With the weather continuing like this, the real Côte d'Azur summer is very nearly upon us, and the collective focus for outdoor amusement is often on the sea. There exists, of course, a wealth of water related activities that we're lucky enough to have easy access to in this part of the world - fishing, water-skiing, para-sailing, ocean swimming, snorkelling, kayaking, pleasure boating and sailing, the list just goes on and on....

However one that stands apart as being pretty much unique is scuba diving. No other pastimes give such a unique mix of physical activity, intimacy with nature in an alien and three dimensional environment, adventure and a close social bond with your fellow divers from shared experience. For many, after their first experience, scuba becomes a passion for life. It opens up avenues for travel, and is a fantastically relaxing experience and truly a way to escape from the treadmill of modern life for half a day. "Un bon façon de décompresser" as the locals might say.

The Côte d'Azur is one of the spiritual homes to scuba diving, and the Mediterranean is a very special sea to dive in. Forget the old "Med is Dead" clichés, the French authorities have made massive progress looking after the coastal eco-system down here since the 70's and 80's and divers see the benefits. The density of fish populations increase year on year and the bio-diversity is strong. Average visibility (how far you can see underwater) is very good and the clarity of the water is truly awe inspiring. As regular divers, the Med has plenty of jaw dropping surprises in store such as Sunfish, schooling Barracuda, hunting Bonito, Jackfish up to two metres long and Rays.

For those looking to try the sport this can easily be done over a half day which includes: briefing, boat trip, full equipment hire and twenty minutes underwater one to one with an instructor for around €50. This experience can then be credited to getting your first certification. A full entry level certification takes four days and is a whole lot of fun but also a rich learning experience and with that out of the way you can concentrate on honing your skills and enjoying the best dive sites of the region.

We are even lucky enough to have our very own English speaking dive school in the region. Diamond Diving operate out of the Vieux Port de Golfe Juan on the coastal road between Antibes and Cannes. They distinguish themselves by dealing with small numbers and a focusing on good customer service, one of the reasons why the won an award from PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors, the largest and most well known training organisation in the world) over the winter.

Congratulations to Deborah Marzohl who won the prize of a try dive with Diamond Diving at the Career and Lifestyle Exhibition in Valbonne...happy diving Deborah!

To contact Diamond Diving call Alex or Noemie on 06.15.30.52.23 or 06.75.79.01.68.

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