In June 2008 Eve and I enjoyed a weeks sightseeing holiday in Sorrento, Italy with Riviera Travel and new friends Patrick and Rita O’Brian. And I checked out the local diving with the help of Sorrento Diving a family owned business run by Mario Russo and his daughter Mariangela with their charismatic Argentinean dive guide, Eduardo Andres Martinez Cigalino. I had two great days diving as Mario skippered their boat, Ligeia, while Mariangela and Eduardo took it in turns to dive with me for my dives 1543 to 1550 inclusive.

On both days, I used my Tokina 10-17mm lens for the two morning dives and my Nikon 60mm lens for the two afternoon dives. Having only dived once before in the Mediterranean twelve years earlier, I was very pleasantly surprised with the clear underwater visibility and spectacular topography. Small subjects apart, the marine life was not abundant and I saw plenty of fishing nets but as I hope my photographs show, there were still plenty of photography opportunities. And in the absence of big fish, Eduardo’s brilliant freediving ensured my Tokina 10-17mm lens was not idle!

For me one of the many pleasures of an Italian holiday is watching Italians communicate through body language and gesturing and I make no apologies for taking a few sneaky photographs of Mariangela demonstrating this art!

On the first day, our dives at Scoglio Penna, Punta Montalto, Punta Falcone and Capo Di Sorrento were all in part of the Protected Marine Area of Punta Campanella, a thirty kilometre long reserve created in 1997. Our first dive of the second day was at Banco Di San Croce in the Biological Reserve in Vico Equense before returning to the Protected Marine Area of Punta Campanella to dive Baia Di Puolo, Capo Di Hassa and for the second time, Capo Di Sorrento. The third dive had lasted 81 minutes and Mario warned Eduardo and I that we would need to keep our final dive much shorter as a violent storm was rapidly approaching from the direction of Naples. However Eduardo and I were a bit too greedy and the storm reached us while we were still underwater. Eduardo and I were alright, albeit the water above us had turned white in the shallows and the surge had increased significantly but conditions for Mario and Mariangela aboard Ligeia must have been unpleasant. Not that they complained as I struggled to get back aboard in the rough sea. Another time I will do as Mario advises!