By Delphine
I know this is supposed to be my children’s blog but I wanted to do one too about my first official dive experience 10 days ago.
Prior to the dive, I’ve had an intensive week of PADI training for open water diving to get my diving certificate. Through a friend’s introduction, Grant had organized a very special diving session with Professor Hakan Oniz, who is the Head of the Department of Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage and the Head of the Division of Mediterranean Underwater Cultural Heritage at Akdeniz University (Turkey). In order for me to join the dive, I needed to get my diving certificate. I had 5 days left. The pressure was on.
Our new crew on the boat Fede is a certified diving instructor so I was getting private training. From thursday to sunday, I had training dives behind our boat every morning and afternoon, as well as online theory study in between. The first two days were quite challenging as I had to attempt many scary manoeuvres like removing and putting back on mask and BCD underwater, and practising various emergency drills. It was terrifying! Grant encouraged me to push on and made sure I didn’t miss any training. Luckily it got easier with practice and towards the end I felt more relaxed and comfortable under water. On sunday night, I passed all the online exams, finished the practice dives and got my PADI license! I felt quite a great sense of accomplishment!
Monday morning came and it was time for my first official dive. Hakan joined us on our boat at Adrasan Bay. Mediha, the local owner of a dive shop who’s been diving in the area for over 30 years also joined us. Before the dive, Hakan gave our family an informative presentation of the history of underwater archeology in Turkey. Since the Aegean Sea was the main sea route between the east and the west over millenniums, it is not surprising there is an abundance of shipwrecks along the southern coast of Turkey. The oldest shipwreck Hakan and his team discovered was over 3600 years ago (16c BC)! With newer and better equipment technologies, they discovered over 30 new shipwrecks in both 2018 and 2019. In 2020, they managed to discover 57 shipwrecks since the team spent much more time underwater during COVID! We were blown away by the stats. I was really impressed by Hakan’s passion and dedication to his work. Because of the hard work of these underwater archaeologists, many of the artefacts from these shipwrecks are now on display in various museums like Antalya museum and the Bodrum Castle Museum which we visited earlier. Even though the girls couldn’t join the dive, they got to spend time with Hakan and learnt much about the stories and history of shipwrecks and piracy!
Finally the moment arrived and Hakan led the way taking us underwater in search of ancient shipwrecks! The sun was shining bright and the water was crystal clear. Visibility was excellent. One might have the illusion that shipwrecks are easy to spot, but not if they are from 800BC! After thousands of years submerged underwater, the only artefacts remaining are mostly ceramic amphoras (ancient vessels with two handles used as storage jars) and plates, stone or bronze ship anchors, glassware, etc. In addition they are all covered with algae and barnacles which make them almost indiscernible from the surroundings. So we were incredibly privileged to have Hakan guiding and showing us where to look. We saw quite a number of amphoras, ship anchors and a huge pile of roof tiles, apparently from a ship that was transporting roof tiles. After the dive, I asked Hakan how they dated the artefacts, and he said he could tell just by looking at the shape of the amphoras! That is what I call expertise. He showed us paintings and artwork of ancient pottery which looked exactly like the ones we saw during our dives.
In addition to the ancient artefacts, we also stumbled upon a huge sleeping Caretta Caretta sea turtle. Turkey is one of the most popular nesting sites for Caretta Caretta (Loggerhead) sea turtles along the Mediterranean and we’ve spotted quite a few earlier while we were sailing. This sleeping sea turtle is a giant. I reckoned it’s at least 1 meter long, but I could be exaggerating as I learnt in theory that objects appear larger and closer through the mask underwater. He woke and started swimming, probably trying to escape from the intruders. Grant and I swam alongside with him for a while. He was so mellow and chilled, flapping his legs and gliding along the water with such ease. I felt like we were cruising with the Green Sea Turtle in Finding Nemo!
The feeling of being underwater is magical. Once my nerves were settled, I felt a great sense of peace and tranquility. It is incredible to be able to explore a whole new world in time and in space. I am so fortunate to have my first dive with my hubby and to be guided by Hakan. This experience deepened our love and appreciation for Turkey, for its natural beauty, the rich culture and history, and most of all the kindness and generosity of the wonderful Turkish people we have met during this trip.
I will always remember this day and I have the feeling that we will be diving a lot more during this crazy journey.
Here is a short clip of my first dive.
Oh darling, your description and the clip brought tears to my eyes. As I have told you I was just a little younger than you when I learnt to dive, and it was such a magical experience. The feeling of weightlessness, and the ease of moving underwater simply cannot be explained to someone who has not experienced it.
Of course I never had the opportunity to dive in the glorious waters you are in now. The Knysna Heads are cold and murky, the tide races in and out at 8 knots, so you can only dive on the turn! I did enjoy diving in Mauritius and Seychelles in 1984, and there I also bought the most up to date diving equipment from a wonderful USA woman who had worked on the Lindblad Explorer as she was returning to the USA and felt she would no longer need it! Do you remember the big picture on our stair wall of three of us sitting in diving gear on a small boat? Well that was whilst we were with her diving in the Seychelles. So strange that in January 2023 I will be going to the latitudes that she was sailing in, on a National Geographic expedition, which took over the Lindblad trips all those years ago. My expedition also offers us the opportunity to Scuba Dive off the ice-shelf………I’m not sure I will take that up, even in a dry-suit!
I only hope that your underwater journey will give you as much pleasure as it has given me. Have fun as you start to feel more at home in a new element. Know my heart and spirit are with you.
Lots of love darling, and may you have many hundreds of wonderful dives. XXXXX
Thanks for sharing your diving experiences. Grant often talks about you and Colin teaching him how to dive since he was a young kid. We look forward to more diving in Greece. We read there are some nice diving sites amongst the Greek islands.