After my dive holiday in February, I fell completely in love with the sea. As soon as I returned to London, I joined a dive club hoping to find more underwater opportunities. However, local training is limited to shallow pools, where the club runs two sessions a week. I started attending just to see where I stood, and within a few weeks, I managed 75m in DYNB (Dynamic with Bifins) and 50m in DNF (Dynamic No Fins). For me, that felt like enough; I had no desire to chase “scary numbers” or get competitive. Diving is my escape from a competitive world—I just want total control and freedom at normal recreational depths. Still, because I wanted to dive as naturally as possible without a thick wetsuit and heavy weights, finding suitable depth training in the UK proved impossible.

Then, Nihaal mentioned in the club chat that he was heading to Deepspot (an indoor dive centre in Mszczonów, Poland, boasting a maximum depth of 45.4m) for some depth training between 14 and 17 June. Since he was at a similar level to me — certified as a PADI Freediver and diving to around 20m — we decided to buddy up. While he flew out early on 14 June for a three-day R&R trip staying in an on-site underwater room, my logistics were a bit trickier. He preferred his own room, and a Sunday morning flight would have meant a night-bus nightmare for me due to weekend Thameslink closures. Instead, I flew out exactly one day later, headed straight to town to dive, and booked an apartment near the disused local train station.

The logistics of reaching Mszczonów

Mszczonów is notoriously difficult to reach. It no longer has passenger rail service and has relied on a privately operated minibus line (Line M, run by MiM Trans) for 16 years. This line doesn’t even show up on Google Maps and requires a cash fare of 12 zł to connect to Warsaw. Luckily, at the time of publishing this article, this transit headache is coming to an end. Mszczonów is currently joining the municipal GPA (Grodziskie Przewozy Autobusowe) network. GPA has already launched its first route, Line 82, from Grodzisk Mazowiecki to Mszczonów. Consequently, MiM Trans has announced the cessation of Line M at the end of June 2026, as it can no longer compete with subsidised routes. GPA’s Line 83 currently terminates at Grzymek but plans to extend to Mszczonów soon, aiming to become an express commuter corridor along the S8 expressway.

Day 1: finding my depth

We booked our first coached session from 18:30 to 20:00 on 15 June. Thanks to a smooth border crossing and bus journey, I arrived in town by 14:00, leaving plenty of time to grab lunch and buy groceries before my 16:00 apartment check-in.

During that first session, under the guidance of our instructor, a few warm-up dives quickly brought me to the bottom of the 20m zone. I was hitting it consistently with fins (CWTB). I felt in such great shape that 20m didn’t feel like enough anymore; I was completely ready to go deeper.

Day 2: the sinus strike back

The next day, 16 June, we had an ambitious schedule of three sessions: a coached dive at 12:30, followed by buddy sessions at 16:30 and 20:30. Unfortunately, a familiar foe returned. Historically, swimming in indoor pools gives me nasal congestion, a runny nose, and jaw stiffness the following day. I had never viewed it as a serious issue until I tried diving on it.

During the 12:30 session, the moment I duck-dived, a sharp pain flared above my eyebrows, forcing me to abort the descent. To make matters worse, my mask was leaking. After adjusting my gear, I managed to dive without pain by equalising much earlier, slowing my descent, and increasing my equalisation frequency. By the end of the session, I crossed the 20m mark a few times, maxing out at -24.1m. However, it lacked the ease and consistency of the day before.

For the 16:30 session, Nihaal and I dived as a buddy team without an instructor, deciding to stay safely within the 20m zone. I focused on bifins, and by focusing heavily on proper equalisation, I managed to reach -18m comfortably. Satisfied with that, I spent the rest of the time experimenting, including hanging out at -10m. Still, with my body fighting congestion, the pressure was starting to take a noticeable toll on my head.

By our final session at 20:30, we dialed the depth back even further. Nihaal practiced his duck dives and hangs, while I shifted focus to no-fins (CNF) training. I started by testing my neutral buoyancy depth with full lungs, which turned out to be a mere -2.5m! Beyond that, the session became a struggle. Even with my mask off, the pressure above my eyebrows persisted, and equalisation felt incredibly stubborn. I couldn’t reach -10m comfortably unless I flipped into a feet-first freefall.

An underwater photographer, Piotr, was in the pool testing new gear during this session. Given my physical condition, the footage he captured was mostly a comedy of errors — showing failed equalisations and awkward pauses on the descent. I did manage to find that dream sensation I’d been searching for — a rapid sinking feeling from the surface — by starting a dive on a half-lung, feet-first freefall. I sank to -14.7m before hitting my residual volume (RV), at which point equalisation completely locked up. To avoid barotrauma, I played it safe and called it a day. It was a bit disappointing not to consistently hit my target depth -15m CNF in this session, but safety comes first.

Looking ahead

We flew back to London together on 17 June. Even though I pushed past my previous depth records on this trip, I know I haven’t reached my full potential yet. I’m eager for more depth time in the future once my sinuses clear up, so I can truly feel at home as a waterman. Ultimately, this trip confirmed one thing: I need to get back to the ocean. I belong in the ocean — it just feels infinitely better than any pool.