Diving Into My Dreams – My SCUBA journey so far

Growing up in a holiday destination like Marmaris, with its crystal-clear, calm, warm waters ideal for scuba diving most of the year, I soon felt intrigued and slightly jealous when my father decided to train as a scuba diving instructor.

On one of his days off, he asked if I wanted to tag along for a boat trip on the dive boat. I was just 8 years old at the time and of course I wasn’t going to say no!
By the time we reached the dive location, he had fallen asleep on the hot sun deck. When I woke him up to ask if I could go diving, he told me I was too young and probably wouldn’t be able to ‘get the hang of it.’

Undeterred, I went downstairs and asked his boss and colleagues if they would take me diving. To my delight, they agreed!

I kitted up and, without a second thought, jumped into the water. Despite being restricted by my age, experience, and the rules, the experience was nothing less than magical—weightless and enveloped in silence, save for the bubbles escaping my regulator. I was mesmerized by the underwater world: fish brushing my mask, vibrant starfish, octopuses, sea urchins, and rock formations bathed in sunbeams. It was an unforgettable sensation, one I never wanted to end.

After a brief dive, I returned to my father and told him what I had done. Surprisingly, he was fine with it and genuinely happy for me.

Although I didn’t get many opportunities to dive in the following years, it was always on my mind. I practiced the skills I had learned, like clearing my mask, at the bottom of the swimming pool and annoyed my friends with details of a 20 minute dive for the following months, even years!

When my brother was considering moving to Turkey to start a new life, I suggested scuba diving. He came over, started working as a scuba diver, and I occasionally had the chance to develop my skills and be in the water. The busy seasons meant I couldn’t dive as often as I’d have liked, but I was grateful for the opportunity as a young teenager.

Life eventually took me back to the UK for my education, and I didn’t dive much during those years, except for completing a few courses to dive deeper and acquire additional skills. After a few years of working with the dive centre, my brother ended his contract and returned to the UK as well.

A few years later, while I was studying nursing at university, my brother’s former boss contacted me with an offer to train as a dive leader and work at the dive center. I couldn’t believe it. Without hesitation, I accepted, booked a flight back to Turkey, and dropped out of university. I have no regrets about that decision.

Diving became my sanctuary, providing a sense of peace and fulfillment that other aspects of life couldn’t. Despite struggling with mental health issues, the sea provided a solace that medication and therapy hadn’t. Every day was a new adventure: deep dives, rays, barracudas, playful octopuses, and photographing groupers and dolphins. It felt like living a dream. It was living my dream.

After a couple of years, the dive center was sold, and I had to refocus on education and career stability. Although I haven’t dived in recent years, I seize every chance I get to return to the water.

I’m looking forward to hopefully participating in a liveaboard trip in the Red Sea in 2025 and will keep this blog updated with my experiences. This blog serves as a reminder that even though I’m currently in the cold North West of the UK, I have 71% of the seas to fulfil my love in. If I could take the leap to follow my dreams before, I believe I can do it again.

Welcome to my Scuba blog! I’ll be sharing images, scuba-related content, and topics on environmentalism and activism for the marine world.