Feeding the fishes

After a day of traveling from gatwick to hurgarda and we arrived at our boat for the week. its masssive!!!! 

we met our hosts steve and claire rattle (from roots, where i started my diving journey). we had a good chat and met some of Martin and sue’s dive crew team with who we would be diving with. 

Scuba steve and i thought it would be a good idea to get a good nights sleep and bid everyone farewell. what we woke up to can only be described as phonominal!the boat looks even better in day light. we have 3 stories, we have great views from all sides of the boat.

now to the important and most impresive bit of the first day, the diving!!!!

The first dive was both a check dive (checking weighting and skills) and the first dive of my deep course. we dived the SHA’ABDUL UMM GAMMA which was a old gunship that was sunk by the Israeli’s. 

The second dive was our first ‘propper’ wreck, by propper i mean big ol’ thing!

The boat was called the SHA’AB ABU NUHAS P+O CARNATIC, this boat was huge.. (i say that and have been told their is alot bigger to come!).

we got out kit in the rib (posh rubber dingy) and set out for a place above the wreck. As we were travelling in the rib the captain of the rib shouted some thing, i couldnt quite make out what it was, i think its fair that i didnt have to wait long for clarification when the rest of the boat started shouting to each other …”DOLPHINS!!!WHERE…where, where are they”

lets just say it had its perks being bounced around at the front of the rib. i had the best view of a school of dolphins, a view that would have made Sir David Attenborough jelious. 

we dove the wreck and it was amazing. we swam through some rather large opening and through what felt like a wall of glass fish. The dive was a great experiance but i would be lying if i didnt say the dolphins in their natural environment didnt make me like a kid in a candy shop!

last dive of the day was on the reef where we had seen the dolphins earlier, this was a leisure dive and was, for me the best dive of the day. not because there was anything amazing to see, not because it was thw deepest but just because it was relaxed and tranquill. 

the reason scubadiving has done so much for me is that my brain doesnt stop, it just works and works until it burns its self out (if im honest, probably more on negative thoughts about myself than anything else). This dive was the one that set that at rest. there was nothing, no anxiety, no worries, just me, the sea and the beautiful world below sea level.

i come out of these dives like a duracel bunny, energised and re-invigorated. sometimes i have to have a little word with myself to “man up” as it shows a realisation of what people at Deptherapy and PADI and everyone else does for me/us. 

scubadiving is a life changer for me and i think it would be for anyone who tries it.. go to your local PADI dive centre and get your head wet! make MY PADI adventure Your PADI adventure.

anyway guys, its time for a beer and a bit of reflection on how great today has been and how much better i feel after one day! 

have a good evening and ill send another update of my adventures tommorow!

Jon