Scuba Diving and Overcoming Fear with Waterhoppers Rhodes

When I studied abroad in Australia some time back, I knew I just had to go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. My friends and I set it all up, but when the time came to scuba dive, everyone panicked. Scuba diving for the first time can be a nerve-wracking experience.

I mean – you’re willingly diving deep underwater with heavy equipment where you can not breathe. It sounds scary! I often tell people that scuba diving was one of the most daunting adventures during my travels, so I knew I had to give it another shot in Greece.

Scuba Diving with Waterhoppers Rhodes

The day started at Mandraki Harbor in Rhodes Old Town at 9 am. Cameron and I made our way to The Waterhoppers dive boat, the “Katerina,” for a day of sun, fun, and fearlessness. We boarded our vessel and were immediately welcomed by the staff from around the world.

With about 30 other adventure seekers we were given an overview of all the necessary safety precautions and “need to know” hand signals underwater. All while making our way to our dive spot. I distinctly took note of one hand signal in particular. Do not give a thumbs up to say you are “Okay,” it means you want to go to the surface. An easy mistake for us Americans whose national hand gesture is the thumb.

We anchored in Kalithea Bay, our home for the day. Kalithea means “beautiful view” in Greek and that is exactly what we had the entire time diving. Waterhoppers Dive School actually has its own private dive station where the boat moors, so it is just the crew and passengers enjoying the beautiful bay for seven hours.

About to dive with waterhoppers rhodes — Just a tad bit goofy looking

We were set to go for two dives for the day, the first was a beginner dive. It was Cameron’s first-time scuba diving and only my second, which was years ago. We suited up, waited for the staff to put on our tanks, and were ready to go for our first dive of the day!

Despite being scared in Australia, this time around was a complete breeze. We went about 5 meters underwater for the first dive and had great visibility. Cam and I knew we were in great hands the whole time and could not have felt more at peace with the sea. We also felt great knowing that if anything went wrong the Waterhoppers team was floating 5 meters above us watching.

After the first dive, we couldn’t wait to get back in the water to go for longer and deeper. The second dive was much smoother, less awkward, and was where I felt comfortable enough to pull out our GoPro and get some great underwater shots. We saw a plethora of beautiful marine life during this time like bream, damselfish, rock fish, and pipe fish. We had our hopes set on seeing an octopus or barracuda, but no dice.

Although we would have liked to see an octopus swimming gracefully by us while underwater, it was okay that we didn’t. We had such a fantastic time scuba diving in the Mediterranean that we are looking into getting PADI certified soon!

Scuba diving was initially scary for us, but after about one minute we were instantly hooked and very quickly got over our fear. I don’t know why it took me so long to try it again after diving in Australia. Now we are eager to dive during our African adventure this year in Mozambique. Stay tuned!

Good to Know

Waterhoppers has dive trips every day but Sunday and takes off at 9am from Mandraki Habour in Rhodes Town.
Average water depth for dive is 10 – 15m
This is the Mediterranean so expect extremely clear waters with visibility around 20m+
Common marine life: bream, damselfish, rock fish, flounders, pipe fish, octopus
Maybe you will see: Mediterranean barracuda, monk seals, turtles, nudibranch
Average Water Temperatures: 19°C to 30°C
Current is very weak to nonexistent

Recommended for a day of Scuba Diving?

Swimsuit
Towel
Change of clothes
Sunscreen
Drinking-Water and lunch (There are snacks on the Katerina as well)
A good book to read while other groups are diving

We’re Now Open Water Certified!

We got our SSI Open Water Scuba certification on the island of Nusa Lembongan off the coast of Bali. We’ve now gone on numerous dives around the world and look forward to many more. Check out some of the posts!

Plan and Pack for Greece

Travel Insurance

We don’t travel without travel insurance and neither should you. You never know what can happen while traveling so it’s best to be prepared. HeyMondo provides excellent short-term and long-term travel insurance plans.

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Waterproof Speaker

This all depends on where you’re heading to the beach, but a portable Bluetooth speaker is great to have when you’re in a group. We travel with a small BOOM speaker and take it with us when it feels appropriate. We say this because it’s often best to leave it at home on small secluded beaches so not to annoy anyone else with your music — no one’s that good of a DJ.

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Rainbow Sandals

Want to fit in in Greece? Get yourself some Rainbow brand sandals, seriously everyone around you will be wearing them – and for a good reason. They are uber comfortable once you break them in and last forever!

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Beach Tote!

No matter what you will need a beach bag when heading to the beach. This is to throw in anything like towels, a book, a speaker, sunglasses, snacks, and sunscreen. As full-time travelers, we often use our daypacks for trips to the beach since a tote is unnecessary.

The Best Beach Totes

Sunscreen

Skin cancer is for real! Don’t forget your SPF when traveling around Greece. We recommend ordering some online before leaving the house as you will need it underneath the sun in the summer.

All Natural Sunscreen

Sunglasses

Make sure to protect your eyes from the sun. There are a lot of options for sunglasses and everyone should own at least a pair. It’s best to make sure they do have UV protection for the health of your eyes.

SMITH Sunglasses

Travel Towel

Most hotels will provide you with a towel, but they often aren’t suitable or allowed on the beaches. I like to travel with a microfiber towel because they are light and fold up small, and they also don’t cling on to sand our dirt. Here are a few of our favorite travel towels.

The Best Travel Towels

Travel in Greece

Scuba Diving and Overcoming Fear with Waterhoppers Rhodes

Scuba Diving with Waterhoppers Rhodes