OPEN WATER......Diving in False bay,Cape Town.

Hi Dave. The picture here, is of False Bay, just outside Cape Town central. To the front is the beach and then the sea. In the distance, two land masses jut out on the left hand side. The picture is grey blue, with a light mist hanging over the sea. It looks barren and isolated and if I were to place a large dark dorsal fin cutting through the surface, it would be the perfect setting!
If you have ever seen any footage of Great White sharks on the telly, then this is where it would have been shot. Not right here, but some considerable clicks from this very spot. False bay is huge and I was assured that the White tips never venture this far. This place was to be my first sea dive......Gulp!


The Dive days were fantastic and of course with most things in life had their ups and downs. the ups were 99% the down was that at the age of 40 i had become fearful and questioning of the idea that you can breath under water. I was fine at the age of 20, didn't even enter my head, but now things had changed !! Thank god I had the lovely Jo Hook from Pro Divers to look after and reassure me. There were three of us on the course and we started it in the pool, which was bloody cold. Did a few swimming exercices and then began the skills of the Open water diver. It was great fun and great exercice !! The next day we headed to the pic above to start our first sea dive. As you can see, conditions were not brilliant but was still bloody exciting knowing that the White Tips weren't far away !!!! We were diving in shallow, 5 M , slightly murky water and I was promised that there would be no contact with the big boys. However at the two wrecks that sit just off the shore, we did encounter about 6 shy sharks that are very friendly and will come and sit on your hand. If you scare them they will curl up, very cute. We learnt to take off our masks while only using the regulator, which panicked me at first but i soon got comfortable with it. The next day things began to sink in and getting the gear set up was becoming much easier. On the drive to the dive site, we passed another wreck, which sits just a few meatres from the shore. When she ran aground in 1903, the people aboard jumped off, but because it was so dark they couldn't tell how close to land they were and so swam away from the shore. They all perished. When you see how close that ship is to shore, it just seems like the most unlucky event in the world. Back to the diving. Confidence was growing and I was feeling good. Unfortunately the two Irish didn't turn up, probably due to alcohol difficulties, so I had Jo just to myself, which was great. A seal came to see what we were doing, while setting up, but unfortunately didn't hang round long enough for us to see while diving. Finished our skills within about 2 hours, packed up and headed home. It was a beautiful day and Jo informed me on the beach that I had passed the practical. So to celebrate, I treated myself to some Mexican and some work on my script, 'Arcade'. And then it was off to bed, which I have forgotten to mention. I am getting eaten by bedbugs. Little buggers have feasted on my left arm and have now moved down to my left leg and hands. Have washed all my clothes, sprayed the room and so far have not been bitten. I was offered another room but I thought I better get the practice in on how to out wit these buggers before I get to their motherland, India !!! Writing this, I have now started to itch !