First breaths underwater
The beginning: equipment, breathing and getting comfortable below the surface.
From the first pool session to the Neptune Islands — this is the training, fundraising and momentum behind October 2027.
The Rodney Fox expedition includes an ocean-floor cage, so this challenge required more than courage. I needed to become a qualified diver. What started with theory and a first pool session became five confined-water stages, followed by the move towards open water.
I began my PADI Open Water training with L&P Diving & Marine Services in Penkridge. The course has involved far more theory and preparation than I expected — but every session takes me one step closer to the ocean-floor cage in Australia.
The beginning: equipment, breathing and getting comfortable below the surface.
Developing control, confidence and the core skills that everything else depends on.
By late August I had completed Confined Water 3, with two pool sessions remaining before the open-water dives.
The qualification was suddenly close. More skills, more confidence and the challenge becoming very real.
The fifth confined-water session completed in September 2026 — the end of the pool phase and the gateway to open water.
Learning to dive means getting comfortable with equipment, practising essential skills, building confidence underwater and repeating them until they feel natural. The photos capture the progress, nerves, mistakes and breakthroughs along the way.
Each confined-water session has brought new skills and a little more confidence. These are the moments that are preparing me for the Neptune Islands — with real training videos and photographs rather than staged imagery.
Confined Water 2 — developing confidence and practising essential underwater skills.
Confined Water 3 — putting more of the techniques into practice.
Confined Water 5 — bringing the confined-water stages together.
The Great White expedition becomes a fundraising goal, and I begin planning the training and preparation needed to take part.
My successful grant application helps make the expedition possible while charitable donations remain dedicated to the four charities.
Confined-water sessions with L&P Diving & Marine Services: practising skills, gaining confidence and documenting the experience.
A half marathon in the Cotswolds, dressed as a shark, to help raise awareness of the campaign.
Local businesses donate prizes, the community rallies and the story reaches BBC television and radio.
Four days at sea with Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions, working towards the ocean-floor cage experience.