OK, you want to swim with the fishes? Here's your chance.

Sign up for Discover Scuba with Barclay's Skindivers Paradise in Auburn. The discovery session, which is really just that, is a chance to see if scuba diving is right for you. My experience under the waves, tranquil as they were at the YWCA pool in Lewiston a couple weeks ago, only helps reaffirmed my already self-proclaimed affinity for land-based fun.

My attempt to manage a normal scuba kind of swimming position underwater and breath naturally during my first venture under the waves with an air tank proved that indeed my legs were made for walking, skiing, running, snowshoeing, standing even - almost anything but swimming underwater.

I'm the kind of person who gets water up my nose in the shower, without trying. A good friend once gave up on ever teaching me how to roll a kayak without nose plugs. "It's OK," he said. "Some people just never get it." Thanks man.

But the past wasn't going to stop me from seeing what scuba was all about. The Discovery session started for me with a little mask and snorkel work in the shallow end of the pool. The wait worked as a great incentive. Among all the activity in the pool were divers nonchalantly tossing an underwater Frisbee around while kneeling or sitting on the bottom of the pool. Who knew? For the Frisbee-challenged, underwater disc may be the answer you've been looking for.

Those there for the Discovery session got their scuba equipment on and headed to the shallow end of the pool for some training and familiarization with the equipment. One critical - and fun - piece of equipment was the BCJ: buoyancy compensation jacket.

A funkily named apparatus that your air tank hooks into and that you wear like a vest, the BCJ allows you to choose between sinking like a rock and floating like an inflatable raft. This all happens with the push of a button that dangles beside you. Push the square button to sink a little; push the round one to float. The general idea is to find a happy place between sinking and floating.

"This equipment will make it so that you are able to swim and have the right amount of air and proper buoyancy at whatever depth you are," instructor and business co-owner Tim Barclay promised us before we headed for the deep end of the pool.

Getting that buoyancy thing right is important, because actually breathing underwater can be a daunting thing initially. My first reaction was to do a lot of speed breathing, part fear and part wow factor from realizing that I'm breathing under water. I'm sure the folks from Barclay's thought I was going to suck down a whole air tank in the first five seconds I was under water. There were more bubbles pouring out of the exhale side of my regulator than at a Lawrence Welk-hosted rave. Ah... nevermind.

But I finally slowed down as the novelty wore off.

Dayle Jordan, 13, said being under water at the shallow end of the pool was fine, but going to the deep end was a little scary. "I felt a little better in the shallow end," she said. Still, she, her brother, Deryck Beliveau, 16, and sister, Danya Beliveau, 18, all seemed pretty comfortable after only a few simple drills with Barclay and assistant instructor Marcel Tremblay. Dayle said the whole family was going to sign up for the full course and become certified divers.

Which is what the Barclays hope will happen if people participate in Discover Scuba and discover they like it. But the owners also recognize scuba is not for everybody, and the discovery session helps determine that.

The whole experience of swimming and breathing below the water was exciting and a little scary, but never did I feel unsafe. Funny how good instruction and supervision can have that effect on even the aquatically challenged. I think one drill - where you take the regulator out of your mouth while under water, hold your breath and count to three with your fingers - helped. OK, I can live down here for a bit without air if I have to, but breathing sure is nice too.

Earlier in the session, Barclay explained how the BCJ works, saying, "(You) will become one with the jacket ... and (go) along for the ride."

By the end of the session, I felt like I had just gone along for the ride, but that with a little more time under the waves, even I might be able to become one with the underwater world.

What: Learn about scuba. Barclay's Skindivers Paradise offers its Discover Scuba session about every six weeks. The next session is Dec. 6. Preregistration is required.

Where: Barclay's is located at 685 Washington St., Auburn; session is at the YWCA in Lewiston

Call: 784-7300

Cost: Free. But if you decide to continue on and take the full four-week certification course, about $370.

FMI: Visit Barclay's online at www.skindiversparadise.com.