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That was my concern as I put on my scuba mask: what was I going to do if I needed to cough under water. But then I remembered that people have been known to vomit into their regulators (a good way to attract fish).

As it turned out, most of us in the dive party were fighting some sort of bug: at least two people were dealing with a cold, someone had sinus problems and I was dealing with a runny nose and a cough but feeling good otherwise.

Our descent was one of the slowest I have ever been in during a scuba trip but I was grateful. As I worked to equalize pressure (this can be painful when you are having sinus problems), I looked around and I could tell that everyone else in the dive party was also struggling with the same thing. After this first discomfort, things went well and we enjoyed a nice dive.

In the end, I did cough into my regulator once but it was no big deal. An itch on my face was more of an event: I gave in to temptation and scratched the itch and in doing so flooded my mask.