I Celebrated My 60th Birthday By Diving With Sharks

Author Kathy Lette treated herself to an agedefying birthday present she’ll never forget...

Middle-aged women are being encouraged not to forget to have sex, because it’s good for your memory… Sorry, what was I saying again? But seriously, scientists maintain that females who have sex more often score, on average, two percentage points higher on cognitive tasks.

Staying young is on my mind a lot right now because I’ve just turned 60. (Try to look shocked, will you?!) Another sure-fire way to stay young, these experts insist, is to take on new challenges and conquer old phobias.

That is why I recently found myself in the middle of the Indian Ocean, flippered feet dangling off the side of a boat, poised to plunge into the deep, dark waters below to dive with whale sharks in the Seychelles. It’s worth mentioning I have a complete sharkphobia. There must be a reason fish never look truly relaxed… Could it be because something much, much bigger is always trying to devour them?

Lisa, my chirpy dive instructor, promised that whale sharks, although the size of a truck, are harmless. “But no creature gets that big from eating periwinkles, right?” I asked, nervously.

Strapping the oxygen tank onto my back, Lisa calmly explained that whale sharks only eat algae. As she lowered the dive mask over my face, I was having serious second thoughts. I hadn’t scuba-dived for 10 years. When my mother was my age, the most athletic activity that she ever attempted was licking an envelope.

As I stepped off the boat into thin air, I wished I’d opted for a physical activity not known for its fatalities, say, hopscotch or knitting. Bobbing about, trying to repress my terror of what might be lurking beneath the water, I slowly deflated my vest and descended to the sandy seabed.