In a nutshell
Your chance to swim with the fishes, getting up close and personal with Nemo and his friends!

Tell me more!
A popular I’ve-always-fancied-trying-that activity on holidays abroad, most peoples first experience of diving is during a first dive lesson in a swimming pool. Stick with it, the Mediterranean Sea bed is far more interesting to look at than the cracked tiles in the bottom of the pool! As safety is paramount, get lessons from dive schools (at home or abroad) that are PADI or NAUI certified. Other associations to look at are the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC), Scuba Schools International (SSI) and the YMCA which offer try dives and / or information about beginners diving courses.

The stuff you need
Snorkelling is a great introduction to looking at life under the water whilst practising breathing through a tube without swallowing too much water! A simple eye mask, snorkel and perhaps a pair of fins will get you going. Rattling on about the importance of safety may cause you to glaze over but your life is on the line when you want to advance to ‘proper’ diving! Join a club for full training and advice but basics include a wetsuit, mask, fins, torch, regulator, buoyancy compensation device (a jacket you can let air in and out of to stop you rising or sinking) dive computer, weight belt and gauges. Seek advice from experienced divers as to best places and prices for equipment.
   

Cool things you can do
Although you can become a certified diver pretty quickly, going out and experiencing a lot of dives is the only way to build your confidence, skills and actually make you any good at the sport. If you feel that recreational diving is now too tame for an expert like you, try your hand at harder, scary and more dangerous stuff (you wanted to know what was next!) Technical diving involves going lower than 30 meters without direct access to an open water surface, for instance, in a cave or ice diving. For the historians amongst you, wreck and archaeological diving can give you an interesting window to the past as well as a glimpse at the sea life that have made it their new home.

People in the know!
bsac.com
spartacat.co.uk
scubadiving.co.uk

Interested in this? Why not check out adventure travel, canoeing and kayaking, caving, kite surfing, outdoor photography, sailing, surfing, wild swimming

Visit your first underwater music festival!
http://www.tripsmarter.com/travelinfo/key-west/events/underwater-music-festival

Ask the ultimate question without moving your lips!