Abi's Deep Dive

The ocean has always been my favourite place.

Little Abi used to disappear into the sea and swim to islands just to see what was there. My poor parents would be hunting for me on the beach, but the pull of the salty water and the unknown was stronger. We lived in the city but I longed to be near the sea, and spent my teenage weekends at the beach surfing and just hanging out.

I had my son, worked, went to uni, then as soon as I had finished my Masters we moved to North Devon. I worked, he went to school, and all of our spare time was spent at the beach. Little man joined a local surf life saving club and I dipped my toes in the water, however cold (sometimes just my toes), daily to get my fix. I had tried scuba diving when I was at school and loved it, so I saved up and started my PADI Open Water qualification. Theory and pool sessions were completed locally, then I went to Greece and warmer seas for the open water sections. I had the bug!! Advanced Open Water was next, then I went to Cape Verde to meet up with Fanny Myberg an instructor I had met in Greece and did the SSI Stress and Rescue course.

My son was at Uni and I started researching volunteering opportunities on Marine Conservation projects. Specifications: warm water, sharks or whales and as much diving as possible! I settled on a project that was starting in Belize with GVI and sent off an application. The deposit was due in March 2020 and we all know what happened next. I started working for Families in Grief, and kept looking for opportunities to dive and volunteer away. Lockdown and travel disruption came and the world was turned upside down.

At home I joined a local sub aqua club: Ilfracombe, bought a dry suit and tried to adapt to the colder water and less visibility than I was used to. The instructor Denise was incredible and so patient, and everyone at the club was really welcoming and encouraging, but I struggled with buoyancy in a trilaminate dry suit and felt like I was starting at the beginning again.

I reapplied to GVI but the Belize project wasn’t running so I applied for Mexico instead and was accepted for 6 weeks in the summer of 2022.

And this is where it all began!