It wasn’t until Ray DeSilva was in his early 30s that he was encouraged to jump into a wetsuit and go for his first dive.When he finally did, he encountered a world of underwater beauty and a new appreciation for his Island home.He now wants to help young Bermudians experience the wonders of the Island’s natural habitat.As an instructor with Fantasea’s new Scuba diving, Education and Awareness (SEA) programme, Mr DeSilva has taught two groups of students, age ten and up, the basic techniques of diving.Students try their hand at confined water diving and progress to the open water as part of the three-month course, which is an optional school electiveThey also kayak and learn about the Island’s ecosystem as part of the programme.They leave with PADI scuba diver certification and can upgrade to an open water certification with two additional days of training next year.Most are scared and timid when they first get in the water.“Once they start to learn the skills and perform the skills, their confidence goes way up,” Mr DeSilva said.The SEA programme was implemented by the dive school three years ago and is now on offer at Bermuda Institute and TN Tatem Middle School.Kate Retallack, a supervisor at Fantasea Bermuda, said the school offered camps which operate along the same lines and would be seeking out other interested schools in the next few months.She said staff were constantly seeing young people get engaged with the activities and become more aware of environmental issues plaguing the Atlantic Ocean and the world around them.“They see all kinds of fish when they are diving and I think another thing that really struck me was when I was doing a discussion on pollution in the classroom and they heard the reality of some of the things that go on they were really struck by that and you could see them think about it,” Ms Retallack said.“I think a lot of that was before ‘out of sight, out of mind’, especially with the deep ocean because you can’t really see it. Now they have a better understanding of what goes on not only in Bermuda but around the world and that was really an eye-opener for them.”One of the great learning experiences came when they took the students to Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences station a few weeks ago. They got to troll for plankton on the sea floor and then went into the lab to examine the species closer. “They were so engaged and thought it was so cool,” she explained.Mr DeSilva, 35, began diving after Fantasea Bermuda owner Michael Heslop encouraged him to give it a try. He was awestruck during the experience and said it was an “amazing feeling” being weightless while 30 or 40 feet underwater.A bartender at 9 Beaches at the time, Mr DeSilva said he didn’t have the chance to do anything more with it. However when he started working at Snorkel Park in Dockyard, fate gave him a second shot at the course.He recently completed his dive masters course and passed his instructor’s exam a few months back. He is one of only a few local diving instructors on the Island and said it was good to see the younger generation getting into the sport.“When I was in school I would have loved to have that as an option,” he told The Royal Gazette.Mr DeSilva said he also loved working with local children, particularly because they are so keen to learn. “This is the one class they come to and that they never miss,” he said.While most of the students who sign up for the course already have an interest in the sciences, Mr DeSilva said he noticed others becoming more passionate about the subject as the weeks went on.In fact one of the students from TN Tatem has expressed an interest in doing some part-time work with Fantasea next year.Mr DeSilva said he hopes more start to follow suit as the programme expands. “We have a lot of good diving here and yet a lot of people don’t dive,” he said.“As Bermudians I think we take for granted that we live in such a beautiful place. I know I did as a young person, but as I got older, and having travelled a little bit, I see other places and other islands and we have a lot more to offer.“I want the young people to see that and live with a better appreciation for their Island home.”For more information e-mail watersports@fantaseabermuda.com.