Ok so the hard part was over and I was kinda feeling good about myself if not a little embarrassed by the entourage that were watching and cheering me on. But still, I did it, I actually jumped in. Ok I know your reading this and thinking ‘yea, so, big deal’ but to me at the time it was a big deal. I was the girl who was the only one left clinging on, on the banana boats for fear of the water, deep below. So jumping in was a big deal. I had done so many practised runs in the pool, but this was my first time ever out of the safety net.

My instructor explained what we were going to do next.

‘Deflate our BCD’s slowly’, and descend down into the unknown. Ok that part he didn’t say, but as I was really nervous he may as well have.

So on the count of three and maintaining eye contact the whole time I did as I had rehearsed many times in the pool before.

I release the air, hearing the bubbles through my suit covering my head, and instantly feeling the water enveloping my face as I sink, slowly in, down. Till my BCD is empty.

I am suspended in space, or at least that’s what I imagine space would feel like. My eyes stray from my instructor, and the dark murky water hits me, as I take in my surroundings. I can see nothing, nothing at all. Just black empty space. Dirty water so dense, I can see no further than my hand out stretched in front of me. My instructor pulls my hand in and puts my hands together in front of me, as he uses his hands to signal to me to look him in the eye. I know the drill, and relax my breathing again by counting down, three, two, one.

My instructor takes my arm and leads me on, pulling me down with him, as we go further into the black.

There really is nothing to see, I think as I breathe in the best controlled motion as anyone could possibly do. Nothing to worry about, I could almost laugh except for my regulator in my mouth stopping me.

Out of the blackness appears what look like a shelf, as it blurred into my vision, my eyes again adjusting to the sight. The only thing beside my instructor that I have seen down here.

RATE THIS CHAPTER!