I was in Golfe Juan (near Cannes) for 10 days this summer, exclusively for diving, and I must say it is a great place for diving! I dived with the most popular dive centre of this region, “Diamond Diving”. The experience was nothing but amazing! The course director, instructors, dive masters, and every single person associated with the club, were extremely welcoming and I felt at home whenever I was hanging around with the diamond diving family. During the time that I spent here, I had the opportunity to interact with numerous divers from different parts of the world, and also learn a lot from every person I met here. I must say that Alex (the course director), Fred (Instructor), my dive buddies Maddie, Josh, and Emilie, have helped me a lot in realising my mistakes, and made me a better diver during this period. I am definitely going back to dive with my diving family in Golfe Juan, as soon as I’m done with my studies.
Here are some of my favourite pictures from the dives, (All the pictures were shot on a Gopro Hero 5. And yes, I have played around with the image tone a little, to get a slight cinematic look.)
As we swim over a small underwater village, my dive buddy Maddie is busy drawing the plan to complete her map of the area.
Marc (left) is busy taking pictures while Paula (right) is signalling to me that there are giant Groupers ahead.
Maddie floats above me, amidst a school of tiny fish (I think they’re called Castagnole).
Divers trying to descend and equalise for the pressure as Fred (The Instructor) observes them.
Maddie with her favourite fish.
Fred helping out fellow divers untangle the secondary regulator hose.
The descent (left – Fred, bottom center – Matthieu, top center – Sophie)
Graceful like a dolphin.
If you were claustrophobic, how do you feel about going in here?
My dive buddy Lucie (right) and I.
Matthieu (top center) dragging along the surface marker buoy as we swim ahead.
As you go deeper, you lose colours. It is handy to have a torchlight, which helps bring out the natural colours. In this picture, Alex is showing us some gorgonians, or a moray eel I presume.
Moments after this picture was taken, Lucie (far right) bumped into me. I was in her way, but I saw that coming; Wanted her in the frame anyway.
Fishes fishes and more fishes.
Maxime prepping the Surface marker buoy to indicate our position to the boat.
The wall on the right has many small openings, many a time you see moray eels peeping from narrow openings. I’m terrified of Moray eels.
Alex signalling us the dive plan for the way back.
Alex leading the way.
At around 5-10 meters with good sunlight, almost all the colours are vibrant. Also, the visibility is spectacular.
Divers observing movement in the sea grass.
I’d been taking pictures of everyone and then I realised I didn’t have any of my own. So, I turned the camera around for once.
Finding an octopus is always exciting.
With the Diamond Diving family (Left to right – Josh, Noemie, Me, Alex, Maddie, Fred)
So anytime you’re in the Cote D’Azur region of France, do check out Diamond Diving. Even if you’re not a diver already, you can go on one of the try dives, or explore a full day program of discover scuba diving, or even sign up for the open water course. The dive center has all sorts of courses and training options available, starting from basic open water to Instructor development.
” To infinity and beyond ! “
