Great Expectations

There had been a storm last night, small sections of green coral reminded me, as they floated past my face.

It's not usually advisable to swim in the ocean after a storm, a lot of pollution gets washed in and you can really get quite sick. Lucky for me, I'm in a full body wet suit and ten metres underwater, breathing a mixture of oxygen and carbon-dioxide out of a tank, or at least I hope I am.

As I tried my best impersonation of a seal, over the coral that still remained in place, I reflected that this was not what I expected. I had imagined scuba diving with seven of my new best friends, maybe even meeting my future husband. Instead, I was diving alone with my a heavily tattooed middle-aged man, my instructor, Anthony.

And yet I was having the time of my life.

My instructor also happened to be a navy trained diver. And medic. He was a stupidly experienced Englishman with over two decades behind him, relocating to Sihanoukville to head scuba dive centre Scuba Nation. And because no one had booked their open water diving certification at the same time as me, being in low season, I had him one-on-one.

I plunged into the ocean on my first dive confident as you'd expect a person to be with a navy trained diver. Until I was a half-hour in and my breakfast was half way up my throat, on this note (on this note, I would advise against a big breakfast). While trying to mentally and physically push my breakfast down, I spotted my first fish, a clownfish, or Nemo fish as I like to call him. I paused over his home, an anemone, a small fish eating plant that Nemo fish have a mutual agreement with, and waited. Almost immediately he swam to meet me, face-to-snorkel-mask, with a courage that I had never witnessed before, save teenage romance novels, and it got me right in the feels. I tipped my imaginary hat to this fish and paddled after my instructor for a nagging fear I lose him in the sandy haze.

After our dive, I settled on the deck, my hair tangled and dry, my skin soaking in the tropical sun and my mouth eagerly awaiting a Cambodian beer. It was now getting onto four in the afternoon but the sun wasn't due to set for another five hours. I paddled my feet in the water, overlooking the clear horizon and what would be my view for the rest of the night - blue sky and blue waters, with nobody else in sight.

As Anthony told me about his life, sea life and Cambodia, I was so happy my trip hadn't turned out to plan.