It was still quite early in the morning when I and 23 other students from our school arrived at Maltaqua to experience scuba diving for the first time.

We tried on the diving gear and attended a 40-minute lesson about diving, in particular about safety regulations, diving etiquette and underwater hand signs. We also referred to some aspects had discussed in our physics lessons, namely density and pressure.

Upon arriving at the dive location, we were again briefed by our assigned instructor before we wobbled into the water with the heavy gear on our backs to slowly descend into the water, which was colder than expected. We tried breathing through our regulators for a few minutes and then took off.

We dived to a depth of five metres and swam around for about 40 minutes.

While under water, we observed various sea creatures and felt the effects of water pressure on our bodies.

“We were awestruck by the sea’s marvels and most of us wanted to remain underwater for much longer to continue exploring and being thrilled by the creatures and their habitats.”

We had to equalise the pressure in our ears regularly as we descended. Throughout the dive our instructors helped us and guided us to areas where we could see the most diverse sea life.

There was a completely different atmosphere below the sea unlike the world we see every day. We could also hear the sound of our hearts beating and the bubbles coming out of our regulators, but otherwise there was complete silence.

We were awestruck by the marvels of the sea and most of us wanted to remain underwater for much longer to continue exploring and being thrilled by the creatures and their habitats.

It was an experience we would not hesitate to repeat if given the opportunity.

Elizabeth Grech is school captain at San Andrea School.