AS someone who has a fear of the sea and the unknown, I would never imagine myself going diving but here I was on my way to Calne Leisure Centre with butterflies in my stomach.

I had no idea what to expect during the two-hour session, but my concerns were put at ease when I arrived and saw the smiling faces of the Calne Divers Club waiting for me in the social area.

While we waited for the swimming club to finish their session in the pool, training officer Scott Barker took me through the training journey each diver must complete to progress through the ranks and explained what was going to happen in the pool.

I did not realise how calculated each dive has to be and Scott talked me through the importance of working out how long each dive should be, how important it is to ascend slowly and to take periods of recovery to prevent getting decompression sickness – not that I was at any risk of that in a 2m deep pool!

Towards the end of my hour-long safety briefing, I was told my diving instructor for the day would be Charlie Lewis, an experienced dive leader, who would be putting me through my paces.

Putting on the gear, I was struck by how heavy the tank was and although I struggled to get my flippers on without wobbling, I was reassured that it all becomes weightless in the water.

"Don't forget to breathe," Charlie said to me as we put the the respirators in our mouths and plunged beneath the water's surface. My fingers formed the OK symbol and we swam around a while, playing with my buoyancy before Charlie signalled for me to swim to surface.

Believe it or not, remembering to breathe is actually the difficult part of diving – sometimes you forget you have this mountain of equipment on your back and you dare to hold your breath but after a few more dives, you eventually become one with the kit.

Diving is a dangerous sport and every diver needs to be prepared in case something goes wrong in the water, so Charlie taught me how to clear my mask of water and how to use his emergency respirator if mine stopped working.

It proved to be an exciting and insightful experience and one that I won't forget. Maybe one day in the future I will get over my fear of the unknown, stick on my flippers and be able to explore the world beneath the waves - but for now I will stick to dry land.

Anyone braver than me, looking to try out a new sport or get the qualifications they need to get in the water need look no further than Calne Divers Club.