Discovered Diving
I went snorkelling for the first time in Borneo and that wetted my tastebuds to go deeper and longer (underwater).
Having heard about L's bi-yearly diving exploits in the Red Sea and inspired by A taking the plunge and getting his PADI diving qualification in the same area this Summer, I thought I would "try dive".
So, at the unearthly time of 7am, I woke up and set off on a 1.5hr drive through the murky darkness, anti-clockwise round the M25 motorway to J6 to the London Scuba Club at Lingfield. I booked on their free 2hr Discover Scuba course 2 days ago when there was only 1 space left.
The club's website said it was opposite the "Blacksmiths Head Pub". I was distracted by a sign advertising "Authentic Andulusian Tapas" and shot into Lingfield Village. After getting directions from the Total Petrol Station, I turned round and went back to the tapas. Incredibly, these were being served at the pub - not what one expects for a country pub. There was no sign for the Scuba Club, only a small label next to the intercom button. After stabbing at it uselessly for several seconds, a crackly voice sounded and the gate was opened for me.
I drove in and found the pool built under a conservatory. There were 3 other people there and 1 guy arrived after me, with adoring family spectating. For the first 20 min, C, our guide, talked us through hand signals and picked out gear for us.
Then, we got changed and got into our gear. We descended into the balmy 3m pool and C told us how to breathe through the air tank valve, clear the valve and find the valve as well as letting air in and out of our Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) Then we each had to have a go to show that we could do the basics.
I had a problem staying on the bottom of the pool so got extra weights.
After going through the basics, we swam down to 3m depth. I remembered to breathe out through my nose to stop my ears popping and added air to my BCD to stop myself sinking like a stone. Having sorted myself out, I played frisbee and threw around plastic fish with the rest of the group.
It was great fun and I look plan to go on a PADI course near the Great Barrier Reef in future.
Having heard about L's bi-yearly diving exploits in the Red Sea and inspired by A taking the plunge and getting his PADI diving qualification in the same area this Summer, I thought I would "try dive".
So, at the unearthly time of 7am, I woke up and set off on a 1.5hr drive through the murky darkness, anti-clockwise round the M25 motorway to J6 to the London Scuba Club at Lingfield. I booked on their free 2hr Discover Scuba course 2 days ago when there was only 1 space left.
The club's website said it was opposite the "Blacksmiths Head Pub". I was distracted by a sign advertising "Authentic Andulusian Tapas" and shot into Lingfield Village. After getting directions from the Total Petrol Station, I turned round and went back to the tapas. Incredibly, these were being served at the pub - not what one expects for a country pub. There was no sign for the Scuba Club, only a small label next to the intercom button. After stabbing at it uselessly for several seconds, a crackly voice sounded and the gate was opened for me.
I drove in and found the pool built under a conservatory. There were 3 other people there and 1 guy arrived after me, with adoring family spectating. For the first 20 min, C, our guide, talked us through hand signals and picked out gear for us.
Then, we got changed and got into our gear. We descended into the balmy 3m pool and C told us how to breathe through the air tank valve, clear the valve and find the valve as well as letting air in and out of our Buoyancy Control Device (BCD) Then we each had to have a go to show that we could do the basics.
I had a problem staying on the bottom of the pool so got extra weights.
After going through the basics, we swam down to 3m depth. I remembered to breathe out through my nose to stop my ears popping and added air to my BCD to stop myself sinking like a stone. Having sorted myself out, I played frisbee and threw around plastic fish with the rest of the group.
It was great fun and I look plan to go on a PADI course near the Great Barrier Reef in future.
posted by Iconochasm at 10:41 am
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