Traveling. We travel worldwide to see new places and explore other countries. The first thoughts about traveling often are beaches and sun, or city trips. We enjoy activities like dining out, sightseeing, sunbathing, and maybe snorkeling and surfing. All those things have something in common: They are pretty much on the surface. Only a few people are diving beyond the surface – and are traveling for scuba diving.
Fact is, that 71% of the earth’s surface is water, which allows you even more exploration by diving than by just walking around.
I love the excitement from the first to the last second!
I am always getting excited when we are entering the boat or setting up the gear at the shore. The feeling of the heavy tank, when I put on the BCD, results in an upset stomach immediately. The excitement raises and raises. Thoughts are running through my head: “What am I going to see this time? Sharks? Seahorses? Dolphins? Whales?” or “Will the current be too strong for me?” My thoughts run wild.
The final check with the buddy, goggles on, fill the BCD with air and then the relieving jump in the water. A little cold shock, but then a light-weighted feeling comes over you – like a buoy.
I even love the one and only scary thing about scuba diving
It is exactly the moment when you’re on the surface and don’t know yet what’s underneath you. So the first thing is mostly dropping the head in the water like a duck for a quick check.
Since my first scuba dive, I don’t like to be on the surface for too long. I know there are some crazy creatures under the surface. So I always have to check what’s underneath me. It’s like a rule for me. Do you know the movie Zombieland? For me, it’s: “Always check the underneath-the-surface!” That’s why I like snorkeling more than just swimming.
It’s also the reason why I stopped surfing. Lying on a board, not knowing what’s under the board, while I am waiting for a wave, or in other words: Preparing myself as prey for a shark, because it thinks I am a seal. Great feeling. No I really don’t need that.
I love my life and am not tired of it!
However, some people call me crazy, that I am a scuba diver and call it dangerous.
My aunt even sent me a newspaper article about a German girl, who died in Thailand. She got stung by the 3 meter (9 ft) long tentacles of a jellyfish. HOWEVER, I feel more safe and confident under the water than on the surface. There are some dangerous facts – of course – but I am not tired of life or stupid. I wouldn’t dive somewhere, where I am surrounded by thousands of stingy jellyfish. Nor even one.
Sharks are ok though. I’ve seen some and they give a damn shit about scuba divers, as long as you don’t hit them, or bleed.
I love to explore the colorful corals and diverse fish!
Besides the dangers of diving, I love the fact that you can explore a different part of the world’s nature. The little baby fish, who seek protection in the corals, are very diverse. Even the clownfish can look different in 40 ways.
I love to be the Underwater-Superwoman!
Being buoyant is the greatest! Going up and down by working with your breath and “flying” underwater, makes you feel like a superhero.
At Nusa Penida in Indonesia, we made one drift dive, where the current was so perfect, that you had to do nothing. We jumped in, instant descent, and then we were floating through the coral reef. It felt like the stream in the movie “Finding Nemo”.
Perfectly buoyant, going slightly up and down by breathing, even making loops was so much fun.
The only bad part was: I wanted to look at certain things much longer than the current allowed me. So I passed a lot of beautiful slugs and almost missed a stingray, who hid behind a rock. You can watch this in the video at the end of this post.
I love the experience!
I am no expert in diving. I made my Open Water certification in 2014 and my advanced in 2015. I haven’t had a lot of opportunities to dive as Berlin (Germany) has no ocean or nice lakes. But I enjoyed and loved every experience I made so far. I wish I could just go diving right now because on every dive I see something new. On the last dive, I spotted a sunfish in Bali!
I love night dives!
My first and so far only night dive was amazing! You probably can imagine how nervous I was! I had an upset stomach and wet hands. I just couldn’t calm down. I was totally unaware of what to expect. I was afraid of fish, darkness, sharks and just everything.
When we entered the water from the shore, I rather wanted to go back or hold my boyfriend’s hand tightly. After a few meters swimming, I noticed, that it’s not as bad as I imagined. My heart was still beating very fast though. The adrenaline in my body was unbelievably high!
A lionfish passed our way. Then we saw the first crab which looked like some escaped creature from the “Flying Dutchman” of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was actually one of the best things I have ever experienced! You can focus better, because you only see, what is in the spotlight of your torch.
There were 2 memorable moments, I always gonna remember.
- The moment, when you cover the light and look into the pitch-black deep ocean: You can really see nothing. It’s just black. You feel lost. And very small, because you know that this blackness continues for miles over miles.
- The moment, when you cover the light and move an arm wildly: This movement makes visible the little dancing bioluminescent organisms – a breathtaking wonder of nature! I couldn’t stop doing it.
