10,000 millimetres under the sea!

My birthday this year was brilliant! I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't play with sea lions in the Galapagos every year for my birthday. But this present from my Greek grandparents (ΕΥΧΑΡΙΣΤΩ ΠΑΠΠΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΓΙΑΓΙΑ!!!) was one of a kind! This year I've tried so many new things and I thought I couldn't ask for more, but, along came a once in a lifetime opportunity! A chance to go diving!!

And not just in any place, in Tintipan, another island created by coral uplift of the coast of Colombia! I just did a small taster lesson, for children 10 years and above, and learnt all the diving signals, how to float at the surface at the start and end of the dive and, how to equalize the pressure in my ears as I went down.

The first thing I did, was watch a video, it taught me all the diving signals:

• Ok or are you okay
• Go up
• Go down
• Go slower
• There is a problem with... point to the problem. And many more.

It talked about the equipment and the process of diving, how to clear your mask from water and how to take your regulator out of your mouth and put it back in. A very useful way to learn the basics without being told all of these underwater (which is obviously impossible). 

I then took that information out to a bay and practised in the open sea. When I first put my equipment on, floating on the surface, my inflatable vest felt bulky and the regulator was like a stuffy snorkel restricting my breathing. It was weird and I felt panicky. However, once we started going down, I began to get used to my equipment and started to enjoy it. The purpose of this dive was to practise a few essential skills: to clear my mask and replace the regulator. But mainly, to get used to swimming with my equipment on. My diving instructors told me that the bay I did my first dive in was nothing too special but I was amazed about the amount of fish and coral we saw. As we zoomed back to the hotel, I looked forward to my first official taster dive with great anticipation.

And I am very pleased to tell you that...I was rewarded. This time, all four of us were on the boat because the plan was that Ioanna and Ismene would snorkel while Dan and I did the real deal. As I put my equipment on, this time more prepared for its heavy weight, I looked down the clear water to the beautiful coral below me. The descent though was not as smooth as I hoped because when we reached around 6 meters, I found it hard to equalize the pressure meaning I couldn't go further down. I  swam along with the two diving instructors who were pointing to various fishes and corals while Ismene and Ioanna swam above me, following us around and having a great time popping my bubbles as I exhaled. As I swam along, I began to feel less nervous and dropping little by little, I reached 10 meters! It felt amazing to be swimming at the bottom of the sea surrounded by so much wonderful fishes and corals. I can hardly attempt to describe it to you.

As well as being brilliant and calm teachers, my diving instructors were also such good fun. Alejandro kept on blowing bubble donuts and chucking large hoops through the water with his fists. He knew such cool tricks! Lina even taught me to flip with my oxygen tank on, and hang upside down.

All the time we were diving, I had the same sensation as I did when we were in the Galapagos - I kept on thinking that I was so lucky to try something new and to see so much beautiful coral. Who knows for how long this will still be a reality and not a dream or a lovely memory? Coral is so fragile and needs to be taken care of. Reefs have substantially shrunken in number and size all around the world and if we don't act soon, this will all disappear. I've been doing some reading on the importance of corals, the effect of bleaching and how/whether corals recover so if you are up for a coral-fact post, then let me know and I'll share everything I learnt. 

Bye for now, and once again, a massive thanks to my grandad and my grandmother!