Coco's first thoughts on diving

Diving with Tony Houston through the RHN Diving Club has been an experience which has thrown me through some mixed emotions. I was so excited I was going to do something I had always wanted to do. Tony starting the club at work made access to this sport easier. The initial reading brought it home how important all the background knowledge was going to be.

The first practical dive in a swimming pool was exciting, but scary too. Donning strange equipment had its funny side, especially the first entry into the water, not a graceful affair! Trying to stay vertical in the water was a challenge in itself, not realising all the techniques of remaining buoyant!

At times the exhaustion and cold has been overwhelming, and I would wonder if I could continue, but then I would feel all the more determined to continue and succeed, especially as my partner was on the same course, and we have plans to go diving together.

One very beneficial part of joining the club has been meeting different members of staff in the hospital, people you may never otherwise meet. There has been lots of laughter at ourselves and each other, which has been really good for all of us, and a lot of support for each other.

Then on one of the last dives of the course, encountering jelly fish in the Solent made me realise the magic of underwater life, and being able to breathe and swim below the surface with ease was why I was learning to Scuba Dive.

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