How sad it is to see one of your favourite dive sites - bursting with the most vibrant and diverse species of marine life; steeped in the most fascinating naval history that stretches back literally centuries; accessible to divers of all abilities and experience - turned into a rubbish dump.
So sets the scene for Simply Diving’s Project AWARE Dive For Debris Day 2011…

Offering all and any divers the chance to dive on the historic wrecks of Gibraltar for half the normal price meant there was no shortage of volunteer divers for the day in question. And with all proceeds of the day going to Project AWARE, our divers could enjoy their day of diving while knowing that they were supporting an incredible cause too.

Volunteer divers Robert and Jermaine

The first dive of the day saw our teams sweep the entire Camp Bay area - a dive site renowned throughout southern Spain as a haven for tons of varied marine life that make the Camp Bay Artificial Reef Project their home. This meant surveying the eight famous wrecks, including the Royal Navy mooring vessel M482, for any signs of debris while collecting as much of it as possible.

It was a very pleasant surprise to see all our divers - ranging from Open Water divers to PADI Divemasters and Instructors - emerge from the depths with a few, limp, half-filled mesh bags. Despite the odd glass bottle and empty can of San Miguel - more than likely brought in on the sometime swift current from the Strait that sees 100,000 ships pass through each year - there was just a few tangled fishing lines and a couple of lures to show for our efforts. So it was off to neighbouring Rosia Bay for Dive Two to hunt for something a bit more inspirational.

Rosia Bay's disused pier

This bay, situated on the west of Gibraltar and facing out to Algeciras across the bay in Spain, has laid derelict and quiet for many years, despite its incredible history. Certainly only the most determined tourist could ever know its true story.

The Spanish sieges on Gibraltar saw it as a busy refuge for British ships, while it was also the only docks in Gibraltar where they could be resupplied and repaired before going back out to battle. More fascinating still, it is Rosia Bay where HMS Victory was towed after the Battle Of Trafalgar in 1805 to deliver Lord Nelson’s body in a barrel of rum.

What a different sight today.

The first signs looked ominous as we approached to prepare for our giant stride entry off the old pier and into the warm, clear water. We could already start to see that here we were going to need some bigger mesh bags.

Under the water, octopus both old and young, damselfish and rainbow wrasse were all vying for space among car batteries, discarded parasols, barbecues, flip flops, car tyres… and a moped!
This was what we’d come for and so the dive for debris began in earnest.

Divemaster Marco with his most interesting find

Finally the teams surfaced after an hour of heaving heavy bag after heavy bag, in between lifting an office chair, car wheel, a few deckchairs, a brand new child’s pushchair, fishing rods and yet many more bags of bottles and cans.

The final count can be found on www.projectaware.org, but the weight of rubbish amounted to an impressive 175 kilos! All that remained was to pack up the dive gear and sip on a well-earned cold beer.

Daniela Muehlheim, Science & Policy Co-ordinator of Project AWARE Europe, thanked the 21 divers that took part. “Thank you very much to Simply Diving and its volunteers for all your efforts and the great donation. Thanks for all you’ve done to make this ocean planet a healthier and cleaner one,” she said. A bright note to end on after all.

But although we made a decent dent in the garbage that is attempting to strangle the still-thriving reef, it will require a few more visits from determined divers like ours to change the face of the underwater landscape on a more permanent basis.

So, who’s up for Dive For Debris 2012…??

The sign on the wall of Rosia Bay tells of its great history

So it’s that time of year once again – when the bright Spanish sun starts to properly heat up our dive sites, the enquiries for summer PADI courses come flooding in, the new team of Simply Diving staff settle in for the activity-packed season ahead and the neoprene gloves start to be boxed away with the hoods until next winter.

Our next Instructor Training course is less than a month away!

Figure that in with our upcoming busiest PADI Instructor Development Course so far, a total dive centre refurb and expansion, the Holy Week of Semana Santa (Easter for the English-speakers among you) and a predicted influx of even more divers to the Mediterranean following troubles in other popular dive destinations, and it’s pretty safe to say that we here at Simply Diving have our hands well and truly full.

That’s not to say it’s been a winter of thumb-twiddling though…

Invited by Scubapro, we managed to squeeze in a fantastic full week’s diving in a pre-shark attacked Red Sea where we got to try some incredible new equipment that has yet to reach the market. (We can’t deny it. This job has some awesome perks.) The A700 Black Tech regulator, for one, is a beauty to behold and even better to breathe from!

Simply Diving's Scubapro Red Sea Trip involved trying out cool new kit

On our return to the Costa del Sol, we were invited to become a Scubapro SEA Centre, which was rocking good news for us and all our future divers. I just can’t help feeling a sense of pride to see the SEA Centre badge up next to our gleaming, silver Project AWARE plaque.

Yep, just in case we didn’t have enough to do, we also signed up for the third year in a row as a Project AWARE Eco Partner!

And, of course, we wouldn’t have it any other way…

The highlight of 2011 so far though has to be the tumbling down of walls, the piling up of rubble, the slow coming together of many sleepless nights’ worth of contemplation and, finally, the vision of a brand new dive centre that comes with our long-awaited revamp.

Several weeks’ of head-scratching and a good few days’ of chin-stroking - following a fair few years’ of daydreaming - eventually gave way to the first thumping sounds of heavy hammer on brick… And Project Pimp My Dive Centre had begun!

It’s incredible how in just a couple of short weeks, the newlook Simply Diving is already taking shape. And it’s all the more satisfying knowing that it’s our regular diving staff that are doing all the hard graft.

Another wall comes down to make way for Simply Diving's newlook PADI 5 Star IDC Centre

Yes, construction and teaching scuba may not be the most natural dual-vocations, but if you want to build a dive centre, then who better to do it than the people that will be making it their home over the coming months!

Instructor Duncan has skillfully swapped his regulators for a spirit-level and tape measure. And even Divemaster Peter managed to put down his beloved underwater camera to knock up some shelves.

Who can forget too, the great baptism for our new Divemaster Trainee recruits who were roped into moving a compressor that is as big as a small car, German, and very obstinate. It certainly wasn’t in the job spec, but, we think, a very good insight into life in the diving industry…

So the work carries on and will be complete in just a week or two more. In the meantime, we have to thank our students and divers for bearing with us and our upside down DC. You’ve now become part of our history and we won’t forget you!

But for now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s some grouting to be done…

Our current PADI 5 Star IDC Centre that will soon be twice the size!

Hey Everyone. Wow, I can’t believe how quickly six months went, but sadly it’s the end of my Divemaster internship here at Simply Diving!

First things first… I have to say what a great team I’ve been working with for the last half year, from all the Instructors, to long and short-term Divemasters, and to clients that have come back so often they seem like staff. I truly met some amazing people and I feel I have made some great friends from my months here.

Where to start with the diving…? Well, going from a PADI Open Water student to PADI Pro, I can’t believe how much I’ve learnt and experienced. From realising how annoying the little things can be - like not clipping fin straps together after a dive - to the amazing dives I have done. Such as…

The many boat dives in Tarifa where we swam with Turtles, so many different rays, massive groupers, bream and a whole endless list of other marine life who all enjoy the currents that can sometimes be, shall we say, strong!!

Here's me on my favourite wreck. The San Andres in Tarifa.

The wreck diving in the widely-known artificial marine project area of Gibraltar, which is teeming with fish (just check out the photos on Facebook to see for yourself). It’s also one of the areas where we were involved in a Project AWARE Clean-up Day, which was really cool. And not forgetting the dives on the SS Rosslyn, M482 and at least 20 other wrecks around the area.

Of course we can’t leave out our most regular and breathtaking dive site at Marina Del Este where you can see one of my favourites: the Ocean Sun Fish, which is to say an experience on its own. I can remember when I saw my first one. The diver I was with had a camera and I scared the life out of him as I threw him in the direction of the poor Mola Mola.

My summer there on the Costa del Sol was 100 miles an hour, with long shifts at times, but I have to say I loved every minute. With 20-30 metre viz, water temp of up to 30 degrees, what’s not to love?

This is me and my fellow DMT Carl on one of our many boat adventures.

It seems like a lifetime ago when I was doing my PADI Advanced course with some wicked dives: Wreck, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Deep, Underwater Navigation and Fish ID. Gaining experience from every dive and taking everything you’ve been taught and putting it in to the diving. It’s true that you never stop learning and every day a client will do something either really stupid or really clever that you can take on board!

Whilst there, I had the opportunity to complete some PADI Specialties too, a couple of them being Underwater Naturalist and Enriched Air Diver, both of which were really cool. Doing them on the Costa del Sol was perfect. My Enriched Air course was done on a wreck called the Menapier: What a wicked wreck, lying in 42 metres. I did the dive with my boss Simon, Duncan the Instructor, plus my Divemaster Trainee friends Carl and Jake, and it was unbelievable. An experience I will never forget.

Further in to the Divemaster course you get to do cool things like mapping projects, looking after different levels of divers and assisting on the full range of PADI courses that you can do at Simply Diving. Plus learning the three most important parts to a day:

1: Ensuring under no circumstances does anyone pee in their wetsuit!

2: No one must get in the dive van with wet clothes on!

3: Obviously, make sure all the clients are happy and have an amazing day!

On one of my last - and probably best - dives: Nitrox diving on the Menapier wreck.

The best experience for me has got to be my boyfriend, Mum and Dad all coming diving. If there are three people I thought wouldn’t dive… well let’s just say they all proved me wrong. Now I get to share this with them. What more could I ask for?

I can honestly say every time I have dived I have felt if I had taken a photo it could have come out of a magazine.

I am sad to have left and I miss it and everyone who has become my dive family. So a massive thank you and goodbye to you all. You have made this an amazing summer and one I will never forget. Take care and all the best for now…

Rhia

Simply Diving’s latest Wreck Diver recruits declared their two days of training “a top weekend” - after beating nearly 1,000 entrants to win the Specialty course in an online competition.

The Divernet competition winners just before Wreck Dive 1, with the Straits of Gibraltar in the background

Dean Soby and Tom Hayden from England were drawn as the winners after correctly answering a divernet.com quiz earlier this year. The prize was a PADI Wreck Diver Specialty course for two people with Simply Diving on Spain’s Costa del Sol, plus a free three-night stay at local hotel the Kris Princesa.

The four dives of the popular PADI course meant the lucky winners got to spend two days diving at world-renowned wreck haven Camp Bay in Gibraltar, learning to map and penetrate a wreck, as well as practice special safe wreck diving habits and study any particular hazards.

“We couldn’t have asked for much more,” said Dean after arriving back in the UK. “The Simply Diving staff members were friendly and helpful, the dive operation was well organsied and we didn’t have to lift a finger!

Dean and Tom above the Royal Navy mooring vessel M482

“We got to dive at some great dive sites and the weather was lovely. Especially well done to Simply Diving on that one! Although I’m not sure about their views on what counts as cold water. One staff member was shivering in water that was only 19 degrees!”

Simply Diving offers year round diving and the full range of PADI courses, but it was the PADI Wreck Specialty that was chosen to offer as the divernet prize. Simon Bell, Simply Diving’s Dive Operations Manager, said: “We knew the Wreck course would be popular, but to have nearly a thousand entries was great. We’ll be offering some more great prizes on divernet again soon, so watch this space!”

Dean drops through the deck hatch of the M482 to begin penetration!

Read more about Simply Diving’s famous wreck sites here: http://www.simplydiving.com/dive-sites/gibraltar.html

Look out for more competitions and keep up to date with all the most important Dive News on divernet: http://www.divernet.com/

Keep up to date with Simply Diving on its Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Simply-Diving/50454603223

Hi everyone! As it’s coming to the end of the busiest part of the summer season here at Simply Diving and on the Costa del Sol, it’s the perfect opportunity to share my summer experiences with you all…

I’m currently studying History at Nottingham University and during my three month break I set out on the adventure of the PADI Divemaster internship at 5 Star PADI IDC centre Simply Diving in Spain.

I must admit, coming from university where the toughest things we have to face are six hours of lectures per week and ￡1.50 shots at the student bar, the physical labour and odd 14 hour shift of life in the dive industry was definitely a shock to the system!

Kat explores Las Calderas wreck in the national marine park of Tarifa

However, don’t get me wrong. The early mornings and late nights have one hundred percent been worth it. The people I have met and the terrific diving I have experienced will stick with me forever. The PADI Divemaster training is definitely not for the faint-hearted. Dragging out 14-stone fellow Divemaster Trainee Jake from the sea as part of a PADI Rescue course scenario and consequently collapsing to my knees was a highlight. Kind of.

I also can’t forget the experience of being dragged to the surface by an out-of-air diver while trying to offer him my alternate air source during a boat dive in Tarifa. Certainly one I learnt a lot from!

However not all dives have been as stressful as this of course. From floating around with turtles in Tarifa to the many wrecks of Gibraltar, all experiences have added to my diving adventure and experience. And who can forget seeing my first ever Ocean Sunfish at Marina del Este?!

The three months I have spent here have gone uncontrollably quick, yet the progress I have made is something to be proud of. The other day, I even got to guide my own Dad on a few fun dives. Which was a bit weird as he was the one who introduced me to diving in the first place! Nice bit of role reversal there…

Kat and fellow DM Trainee Rhia about to set off on another day's diving adventure

It’s not just the diving that will stick with me as I leave Spain’s sunny Costa del Sol either. The people I have met here have made this internship worthwhile - Simon, Natasha and Divemasters Rhia, Jake and Carl, plus all the other instructors and DMs that have helped me to complete my PADI Divemaster course - they have all made the time I’ve spent here an amazing three months.

Although this week I’m sadly leaving the Simply Diving shop behind to begin my second year at university, I won’t be forgetting the great bunch of people I’ve met here and will without a doubt be back to dive more.

And if there’s turtles involved, then even better!

HOW’S IT GOING DIVE FRIENDS..?

April 24th was a particularly important day for divers. Why, I hear you ask? Because all around the world, divers and dive companies got involved with Project AWARE’s Dive For Earth Day: One of the scuba diving world’s most important days in the calendar when we get the chance to clean up one of our favourite dive sites.

After all, the underwater world isn’t just our playground and we, as ambassadors of the ocean, hold a certain responsibility and should take care and maintain that which we are passionate about.

Team Simply, together with a group of ten Simply Diving volunteers, did their part and travelled to one of our most important dive sites, Marina del Este. This is where we conduct many PADI courses throughout the year and also bring along certified divers for some great fun diving. So the goal was to dive on and around Fraggle Rock (or Piedra del Medio for our Spanish friends) to remove some nasty netting, along with other rubbish and debris, that had drifted in from the open ocean during the earlier months and tangled itself around the reefs and wrecks.

"Fraggle Rock" is a popular cleaning station for the Ocean Sunfish

This particular monofilament netting is very hard to remove and can be the death of lots of marine life that become trapped within. It takes patience, a handy dive knife, plus a fair bit of nimble skill to carefully remove it a piece at a time.

The team was divided into two separate groups to cover both sides of the dive site. Armed with knives and mesh bags, we made our way to the shoreline, donned masks and regulators and entered the water to begin our clean up mission.

From the first moment that the rock loomed into view it was plainly obvious to see that there was plenty of work to do. Netting was scattered all around the site wrapping around difficult areas. We began to cut away at some just to the right of our location, gently lifting it away from the coral so as not to damage it as much as possible. But even here some unfortunate juvenile starfish and sea cucumbers had been captured by this horrid stuff.

Carefully we cut them free one by one and placed them safely away from the area. One net down and in the bag and it was on to the next… It was clearly going to be a long dive!

Moving on towards the cars that are parked at the bottom of the sea in 26m and 23m and are favourite cleaning stations for juvenile Ocean Sunfish, we came across some more netting. But this time it was in a large bulk and to our sorrow we had to let it be as marine life had began incorporating it into the ecosystem due to it being there for quite some time. Coral had begun growing upon it and on closer inspection we could make out the little faces of blennies that had made their homes within the holes.

Dan checks one of Fraggle Rock's parked cars for any sign of marine debris

It took a good whole hour dive to cover the entire site, removing netting, rubbish, fishing lines and even an old anchor. Of course, the dive didn’t come without its spoils, as during the investigation to locate the nets a juvenile Mola Mola (the Ocean Sunfish himself) was spotted hovering above the rock before disappearing into the depths. We also had time to photograph a Conger Eel poking it’s head out from a fissure in the rock to see what was going on.

On a final note, I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the clean up. With your efforts we have made another one of our dive sites that much safer and cleaner for our aquatic friends and of course ourselves! Remember, you can still do your part and continue to maintain dive sites worldwide.

For now, I look forward to diving with you all again soon…

Instructor Dan’s column now appears every month in the Costa’s number one News and Info Guide, THE SENTINELLA MALAGA. Pick up a copy all along the coast or check here: www.thesentinellamalaga.com.

To introduce myself… my name is Rhia Keene. I’m 23 and in my first month of my PADI Divemaster internship course at Simply Diving.

To be honest, I never thought I would be sat here right now writing this blog about how I’m training to be a scuba diving instructor. After all, it was just a month ago that I was in England working in a tattoo studio as a body piercer! It seems like worlds apart from working away on people’s intimate parts in a studio, to now living in sunny Spain, scuba diving every day in the Mediterranean!

I feel so lucky to have been given this opportunity. Leaving home and my friends and family was a big deal to me. But when I got to Spain, the first place I went to was the diving school. As soon as I walked in everyone was so friendly and helpful that it felt like a home from home. Now it’s like I’m part of a new family altogether.

From being in the dive centre to being underwater, everything has its place and rules that need to be followed, but everything is sooo cool it’s almost like not being at work!

Rhia loves the fact that her internship even involves wreck diving in Gibraltar!

I’ve been here just a few weeks and already had some amazing diving experiences: from wreck diving in Gibraltar to seeing some beautiful (and some very ugly!) looking marine life around our dive sites in Tarifa (where just the other day we dived from the boat into 25 metre viz!) and Marina del Este of course. Considering the weather wasn’t at its greatest when I first arrived, I really can’t wait for the summer to kick in. Thank God we’ve got 30 degree sunshine and warm clear water now!

If diving is something you would consider, whether it be your first ever dive, a fun dive, refresher course or completing your next PADI certification, I can’t recommend Simply Diving enough. I can guarantee a great day out with some of the nicest, funniest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and working with. Even though there’s some OCD tendencies around! That aside, it would be a day you’ll never forget.

From a personal point of view, the last three to four weeks have been some of the best of my life. I’ve learnt so much already - and have even had my first few PADI cards though the door! - and can’t wait for the next challenge. Without doubt, I have no regrets about being here and it’s easily the best decision I’ve made. This week I even got to dress Dave the diving mannequin in his new Scubapro shorty. Lucky me!

I’ll keep you updated on how everything is going, but in the meantime check out the website and Blogbook for more info about upcoming dives and courses.

Finally a BIG Thank-you to….

Simon, Natasha, all the crew - Peter, Jenny, Carl and Jake - and all the clients along the way who have given us a good laugh and are all helping me live my dream.

What’s happening divers…?

The first few months of 2010 proved to be a testing time for diving, due to some unnaturally very wet and stormy weather. But a continued break from the rain and wind has yielded some gorgeous dry and sunny days these past few weeks. So it was only natural that we should take the bull by the horns to venture back into an underwater world that we’re used to!

The view out across the Atlantic Ocean

For one particular expedition last week, Team Simply took some certified AOWDs (PADI Advanced Open Water Divers) to one of our favourite diving spots located at the very southern end of not only Spain, but Europe!

The place was the port town of Tarifa: a picturesque former Moorish settlement with too much history to write about here and a home to many dive spots around a small island that is connected to the mainland via a strip of two parallel beaches.

It’s here where the two seas, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, converge. It’s just a five minute boat ride from the port where we kit up to the diving areas, two of which we visited for this daily excursion.

Our first dive took us to a spot known as the San Andrés, a local name for the 150-year-old paddle steamer that sunk and now rests between the depths of 25 and 30m. This dive site is for Advanced divers only and a must for keen photographers as the remains of the steamer create homes for many types of marine life, ranging from nudibranchs to eels and even our old friend the Mola Mola.

A familiar face on the wreck of the San Andrés: One of the resident Moray Eels

It’s almost a guarantee that you will see at least four Moray Eels just amongst the wreck itself, not to mention the large 6ft Conger Eel that has made its permanent residence within the hollows of the hull.

The rest of the area is a colourful mass of star coral-covered walls and large rocky reefs that disappear into the darkness of the open ocean. Eyes wide with amazement, we explored the entire area, stopping every four or so fin kicks to view another marvel of Tarifa.

Even at the end of the dive, on our safety stop, we were surrounded by large schooling fish of varying species. All that could be heard was the hum of the boat motor as it came to collect us and the constant sound of regulator-muffled ‘WOW’s coming from everyone… Even myself!

The second dive site was just 30 seconds away from the first but, despite the short distance, bared no similarity to it. La Piscina by name, La Piscina by nature. The second dive site - translated literally as ‘The Swimming Pool’ - resembles a basin of large rocky reefs at a maximum depth of 20m, stretching up to the beginning of the large star coral-covered walls of the San Andrés.

A diver at 30m on Tarifa's 150-year-old San Andrés wreck

The entire area is littered with rocks, perfect for marine life to make homes, and brilliant white sand that’s often seen in stereotypical ‘beach paradises’. Except it’s only for us divers (sorry beach lovers). This particular site has been a favoured area for many different types of ray, particularly the shocking Torpedo Ray, as well as the elusive Eagle Ray which even here is not so elusive when they glide elegantly in front of us.

Exploring the ‘pool walls’ can reveal nooks and crannies for lobsters and crayfish to hide in and of course Moray Eels, which love to give you a grin every time you approach them.

Our day of diving ended with us looking back at the cameras and reviewing the sheer amount of marine life we’d witnessed. And that was just two sites on the Med side of the island! There’s still many more sites to explore on this side as well as crossing round to the Atlantic side, with its own wrecks and labyrinthine gulleys and canyons.

So as you can imagine I’m well chuffed we’re heading there next week…

Instructor Dan’s column now appears every month in the Costa’s number one News and Info Guide, THE SENTINELLA MALAGA. Pick up a copy all along the coast or check here: www.thesentinellamalaga.com.

Introductions then! For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is Jenny. I have been a PADI Instructor for four years, diving for eight years and I am the newest full-time member of the Simply Diving team.

Meet Team Simply's IDC Staff Instructor Jenny King!

I arrived on the sunny Costa del Sol of southern Spain this time last year and worked freelance for the team last season, finishing off by completing my PADI IDC Staff Instructor course. I also witnessed the birth of two brand new Instructors, Ally and Dan, who will be returning this year as well. It was such an experience, that I’ve decided to do it all again this year!

So, introductions over. To the important stuff! The beginning of the busy season is nearly here… kit has been serviced, stock replenished and paperwork is neatly stacked (thanks to Si!) And so we are ready to go!

You’ll be pleased to hear that the viz is finally back to normal after the ridiculous amount of rain that we have seen over the winter, the sun is shining and Team Simply is bigger and stronger than ever!

Good viz and tons of fish. Must be Springtime!

Already this year we’ve had a mix of certified divers of all levels of experience, PADI Open Water Diver courses, Advanced Open Water courses AND we’ve seen masses of octopus, cuttlefish, nudibranchs, shoals of sardines, cow bream, the list is endless!

Oh and Simon has even seen a 3ft squid with his brand new divers a few days ago, which he took great pleasure in telling me about since it was my day off!

And that’s just the start of things to come! Hope to see you underwater here in Spain soon…

See ya!

Jenny

Okay, so I am what one would officially term a ‘diving prude.’ As much as I love diving, I won’t do it in the dark, I never pee in my wetsuit and the water’s got to be hot. Yes, hot. Not warm, but hot. So as you can imagine, although I have the charms of the Mediterranean sea on my doorstep, my diving forays are limited to my bath tub and our heated pool.

There’s normally more chance of seeing a Whale Shark off the coast of Spain, than seeing me kitted up!

Now, however, is time for a change. My Caribbean blood may demand 28ºC warmth, above and below the water, but it’s time for my British brain to help me say goodbye to my delicateness. And where better to do it than at Marina del Este on the Costa Tropical.

Natasha finally back in the water!

When the day arrived, I had forgotten how heavy a tank could feel, not having had one on my back for a few months. But all was forgotten as soon as we stepped in off the beach and into the blue. If I’m honest, even though we were only going down to 12 metres, I did have that jingly apprehensive but excited feeling usually reserved for a deep and eerie dive. But that was soon gone once I watched Simon go through the skills with the Discover Scuba Divers and realised that not only could I do them with ease but that I actually knew what I was doing. It really was great to be back in the water. 21ºC really isn’t cold and I don’t know why I ever thought it was. And with my 5mm suit, 5mm oversuit, hood, gloves and vest, I was actually quite toasty!

Once the Discover Scuba Divers worked out how to kick properly, I pointed out an Octupus to Sam, the most confident of the four: And when a school of Zebra Bream went by I could tell by how big her eyes had got that she had got the diving bug. Simon pointed out lots of  bright, colourful nudibranchs - his favourite sea creature - and when we got back to the surface for our debriefing he launched into one of his David Attenborough-style explanations.

One of many octopus spotted on the dive

It would have been asking too much to have seen the resident Sunfish, nine at once having been spotted not long ago. But all in all, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect welcome back dive, even more so because I didn’t feel I needed to have a swig of West Indian rum to warm me up when I got out.

And to top off my return to diving,  a week later we got an email from Sam saying she was going to do her PADI Open Water Diver course in the summer because she loved the Discover Scuba Diving course so much.

Look out for more blogs to come from me.  Now I’ve been back in the water, there’s no keeping me out.

Next step, PADI Divemaster course!