Back in October 2006 whilst on holiday in Tenerife I did a PADI Open Water scuba diving course. It was truly amazing and I was hooked. Being practically weightless in a completely alien, albeit slightly familiar, environment and interacting, in an observational sense, with all sorts of marine life was fantastic. I qualified reasonably easily and went on to take an advanced course in the UK a couple of months later which I also passed.
Scuba diving is all about trust in the people you're diving with and team work. The folk in Tenerife were (and are) great but looking for a dive club in the UK, in the West Midlands, was a bit daunting. After a bit of searching I came up with a couple of possibilities but for some reason wasn't able to get a response from them on the telephone or via email. Suitably discouraged I decided that I'd probably just leave my diving to holidays in Tenerife.
Me @ Neptune's Cave, Tenerife, July '07
In the Summer of 2007 I went out to Tenerife again, for a week or so, and logged loads of dives and completed another 5 specialities as well. So, all looking quite positive then really except I was still facing the same problem - who was I going to dive with whilst back in the UK? The short answer was nobody. I still thought of myself as a diver and had every intention of going but I never did. Eventually my kit ended up in the loft, still loved but now sadly neglected.
Fast forward four and a half years and a friend has got the bug. He's just qualified as a PADI Open Water diver and, just as I was in 2006, is keen and excited about progressing as a diver and wants somebody to dive with. Yay! So last night I donned my gear once again and in a swimming pool belonging to a school in Wordsley I'm pleased to be able to say that I sucessfully re-qualified and can now, legitimately, call myself a diver once again. This time though I have somebody to dive with. I'll just have to make sure I keep it up, eh?
