Story by Yvonne

Webmaster replies:

Thanks for that Yvonne, diving sounds really good. You were very brave, especially at the thought of you attracting sharks.

The Scariest Thing I have every done (True)

One year D and I went to Phuket on holiday. The hotel had a lovely big swimming pool and D kept laughing because every time I jumped in the pool, I held my nose.

Just around the corner from the hotel was a dive instruction centre. We popped in one day and asked about learning. They said we could do it in 10 days. First we had to do theory – learning about underwater signing, ok sign for being alright, thumbs up to swim to the surface, thumbs down to swim deeper, that kind of thing.

Then after 5 days we went and practised letting water in our masks and getting it out and swapping mouthpieces. How to check there was enough air in the tank and how to keep a log book of diving trips. I was dreading the exam. We had to do the mask and mouthpiece thing and dive down to 30 metres for 20 minutes.

On the day (the scariest day ever) we went on a boat which moored about ½ mile from an island. The sea was rough and all the pots and pans started falling off the hooks in the kitchen. It started raining and the waves were huge. Luckily we had taken sea sick tablets. When we got there it was dry and hot and we got our scuba gear on and jumped in with our instructor. The first half of the test was letting the water in the mask and swapping mouthpieces, phew we got that over with. Then the big dread, swimming all the way down to the bottom of the sea. We saw shoals of beautiful fish, coral and an electric eel, but all the time I was worried in case I couldn’t tell anyone I was in trouble. It was a horrible feeling. Eventually it was time to come to the surface. When I got to the top, I found I was having a nose bleed and other people noticed this and started shouting to get back on their boats because I could be attracting sharks!

Anyway, we got told before we got back on to the boat that we’d passed and now I never have to hold my nose anymore when I jump into a swimming pool.

The End

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