my trip in Central America even better. The Peace Project is a NGO that fosters community development and educational opportunities. I was fortunate enough to spend a day in one of their classroom with the students, not too mention all the workers are just great people with whom to spend a few days. If you don't mind waking up to monkey's throwing mangoes onto the top of the metal roofed buildings, then I highly suggest planning to stay here for a few nights and supporting the organization.You can check out their website thepeaceprojectnicaragua.org for more information. 

Volcano Divers is located in the same building and is the only Padi Certified dive shop for Laguna de Apoyo. The underwater photo credits go to my dive buddy, Braedon, who was there for his honeymoon. 

Cheers!
Dustin

Me and my pink fins