Last Friday was a big day for me. For the first time I was talking in public about diving. So far, my diving stories were told only in bars, family gatherings and house parties. It was a bit scary as I was afraid that I’ll be talking to an empty room. It wasn’t that case, the audience was there, and they even asked questions 😀

Questions asked by the audience

The meeting had a quite simple agenda: best of diving clip, a bit about the Maldives, pictures from Maldives diving, SHARK PICS and a Q&A session. I did write about diving here before, like how to get started, how to be prepared for unexpected or basic safety measures. I was really pleased that the audience asked questions as I took it as a sign that the topic was interesting for them. Picked the best ones for those who couldn’t make it to Café Szafe in Kraków on Friday.

1.     Any diving recommendations for diving beginners?

After you do your diving licence it’s good to start and gather diving experience in Egypt. The waters are warm, visibility is good, boats are comfortable and there are many diving centres to choose from. Personally, I would recommend going to Taba or Marsa Alam as the reefs in those places are not that damaged and not that full of tourists as in Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. In the last ones a dive boat anchors next to a dive boat and the number of dividers underwater is larger than the number of fish. Egypt is really good to start with your diving adventure and also a good place to see some of the big stuff like dolphins, whale sharks or even hammerheads if you are lucky.

2.     Sharks really don’t eat people?

No, no, no and one more time no. Sharks don’t eat people. Sharks eat other fish, sometimes even seals. If you cut yourself while shaving, that one drop of blood won’t attract sharks, neither does pee. Look, if pee would attract sharks, I should be dead by now, given the number of times I’ve peed in the water. Sharks don’t even like humans, we are simply not on their menu. Agree that shark attacks happen but that’s not very often. Mostly in places when people are feeding sharks with leftovers from a nearby hotel or restaurant. The animals get used to food being around in that area that’s all. Or it’s dangerous to jump into the water when sharks are close by. In the Maldives the dive masters warned me not to jump into the water from the boat to have a swim as a shark might come along to check out what’s going on. One evening one person from the boat – not me, did jump into the water and after 5 min a shark appeared. Imagine how fast the guy got back to the boat. So, one more time – sharks don’t eat people, period!

3.     Do you need a special licence to dive on wrecks or caves?

Yes and no. When you have your advanced open water licence which allows you to dive till 30 meters you do not really need a special licence to look at wrecks. In Mexico I did dive in caves without a cave diver licence, but the dive guide was a cave diving expert. Basically, for pure fun diving a 30 meters licence is enough. However, if you want to know more about wreck, cave, current diving or underwater photography you can do one of those dedicated licenses.

4.     How much does this all cost?

The diving course is not as expensive as doing a pilot licence for example. The basic course – open water diver that allows you to dive till 18 meters is around 350-400 Euros. Then you can invest in the advanced licence aaprox. 250 Euro. Then comes the gear. To start the course, you need to get your own snorkel, mask and fins. After you get your licence, you don’t have to buy the full gear straight away. I would recommend getting a wetsuit and a dive computer in the first place. Dive computer, it’s always good to have your own as while diving you will know what’s the nitrogen level in your body, when to shallow up, how deep did you dive, for how long you can’t fly etc. Wetsuit, I think it’s obvious as divers pee in the wetsuit. If you have your own, you know that there was only your pee. The remaining gear you can buy one piece after another. I have been diving for nine years already and the expensive wetsuit I got; it still looks new even after frequent usage 😉 Also renting gear is somehow hazardous as you don’t know the history of the gear and who had the regulator in the mouth. Besides, simple math shows that buying your own gear pays off in the long term. 

5.     What’s your next adventure and how often do you go diving? 

I try to go on a pure diving holiday at least once a year. Pure diving meaning, a week focused only on diving. Last year was a bit unfortunate as because of covid I didn’t go on any diving trips, only on a long sightseeing trip. However, this year I made up for last year and had two diving trips already. The next diving adventure is scheduled for September in Cabo Verde. Can’t wait to explore the caves over there 😀

Best of diving clip

I don’t wanna bore you with Maldives pics again, but you can have a look here and here as well as the article on how to get started with diving here. Instead, I prepared the best of diving clip for you. Enjoy 🙂