Last Monday saw me walking along the seabed of the giant tank in Manchester Sealife Centre. A tank full of hundreds of fish, sharks, rays and Ernie the giant sea turtle.
After the struggle to put on a wetsuit, an experience I would never have thought I would put myself through, we listened to a safety talk, watched a video and went up to the top of the tank. It looked amazing from the top and it was fun to watch the rays chasing after the bubbles coming from the other participants helmets.
I have to be honest and say the helmet freaked me out a bit. I am not someone who enjoys enclosed spaces or going under water so be in a enclosed space and go under water was really facing my fears. I had a few issues at the beginning over coming my own fears and then having issues with my ears equalising but following the instructions and being amazed by the fishes around me soon made calm down and enjoy the experience.
Being in the helmet means that you cant hear anything apart from the rush of oxygen and the bubbles as you breathe out. It is noisy and peaceful all at the same time. Standing watching the rays, sharks and fishes is just an unbelievable experience. Feeling the fish swimming against my legs and seeing Ernie the giant turtle swim past us so close you could almost touch him was so amazing it will stay with me for a very long time.
An experience like this is a once in the life time experience you want to have again and again and to be fair it is priced so you can!
This is a fantastic gift for those hard to buy people and with the age range starting at 8 I am certain my little brother would love to do this. To find out more information please have a look at the Sealife Centre Manchester SeaTrek page.
