Keeping up with Beth

Scuba Diving Changed me

Yesterday I did my first scuba dive.

I’m ready to book a second.

And third. And fourth, fifth, sixth…

You get it.

I was hooked.

I was scared I’d hate it- I’ve never been a fan of the sea with all the fish and space and just not really knowing what’s going to come round the corner at you…

But apparently that goes out the window in a wetsuit and flippers!

I almost didn’t take my GoPro down with me, scared it would break or something. But I’M SO GLAD I DID!

You can go on about how it’s important to live in the moment and not just hold a screen up at it all but I have a terrible memory and honestly I’ve found looking back on photos fills me with joy, knowing that I lived that. I love the nostalgia and that is something I do not want to miss out on. I now have video proof forever of what I got to see underwater, with the knowledge that that was MY content! I DID THAT! I swam with the fish, I didn’t get scared, panicky and I genuinely just left my GoPro around my body and marvelled at the beauty that surrounded me. Listening to the sounds of the ocean. Watching the see grass wave around, the fish parting out our way, stroking a STARFISH! All this is exactly what I wanted to confront. I never wanted to be scared of the sea, watching videos of scuba’s, free diving just people swimming in the ocean makes me want to join! I want to love the ocean, I know at heart I’m just a scaredy cat, white Moana. So to find myself in awe rather than fear (or mostly awe I’d didn’t want to let the fear take over and ruin it) was so joyful that I could feel so naturally at home in the ocean!

We did a 6m dive off the coast of Arenal, Menorca with Blue Dive. Lily with the INCREDIBLE ENGLISH gave us our introduction and was so lovely and encouraging. The whole staff taking us around we’re relaxed, smiley and probably enjoying the sea just as much as we were!

Because it was a ‘try dive’ rather than a proper qualified divers dive, we didn’t really have to learn anything for ourselves, just make sure we could breathe and learn the signs to get out the water if we needed- I was not about to pop back up for anything!

Mum and I went down together with this guy who was so good, pointing out the different fish checking up on us, but honestly just letting us enjoy the experience. They held onto us basically the whole time and did everything with the buoyancy and setting up kit so we didn’t have to worry- it felt super safe!

From the explanation when we booked, we thought there would be a long introduction and class room teaching bit to go through all the equipment and such, but they just kitted us up, made us comfortable and got us in the car and on the boat before they started going through it!

It was a killer afternoon and it was a joy to be in such a relaxed environment, with people who were also first time diving, and a team who just wanted to get out there and show you the world under the sea!

I went back through the video that afternoon, seeing all the sights again, reliving the moment. I tried to get to sleep but all I could see was the ocean, the fish, the sound of the mask, my breathing, the silence of the ocean, all just floating past me reminding me just how incredible this world is. We have it all at our fingertips. There’s so much beyond our 4 walled houses, our suffocating work places, the hustling shopping centres and the demand for you to fit into this land grounded existence.

My mum wasn’t so sure on it. She’s absolutely grateful she’s done it, it’s a once in a life for some of us (hoping not me) but the confinement of the water, the difficulty of the kit and just the entirely different environment can be a shock. But to say you’ve scuba’d in menorca surely has to count for something!

If you get a chance to do something different. There’s nothing I can say to you more than go for it.