Thank you for taking the time to visit our family JustGiving page in memory of my husband and Ella’s dad, Paul Bail.

Paul very sadly died very unexpectedly on the afternoon of the 24th of February 2024, whilst out at golf. While we come to terms with this shocking and devastating loss, Ella and I have been really comforted by watching back the many underwater scuba diving videos that we took as a family, 25m underwater in the Indian Ocean.

One of the things Paul loved to do most in this world was scuba dive.

We were very fortunate to be able to visit the Maldives, not only for our honeymoon in 2003, but also for a number of family holidays with our daughter Ella. Aside from being at home in our little family, some of Paul’s happiest times were being dropped on a tiny 1km long tropical island in the middle of nowhere by a seaplane - for a “no news, no shoes” getaway and completely relaxing holiday. The only criteria he ever gave me when choosing the resort was the need for really good Wi-Fi to occasionally check in with work.

From the moment we first put on our masks and fins for a trial dive on the house reef at Constance Moofushi and we set about exploring the incredible underwater world beneath us, it became clear this was a new hobby that we were all going to love and want to pursue.

We passed our Open Water PADI qualifications in 2018 as a family and completed our Advanced PADI certification a year later.

We have been so fortunate to see so many incredible creatures whilst diving some truly world class sites. Diving isn’t like visiting an aquarium - you never really know what you’re going to see - but we visited so many incredible locations - swimming through vibrant coral gardens and soft coral forests, exploring beautiful caves, drift diving channels with 50 or 60 sharks circling beneath us, or watching sea turtles gently grazing on the reef. Elegant eagle rays seeming to effortlessly fly by and we had some incredibly memorable close encounters with whale sharks and magnificent reef Manta Rays.

Of all the things we ever saw whilst diving, Paul loved diving with the Manta Rays the most - they are one of the most intelligent creatures in the world with unique personalities and they are known as the gentle giants of the ocean. Intelligent, unique and gentle are all words that have been used to describe Paul since he died.

I know that Paul was very passionate about protecting these magnificent creatures. Ella decided she wanted to do some conservation work last year in Sri Lanka where she worked on a turtle project volunteering. One of Paul’s proudest moments was when we collected her at the end of her trip in Columbo and learned she had personally cleared 20kg of plastic from the beach in one afternoon and been asked to take part in a baby turtle release as a result. She was only 16 and had travelled solo to the other side of the world. We then went on to the Maldives together and had our last family holiday together, a blissful 9 days where again we were treated to so many incredible sights underwater, often diving twice a day.

Nothing quite prepares you for a chance encounter with a squadron of Mantas looming towards you from the deep, but we were privileged to have them circle mere centimetres above our heads, allowing our air bubbles to gently tickle their bellies as we watched the little fish go to work cleaning them. If we happened upon them on a dive we would often choose spend the entire dive in their presence, captivated by these incredible, mesmerising gentle giants.

Formed in 2011, the Manta Trust is a UK-registered charity that co-ordinates global manta and devil ray research and conservation efforts. Their team is comprised of a diverse group of researchers, scientists, conservationists, educators and media experts; working together to share and promote knowledge and expertise.

Mantas are an endangered species. Giant oceanic mantas are already on the endangered list, and reef mantas are at extreme risk of joining them.

In lieu of any flowers that people may have wanted to send to Paul’s funeral - please help us to protect the magnificent Mantas in the underwater world he loved so much instead.

Ella and I will also be naming a male Manta ray in the Maldives. We hope to call him PACMAN (as that was his cricket nickname) and find him some time in the future when we return to paradise to dive again.

Thank you for visiting Paul’s memorial page today, and Ella and I hope that you will support this fundraiser in memory of our darling Paul.

However if the underwater world isn’t your thing? We have set up a second charity memorial page which will support an incredible animal rescue charity in the UK, called Many Tears where we got our little rescue dog Willow from in October of last year.

Ella and I would love both of our chosen family and charities to equally benefit in memory of our darling Paul.

Amanda and Ella Bail x

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity. if you are a UK taxpayer, please remember to add Gift Aid as the charity will benefit by an extra 25%.Thank you.

In loving memory of Paul Andrew Clayden Bail 23/6/65– 24/2/24