Learning to Dive at Manly Beach

My Underwater View

When Anthony and I decided that we would start our round the world adventure we began to get very excited in exactly what we wanted to do whilst we were away. Apart from immersing ourselves in every culture and meeting as many people as possible, we also agreed that seeing the natural beauty each country had to offer was high on our ‘to-do’ list. At first, this notion seemed simple enough- walk a  few treks, hop on a bike and take some amazing photos. Not so!

You see, we realised that beautiful environments are not only above the water, but also below…

This is how the idea of adding scuba diving to the mix began.

Taking The Plunge

Now for Anthony doing a scuba dive or a fun snorkel is no drama. He gained his open water dive licence  years ago and has done many dives since. For me however it’s a whole other story. I don’t really know where this irrational fear of snorkeling or diving came from. I’ve spent my whole life on the beach, would swim every summer and been dumped by many a waves.

Please Don't Bite Me!

You see, the feeling I get when I have gone snorkeling before is an overwhelming sense of space. The huge amount of water that I can see in all directions, the marine life spreading out below and of course the idea that somewhere out of the deep blue will come a huge, hungry shark!

But, never being one to dwell on the negative, after telling Anthony all this, he went out and bought me a ‘PADI Open Water Diving Course’ for Christmas. Thanks Honey…

I procrastinated for a while, putting off doing the course claiming such reasons as “I’m too busy at work” or “The water will be cold this time of year”. Until eventually my guilt got the better of the me and I thought to myself ‘Suck it up and bite the bullet’.

School holidays was coming up so I booked the course for the first three days of my 2 week break.

Day one of my three day ‘scuba-fest’ was already off to a good start. I arrived fresh faced (and very nervous, but determined not to let that show) at 8.30am to the dive shop at Manly. I opened the door, with a big smile and announced that I was here for the Open Water Course. The lady behind the counter gave me an odd smile and said that there was no-one booked for a course this week, in fact they don’t even run the diving course on a Monday.

Immediately my mind went into thought overload-Was this fate telling me not to take the course? What was going to happen?

“Is it possible that you have come to the wrong shop?” the lady asked. After some phone calls, it came to light that I had walked into the wrong dive centre! So it was going to be that kind of a day…

Day One

A Whole Different World

Take 2! I walked down the road to the Dive Centre Manly, and was greeted by my instructor and a warm smile. I found out that there was only one another person who would be doing the course with me over the three days. Without much further chit chat, we hopped into the van and off to the training centre.

After an hour or so of some theory work, it was time to start working on our skills in the pool. I don’t know if it was the fact that the skills were being done in the swimming pool or the friendly nature of my instructor, but I had lost all my feelings of nervousness. The rest of the day was a breeze. I felt comfortable breathing through my regulator, inflating and deflating my BCD -Buoyancy Control Device  (see I’m using scuba speak already!) and taking off and putting my mask back on underwater.

Day Two

The second day consisted of more skills being practiced, but not in the pool-in the ocean! I arrived (this time at the correct centre) however, I found out that the other girl who was doing the course with me had called in sick. So it was just me and the instructor!

We Found Nemo!

We arrived at Shelly Beach and went through some more skills and then headed straight for the water. I tried to push all my apprehension aside and put on a brave face. I was going to actually dive in the water! With the sharks!

After all this time, I think that the reason I was so scared about going Scuba Diving was the fear of the unknown. However, after conquering that first dive and seeing the whole new world under the sea I feel a lot more relaxed with diving.

Day Three

I went on 2 more dives on my final day and again, felt great with the dive. My instructor and I this time went diving at Fairlight beach. I didn’t think it was as exciting as Shelly Beach and the mix of marine life was no where near as diverse as Shelly,  but none the less I still enjoyed my self.

At the end of this day, I went back to the training centre for the final test to become a qualified diver! And I passed with flying colours!

Me Underwater!

Another reason which I know helped me overcome my fear of scuba diving was the warm and friendly nature of the Dive Centre Manly. The staff was friendly and professional and made me feel comfortable over the three days. I would recommended them to anyone considering taking a scuba course.

As for those who are still a little apprehensive- all I can say is deflate your fear of diving and inflate your BCD! Go out there and do it!

Manly Vacations