My hobby....? Diving!

Hi,

I am a PADI (it stands for The Professional Association of Diving Instructors) licensed open water scuba diver. I’ve decide to drop a line about my hobby - maybe I will be able to convince you that this kind of activity is worth doing or at least trying? Shall we start? Let’s jump in!

Scuba diving is a swimming under water using a scuba set. By carrying a source of breathing gas (up to 30m depth it is a compressed air), the scuba diver is able to stay under water longer than with the simple breath-holding snorkeling or free-diving. Apart from the tank the scuba diver needs fins mask & snorkel; wet or dry suit; weight belts; buoyancy control jacket with pneumatic inflate/deflate system, regulators, watch gauges that inform you how much air you have left, what’s the tank pressure and about your depth of course. Scuba diving really provides a thrill and adventure unmatched by anything else.You can really escape to a different world, a peaceful place with new colours, shapes, textures and creatures – a world where the roles you play – husband, mother, father, take on a new dimension! Scuba diving offers exploration of the underwater world – fantastic reef or shipwrecks. What is absolutely wonderful – while diving you feel like you're in a big aquarium – you are surrounded by plenty of exotic, colourful fish, beautiful pillars of corals, huge sea fans and sponges. Enjoying watching all the organisms in their natural environment is a thrill! In Egypt coral reefs are not spoiled by tourists and that is only due to the Egyptian government nature preservation programme. There is a law that regulates diving – for instance you can’t use knife or gloves, to avoid temptation to touch corals – a biiig temptation believe me;). There are also very high penalties if somebody devastates the reef.

My favourite fish is the clownfish (you should recognize him from the movie “Where is Nemo?”). Clownfish are overall yellow or orange with white bars, beautiful and so cute! What is interesting – Clownfish are resistant to the poisonous sea anemone. It can safely live in dangerous environment for his enemy – smart fish;) It is quite small – about 20 cm - but very brave, when you are too close it doesn’t hesitate to attack you – it is funny because of course it cannot do any harm to you.

I had the opportunity to observe other species like: barracuda, white-spotted guitarfish, and manta rays - really great and impressive. Of course, there are other creatures that are dangerous and you always have to check before diving in a new place which ones you have to avoid for your own safety. One of them is a lionfish. It has extremely long and separated spines, and a striped appearance, broun black or white. Lionfish reaches a size of 30cm, and has venomous spines that are deadly to their prey, sometimes even to humans. One time we met a breath-taking group of 8-10 lionfish dancing over the reef hunting for a shoal of fish; it was a kind of “dance of death”. I remember, I thought myself “breathe easy and don’t panic, don’t panic”, but I couldn’t resist to stay and watch. I was fascinated.

Morays have a long fin that runs from the head along the back. It is frequently mistaken for a snake. Some of the tropical morays exceed a length of 3m. Their mouth is wide and full of knife-sharp jaws each armed with formidable, sharply pointed teeth. It tends to be a very aggressive creature - it attacks everyone who comes to close to their caves. Their jaws are built in a target-specific way to catch the victim and not to let it escape. If moray catches something it has to snap it off and can not release the bit. Looking at my diving coach who had lost his finger during the meeting with moray, I was not very keen on visiting any underwater caves.

Jellyfish is a popular species in the Red Sea. Of various colours, a bell shape creature with tentacles, the jellyfish from the Red Sea are completely harmless to human beings. As we were informed by our guide that they were used by ancient Egyptian women to peroxide the hair;)

Does it sound interesting? Try!

The experience connected with a diving is completely new. It really transforms your perception of life forever.... It sounds a little bit like a kind of philosophy but for most divers (including myself) it is a way of life, not just a hobby...