Under The Sea

Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it’s better
Down where it’s wetter
Take it from me

One of my favourite Disney films is the Little Mermaid but unlike her I have always wanted to swim under the sea and see what the world looks like under water, but other than a little snorkelling I have never had the opportunity to do a proper dive.

Whilst staying at the Mark Warner Sea Garden resort in Turkey we were excited to find Erman Dive Centre sitting proudly between the kids play area and the beach.  At our welcome meeting we found out that on the Monday they were holding a free taster session in one of the pools and we made sure we were the first ones to sign up.

I was slightly nervous to be picked first, but Kenny put me at ease as I pulled on the flippers and someone attached the air tank to my back.  Breathing through the Diving Regulator was weird at first but it almost immediately became second nature and I was ready to be guided around the pool.  From that moment I was hooked and although it was only a lap around the pool I knew I wanted to do more and hubby and Kian felt the same way.

We had the opportunity to do a full PADI course, but as the three of us all wanted to dive it was out of our price range so we opted for a Discovery Dive where we would dive from the beach after taking a short course to ensure we could all dive safely.

Isaac Eliza and Sebby were in clubs every morning but as Kian was doing an RYA Sailing course we had to wait until Thursday morning for him to have some free time so we could all dive together.  The first thing we had to do was watch a DVD which explained what all the equipment was, what the dangers are and basic hand signals that are used.  We did laugh most of the way through it as it was staged like an 80’s Soap Opera, complete with dodgy acting and clothing.

Once the DVD was completed it was time to get kitted up.  We put on our wetsuits, found the correct sized masks and flippers and then added weights around our waists.  Last but not least the tank was put on our back and I have to admit that I struggled to stand as it was very heavy.  Thankfully one of the staff took pity on me and guided me up the stairs, taking some of the weight of the tank.  Thankfully once in the water the weight dissipated immediately.

We were assigned a guide each – Bobby, Kenny and Tim who were to look after us all through the basic training and in the sea.  I am not sure how long we were in the pool but Kenny reminded us of the hand signals he would be using and talked us through all the things we needed to learn before submerging us and going through each technique with us individually to make sure we were confident to go into the sea which included how to clear your mask if it got flooded, how to take the Diving Regulator in and out of your mouth safely whilst underwater and equalizing our ears to compensate for the pressure changes caused by the water.

Happy we were all confident with the equipment, we were ready to go and set off for the beach.  I was to be paired with Tim, Kian with Bobby and Hubby with Kenny who was also taking a camera down with us so he could take some pictures.

Being under the sea was an amazing experience and although we were not that far from the shore with saw plenty of marine life, amongst traditional broken pots, rocks and even an old shopping trolley.

Tim is a local and  know all the best places to find sea creatures and we were wondering what he was doing when he started brushing sand around a hole…………then we saw a beady eye open and a creature wriggle.  He found an octopus, which decided it didn’t like the look of us and swam gracefully away.  It certainly made our dive extra special.

It was then time to head back to shore where we were helped out of our equipment as they downloaded the pictures onto a disc for us as a souvenir.  We were then asked if we fancied doing another dive before we left and we jumped at the chance.

Friday arrived and the weather was awful with Thunder Storms so the water activities were closed, but thankfully we were still able to dive.  This time we brought our GoPro to catch some of the creatures we spotted on film and as Kian didn’t want to dive this time he stayed out of the water to take some photo’s.

Our second dive was a lot more confident than the first and we were taken out further to explore other areas of the sea bed.  We spotted a herd of Seahorses and of course we went back to find our friend the Octopus who was in the very same spot as the day before.

Scuba Diving was a magical experience and Hubby and I are going to save up and do our PADI courses so we can go more regularly.  Thank you to Kenny, Bobbi, Tim and the whole Erman Dive Centre Team, you made our holiday extra special!!