I'm a qualified PADI scuba diver and everything about the ocean fascinates me. Always has done since a young age. I think my love for the water first started in my grandads indoor pool at the age of about 5 onwards. It was lit with some nice blue and white lighting, and the pool was lined with small blue tiles about 1x1 inches. At the bottom was a mosaic pattern of Neptune with two seahorses. At first swimming over it in the water just 5.5 foot deep would scare me, as I didn't know what it was or what could be in the water around me. So I asked for some goggles at about 6 years old and decided to see for myself.I was a strong swimmer from my young age and once I started diving under with my new goggles, swimming to get a closer look of the mosaic and then looking around into the dimly lit water I was suspended in, I became obsessed. My fear disappeared entirely and instead I wanted to spend as much time as my grandparents would allow in that pool. I started talking to my grandad about how I wanted to be like Neptune one day. He laughed but I think he understood what I meant.Then when I was 15 on a holiday in Crete, my grandad came to me by the pool as I was swimming lengths underwater and waited for me to come up. He told me there was a PADI scuba diving centre just across the hotel complex, and that if I wanted, he'd pay for me to do the Open Water course. Of course I was all for it, albeit a bit unsure because I developed an independent dislike for people paying for things for me. But he insisted and laughed and told me I could "be like Neptune" and follow what I wanted to do for my career.So I did the course and it has to be the single most life changing moment I've ever had. For a two week holiday I spent a lot of my time reading the scuba diving manual, doing "homework" and reading my instructor, Alexandros, had advised I do. I crammed the course into my holiday and did three ocean dives with my instructor. I had three weird but wonderful experiences on those dives.The first was when I had to demonstrate skills we had been practicing in the pool, except in the open ocean. One of which, was to remove my scuba mask entirely, keeping the regulator in my mouth, approximately 10m down. I had to then put it back on, and flush it of water there and then. It's a bizarre feeling, I had to close my eyes to prevent the saltwater from stinging them, and without the mask covering my nose, it was somewhat more difficult to resist breathing in through my nose when I took a breath from my regulator. But I managed without a problem. Being in complete darkness and knowing I'm 10m below the surface of the open ocean was weird. I put the mask back on, took a deep breath from my regulator, tilted my face up, held the top of the mask against my face and blew out hard through my nose. This flushes the mask of water. I felt pretty good for being able to do that my first time, apparently some people panic.The second experience was on my last open water dive, which if I did correctly along with the exam I'd already passed, would assure my qualification. We were swimming at 15m below the surface along a reef bed with four other divers. Three instructors, three students, paired up. Then we all stopped in our sort of "train" formation as the instructors had told us we would take a break and just admire our surroundings at a certain point. I looked around and a whole shoal of tropical fish had begun to swarm around us, unafraid and seemingly curious. They were about the size of a child's hand, and there were loads of them. I got the closest look of some that paused to hover right in front if my mask, magnified slightly. I looked at them and they looked back at me. Making eye contact with several small fish knowing we probably shared and similar curiosity was incredible.The third and final experience was just after the second on the same dive. The instructors had agreed that, if anybody wished, each pair could swim out one at a time away from the reef, into more open water, while still maintaining the depth of 15-18m. One student and instructor stayed behind as the student was uneasy to do so. We swam out a fair distance, just enough so we could still see the other diving pair waiting. The sea bed had slowly disappeared from below us at first, banking deeper, but a drop-off had left us completely unable to see the bottom. Then, as agreed, my instructor and myself rolled over onto our backs, and stared up at the surface of the water. The other pair watched us and waited their turn. This was the weirdest feeling in my life. I could see the dancing waves on the surface and the sun rays breaking through the water. Below me was nothingness, a deep ocean of who-knows-what. And I loved it. I wasn't afraid and I couldn't have been happier. After what felt like a lifetime of staring up at the surface, my instructor tapped my shoulder and we flipped back over to watch the other pair do the same. After our return to the surface, Alexandros shook my hand and said "congratulations, you are now an Open Water diver". We both smiled and since then I've not forgotten the experiences I had.Now I'm currently a Marine Science student in Bangor University, North Wales, studying my first of a four year masters course. I haven't scuba dived recently due to costs of the local club, but I plan to in the near future with better budgeting and some smart planning. It's right by the coast here, there's beaches everywhere and the pier is probably my favourite place to be.My favourite creature is the Great White Shark, and I hope to some day not only see one for myself, but swim with one, minus the cage. I also would love to discover a new species myself, and go on a submarine journey into an ocean trench, preferably the Marianas trench, which I've been fascinated by for some years now.Oddly enough, I can't help but feel that all of this, something that has been and always will be a key factor in my entire life, was all because of my grandads pool, the mosaic Neptune on the bottom, and his support to go on with my dreams.Thank you Grandad, Thank you Alexandros, Thank you to anyone who read this while thing, And to the ocean, thank you, until the next time.
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