day 4

The depths of the island

When plan B turns out to be better than plan A

scuba diving

Scrolling through a few blogs before we left, one of the stops we had marked in our notebook was Tsougria Island, which can be reached from the old port in only 15 minutes by boat and is inhabited only by a few cute little goats.

Once we arrived at the site, the surprise: in October, being the end of the season, the transportation service was no longer active.

We then embarked on an activity that we were very excited about but at the same time a little afraid of: scuba diving, with oxygen tanks.

We think people make a difference,

This is precisely the case with our instructor, Panos – from the Skiathos Diving Center – who with absolute calm and patience literally immersed us in an unknown as well as extremely fascinating world.

As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, October is the month in which the island’s summer season ends: while one can appreciate the tranquility and absence of tourists, one must accept that not all activities are still doable.

Panos opened the diving center especially for us, giving us his full attention for 5 hours and even giving us the video/photo shoot that he kindly shot with the GoPro.

The activity begins with an important initial briefing, lasting about 1 hour, in which it is explained in detail how to perform compensation maneuvers (to balance ear pressure by descending to depth), how to check residual oxygen levels, report any needs (since underwater one can only express oneself with gestures), and – most important of all – how not to panic should something not go as planned.

Fortunately for us, the instructor spoke English very clearly, and all the instructions we learned meant that once we dived for the first test, we gained confidence right away without feeling the need to rise to the surface.

Once you have put on your wetsuit, fins, oxygen tank and mask, after the theory you move on to practice: making a first dive starting from the beach and – once you are familiar with it – making a second one, this time near the small island Troulos, which you reach thanks to its boat (from which you dive directly backwards).

Here we observed, as protagonists in a documentary, many varieties of fish and unearthed ancient Greek amphorae stored in the seabed, descending to a depth of about 12 meters.

It is crazy how, while we live our busy lives of thoughts and worries every day, a few meters below a completely different, slow and silent show goes on.

All that is left for us, like astronauts exploring for a few hours – immersed in our own little bubble – is to discover it, contemplating it in fascination. Thus we realize that this world unto itself has always been there, accessible and available to us to be learned, giving us the chance to re-emerge different and more aware.

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ON THE LAST DAY!