Alghero is a small city located in the north west of Sardinia, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. I was attracted to Alghero because of the very reasonable price for a scuba diving course, which I’d never done before. I booked my trip for the duration of one month, and planned to visit other towns on the island while I was there. For a change, I booked accommodation in advance so didn’t have to worry about finding a place to stay on my arrival. Once I was settled in, the first thing I did was look for a scuba diving centre. I cycled to a number of places that I found using a Google search, but the first two were closed for the autumn (it was mid October at the time).
On the second day I found Blue Service, just on the edge of Alghero city centre. The prices were great and staff, Michele and Matteo, were very welcoming. I booked the very basic PADI Scuba Diver course which lasted three days. It was an incredible experience, the first time under the water was so exciting and new for me. It’s hard to describe, and only another diver can understand the feeling. The water was very clear, I saw moray eels, barracuda, butterfly fish and an octopus.
Close to Alghero, further round the west coast, are caves called Cappo Caccia. I located it on a map and rented a bicycle for €7.00 to get there. It was around 16km each way to the caves over some steep hills, and in the 28°C heat I really had my work cut out for me. I had some lunch once I reached the cliff where the road ends and the stairs descend to the caves below. The stairs had been cut into the rock face and only 20 feet below me the waves were crashing into the rocks. At the cave entrance I was briefed by the guide, then followed her in while she talked about the history of the site. Apparently these caves are five million years old, and some of the stalagtites, which take over 100 years to grow 1cm, were upwards of 4m long.
I met some girls from New Zealand the following day, Lilly and Barbara. We had a fairly relaxing day, walked around the city, ate lunch and drank some beers. Then to finish the night off, we went to a local bar close to the hostel and had some whisky and cigars.
My plans to see the rest of Sardinia changed when I found that there were cheap flights to Rome from Alghero. I had a friend, Raffaella, who lived there and since I hadn’t seen in a year or so, I decided to fly there instead of venture to the south of the island.
I returned to Alghero two years later in 2007, to undertake a PADI Open Water Diver certificate with Michele at Blue Service again. On this occasion I was joined by two very good friends of mine, Cameron and John, who were also interested in learning to dive.
Cameron and I took our own wetsuits with us so that we could go snorkelling near the hostel without having to rent equipment. The water was rather cold, and John ended up borrowing my wetsuit for the first day of snorkelling. He got used to it though and was happy to brace the cold and go in his speedos the following days.
Each day saw us wake up early to dive at around 09:00, then we hit the restaurants for lunch and beer just after mid day, followed by the supermarket for snacks and more beer to drink at the hostel. We’d then store the goodies in the fridge and while it chilled, we snorkelled in a different location each day, and returned to have some cold beer and a good laugh. It was a great little break with the lads.
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