12-13 January 2019
Link to Jenny John Chuan’s photos Link to Andrew Hubbard’s video
Report by Ciaran Gaul
This was my first Diving Trip with the club and what a way to start! An early morning start on the 12th, up at around 6am and at Ebbsfleet International for around 7am. The meeting point for many of the 15 that came on the trip whilst the rest did the whole Eurostar from start to finish (St Pancreas to Brussels!).
A 2-hour journey followed that in all honesty felt like 1 hour! From arrival in Brussels we headed for the tram system and within 15 minutes we arrived at NEMO 33. Once in we waited for around 20 minutes whilst the first group finished. Once they were done and we had finished perusing the shop it was dive time. All you needed was swimming gear and your mask (very easy trip to pack for). All other equipment was provided as part of the package. The pool itself was set up in a few sections. Section 1 was to 5 meters, Section 2 to the right was to 10 meters and to the left of Section 1 was NEMO 33, the 33-meter mark. NEMO 33 adequately named, 33 degrees water temperature & 33 meters deep.
After a quick briefing of safety rules, fins were put on and we all went in for a 10-minute free swim and dive with the dive only to the 10-meter mark. A bell sounded and it was a race back to the start to get fully kitted up. Once kitted you had free reign to go and do as you please for the next 50 minutes with a run time of only 10 minutes allowed at the 33-meter point at any one time. Most rushed off to the deep depths whilst I had to stay above 15-metres albeit I found this amazing! After around 35 minutes the pool flashed giving you a 15-minute warning and with this you had to be at the 10-meter mark. Another 10 minutes later was followed by another flash indicating for divers to do the safety stop at the 5-meter line. After this was the last flash to end the dive.
The dive was then followed by what was a fantastic Thai dinner which was loved all round followed by a luxurious chocolate fondant! (George’s favourite!) After dinner it was back on the tram to the hotel followed by a few bevies at the pub. The following morning it was back to NEMO33 for dive number 2 which was much the same but still a great time!
Once complete we made our way back to the Eurostar and were home in time for Sunday Roast Dinner!
A thoroughly enjoyable trip which all would do again! As a new diver this was the perfect setting for going deeper and a great way to enjoy the dive and for the experienced divers it was something different and new along with just having a great dive! Thanks to Charles on arranging it all! NEMO33 out!
