My Passion With Lester Hurst

A friend of mine lives in Grand Cayman in the Caribbean and works as a scuba diving instructor over there.

He invited my wife, Natalie, and I over to visit, which was the perfect excuse for an exotic holiday, we thought.

While we were over there he taught us to dive and we’ve been completely obsessed ever since.

That was four years ago now and since then we have enjoyed diving from the pale seas of Thailand to the coasts of Spain and even the slightly less glamorous location of Leicestershire.

Our favourite destination to date is still the gorgeous island of Grand Cayman where I first spotted lobsters, turtles and even a shark whilst exploring the Caribbean Sea.

There really is no better way to switch off from the busy pace of the modern world than underwater.

The tranquility is extraordinary and, as much as I love my job, it is so refreshing to experience a place where mobiles and e-mail barely exist.

It’s just you and the air you breathe whilst you discover another world – it’s the most incredible adventure.

During our visit to Grand Cayman we qualified for our PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Open Water Diver Certificate and it was here I decided to take the plunge and propose to Natalie.

Underwater, I produced a slate board scribed with the words ‘Will you marry me?’ Below there were two tick boxes with ‘yes’ and ‘no’ beside them.

I passed her the slate pen and thankfully she ticked the ‘yes’ box and I breathed a deep sigh of relief into my mask.

I had the ring in a box which was attached with fishing wire; it was all very nerve-wracking but less so than getting down on one knee in public. We recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary and the engagement is now a very fond memory for both of us.

Now back in the real world, we are always keen to plan our next scuba diving adventure – although with two businesses to manage it is often hard to find the time.

Natalie owns an interior design business and I set up the Ilkley branch of Hunters in September 2011.

Although marketing and designing some of the most beautiful homes in the UK may not be quite as adventurous as spotting aquatic wildlife in the Caribbean, we are both very content with our businesses.

We are always dreaming of our next adventures though.

I hope we’ll have the chance to take some time out this year and continue our passion for underwater exploration.