“So… when are you selling your dive kit?” Diving life with a newborn

“So… when are you selling your dive kit?”. After the normal congratulatory comments you get when you announce you’re expecting a baby that was probably the most common question that followed. Usually precluded by; “well that’ll be the diving stopping’. Well, the simple answer is, “It’s not for sale and I’m not going to stop!”

The answer might be simple, but I’m not going to pretend the solution is.

So often when we spoke to other parents (young and old) we heard how they had to give up doing what they enjoyed when their little ones arrived. So, when we found out we were expecting baby Hannah, Rachel and I decided we were going to try and keep doing what we both loved as much as possible and include Hannah in our adventures. Whether that be walking/hiking, paddleboarding, or in my case, diving. We weren’t naïve, we knew things wouldn’t be exactly the same as before, we knew there’d be challenges and we’d have to adapt our adventures. But, if you enjoy doing something enough, you’ll find time, you’ll find a way, and that’s what we’ve tried to do with diving.

There were quite a few things we had to change and consider, but we were happy to do it if it meant we could spend time together (which was the most important thing), and continue to do what we loved.

KIT

Ok, cards on the table, I admit it… I REALLY over pack for dive days. I have a fear of turning up to a site and realising I’ve forgotten something, so I think I’ve literally got a spare of everything! I even have a checklist for every activity too; dive days, hiking, paddleboarding, Hannah… there’s a list for it all. What we quickly discovered was “tiny” might be tiny, but her “kit” most definitely was not! That first day trying to fit a twinset and pram into the back of a Kia Sportage was a laugh! The simple fact was, I’d have to get over my fear of forgetting something and trim my own stuff down, the extra dry suit and two sets of weights were probably overkill anyway.

TIMINGS

For most of my dive days I like to go early and be back early. That meant we usually meet around 7ish before travelling and diving around 9/10. Anyone who’s had a baby knows that our little darlings don’t really do timings… or they do if you get them into a routine. But, they also seem to know when you really need to get out and decide those are the days, they want to go off their routine. We’ve been lucky with Hannah; she has a routine that does actually fit quite nicely into my “old” dive day timings. However, I’ve also learned that I can’t control everything, sometimes I just need to go with the flow and what she needs. This works well as most of the dives I do in the sea lochs in Scotland aren’t tidal and can be dived any time. My dive buddies are also happier as they don’t have to get up as early anymore.

TRANSPORT

I admit it, we are in a lucky position here when it comes to transport. Just before lockdown and the country went crazy for campervans, our family actually bought an old AA van and got it converted into a camper. So, as well as being used for camping trips, it also makes an excellent adventure/dive day bus for us. Although we can fit everything in the car (we’ve got really good at Tetris), we mainly use the van for dive days to give us a bit more space and a bit of shelter if the weather does turn… and its Scotland, so it will turn!

WEATHER

I’ll be honest, I’d dive in any weather (within reason and safety of course!). But when the girls are coming along as “shore cover” dragging them out in torrential rain and freezing cold winds might just be bordering on child abuse. So going out as a family means being a bit pickier with the weather… well as picky as you can be in Scotland, you can never predict the weather here!

DIVE SITES

When it comes to choosing dive sites now when Rachel and Hannah are coming along it becomes a little trickier. Normally we’d decide based on the type of dive we want to do; wall, reef, wreck, etc. Now we also need to throw in; parking (of the van) and space for Rach and Hannah to go a wee walk if it’s a nice day. It might not seem like a big deal but as much as I want to enjoy the dive, I want them to have a good day as well. It wouldn’t be much fun for them to be stuck in the car/van parked up next to a busy road all day. So, somewhere with a bit of shelter, space and maybe even a wee beach is perfect. Does it mean that we might not be able to go to some dive sites? Yes. But I can go to those another time.

Are there more challenges to diving when you have a wee one?

Yes!

Will she stop me diving? 

No.

Will I be able to get out diving as much as I did before Hannah arrived? 

Also no, but being truthful, as much as I love diving, I don’t want to. I want to spend as much time as I can with my daughter.

Now… what’s the smallest size of dry suit Fourth Element do again?