Day 3, St Maarten - Sea Trek

At the end of a day and a half of cruising, we arrived this morning in Philipsburg, the Capital of the Dutch half of St Maarten. This was our first excursion day.

We had chosen to go on a Sea Trek. This involves us being taken by boat  (in heavy rain!) to a pontoon in the next harbour, where we were kitted out with one of these open diving helmets.

The helmet weighs about 75lbs and sits on your shoulders. To it, is attached an air hose. Once helmeted up, one descends a 20ft ladder to the seat bed. Not exactly the sea bed, as there is a 300ft track, with railings for you to follow.

12 people go at a time. We opted to go in the first batch. I think most people were a little apprehensive. 

The first guy to go up, never got any further than the ladder, as he couldn't get the helmet on comfortably, as he gad a big head. 1 down.

Catherine was on the ladder before me. She said the water was freezing. One of the crew helped aclimatise her by splashing her shoulders. She'd have sworn if I'd done that. Down she went.

My turn on the ladder. Water wasn't too bad but not as warm as I'd imagined. Helmet on and down. Stop to equalise. Down some more. Equalise. Down some more. Sea really rough. Hold on for a while to steady. Down and equalise twice more, whilst someone went up again. Catherine?

No sign of her on the walkway. Shame.

The divers lead you around the track, taking photos at points and feeding fish, so you have them swarming around your head, inches from your face. Brilliant. There's some wreckage around the track, cannons, a helicopter and even a shopping trolley; as well as natural rocks. 

At one point, Theo, one of the divers started making gestures to me.  I had no clue what he meant but when I turned around, there was Catherine. She'd made it, on her third attempt. 😀  She didn't look too happy but she later said it was because she was cold.

Eventually it was time to go up. For me this was the worst part. The divers grab you and thrust you towards the ladder, at which point the helmet tilted and water sloshed into my face, nose and mouth. Don't think I have ever had such salty seawater in my mouth before. Despite that, it was a brilliant experience and I'd recommend it to anyone who for whatever reason, doesn't like the idea of  'proper' diving. With this, there's no spitting into a mask and nothing going in your mouth. Sure you don't have the freedom of scuba diving and it's bit staged but you can breathe normally, can keep your glasses on and need not even get your hair wet. Not a worry for me obviously 😂

Catherine trying her new snorkel mask, after our Sea Trek