My First Time

Trying Diving for the first time - how it really feels

My name is Pauline and I am here in Malta for an internship, as part of our studies in France we are required to complete an internship within a business in order to be able to learn more about the real world and aid our future job prospects. I have never tried Scuba Diving before but love swimming and the ocean and I chose to do my internship with Corsair Diving as my degree focuses around Tourism Management and I hope to learn a great deal about running a tourism related business whilst completing my internship here in Malta.

Before we could begin we had to have a little lesson to teach us a little bit in order to make sure the dive goes smoothly. Chris went through the equipment and how it works, what it is like in the water and went through how the experience would actually work, where we would start, where we would go, what we would see and what we would do underwater.

In the beginning I was both a bit scared but also looking forward to discovering diving. Once there, we have to put on the wetsuit, I admit it’s not simple to put on the first time. We are equipped with mask, fins…and we are ready.

Before you can swim like a mermaid in the deep sea, we put only our heads under the water to teach us to breathe through the mouth and breathe calmly. In the beginning it was complicated for me because it is not normal to breathe through the mouth and my initial feeling was of apprehension, it took a while till I felt like I could breathe calmly and properly relax.

Once more relaxed I start to go down little by little. At first I focus a lot on my breathing so I don't have a moment of panic, then once the rhythm is taken I start to really enjoy, discover the depths, admire the fish, the underwater plants, while dodging the jellyfish that did not reassure me. It was a really pleasant moment, we are alone in our bubble, it's like a moment of relaxation.

Once a little more comfortable in the water, Chris taught me some skills to make sure we were properly safe, it seems a bit odd being asked to take the regulator out when you are underwater and you know that this is your only method to breath but Chris made it look simple and after a couple of times you start to realise it is easy enough to do. Clearing the mask wasn’t the most pleasant experience with the cold water and once you are in a routine of breathing through your mouth it is a little tricky to breath out of your nose again but once you feel it working and the water disappearing it is a great feeling. Hopefully knowing this will make my Open Water course so much easier.

I find that the spot was very pleasant for a first dive, the water was calm, the view was beautiful with lots of fish and lots of pretty purple jellyfish, we even come across a statue. I have not seen the time pass and I am already looking forward to diving again to discover other places and improve myself.

I advise everyone to try diving to discover a part of Malta in a different way and at the same time to try a new activity. :)