Diving in the Region of Murcia, overcoming issues by undertaking shore dives and it's amazing where these sports can take you.... 

One of the main reasons for choosing Murcia as a home was the Mar Menor, and the stretch of Mediterranean coastline which ran along the back of it, the combination of these two offering an unparalleled chance to practice a vast range of water sports.

Diving was top of the list for things I wanted to try, the waters in this area being renowned for their crystal clear visibility, interesting rock formations, wrecks and caves, as well as exciting range of marine life.

I duly embarked on a Padi course, learning the basics in a swimming pool, progressing to a beach dive, then off the edge of boats, rapidly gaining confidence and feeling comfortable in the marine environment, but once out of "kindergarten" and into the world of real diving, started to experience a few problems and soon lost interest.

The problem was, that friends who were enthusiastic divers were determined that I should enjoy the sport as much as themselves, and were keen to show me sites they enjoyed and buddy up for these dives.

But as a novice diver, the pace was just too fast, I felt pressured, pushed, uncomfortable, and after the dives I felt ill, physically ill, and decided that maybe diving and my body just didn't agree with each other, so I stopped.

Time passed, then one day the phone rang.

 

It's funny how things lead us from one path to another. Readers of the site will probably have gathered by now that my wife has a passionate green streak, her reason for choosing this Region as it contained the house that she could see as a " green retreat."

After a few planning related issues which took several years to resolve, we finally built that solar and wind powered eco friendly home, acquired the mandatory flock of sheep, goats and chickens and recycled manically, meeting people along the way who care about the same things. One day, whilst launching myself off a hilltop, I discovered that my feared Medio Ambiente inspector was a fellow paraglider, a massive ice breaker if ever there was one. A few months later we were attending a Romeria, when he wandered up with a plateful of paella and beer and asked if we'd like to plant some pine trees on our finca, which we've incorporated into a network of protected wildlife reserves, and duly appeared at the house with a group of ecologically minded people who also happened to be archaeologists, my wifes' other great passion.

So eggs and honey are exchanged, we come home to find honey tied to the chain with Esparto grass if we've had an unexpected visit, and count ourselves lucky to know them. They worked on the Phoenician boat excavation in Mazarron, so took us to the ARQUA museum in Cartagena, obtained permission for us to use the research library and have encouraged us to learn more about the subaquatic archaeology in this area, which we have done, enthusiastically.

 

So then came the phone call.

Would my wife like to meet the archaeologists working on a National geographic site locally, and as it was a subaquatic site, would I like to dive with them and shift a few rocks as a volunteer.

Would I???????

Only one problem, out of date paperwork and loss of confidence.

 

 

The first thing I had to arrange was a medical which took 10 minutes at a local doctors for a certificate and then a revision dive with a certified Instructor. A friend with the necessary qualifications arranged everything for me and took me out one Friday morning to take me through my paces and ensure I was up to date with the necessary basics to continue diving safely. One thing he recommended to me was to try and get in a few dives before I joined the archaeologists as it would be his professional reputation at stake should I make a complete fool of myself.

 

 

Bearing this in mind I chatted to the guys at Adventure Divers of la Manga Club, they suggested that shore dives might be a better way of overcoming my sickness problems, as the pace was more gentle, there was nobody pressuring me and I could enter the water without being in a boat. They explained to me that novice divers often experience panic, or sickness, which probably accounted for the symptoms I'd experienced, and the pressure of being pushed to descend and ascend more rapidly than I was comfortable with would exacerbate my symptoms.

A shore dive meant I could enter the water at my own pace, without the stress of having to exit a boat straight into deep water, and control my dive gradually, slowly swimming out into deeper waters.

They took me to a beach by the Cabo de Palos lighthouse, and I had two great dives, comfortable, confident, relaxed, and experienced none of the symptoms I'd had before, and the pleasure of  exploring the underwater rocks and meadows of posidonia which surround this coastline gave me a confidence and pleasure which really surprised me.

I can't recommend enough to anyone who has lost their confidence, hasn't dived for a long time, or experienced these medical issues like myself, try these shore dives, it's a totally different world to a boat dive, and it changed my whole experience to one of enjoyment, from one of trepidation.

By the time I went out with the archaeological team, I was confident, relaxed and in control, and overwhelmed by the experience of being with a team who earn their living underwater.

This is a grueling job. The boat left at 7am, which meant we were loading air tanks, supplies and equipment by 6.30am. A 45 minute dive was followed by a 3 hour break, to ensure the body decompressed fully, even though we were only diving at 18 metres, then another dive, and on good weather days, another 3 hour break and a third dive, then lugging all the equipment off the boat again, and starting work on the finds.

 

Time is so important, by the time we've gone down, and come up, we've got just over 45 minutes of work, and as the job is painstakingly slow, it takes a long time to bring up a simple piece of broken pot or piece of ore, every minute detail recorded manually and photographed.

Most of the work is shifting rocks, as the site is covered with them, the military having blasted the rocky outcrop which formerly crowned the site, to smithereens, all of which now lies on top of the excavation area. This is done using airbags to lift them up, but it' slow work, and can take a whole dive to shift just one piece.

It was  humbling to work with this team, Pat, the photographer, turned out to be none other than Patrick Baker, winner of the BBC Wildlife photographer of the year twice, and a marine photographer who'd worked on the Mary Rose and many other international excavations. Juan, the head archaeologist has undertaken more than 200 excavations throughout 40 years, whilst Murat, who humbly calls himself the technical guy, was on the front cover of National geographic when he worked on the Uluburun site, one of the most important underwater sites ever excavated.

Mark is from Texas, and the rest of the team are international, all volunteers, all unpaid, and all dedicated to this incredible project.

It's humbling to be welcomed as part of the team, and a privilege to be in contact with this project, and now the gags have been untied by the regional government, a luxury to be able to share the experience.

But none of it would have been possible had I not regained my confidence and just relaxed, because that was the core of my problem.

Taking a shore dive gave me the chance to slow the pace and embrace diving , instead of fighting the experience and stressing myself out, and there's no better place to do it than the edge of the Islas Hormigas wildlife reserve, with it's amazing abundance of wildlife.

I went with Adventure Divers, and this isn't an advertorial, so I can honestly say it was a great experience and I wouldn't hesitate to say I felt as though I was in very safe hands.

 

So that's how things go.

You just never know where life is going to take you.

 

Laurence

Click for Adventure Divers info.

 

A full report is being prepared on the site, but we are only allowed to publish the official photographs once, so we'll have the report for you by the end of the week.

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