All The Live Long Day: Diving In The Sea Of Cortez

Even though I come from the coast of Northern Germany, it seems I have not always had an affinity to water. My parents used to have a sailing boat when I was little, but tell me that I always started to cry when they turned on the motor to go out to sea. I did not learn how to swim until I was seven, and once, on a holiday to France, I was adamant that my parents, who had left me on a beach blanket by the edge of the Atlantic while they went for a dip, would surely drown in the roaring surf.

I do not know when my fear changed to fascination, but now I definitely enjoy being by the sea, or on a boat, or amongst the waves. I love swimming and that feeling of weightlessness, and I have always been interested in fish and marine life.

I had been wanting to learn how to dive for a while. Marco had passed his PADI training years ago during one of his round-the-world trips and was eager to have his very own dive buddy, so he had given me the course as a birthday present.

I did my initial training in a pool in London, with Lodge Scuba diving club, and completed the open water bit during our trip to Mexico, in Cabo San Lucas.

We booked our 4 dives with Deep Blue diving school, and - probably due to it being low season - it was just Marco and I on the boat, with our own personal dive master each. I dove with Luis, who was very patient with me while I was going through my PADI exercises like mask clearing, mouthpiece recovery and simulated cramps. Marco went with Englishman Gary, who used to live in London himself and who took all the photos of our dive.

I must say that I was impressed with how friendly and helpful all the divers that I met during my training were, and how enthusiastic about what they do. It feels special to be part of this community now.

Diving itself was awesome, magical and exhilarating. It made me feel like a cross between a bird and a fish, and I enjoyed the calmness underwater and the excitement about being where I was. Nothing compares to swimming alongside a school of glittering fish, with the only sound being that of your own breathing. In addition with what you can see below we saw jumping manta rays from the boat, a sand waterfall, octopus, puffer fish, flatfish and so many other types that I am not able to name.

We will be going on our belated honeymoon to Madagascar in April, and I am looking forward to seeing what the Indian Ocean holds in store!

Getting ready.

Preparing for my first ever backroll into the water. Being a worrier, I thought I might somehow hit my head, get tangled up in my hoses and hurt my leg scraping it along the boat. Skipper Juan is giving me a pep talk.

So, so happy just after the backroll. Who would have thought it might actually be fun!?

Some corals.

A moray eel.

School of fish with yellow tails. Does anybody know what they are called?

Yellow Tail Snapper! Danke, Mama! :o)

Sea lion.

First dive ever, first shark ever! It's a white tip. Marco was so jealous, as he has dived loads but this was his first shark, also! He seemed quite docile, hiding in a cave, but I was a bit worried that Luis might agitate him with his flashlight.