THE REZ - Dive Report

If I hadn’t had the appointment to be on time for, I would have crawled at a Sunday-driver’s pace the whole way there.  The Rez is set in the most beautiful English countryside. Driving down the leafy corridors prompted me to imagine the narrowed in views that my torch would afford me once we took the plunge into darkness.

I think that all newcomers to this unique experience could admit a slight twinge of anxiety.  Many of us have completed wreck dives in confine areas, and even night dives – but the combination of the enclosed feeling AND the dark together... it was a challenge that sparked exceitement mixed with a little apprehension.

Luckily, as soon as we met our host for the day, Martin, I felt instantly reassured.  Matrin’s relaxed and happy nature was complimented by a gentle but consientious attention to safety.  Seeing our entry and exit points, and having the layout explained soon began to make me feel that I could cope with this strange new environment.

Once you are in there, away from the light, you would never imagine the actual layout and size of this 20m x 40m underground reservoir chamber.  Instead it seemed there was only as much distance on any side of you as your torch could light, and yet simultaneously with the dark concealing the walls, you could easily imagine you were floating in the endless vacum of space.  Boney’s treasure trail gave us a chance to accustomise ourselves to the chamber though, and to develop some idea of how we could orientate ourselves, counting columns and following walls.  You certainly relearn your buddy system – staying close by each other!

Needless to say, all of this adventure helped us to work out quite the appetite, and Martin had us covered yet again.  Amazing home-made salads emerged from the cafe, while a BBQ sizzled away.  You can’t smell it when you’re under the water, but the minute we surfaced, the smell had our bellies rumbling. We tucked in hungrily while a fleeting slice of summer warmed us up. We had a birthday in the group too, so teh food was followed by cake and jelly, after the obligatory silly-string offensive!

On the second dive, we now had our confidence and had great fun feeling our way around in pitch black, with out rouch lights held to our chests to experience the total darkness.  Its amazing how quickly your senses adapt and sharpen, seeking out the tiniest of lights.

This was definitely an experience that I would like to repeat, and it built up my confidence.  If I go on to try caving and overhead environments, this is the place I would come to practice. It’s a perfect training environment with all the safety catches in place.