I started learning to dive in 1979 at a local dive club in Blackpool. I had always been fascinated by the sea and what lay beneath, I guess that’s what growing up in Blackpool does to you but over the next few years I got to enjoy the delights of diving the Lake District, Oban, Farne Islands, Isle of Man, Anglesey, Plymouth and various quarries around the place. All the while I was learning new techniques, getting more experienced and steadily working my way through the diver grades.
After a while I wanted to look beyond the horizon and somehow I managed to successfully get through an interview with the British Antarctic Survey and found myself leading a group of scientific divers at a research station in Antarctica. This was a two year trip and I loved it. So much so that when I got back home after two years I promptly went back for another two years. It was quite a varied job, helping scientists to take samples, surveying new areas, taking photographs and generally recording what we saw as well as training scientists and base personnel to dive. There were some epic dives under ice and amazing wildlife including giant sea spiders, penguins, whales, and a variety of seals including weddell seals, crabeater seals, leopard seals, elephant seals and the ever playful fur seals.
A period in the UK followed and I joined the dive team at the University Marine Biological Station on the Isle of Cumbrae in the Clyde. Again, this involved helping marine scientists gather data as well as collecting samples and helping train scientists to dive plus finding time to dive the wrecks of the Clyde.
Once again I got drawn to the horizon and went out to Tanzania as dive officer on a coral conservation project. This was a years assignment but I ended up staying for 10 years as I got involved helping out at some fledgling dive centres before eventually managing to start up my own dive shack with the assistance of some wonderful people on Zanzibar. The dive shack was part of a small eco lodge type operation, ten rooms built on the coral rock next to a beach of the finest white sand. Simply stunning.
People often ask what is the best dive I have done, but there is no single best dive, they’re all different and all have their own highlights. For adventure its hard to compete with diving under Antarctic ice, for general awesome life Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos are right up there, the wrecks of Truk Lagoon and Scapa Flow are amazing, the simplicity of diving and variety of life on Bonaire is hard to beat, so for me, the best dive is hopefully the next one.
The main pleasure is simply being underwater. When your buoyancy is good and you can just hang in the water, supported by the hand of god admiring your surroundings. Priceless.
As a sport I like the fact that it is non-competitive, it’s just you, your buddy and the fish. You go down, blow some bubbles, have some fun, come up and share the experience with like-minded people. Learning to dive also opens up so many related topics such as photography, marine biology, the technology behind the equipment, the physics of diving, diving medicine, boat handling, all of which you can learn as much or as little as you like. You also get to meet some amazing people!
As a sport I like the fact that it is non-competitive, it’s just you, your buddy and the fish. You go down, blow some bubbles, have some fun, come up and share the experience with like-minded people. Learning to dive also opens up so many related topics such as photography, marine biology, the technology behind the equipment, the physics of diving, diving medicine, boat handling, all of which you can learn as much or as little as you like. You also get to meet some amazing people!
As a result of learning to dive I have swum with whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and masses of fish. I’ve seen sea horses, frog fish, sea gooseberries, sea snakes and sea angels. I have abseiled into crevasses in Antarctic glaciers, slept under the stars on the deck of a dhow, got drunk on palm wine and met the love of my life.
So if you decide to learn to dive today, the only question you need to ask yourself is – how will diving change my life?
