Scuba diving was always one of those things that I thought I would do…at some point…but always put it off because I was a little nervous. Stupidly, I had heard a song when I was a kid about a diver getting the Bens and I thought I would to. In reality, the only reason I actually did the course was because someone booked me on it and told me I was going!
I blame G-star, or better know as Graham. My comments of…'I'd like to learn one day' spurred him into action. I think my statement 'Will I be tethered to anyone when I dive?' was a sign that I was more than a little nervous. None the less, G-star booked me in and I found myself in the pool at the Marriott Hotel with a scuba tank strapped to my back and looking underwater at overweight tourists in speedos splashing around. Surely enough to put anyone off!
My dive buddy, Valerie, was just as nervous as me. We spent the day with another couple basically looking like uncoordinated fools trying to achieve 'neutral buoyancy' – something that is quite difficult! One minute I would be lying on the bottom of the pool, then next minute I had popped up like a cork and was looking out of the pool at tourists staring at me. I guess 'watching awkward newbie scuba divers' isn't listed in the 5 star Marriott brochure.
Day 1 we headed to Racha Yai, an island just off Phuket. My goal for the day – surviving. Had I been a little less anxious I'm sure I would have enjoyed the scenery more. After a few small dramas with my ears, I spent the day doing my training exercises and sitting on the sand on the bottom of the ocean. Turns out I have trouble equalising my ears and so may be the slowest diver in history to descend to the ocean depths!
Day 2 was much better as I knew what to expect. Plus we were diving at the gorgeous Phi Phi island and Angela and Tina were joining us. The trip took almost 2.5 hours, but it was definitely worth it. We did 2 dives at Phi Phi and saw turtles, sharks, nemo fish, angel fish, moray eels and so much more. The last dive of the day was at Shark Point where we actually didn't see any sharks, but lots of beautiful coral and fish. And now that I was qualified we could dive to 19.5m! So tired by the end but it was such an amazing experience and now I can dive anywhere in the world!
A special thanks must go to my instructor G-star who never left my side, and got used to the wide eyed look when I didn't understand something or was a little nervous. Highly recommend learning with him at Sea Bees if you are in Phuket…even if he does dance Gangnam underwater.
