Diving in Cyprus: Our first dive for two years

Diving in Cyprus: Our first dive for two years

After two years at home we go diving in Cyprus and discover the joy of underwater life again

There was a time when I recorded my dives on her first day of school with all the enthusiasm of a nerd. On every trip abroad I took my battered logbook with me and made a meticulous date, place, depth, temperature, sights and so on.

Atlas & Boots dive in Cyprus: Hafen of St. George

Unfortunately, this means that I don't know how many dives I did. I would appreciate somewhere in the region of 30, including shipwrecks, aircraft wrecks, walls and bommies, but it could easily be a dozen more.

This casual attitude is in a strong contrast to my beginnings as a nervous diver. As I have already written, I almost stopped my very first dive and stopped my PADI qualification on my first attempt. Since then I have become more confident, but recently when I dived in Cyprus, I was reminded of my initial nervousness.

A dive was initially not intended. Cyprus was my first trip with Peter since December 2019 and I wanted to do nothing other than eat, drink, read and sow myself in the sun. In the typical outdoor manner, however, we decided to go diving after two days of our trip.

Atlas & Boots Chris and Kia prepare for the dive

We warned our Divemaster Chris from Kalliopi Dive College that we had not dived for two years and wanted a gentle reintroduction. Fortunately, he had the perfect option: a scene in front of St. George’s Harbor on the west side of the island.

We stepped out of the cool, air -conditioned air of our hotel lobby into the plump sun outside and jumped in Chris' Truck, which had all the calming sign of an experienced divemaster: a loading area salted with sea salt, a large marking buoy and three boxes with equipment.

When we went on the 20-minute drive to the port, I felt the well-known thrill. As our readers know, in contrast to Peter, I am not in my element in the water. I am a bull; an earth sign. I should live on land. (Advertising: Apparently bulls are good swimmers, but they understand what I mean.)

Atlas & Boots A friendly turtle visits us on our dive in Cyprus

in St. George’s Harbor crackled the sun on the flanks of the black metal truck and forced us in the shade. I was happy to have the opportunity to build my own equipment together. In about half of the cases, diving bases will pre -assemble their equipment, which is practical, but means that they can easily fall out of the exercise. This is particularly difficult for someone like me, who- as I have said once or twice- has a problem with teachings, closures, zippers, buckles, knots and castles. Fortunately, Peter was there to help, and of course Chris checked everything again to make sure it is safe.

I tried to convince Chris to have a whopping 5 kg weight diving, as I tend to hover involuntarily towards the end of a dive. He explained that our tanks are not made of aluminum, which usually causes the additional buoyancy. To dispel my doubts, he agreed to pack an additional kilogram if I needed it in the middle of the dive.

Atlas & Boots Kia diving in Cyprus

Since this was a dive on land, this meant that we could gently wade into the sea instead of jumping into restless waters instead of jumping from the side of a boat. At first we used our snorkeling and I quickly became out of breath when I tried to keep up with the boys. I was worried that I would have problems while diving, but as soon as we started relegation, I was absolutely well. As a divemaster has explained to me in the past, breathing through a breathing controller is actually easier than through a snorkel. Almost immediately we came across two playful turtles: a great reward for little effort.

Atlas & Boots

Shortly after we reached the level, I could find that my tank was wrong to one side. I tried to compensate for it when swimming, but this type of imbalance makes a dive much less funny, so I paused to repair it on my back (imagine an unsightly maneuver, press half, pull half). After I had corrected it, I finally found my groove and slowly went into the dive.

Soon we came across friendly turtles, about as big as the one at the Great Barrier Reef. They ventured remarkably close and reminded me of the joy of seeing marine animals in their natural habitat.

We continue to swam, passed a short tunnel and over a shimmering tang carpet. Unfortunately, after half of the dive, I felt the familiar feeling of how my body hovered. I swam to Chris because of the additional kilogram. Instead, he used my indulgence valve to let the remaining air from my BCD, and suddenly everything was fine. As it turned out, he knows better than me.

Soon I slid through the water and found my fins, so to speak. After two years on land, St. George’s Harbor was the ideal diving site. Sometimes divemaster feel under pressure to show us magical things - especially experienced divers, but I only content myself with my thrill to be under water; to explore a place where people should of course not be.

I was always satisfied with my open water various certification, which allows me to dive up to 18m. However, diving in Cyprus after a two -year break made me hungry for more. At my next opportunity, I will probably try to certify the Advanced. It may take a few attempts, but this country -haden bull is finally ready to try it.

diving in Cyprus: The essentials

was: a land gang from St. George’s Harbor in Paphos, Cyprus.

Where: We stayed in the Azia Resort & Spa in Paphos, Cyprus. The hotel is located in the middle of lush tropical gardens and offers a wide sea view. We urgently recommend booking one of the adults-only rooms that are only equipped with a variety of amenities for adults, including their own pool, a garden area and a lounge.