So far the diving has been good. For the first trip I was collected from the hotel and taken to Pelagos dive centre. There I was introduced to Stephanos, the owner, who assembled my new regulators. Apparently I made a good choice for the latest addition to my kit.

As always, the centre was both friendly and professional. Whilst I checked my kit Sarah was supplied with fins, mask and snorkel. After a short wait in the the glorious Cretan sun everyone was good to go. We climbed aboard and set out on the calm blue sea to our site for the day.

Following the spectacular Cretan coastline on clear azure blue waters laying beneath a crystal clear Mediterranean sky, Stephanos at the helm, with his ruggedly tanned face and flowing blonde locks, only served to complement the most serene of settings. By the time the boat was moored to the buoy, a tranquility had raised the perfect mindset for the days dive.

Descending down over a rocky shelf it soon became apparent that this dive would not be illuminated with brightly coloured corals. The topography was however, quite spectacular. Then, 10 minutes into the dive, fish appeared from nowhere and everywhere, from the tiniest damsel to large dusky groupers. It was at first quite curious until I realised our dive master and guide, Manolis, was carrying food. This is not something you would normally do but, giving the almost barren landscape, I guess it is the only way.

On returning to the boat I was greeted by a buoyant Sarah who had seen jellyfish, a star fish and a turtle. We, despite our expensive rigs, had not.

The following days dive, with same dive centre, was equally as good and exhilarating. Additionally I was for the first time properly weighted for the conditions carrying just 4 kilos. On returning to the dive centre I asked why the landscape was so barren and the answer was overfishing. It seems strange that such a tourist destination does not have marine reserves or sunken wrecks to produce artificial reefs.

And so to the next dive centre, Crete Happy Divers, a local Greek concern. I appeared with my kit and Nikos, my guide to be, started to assemble my kit whilst I filled in the obligatory paperwork. On pulling each piece of kit from my dive bag he commented on the brand, Aqualung, Aqualung, Aqualung until he reached my wetsuit. “Mares”, he said, “why?”. When I told him it was a good suit for me he smiled. These are good people and this was going to be a good dive.

We headed out at a fairly fast pace on a reasonably large speed boat following the coastline much further than before. On mooring to the buoy, the overhanging rock, soaked in the afternoon sun looked like a backdrop to a 1970’s Sofia Loren movie.

Once in the water, the landscape revealed even more barren beauty, with rocky shelfs, small walls and huge drop-offs. Then came the tinny clicking of Nikos calling us over. As we gathered to see, he coaxed an octopus out from his rocky hideaway. As the ink cleared Nikos pushed him away only to have him push his tentacles together and dart back into his hand, several times. Returning the octopus to his home we continued with the dive.

40 minutes into the dive, one diver was out of air and using Nikos’ secondary reg. He was returned to the boat along with 2 other divers, also low on air. We continued once they were safely returned and revisited the octopus. This time he was calmed with a constant stroking of his head until he settled, wrapped around Nikos’ wrist, and camouflaged himself to the colours of the wetsuit he clung to.

Returning the octopus once again, we swam through the safety stop, up through an arch and back to the boat. Checking my dive computer I realised I had finally reached my goal, breaking 60 minutes on a single tank.

The following days dive was equally as good although no octopus and I learnt a little more about the Cretan waters. The older man running the dive centre, whose name escapes me, has been diving since 1970. At over 600 dives a year that is some experience. He told me the underwater landscape had been shaped by years of Mediterranean storms and fishing with dynamite, indiscriminate and far worse than overfishing.

Each time I dive it is totally different, so many fantastic people and always new experiences. This time I also met new goals, down to 4 kilos and breaking an hour on a tank of gas. What a way to while away the days.