Hi Everyone, My name is Emma Bradley and I dived with Leviathan Hard hat Diving. It was an amazing and unique experience.
In 2009 my dad said we were going on a diving adventure and I thought of the red sea and clear warm water. My dad was a commercial diver and worked in Scapa Flow on the remain of the German fleet but I still never imagined he was taking me hard hat diving !
I was somewhat apprehensive at the thought of getting into all the deep sea diving equipment and going underwater as I am a non-swimmer but Andy, who runs Leviathan Hard hat Diving with his wife Lesley, gave me a thorough safety briefing on the equipment, what to expect underwater. what to do and what NOT to do. It really reassured me.
As I was being “dressed in” all sorts of things were going through my mind. Would I get enough air? Would I sink like a stone? Would I panic in the water? Andy’s team were all on hand and knew exactly what to do so all was left was for me to get in the water!
I was not prepared for the weight of the equipment and found it was really hard to walkdown the steps into the water, however, once I was in I could hardly notice it was just like Andy said it would be.
I fell to the sea bed and tried to put into practice what I had been taught about “dumping” the air. Next, I had the challenge of walking!! thought it would be easy since its something I do everyday but I kept kicking the sand up making it hard to see. The hard hat has intercom so I kept everyone amused while I was on my travels.
Imagen this….In the distance I could see something orange and shiny. A fish with shiny scales I thought. I made my way over slowly. Partly because I couldn’t move any faster and partly because I didn’t want to startle the shiny fish. I got closer and closer then realised it was in fact a traffic cone with a reflective strip! Underwater is like a whole different world.
I carried on and found a shell which I have kept as my underwater treasure.
I had such a brilliant time that I stayed underwater so long the rain came on and everyone on the surface got wet while I was in the sea and bone dry!
I have some fantastic photos of my time in Orkney and some great memories of my dive.Now every time I look at my shell or see a programme about diving all my memories come flooding back.
DIVE INTO HISTORY WITH LEVIATHAN INTERNATIONAL
Leviathan International offers divers and non divers the chance of a lifetime to experience original early 19th century hard hat diving at Stromness ( near Scapa Flow ) Orkney. On your selected dive day we will meet your dive boat when it returns to the harbour so there is no disruption to your normal days diving. We will discuss the safety rules and familiarise you with the equipment before you are kitted up for a photo shoot. As soon as all the pictures are taken it is your time to experience hard hat diving. There is original open comms from the helmet so we can talk to each other as you walk along the sea bed. Once the dive is over you will be presented with a smart A4 certificate to show your achievement. We strongly advise you make a reservation to avoid any disapointment.
Gift vouchers available, call Andy on 01856 850395.