Well it’s been a busy few months on the SCUBA skills development front.

James qualified as an PADI Advanced Diver and then as a PADI Rescue Diver.

Not to be out done I completed my Advanced Diver Certification and have spent the last two days doing my in water training to become a Rescue Diver too.

Part of the requirements for the qualification saw Jim and I taking our Emergency Firsts Responder training. So now we are both first aid trained and have to carry a first aid kit with us as part of our dive kits and we can both tie slings.

This week Boy and I have had a few shore dives and a boat trip out to the Kittiwake.

One of our shore dives was unreal. We jumped of the dock at Sunset House into the sea and headed due west for The Wall.

We saw a tiny juvenile spotted drum fish. They are like magical ribbon dancers.

The little Spotted Drum Fish just mesmerising.

On route we passed the two biggest barracudas we have ever seen. Easily seven feet long. We swam out over the wall and looked down into the black of the Cayman Trench before turning back.

On the return leg we saw a huge Goliath Grouper, over five feet long tip to tail.

We were surprised by a green moray eel, and yes he was huge.

We couldn’t believe it. What a dive. We were giggling all the way back to the sea pool, as we entered the pool James spotted a free swimming octopus. No not huge but what a treat!

The ship is now tipped completely over on its side! Swimming through it is like a visit to an underwater funhouse. Crazy angles, floors where walls should be and slanted doors.

One outcome from all the diving we are doing is that both James and I can stay underwater quite comfortably for over an hour on one tank now.

James and I are just dotting a few t’s and crossing a few eyes so that by Christmas we will both be accredited as Master Scuba Divers.

For me, other than a few specialty courses to hone my skills, (Nitrox, Underwater Scooters, ) that will be the pinnacle of my dive qualifications but for James it is just the first step towards the career he is working towards in diving.

He is signed up to a dive boat and rib piloting course.

He has started the theory part of his Dive Master qualification.

He is volunteering for the Department of the Environment and doing coral conservation with Cayman Echo Divers. He also continues to intern with Go Pro Divers working as a deck hand and dive guide.

The day after his eighteenth birthday he will begin his apprenticeship to become a dive instructor. It’s really great to see how focused he is on his goal of getting into a dive career. So proud.

Post dive treat.