gregorywood.co.uk

Top 5 reasons to learn to dive

Short url | 24 comments

Top 5 reasons to learn to dive

So then, my second Top 5 post. Just before I broke my leg, I spent a week on the Isle of Man learning to Scuba dive, and it was great. If any of you reading this have been contemplating learning, please let this article persuade you to actually get started. I can tell you for certain that it’s one of the greatest things you will ever do. Enjoy.

Greg kitted up in SCUBA equipment

Reason #1

It’s fucking awesome

Yeah, I know, obvious reason, but I couldn’t think of a better way to sum the whole sport up.

I’ve always been a fan of the sea and what’s under it, but to be able to immerse and envelop yourself fully in it, to put yourself and your safety in the hands of such an elemental force is truly awesome (for want of a better word).

And there’s the exploratory angle. I have an active imagination, and when I was 15-20 meters below the surface it was very easy for me to imagine that no other human had ever been to the places I was finning around. When all you can see is your buddy and a whole host of sea life in 10 meters of visibility it’s very easy to convince yourself of this.

But add to that the knowledge that during your diving career, you probably will do exactly this, no imagination required. The sea is a pretty big place, and when you start diving deep to areas that no human actually hasn’t been before, you are an explorer, in the best sense of the word.

Reason #2

Equipment

I love stuff. Stuff that you can take apart, change bits, put back together. I also like building up a collection of bits that suit me and my way of doing things. It's this love of stuff and parts that certainly contributes to my love of bikes, computers, and now diving.

I frankly can’t wait to start building my own kit up, having everything working how I want it. I’m going to love browsing catalogues and online shops for ages, searching for the perfect part of equipment that I need. For me, the satisfaction you get from buying and learning to maintain your own kit is immense.

Reason #3

Sharks

Great White Shark

I love sharks *

I have done since I was young. I’m not sure whether it’s the danger, their cool shape and appearance, or Jaws, but I’ve wanted to dive/swim with them in the wild for ages, and diving will finally let me do so.

Whilst I secretly was hoping for a glimpse of a basking shark when diving in the Isle of Man, I wasn’t disappointed that the first shark I met was a species of dog fish. I saw a few in fact over the week, they’re pretty cool, and can be tickled.

So, I’m excited about diving with some grey reef sharks, anxious about seeing a great white and hammerheads, and I really can’t wait to dive with a whale (or basking) shark. If I could go back in time I'd like to watch a Megalodon from a safe distance.

* In a strictly non-zoophiliatory way.

Reason #4

Food

I love seafood and I’m shit at fishing, so diving is the only way I’m really ever going to catch a decent dinner in the sea. Lobsters, crabs, scollops are all easy pickings, and if you want to go controversial, you can use a spike to hunt flatfish, or a harpoon gun (like in Thunderball) to prey on larger fish or other divers, if you’re so inclined.

Going actually underwater to grab something for dinner is far more exiting than fishing, and if you don’t end up catching anything at least you’ve had a good time! I can’t wait to live by the sea and go diving for dinner every evening.

Seafood platter

Reason #5

Simon Campbell

Simon Campbell

I’m still unsure that this one doesn’t actually belong to a “Top 5 reasons not to learn to dive” post, but here it is anyway.

Simon Campbell is the man who taught me to dive, he’s a friend and a shit-talker, amongst other things. If you learn to dive the proper way (with BSAC, instead of PADI), you will probably get to meet him at some point, as he has his massive fingers in all sorts of Scuba pies. This will either be a excellent or very bad experience, depending on your personality, and how you get on with aggressive little men.

Having him as your dive teacher however, will most likely be a fantastic experience. When he gets under the surface all his personality attributes reverse themselves; he’s a patient, respectful, careful and informative dive teacher. Also, with his dive mask and hood on, he looks a lot like Gandalf the wizard, which certainly helps on the trust front.

Campbell - thanks mate, you’re a legend x

24 comments for:

Top 5 reasons to learn to dive

  1. We have a guy in our office who is trying to teach some of us the art of whitewater kayaking. Most of the same logic applies to that as well. Minus the sharks…and the food. Beautiful post!

    Jason BeairdJason Beaird's avatar — 04/08/09 at 14:54

  2. @Jason, white water kayaking sounds awesome. I’ve done the more peaceful sea kayaking before, which was fantastic, but I’d love to have a go at the more hardcore stuff. Thanks for your comment and your compliment.

    GregoryGregory's avatar — 04/08/09 at 16:00

  3. This post was a joy to read, both design-wise and considering your enthusiasm (? :-)). Good luck with the diving!

    Joel HelinJoel Helin's avatar — 06/08/09 at 08:57

  4. I tried diving for the first time this year - it’s great fun; a tad scary, but great fun (but scary).

    Paul MayPaul May's avatar — 06/08/09 at 09:13

  5. I’ve always felt pretty intimidated by diving – how deep did you go?

    This post is fucking awesome!

    RobertRobert's avatar — 06/08/09 at 11:31

  6. Please, try and loose that annoying rivalry between PADI and BSAC; it’s getting older than pc vs mac. Both have their merits and downsides and as a qualified PADI instructor I have experienced both from close-by. There really isn’t that much difference when you actually go beneath the surface.

    Marc NuijtenMarc Nuijten's avatar — 06/08/09 at 11:46

  7. Men, love the style of the blog. Every post with their own style, totally top notch.

    EduardoEduardo's avatar — 06/08/09 at 13:04

  8. This blog is fucking awesome! Damn.

    I don’t even know where to start on how you knew where to start when coding/designing it. If you ever do a step-by-step of your process for one of these things, I’d be the first to read it.

    I didn’t even care about scuba diving (sorry my dad’s a marine biologist and he has never convinced me either), but I could stare at this layout all day.

    Ian Storm TaylorIan Storm Taylor's avatar — 06/08/09 at 15:07

  9. Guys, thanks a lot for the compliments, I’m glad you enjoyed reading/looking.

    @Robert I managed to get to 20m deep, which is the maximum depth a diver with my qualification can reach. It was a drift dive though, so things were super-exciting.

    @Marc, it was a loose, jokey comment, but since you’ve mentioned it, what are the upsides of PADI over BSAC, and the downsides of BSAC over PADI? Just interested. And the Mac vs PC argument is a case of getting what you pay for, so it’s value in this discussion is questionable.

    Thanks for your comments. I love you all.

    GregoryGregory's avatar — 06/08/09 at 15:09

  10. Whoops, in hindsight my comment might have come off a little grouchy; certainly didn’t mean it that way! My point was that
    actually there isn’t much difference between PADI and BSAC; not training-wise anyway. PADI is a commercial and recreational dive
    training system that can get you in the water and diving very quickly (in under an hour, actually) which is nice when you’re on
    holiday and want to get a feel for diving or maybe take an continuation course. BSAC training tends to take a bit more time as it is
    more comprehensive even on starting-level, which is not a bad thing when you think about it…). It all depends on the diving
    you want to do… PADI tends to be more expensive; BSAC is a dive club which can give you training a little or no cost. PADI
    is somewhat larger so it’s often easier to take courses where and when you want them (even in remote locations).
    In the end; dive training is only as good as the instructor giving it and would jump in the water with a BSAC certified diver
    any time. As you put it so aptly: diving is fucking awesome. On another note; great and original design (love the shark).

    Marc NuijtenMarc Nuijten's avatar — 07/08/09 at 18:24

  11. I just started to snorkeling, and would love to get deeper.

    DausDaus's avatar — 09/08/09 at 15:28

  12. I wish I had the guts (read: balls) to individually design my posts, but thank baby Jesus I know rockstars like you and Jason Santa Maria to do that for me. Gorgeous site as always, and I’m glad to be back reading :D

    Incidentally, let me know if you ever find the Marie Celeste. I have all kinds of insurance money on that stupid ship.

    RanjaniRanjani's avatar — 10/08/09 at 07:44

  13. This post is awesome. I wasnt ever diving but know i want to go right now. I also love seafood! Very nice and inspirational post…keep em coming :-)

    AndiAndi's avatar — 11/08/09 at 07:34

  14. Damn right Diving rocks. There is nothing quite like getting up, lugin some tanks in a truck and heading to the ocean for a swim in the big blue wobaly thing to cure a holiday hangover.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVJ2jf4l1Y

    NickNick's avatar — 11/08/09 at 15:29

  15. WOW I love your blog! It could say ‘blah blah blah’ and I would love it…but that it says good stuff on top of it…well, just great.

    ErinGreg's avatar — 11/08/09 at 17:03

  16. As a fellow collector of things that are just right for their purpose I have a term for our obsession:

    Shiny kit disorder

    lochlanlochlan's avatar — 11/08/09 at 23:00

  17. Guys, thanks for your comments, your compliments are awesome.

    @Marc, thanks for the info. I guess it’s down to whichever way suits you best, but I’m glad I chose BSAC.

    @Daus - you should, really. It’s so much more of an experience.

    @Nick that’s a cool video mate.

    @Lochlan - haha yeah, it’s certaintly straining on the old bank account. At the end of the day it’s all a means to an end, the end of course being fun, so it’s for a good cause I say.

    GregoryGregory's avatar — 12/08/09 at 17:44

  18. Hi Greg,  to echo some of the comments already, well done on this blog, the posts get better and better designed and this post is just beautiful.

    sachasacha's avatar — 14/08/09 at 09:30

  19. It seems you’ve already forgot a very basic recommandation (see student workbook p86;): look but don’t touch… And also that fishing with a breathing equipment is strictly forbidden in most countries…

    MikeGreg's avatar — 15/08/09 at 00:44

  20. wow. thanks for the post. has to be one of the more inspiring things i’ve seen in a while. and not inspiring in a “top 50 hand-drawn wordpress templates” sort of a way, but in a real, challenging double-dare way. wow.

    micahmicah's avatar — 18/08/09 at 02:26

  21. hilarious post!  been diving since i was 15 - it IS fucking awesome.  at 18 i had scheduled a shark dive off monterey bay until my dad noticed the charge on his amex & shut that down - still waiting for my shark dive.  if you haven’t done a night dive, get on it - talk about an otherworldly experience.

    first thing to get - regulator & mouthpiece.  who knows who chewed on that thing before it got into your mouth.  blegh…

    justineGreg's avatar — 19/08/09 at 21:10

  22. Other commenters have already said everything that needs saying but I still feel I need to chip in and tell you this blog post is going into my design inspiration bookmarks, and has also been emailed to my non-geeky but pro-diving friends.

    I’m presuming this must be run on EE, but it blows my mind how you do the custom blog post styling thang.  Same awe as when I look at Jason S-M’s blog too.  There is a lotta love gone into this. I’m thoroughly impressed.

    Emily HeathEmily Heath's avatar — 22/08/09 at 16:50

  23. Guys - thanks for your comments.

    @Justine, I definitely will be pestering Simon Campbell for a night dive when my leg sorts itself out and I get over to the Isle of Man for a dive. It sounds awesome.

    GregGreg's avatar — 23/08/09 at 11:43

  24. “If you learn to dive the proper way (with BSAC, instead of PADI), “

    What makes you think that the proper way of diving is not taught by PADI? PADI is a commercial business but in no way do they shy away from proper diver instruction.

    Both PADI & BSCA teach different skill sets. BSAC for example, doesn’t offer EFRI course where as BSAC teachs gas calculation and decompression theory, etc. which PADI does not.

    RickGreg's avatar — 24/09/09 at 13:44