Diving made more fun and less scary

Don't rush into diving, remember to take baby steps and you will be rewarded in the end!

For newbies, the safest and the easiest way to get comfortable underwater is to go on a lot of dives, and snorkelling trips. Familiarise yourself with the ocean, the marine life. If you’ve just started your open water divers course, don’t just wait everyday to go out to sea with your instructor. Try out your hand at snorkelling, because being comfortable underwater is definitely one of the most important things to remember while diving.

When snorkelling, it is important for you to try out swimming under the water, and not only floating and dog-paddling, because the only way you can get a close glimpse of the corals is if you head down. So using your feet, kick the water back, paddle under water. Remember to exhale so your body doesn’t float. And do not panic. Try this out only if you’re comfortable in doing so.

For first timers, start out at a place where it’s shallow so you can come back right up once you start to lose air and feel panicky. Practise this skill and soon you’ll realise how long you can stay underwater, and also, seeing the corals and small fish up close will help you get more comfortable in the environment. But always remember: never go out to sea alone.  Once you are sure you’re ready for diving, begin your course.

A good place to start out your diving adventures is the Orimas Thila , located in the North Ari Atoll, near the Constance Halaveli Resort. The depth of this area would be about 3 meters to 30 meteres. This particular Thila has a reef which is about a 100 meters long which an incredible amount of fish and corals.

This reef is unique since there is a very interesting crack at 6 meters near the drop-off. The long, narrow opening is home to a lot of small fish; angel fish, clarks anemonefish, and butterfly fish practically rule the entire area. These multi-coloured little fish can be seen darting from one coral to the other, in a hurry, and clearly very busy with their lives.

Further down the reef, there is a cave covered with beautiful soft corals, seafans, and black coral bushes. Down here, it is just a flurry of bright colours and bubbles, full of activity. When going on dives, do remember to pair up with a buddy, and never going in exploring the places alone. Once your first dive is complete, you feel more relaxed and comfortable to go underwater again, the next time to swim with the bigger fish.