This blog is taken from my personal diving log and looking back I hope it gives a flavour of what it was like that first week. Remember, I was in my late sixties when I took up diving and this was my first experience of diving and the ocean.
It was an experience that placed me firmly into less than comfortable zones which we all have a tendency to shy away from. We may still be in our thirties or forties when we lapse into the comfort of the ‘known’ and often, through fear, resist change When I chose to learn how to dive I determined to do it well and I knew I had to be prepared to confront some big fears: fear of the unknown, fear of technology and making things work underwater, fear of death by drowning or getting the ‘Bends’ to name but a few. I have never regretted this decision. The more I dive the more the fear has subsided and transformed into what I now call apprehension. It wasn’t always easy but with a little help from my friends and my fantastic buddy, Merlin, I learned how to conquer the fear and push the boundaries. I have become a diver. I’ve met some wonderful people and I’ve had enormous fun in the process.
So, in that first week of diving this is a snapshot of what I wrote
“Each morning we go out for two dives. there’s a mandatory safety rest between the dives when we lie in the sunshine, gently unwind and swap notes about the marine life we’ve spotted.
Already we’ve seen shoals of large fish and myriads of tiny darting divas. They’re above us, below us, in and out of the reefs; iridescent baby fish, turquoise, cobalt blue with dashes, dots, strips and stripes of contrasting colour (very inspirational for my art back in Scotland). I intend to start learning to identify them but that’s going to be quite a task. On Day Four there was a languorous, lazy nurse shark nonchalantly nestled under a rocky outcrop. No menace from him. He just demanded respect and distance. But yesterday was a real highlight when we came across a a couple of old ‘ambling’ turtles swimming slowly and grazing on the reef. As they were completely undisturbed by our presence we joined them.
Wow! What a privilege. Swimming with turtles beats swimming with dolphins in my book
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