The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa has everything a vacationer could ask for. Hula lessons, luau's, wildlife and culture tours, Waikekee Beach, Diamond Head and much more. What caught my eye was scuba lessons in a pool and than out in the Pacific Ocean at an old ship wreck. Not being a "swimmer" I thought this could be workable for me !!

So I signed up and took my first lesson in a large outdoor swimming pool. I learned fairly fast and was anxiously looking forward to the next days "real dive" in the Pacific Ocean. Anxious is probably the wrong word because the next day I struggled to get down to the ship wreck. It seemed so unnatural to breath that far below the surface. I would start to hyperventalate once I got down 20 feet or more below the surface. My master diver would give me the signal to go back up to relax and take deep breathes.

On the fourth attempt "success" ! On a bright sunny day the water and fish were mesmerizing! The master diver handed out to the class hard pieces of bread to feed the fish. After about a half hour a large school of several hundred beautiful small fish came nearby followed by several 4-6 foot long sharks. Not huge sharks but large enough to make my eyes big. Our master diver gave us the signal to freeze and stop feeding fish with the bread. We watched nervously as the sharks swam all around us, but they appeared to be watching the school of fish more. Thanks God !  This lasted for only 3-4 minutes, but seemed like an eternity to me !!

Even though I'm not a swimmer I would go scuba diving again in a flash !!  Beautiful and thrilling - with or without the sharks !!

Try scuba diving if you get the chance !!  You won't regret it !!