So, my name is Shelley and I am a Diving Instructor. I first learned to Dive in Cyprus back in 2004. That's nearly 10 years ago, so I guess I am starting to get old because I don't know where the time has gone!
My first Dive was a PADI Discover Scuba Dive with Peter Crane, instructor and owner of Scuba Tech Diving Centre. I worked as a Thomson entertainer for the Gold holidays and he was doing pool shows in my hotel.
Needless to say, I was hooked from the first breath. I signed up straight away for the Open Water Course and by the time I left the Island 6 months later, I was a Rescue Diver with my sights set on Divemaster.
Since then, I have become a PADI instructor, a Trimix Diver, Sidemount Diver and have even had a try dive on a rebreather.
Teaching Diving in Cyprus I see many divers come and go in a year and one thing I have noticed is that girlies are often still quite reticent when it comes to Scuba. Lots of them only learn to dive when co-erced into it by their boyfriends/husbands because they need a buddy.
There still seems to be an attitude that...
DIVING IS NOT FOR GIRLS!!!
RUBBISH!!!
Girls can make exceptional Divers and with our teeny weeny lungs, we are often much better on air than our male counterparts (which makes them a little bit jealous!!).
We also tend to be a bit more cautious as Divers rather than steaming in and pushing the boundaries but there is nothing wrong with a bit of conservatism and I am speaking in general terms. This is by no means the rule, as there are plenty of women out there exploring this new frontier with the best of them.
What I will say, is that Diving is not for ladies.
By that, I mean that if you are a girl who always likes to look immaculate, with properly groomed hair, nice nails, full make-up and flattering dress, this sport probably isn't for you!!
If, by contrast, you don't mind wearing an unflattering rubber suit that shows off every bump and curve, having hair like a troll doll under water and looking like a rastafarian when you surface with dreadlocks that haven't seen a comb in months and (this is the biggy) you are ok with having copious amounts of snot that dries across your face that even your buddy doesn't tell you about, you have probably found your place in the world as a Scuba Diver.
The most important point to remember is that Scuba Diving is great fun and it shouldn't be something we miss out on because we are girls.
So come on, get out the rubber and be a Scuba Diva like me...
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