For the next few months we’ll be following the Cyprus Adventure of husband and wife duo Lowri and Oli James as Lowri blogs their scuba diving journey from Open Water Diver to PADI Professional.
The moment I took my first breath underwater at Cardiff International pool back in 2011, I knew that scuba diving would be a part of my life forever. My husband Oli, having qualified as a teenager on a family holiday in Fuerteventura, was delighted that we would be able to share such incredible underwater adventures together.
In the years that followed, we did a lot of diving locally in Wales; Chepstow Quarry and some beautiful bays on the West Wales coast to name but a few. Oli and I were also lucky enough to dive in some incredible places around the world; places such as Koh Tao in Thailand, Dahab in Egypt, Bali, and, at Komodo National Park, Indonesia dove with over 20 Manta Rays during a single dive. An absolute dream come true. We have met some incredible people along the way and have made lifelong friends.
The start of our Cyprus Adventure
Over these years, our experience and knowledge has continued to grow and, having visited Cyprus a couple of times to further progress our diving, in May 2015 we decided to take a 3-month sabbatical from our work in the UK and complete our PADI Divemaster course with Cyprus Diving Adventures; the first step in becoming PADI professionals. Not only did we complete the course but we also qualified as PADI Master Scuba Divers, specialising in Deep, Navigation, Search and Recovery, Enriched Air and Night. This was one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences of our lives and we left Cyprus determined to return to follow our dream of working in the diving industry, and sharing our passion for the sport and underwater life with others.
So here we are! On March 11, 2017, Oli and I embarked on the biggest adventure of our lives when we flew to Paphos, to live and work in Cyprus. We are living in a village called Pissouri that is located between Limassol and Paphos, and are training and working with Cyprus Diving Adventures, a PADI 5 Star Dive Centre. Steve and his team have become more than mentors and instructors; they are now good friends, as well as many of the locals both Cypriot and British. As well as further developing our professional diving careers, I am so excited to be a part of so many other people’s first experience of diving and their very first breath underwater. An experience that could possibly open a whole new world of adventures and experiences, just like it has for us.
If you’re interested in becoming a PADI Professional you might also be interested in this blog post: Why the Professional Diver Lifestyle is For You
