36 Feet Under: Scuba Diving in the Seychelles… wow!

“We’re only doing the dive pool and that’s it, right? No ocean dive.”

That was my wife at breakfast. About 24 hours later, we were both 36 feet under the Indian Ocean… so you can probably guess how that went.

How It Started

It was day 4 of our stay at the Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island, and every morning we would get a WhatsApp text from our personal concierge, Soukaina, laying out the day’s activities in case we wanted to sign up. By then we had already gone kayaking and snorkeling, painted coconuts, walked along the beach, watched a sea turtle nesting (amazing, by the way), attended a coffee masterclass, and biked all around the island and up and down the landing strip. I thought to myself… a lot of what we’ve done, we’ve done at other resorts. What’s something we haven’t done before that would be a real adventure? Then in came Soukaina’s text message:

What’s that… a Complimentary Discover Scuba Session??? Not many full-blown activities at this resort are complimentary, and everything had been perfect so far, so why not? I remember that when Soukaina gave us the tour of the resort, we drove past the Aquatic Center and I thought… looks cool, I don’t know if we’ll ever go there, but it looks cool. A Discover Scuba Session meant they would teach us the basics of scuba diving in their dive pool, which goes down to about 12 feet… well, looks like we’re trying something new! The last time anyone in my family went scuba diving was my brother, back in the Maldives in 2002, and I was too young to join… boo hoo. Fast forward 23 years and it’s finally my turn.

Meet Liz

Liz is an expert diver who runs the dive center at the resort with her daughter, Charlise. They also run their own dive business on Mahé, the main island, which was cool to learn about too. For our session, Liz was our instructor, teaching my wife and me the basics… just imagine a very tall, fit Dutch lady with the calmest, nicest demeanor, whom nothing fazes… that’s Liz.

After we got all the hand signals down, it was time to get in the pool. Let me tell you, even a single tank is a heavy lift, but we managed. Even in the pool, it was wild to just swim around underwater and be able to… breathe… That was definitely something I was not used to! After about an hour of practicing, we both got the hang of it, and Liz and the team asked if we wanted to schedule a dive out in the ocean for the next day.

Remember my wife’s breakfast rule? No ocean dive? Yeahhhhh, sureeeeee… I had agreed at the time, but after that hour in the dive pool, I wanted to take it all the way. So we looked at each other, and right then and there I said, “Sure thing, let’s do a two-hour dive!”

Into the “Monster Soup”

I get where my wife was coming from. The open ocean is terrifying to me too. There’s a reason people say we know more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of the ocean. As my wife puts it (and I completely agree with her), the ocean is monster soup… there are so many creatures down there, and anything can happen. But with that comes the excitement… ha. I will say I did not get much sleep the night before, because my head kept running through everything that could go wrong.

Still, 9 AM rolled around the next morning, and we were off on the boat with JP (who had taken us kayaking earlier in the trip), the captain, Liz, Charlise and a few other members of the team. What made this special was that we were the only hotel guests going, so all the attention was on us and on making the dive as good as it could be. I could see my wife was uneasy, so we asked Liz how many dives she had done. She said something along the lines of 10,000+, and I thought, oh boy, so this is a walk in the park for her! What I hadn’t realized, and what raised my heart rate, was that we were heading past the lagoon into the ACTUAL open ocean. I know I was being a scaredy-cat, but it was my first time, so I was a mix of excited and nervous.

When we got to our spot, it was a beautiful day and the water was pretty calm. We all put on our gear, got our cameras ready, and were set to jump in. I will say… the moment I jumped into that water, I left all my worries on the boat. Crystal-clear water, great visibility, and an instant sense of calm. I’m used to snorkeling, keeping my head above the water and occasionally diving down 8 to 10 feet to get a better look at something. But you’re telling me I can go way deeper than that and just BREATHE down there? That was a feeling I’d never had before, and I was all for it.

Liz, the Mother Hen

This next part is where I appreciated Liz so much… she was a total mother hen. When my wife jumped in, she had a bit of a panic attack, and rightfully so. For someone who hates the open ocean to begin with, it’s a really daunting thing to see no land anywhere, just you and the “monster soup.” Within the first five minutes, she was incredibly uneasy and didn’t feel like she could do it. This is where Liz’s decades of teaching newcomers really showed. She took my wife’s hand, gave her a little pep talk before we went down on how to calm her nerves and enjoy it, and then guided her through everything. The whole time, I don’t think Liz was ever more than five feet from my wife. She was the cool, calm dive expert who gave everyone, including me, a sense of control in a very unpredictable place (the ocean).

36 Feet Under

Since it was our first dive, we were allowed to go down to a max of 36 feet, which is still insane for me to think about. I was gliding over the ocean floor 30+ feet down without a worry in the world.

The first thing that hit me was the quiet. No waves, no wind, no boat engine… just my own breathing, in and out, and a trail of bubbles racing back up to the surface. Then the reef opened up below us, and a massive school of bright yellow bluestripe snappers came swirling over the coral, HUNDREDS of them, moving together like one giant fish. I remember thinking… okay, THIS is why people get hooked on diving.

And that was just the start. We came across incredibly colorful coral with a TON of sea life: a lionfish (look, but don’t touch!), painted spiny lobsters tucked into the reef, skunk clownfish darting in and out of their anemone, powder blue tangs, and clouds of orange sea goldies.

And the best part? Liz got my wife comfortable enough that she ended up swimming around the coral on her own! The same person who had a panic attack at the surface was now cruising over the reef like she’d been doing it for years. That was awesome to see, and we got some great photos of us together and of the sea life.

What really set the team apart was what happened next. I guess I have pretty big lungs, because even though the dive was only supposed to take one tank, I blew through mine before we were even halfway through (I swear I was breathing at a normal rate). I thought, dang it… my dive is done. But Liz stepped in and told the captain and JP to give me another tank at no extra cost, so I could keep diving with the team. I was so happy to keep going! The rest of the dive was pure bliss: calm water and more of the ocean floor to explore. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see any rays or turtles down there, but we had already seen plenty of both from the shore and while snorkeling in the lagoon.

“See, I Told You I’d Get in the Water”

After two hours, our dive came to an end and we all climbed back onto the boat. My wife went right up to JP and told him, “See, I told you I’d get in the water!” It turns out JP had dared her to get in the water after she stayed on the kayak during our snorkeling session, and she took that to heart. I’m guessing that was some good motivation, and I’m so glad she did it. Would she do it again? Probably not, and I don’t blame her. For her, this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

A huge thank you to Liz, her daughter Charlise and the whole team, not just for the dive, but for all the great footage of us swimming around and the shots of the sea life. Without Liz, I think this dive could have gone south fast. Her cool, calm and collected self put everyone at ease… again… mother hen!

Want to Try It at the Waldorf?

• Book it through your concierge. Ask your personal concierge to set up the Discover Scuba Session, and keep an eye out for it in the morning activities text.
• The pool session takes about an hour. That’s where you learn the hand signals and get comfortable breathing underwater before anything else.
• Block off about three hours for the ocean dive. That covers the boat ride out, gearing up, the dive itself and the ride back.
• Go in the morning. I recommend booking the ocean dive early in case any weather rolls in later in the day. Calm water makes a huge difference, especially on your first dive.
• Don’t dive right before you fly. Dive safety guidelines say to wait at least 12 hours after a single dive before flying (18 hours after multiple dives or days of diving). Platte Island’s only way out is a small plane, so plan your dive for a day or two before you leave, not your departure morning.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was surreal for me, and honestly something I never thought I would do, because it just never dawned on me to try. Water… scary… But would I do it again? Yes, I would… somewhere new next time! When is that next time??? Who knows, but when the opportunity presents itself, I will be sure to go for it. You can read more about the resort in my Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Platte Island review.

So, ocean adventure… check! What’s next… flying a plane?? Hopefully soon!

Until the next adventure,
Trailblazin’ Half Asian