Well? What is it?
This is where you dive for 20 minutes, at an average depth of 20m in "crystal" clear freezing cold water. You wear not only the tightest but possibly the brightest wetsuit imaginable. The mask is a luminescent one-piece lens with no nose pocket and you have fins that too, match the suit and mask. The soundtrack to the movie JAWS is lingering in the distance. The thought of "weeing" in your suit that is flush against your body sends tremors down my spine. So What is Scuba Diving?
CONTENTS:
The Unknown
The fear of the unknown appearing in the deep blue or even better, appearing in the quarries is nerve-wracking. Breathing underwater is not meant for a human or we would have been blessed with gills...
These were my thoughts exactly when I imagined the term "Scuba Diving". I could never have been more incorrect.
Climbing Into The Water
Firstly, 20 minutes is the time it takes to physically kit up before even attempting to climb into the water, and then the dive itself is doubled due to the depth not being, nor looking as deep as your computer states. The most incredible sensation is the moment you step into the calm ocean,(after being drenched in sweat whilst kitting up) and having that refreshing cool water seep down your back sending goosebumps all over.
Once inside the water and your body has cooled slightly and you’ve finished squealing like a little girl, you are finally able to descend...The moment you're submerged underwater, you've hit your first-ever addiction. The intense colours, the magnified creatures, the motion of the ocean takes over and this deep scary fear of the unknown, has disappeared.
Your bright luminescent wetsuit has nothing on the schools of fish or even the array of colors found in amongst all the corals. The curious fish play amongst your bubbles as you exhale all your problems into the ocean... The sunlight travels to the depths of the ocean, brightening it up for us to explore.
Hide And Seek
For us having no gills and limited oxygen, diving becomes a game. A game of 'hide and seek' if you may. The tiniest of animals hide and it's your job to explore and find them in a given time frame. The game actually never ends... The more you dive, the more you find. The moment you choose to wear your wetsuit in winter and find these animals, you know you're addicted and there's absolutely nothing that will stop you.
In amongst your exploration, the strangest of objects can be found... Yes, objects in the oceans such as ships, aeroplanes, tankers, cars, beds, baths and toilets... The older the better! It's like fine wine... the more it ages the better it tastes, The older the object, the more interesting and captivating its story becomes.
The Underwater World
The underwater world is nothing like the horrific, bad acting, and silly graphics of the movie Jaws. There is no terrifying music playing unless your physically humming the "baby shark doo doo doo doo" song. There are incredibly small creatures such as brightly coloured Nudibranchs (colourful sea slugs the size of your pinky nail) to large ocean animals such as the majestic sea flap flap (rather known as the Manta Ray) and whale sharks. The list just doesn't end.
Photos underwater are exceptionally difficult if you’re a novice diver. Trying to take a selfie in amongst your bubbles or getting the angle correct so that your ability to have Nemo and yourself in the picture is a challenge on its own. But once you have that picture, you have that memory for life. You're able to show your friends a unique world that not many of them will or can ever experience.
Diving is a Story. It's your personal diary of exploration and or an excuse to not work or even just to blur out the noise of your loved ones for just 1 hour. Scuba Diving is defiantly not what I pictured it to be... I can officially say I’m hooked.