Preparing for any kind of dive expedition takes meticulous planning, we had Paul do all the arrangements for us– enough said! The night before saw everybody gathering kit and packing, the list was exhaustive, swim suit, towel, mask, qualification cards, passport and ticket, yes it’s that simple and no massive kit bags are required.
Arriving at St. Pancras in the early morning found a quick coffee and breakfast to be in order. At this point we discovered the first flaw to our plan, no bacon sandwiches - come back Arthur, all is forgiven!
The journey in itself was unremarkable, Mark read his kindle, Richard and Neo Slept, Yvonne and Chantelle nattered, Ruth laughed and Paul bounced around like a kid with ADHD!
Once in Brussels we were guided by Yvonne and seasoned traveller Neo, however the trams were nowhere to be found and taxis were only conspicuous by their absence. Our hero Paul eventually leapt in to save the day, taking his life in his hands by jumping into the road to stop an oncoming taxi. It was then our turn and we all diced with death and Belgian traffic police - seven people squeezing into six seats with a taxi driver who had no idea of where we were going.
The front of house staff at Nemo do little to help you or explain what to do or where to go, but once the bell rang and we headed to the pool the support staff there were much better at explaining what do, in Italian, French and English! All the kit is ready for you to use, but check carefully what you pick up as some of the kit is fairly worn and getting a bit rough round the edges. All of our tanks ranged from 140 – 160 bar so for any new divers a reminder to keep a check on the air is important.
Finally we get to dive, well after ten minutes of snorkelling! Don’t expect to see anything exciting in the water, there is no lifeboat and certainly no fish, but you can have fun waving at people in the restaurant whose windows look into the pool. After playing at ten metres for a while we headed towards the 33 metre tunnel. There are some amazing sights to be seen in diving and looking down the 33 metre tube will never be in the top ten for divers who have been there and done that, however for people who have never dived in blue water or past 15 metres or so it will be number one. At first it just looks dark and dim but as your eyes adjust you can see the bottom and can’t wait to get down there. A downside, can I think of one, oh yeah, lots of dive computers means lots of beeping it may not be you, but it could be. Keep an eye on your computer and make sure you know what you are looking at, that no deco time runs out faster than you think. When you are coming up it is easy to go too fast as you get lifted by the bubbles of people below you, there is a ladder on the wall so when you get to your deep stop it is really easy to be safe and keep at the right depth. There are three ‘caves’ to explore. But unlike the unfortunate divers in ‘Sanctum’ you will have no difficulty finding your way out the amazingly room shaped caves! Overall this is a great venue for training and gaining experience. It gives new divers the chance to experience deep water in a warm and clear environment. More experienced divers can practise skills or play with cameras. For me as a fairly inexperienced diver to have the likes of Mark, Richard and Yvonne around to keep an eye on things and to share good practise was invaluable.
There are certain rituals in diving, some are for safety like checking your o rings, but the best ones are for fun like the after dive beer and where better to find a nice beer than Belgium? A short and cheap tram ride gets you in the city centre of Brussels where there are a multitude of bars and restaurants and we spent a very pleasant afternoon eating, drinking and putting the world to rights before realising that we had to hit the chocolate shops for the various wives, husbands, children and significant others that we had left behind. A little side note for Paul’s better half Johanne – yes, Paul really was in Belgium, and yes I think you should have had a much better present than a box of chocolates!
There are various tales from the day which will go down in Wraysbury legends, Chantelle desperately needing the loo, but with a lack of 30 cents giving the Belgian toilet attendant a ‘souvenir’ £2 coin. Or indeed Neos effort to educate us in the way of culture by wanting to take us to the Museum of Famous Belgian People, if you know who they are answers on a postcard to . . . .
This was my first outing with the Wraysbury crew and all I can say is “Oh my god that was so much fun. Where are we going next?..... When are we going ? ”
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