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We’re magical
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SHARM EL SHEIKH - HURGHADA www.egypt.travel
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AWARDS Destination of the Year Egypt
First In AUG_May First In 30/06/2014 12:52 Page 03
STEVE WEINMAN, EDITOR
FIRST IN IT’S IN THE BLOOD IT WAS AN EXHILARATING, IF EXHAUSTING, MONTH at New Eaton Towers as entries for our My Best Dives competition poured in, right up to deadline day. That meant a lot of diving stories to read through and a lot of decisions to be made, but the result was gratifying, as I hope you’ll agree when you read our 16-page Our Best Dives special in this month’s issue. What came over in bucket-loads was your sheer passion for diving and for sharing your experiences. We had asked readers to include relevant photos if they had them, though these were not taken into account in the selection. Nor was fine writing necessarily sought – what we wanted were the sort of experiences to which we felt other divers would readily relate. Trends and tendencies soon emerged as we navigated through the cascade of enthusiastic narratives. It was no surprise that those divers lucky enough to have come across co-operative wild dolphins should have been blown away by their encounters, as is reflected in the final cut. The fact that many of your special dives occurred in such well-regarded places as the Red Sea, Maldives, Truk and the Maltese islands was similarly to be expected. However, it was interesting for us to note, for example, how many readers had undertaken the coldwater Silfra ravine dive in Iceland, in as clear water as you’re likely to find in a lifetime, and declared it an epic experience. A three-hour flight from the UK – worth a thought? We hope these and other Our Best Dives provide you with travel inspiration.
A THREE-HOUR FLIGHT FROM THE UK –WORTH A THOUGHT?
Other entries reflected the power of a single dive achieved in the face of poverty, illness or other adversity. Some, including that of our winner, involved harsh lessons learnt from the dive. Others highlighted the special pleasure to be derived from diving with members of your own family. And family is a theme that permeates this edition of divEr. The diving trade, like every industry that dreams of endless expansion, is as keen as a Transylvanian count for new blood. That means encouraging young divers. Some divers will have teen-rebel kids who would rather be seen dead than go diving with you, but I’m sure there are far more with offspring who can’t wait to do what their parents do. Others may have nieces and nephews looking for new thrills (read the story Cool Uncle in Our Best Dives) and may enjoy helping them along the underwater route to happiness. So we have Tim Ecott, whose son encountered a shark on his first sea swim aged four, urging us to treat child-divers not as a homogenous group but as individuals with widely varying needs. Tekkie Dan Burton takes his wife and two children to Egypt to dive (a new experience for the kids, Mum diving for the first time in 10 years). Naturally, they get to dive with dolphins! Simone Cousteau was the embodiment of family diving – the first woman to use an aqualung, she supported Jacques-Yves and their children through the pioneering years of scuba. Diana Williams profiles her. Nigel Wade’s slightly tense trip to Fuerteventura is no family outing, but his story is bookended by kids. And we finish with 12-year-old Charlotte Burns’ account of her thrill-packed two-year career as a diver – show it to a 10year-old, and see if he or she isn’t inspired too.
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Fujifilm (XQ1 kit) – 07_14_Fujifilm 29/05/2014 16:56 Page 1
Contents AUG_Contents_Aug 01/07/2014 18:02 Page 05
AUGUST 2014 Volume 59 No 8
CONTENTS
FEATURES 22 Island of Eternal Spring
22
Nigel Wade meets a feisty octopus off Fuerteventura
27 1914 The 100-year-old wartime sinkings that became dives
32 Airway to Heaven Richard Aspinall offers advice for fly-divers 27
37 Win a Red Sea Trip! Just go to Divernet and complete our reader survey
38 Diving Dreams at the NEC Dive 2014 previewed – and a big Grand Draw prize
incorporating
Published monthly by Eaton Publications, 8 Mount Mews, High Street, Hampton, Middlesex, TW12 2SH Tel: 020 8941 8152, Fax: 020 8941 8813 Email: enquiries@divermag.co.uk Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Nigel Eaton nigel@divermag.co.uk Editor Steve Weinman steve@divermag.co.uk Publishing Consultant Tony Weston tony@divermag.co.uk Technical Editor Nigel Wade divingnige@btinternet.com News Editor Paul Fenner paul@divermag.co.uk Production Manager George Lanham george@divermag.co.uk Webmaster Mike Busuttili webmaster@divernet.com
40 Dive Truk Lagoon Rod MacDonald has written a new wreck guide 40
46 Taking the Plunge Child divers – they’re all different, says Tim Ecott
53 Our Best Dives 25 readers share their special underwater moments
70 Secret Appointment… 46
…with a Wildcat aircraft wreck in Scapa Flow
72 Be the Champ! Frogfish, so ugly they’re beautiful!
76 Family that Dives Together Dan Burton takes his to the Red Sea 72
82 First Lady of the Aqualung
Advertisement Manager Jenny Webb jenny@divermag.co.uk Classified Advertisement Sales Sara Duncan sara@divermag.co.uk Senior Advertisement Executive Alex Khachadourian alex@divermag.co.uk Advertising Production David Eaton david@divermag.co.uk Subscriptions Manager Teresa Pullen teresa@divermag.co.uk Marketing, Sales & divEr Bookshop Dorothy Eaton dorothy@divermag.co.uk Elizabeth Puttock uwp-mailshop@divermag.co.uk Financial Controller Kojo Gyamera kojo@divermag.co.uk Reception enquiries@divermag.co.uk
Simone Cousteau and her role in diving history EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS
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Archaeology Martin Dean Biology Dr David Bellamy Industry Dr John Bevan Law Prof Mike Williams Medicine Dr Ian Sibley-Calder Photography Saeed Rashid, Brian Pitkin Ships Richard Larn Wrecks Rex Cowan
http://tiny.cc/b2uld
THE MAGAZINE THAT’S STRAIGHT DOWN THE LINE… HOW TO GET YOUR divEr: SUBSCRIPTION: Twelve issues, including p&p, cost £52.80 (UK); £64.80 (Eire/Europe/Worldwide surface); airmail rates available on request. Pay by Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, sterling cheque or UK Postal Order. Contact the Subscriptions Dept, divEr at the above address. NEWSAGENT: If you prefer to buy divEr over the counter, place an order with your newsagent now? All newsagents can obtain the magazine, but in case of difficulty please notify the Circulation Manager at the above address. divEr (ISSN-0141-3465) is published monthly by Eaton Publications, Periodicals Postage Paid at Jamaica NY 11431. USPS no. 22517. US agent: Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to divEr Magazine, C/O Air Business Ltd, c/o Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA.
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Contents AUG_Contents_Aug 01/07/2014 18:03 Page 06
CONTENTS REGULARS First In
3
Editor’s view
Off-Gassing
8
Stylish trouserings get short shrift in Caribbean
News
10
Storms a game-changer on the Coronation 10
Beachcomber
20
Great white too close for comfort in Florida
10
Trewavas
51
The mermaid route into diving
Behind the Scenes
69
British coastal stats? Monty Halls consults the CIA
Reviews
84
New photography book and marine-life ID apps
Booking Now
86
All the holiday news
Diver Tests
90
Budget Atomic reg, plus drysuit, fins and fin-straps
Just Surfaced
96
New but untested diving products
98 100 102 104 104 105
Dive Holiday Directory Liveaboard Directory Classified Ads Dive Centre Directory Advertisers’ Index Subscribe Here
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– and get a free Apeks diving watch!
106 Deep Breath A young diver on her amazing two-year career
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Cover shot: Octopus off Fuerteventura, by Nigel Wade The reproduction in whole or in part of any of the contents of divEr is expressly forbidden without the written permission of the Publishers. Copyright © 2014 by Eaton Publications. divEr reserves the right to reproduce on-line any articles that it has published in print. The views expressed in FIRST IN are not necessarily those of anyone but the Editor, and other editorial should be ascribed only to the authors concerned. The publishers accept no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or alterations, or for any consequences ensuing upon the use of, or reliance upon, any information contained
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herein. Due caution should be exercised by anyone attempting dives on any site herein described or indicated. The company does not accept liability for submitted photographs. The printing of an advertisement in divEr does not necessarily mean that the Proprietors endorse the company, item or service advertised. divEr is distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT (tel: 020 7429 4000) and printed by Headley Brothers Ltd, The Invicta Press, Queens Road, Ashford, Kent TN24 8HH (tel: 01233 623131).
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Off-Gassing AUG_Layout 1 01/07/2014 10:30 Page 08
OFF GASSING
This month’ s selection from the divEr inbox… This sort of decision has to be made on a case-bycase basis, so you would need to get an opinion from a UK Sports Diving Medical Committee referee [find your nearest at www.uksdmc.co.uk].
THE WRONG TROUSERS As a travelling diver of several years I am used to being challenged by airport officials. Some are querying the need for a knife in my baggage, or can't work out the complex X-ray shadow of the regulators in my hand luggage. So on a recent trip to Tobago I was not too concerned to be pulled aside by customs officials and asked to open my luggage. But then, to be given a citation informing me that illegal goods were in my possession and that they were to be seized on the spot took the wind out of my sails. If I had been in possession of mind-altering drugs, firearms, a fresh black pudding or had a couple of piglets in my pockets I could have understood, and would even have considered the matter justified. But the goods in question were my trousers! These were camouflaged shorts, and it is illegal (apparently) to import camouflage material in any form into Tobago. I protested politely and assured the officials that I would not wear the offending shorts in public, but they were seized and retained and I was informed that they were to be disposed of and, no, I could not pick them up on the way back. It was like a Monty Python sketch. I waited patiently for the TV crew from some version of You’ve Been Framed to turn up, but evidently it was not a hoax! Camouflage is a popular fashion choice for many of us and divers, or indeed any visitors to Tobago, need to be aware of this law if they want to avoid this seemingly traditional debagging ceremony. It spoiled the first day of my vacation and left me a bit “short” of clothing (pun intended), but fortunately did not stop me getting in some really top-notch diving. Apart from a single stupid law, Tobago is a great place.
PHILIP POPE, SOUTH WOODHAM FERRERS, ESSEX
Citizens save seahorses Project Seahorse is a marine conservation organisation based at the University of British Columbia and the Zoological Society of London, and last year we launched a new ”citizen science” programme called iSeahorse. Using data collected by individuals around the world, iSeahorse will assist us, and other scientists globally, in assessing seahorse populations and distribution, and providing crucially necessary conservation management plans to appropriate authorities. We’re calling on anyone who has seen a seahorse in the wild to contribute information to our database through our website www.iseahorse.org and free iPhone app (search ‘iSeahorse Explore’ in the App Store). Project Seahorse is familiar with your magazine as it is a fantastic asset to the dive community. We would like to invite all divEr readers to become contributors, reporting observations and posting photos (if possible) of any wild seahorses they
Darrin Des Vignes of the Trinidad & Tobago Tourist Board comments: It is illegal to possess and wear camouflage attire in Tobago and some of the other Caribbean islands. It is unfortunate that Mr Pope was not made aware of this through his tour operator, and we will make sure that those featuring Tobago disseminate this information appropriately.
GET ON THE CASE! Send us our lead letter and you win a watertight NANUK 905 case, measuring 31 x 25 x 15cm, from Beaver Sports. With cubed foam inserts and weighing just 1.5kg, the case retails at £59. NANUK cases come in four colours and seven sizes – full details at www.nanukcases.co.uk
This NANUK case and all the other products from Beaver Sports are obtainable at all good dive shops. For a free colour brochure, prices and stockist list, call 01484 512354 or visit www.beaversports.co.uk
happen to see to iSeahorse. Any contributed observations would help scientists learn more about these mysterious and beautiful animals.
KATELYN DICK, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VANCOUVER, CANADA
SCUBApursuits points Post-lung disease A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with a type of pulmonary fibrosis called NSIP. I’d had a surgical lung biopsy for the diagnosis and was then put on high-dose steroids. I’m in recovery and hoping to be off steroids this year. I mentioned to my GP that I guessed diving again would be off-limits and, surprisingly, he said he couldn’t see why that would be the case, providing I recovered fully.
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I was wondering if you had come across this before and could give some advice – thanks.
MADDIE Dr Ian Sibley-Calder comments: It would depend on the lung damage and you would have to be off medication and stable. Full-flow volume loop spirometry would be the first step, taking it on from there.
With reference to the facts and figures quoted in your news item (Forster Rides to Rescue at SCUBApursuits, July), I would like to make several points on behalf of SSI. Firstly, 2000 certifications per annum had not been promised to SCUBApursuits. There was no promise of a specific number of certifications, although its continuing-education ratio had increased. A 25% increase compared to its previous PADI certs in either 2013 or 2012 would not give you a result of 2000 certs.
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Off-Gassing AUG_Layout 1 01/07/2014 15:20 Page 09
Originally impressed This year, with a reasonably significant birthday approaching, my mother offered to take me on holiday so that I could dive and she could, well, do whatever non-divers do. Gozo’s Inland She is used to Sea and (inset) travelling five-star with Neill Ghosh. Saga, while I am used to budget hotels and great diving. The challenge was to find somewhere to suit us both. She’s not a beach person, preferring to wander and explore, which ruled out many places. Neither of us wanted a had the perfect match for long-haul flight, because we mum and me. were only going for a week. He reassured me about As the result of searching mum’s dietary requirements “best places to dive in and my diving requests. I’m Europe” on the Internet sure he is used to dealing I discovered Original Diving, with more expensive trips and gave them a call to see and more adventurous who they were and if they travellers, yet he treated our could help. booking like we were the My search ended there, as most important customers in I spoke to Neill from Original the world. Diving, who listened to all my Our holiday wasn’t without requests and booked us the a few minor challenges, but perfectly suited trip to Gozo, he dealt with them swiftly which we took in May. and efficiently, and even sent His knowledge was a welcome-home present at extensive and exemplary. He the end of the trip. knew the island, the diving, Sadly, the weather wasn’t the resort, the hotel and the brilliant but I’m sure if he had people. He made absolutely been able, Neill would have sure we were happy with sorted that for us too. every choice made until we
Secondly, the SCUBApursuits team were not completely ready for SSI integration until November 2013. And thirdly, from the day SCUBAPursuits went into liquidation SSI has offered free certifications to all those recreational courses and professionals who have paid for their course and not received the training, with a number of the team also offering their time for free to limit disappointment. The only restriction has been with new management not allowing this.
CORRIE HARRIS, UK MANAGER, SSI, KENDAL, CUMBRIA
The attractions of SSI In response to your news story Forster Rides to Rescue at SCUBApursuits, we have been operating SSI training at Divemaster Scuba for two years and have
I dived with St Andrews Divers Cove in Xlendi, and while the diving wasn’t amazing, it was fantastic to tick off sites such as the Blue Hole and the Inland Sea. As it was quiet, I also managed to do my PADI Deep Speciality. So thank you, Neill, we had a great time and will certainly come to you again. Thank you also to St Andrews, especially Aga, my fabulous Instructor, guide and friend for the week. Thanks too to Moby Dives – although I didn’t dive with them, they were my post-dive drinking buddies and welcomed me as if I was one of their own.
crossing over, and 16 of 19 decided that SSI was what they wanted; we had a great crossover, having fun and answering questions. The instructor base seemed re-invigorated. They all really took to the system and ran with it. We saw a boost of more than 200% on continuing education courses, compared with 70% before! We’ve always been a large certifier of new divers and understand that the Open Water course is the most important in a diver’s career. So I was anxious to see how the programme would work day to day, and if divers would still want to “get their PADI”. As it turns out, no, they just want to learn to dive and go diving. We saw all our OW courses switch from PADI to SSI overnight, and that is not down to hard sell. We simply list the benefits of each course and offer exactly the same price. Benefits include free online learning, free app with all certifications, free personal area on the SSI website to make friends, log dives, change your C-card photo and much more. Students also got more time in the water and benefitted from the ability to tailor the course to suit the individual. SSI’s philosophy is a fresh, exciting theory of comfort through repetition. Divers can’t just rush through their training, meeting minimum standards. SSI forces divers to gain experience and improve as individuals. Divemaster Scuba is going from strength to strength in training. We have halved our retail space to make way for more classrooms and offer training at all levels in recreational, technical and freediving all the way to Instructor Trainer. It was a great loss to see part of our extended SSI family at SCUBApursuits go through such hard times and eventually liquidation. In a tough market dive centres all over the country have gone out of business. We did all we could to limit the loss by offering to finish courses and take on its staff. I have huge plans for Divemaster Scuba, and with SSI’s vision and dedication these are starting to be realised.
RACHAEL EVERITT, BRIGHTON
ADAM WOOD, NOTTINGHAM
PETER G LEMON
experienced the sales message and benefits SSI centres can expect first-hand. The decision to move from being one of the UK’s largest PADI dive centres to a new agency was not taken lightly. We did not fall out with PADI – I have lots of great friends and colleagues at PADI and my centre still certifies and supports club members who want to continue their training in the PADI system. That said, after customers are shown the benefits and differences of the SSI system, 96% of our certifications are completed with SSI. SSI’s dive centre-only based operation allowed us to control pricing to make a profit. I was amazed at how much fun the programmes are. I could add some of my own content and the flexibility allowed my students to learn fast and enjoy the process. Soon other instructors in the business were asking questions. I explained the pros and cons of
Got something diving-related you’d care to share? Email steve@divermag.co.uk, including your name and postal address – and please confirm that you’re writing exclusively to divEr
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Statuesque Could you tell me who the divEr Awards statuette represents?
ANDREW CHRISTIE Comment: The handsome bronze statuette, which we call the divEr, is meant to represent nothing more than a generic diver. Several of us at the magazine actually modelled for it back in the 1990s when it was first cast, and we still argue about who it most resembles! Another batch will be cast for this year’s Awards.
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News AUG_Layout 1 01/07/2014 11:12 Page 10
DIVER NEWS
Scoured Coronation wreck site poses challenge for licensees D
divEr. “It was apparent that, while
some historic material will have been washed away and lost forever, much remained revealed on site. “We needed to save it by securing it, moving it to a safer area or raising it for conservation.” The men applied to English Heritage for a seabed surface recovery licence on grounds of the imminent threat to the artefacts, to which the response was swift. By April, work was underway by a core group of half a dozen archaeologically qualified divers. The designated Coronation area measures some 800m by 30m, representing a daunting task given that diving on any particular day can result in only 2sq m being covered. The divers need to examine the seabed carefully, deal with whatever finds arise and catalogue everything back ashore.
The men decided to concentrate first on the dive trail established around the site and, as divEr went to press in late June, were still working on that area assisted by, among others, groups from Somerset Divers, the Nautical Archaeology Society and the locally based Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust (MAST). “We’ve found two completely new iron cannon, while an established one can now be seen over its entire length of 5m for the first time since the wreck’s discovery in 1977,” Pearce told divEr. “We’ve seen cannonballs by the hundred and a lot of musket shot, of which I counted a thousand in one area of one square metre.” Other finds have included a musket, leather shoe, sounding leads, sheave wheels, a decorated pewter bowl, a piece of ornamental copper and two pewter model soldiers of about 65cm in height. These have
“parts missing but visible are soldier’s tunic, musket and cartridge case”. There have also been “umpteen nondescript items” including small wood pieces that could not be identified. So far the divers have raised the musket, ornamental copper and pewter models and bowl. Other items have been left in situ where they can be secured, or moved to an on-site cache area where items can be kept safely together under weights or sandbags. While finds remain exposed, illegal activity is not too much of a worry as the Coronation lies right under the gaze of the Rame Coastwatch centre. The dive trail remains open while work continues and, on completion, the team will turn their attention to the rest of the site – a job they say will take them beyond the end of the year, www.coronationwreck.co.uk ■
R CROOK
IVERS HAVE BEEN working to save historic artefacts from the protected 17th century warship wreck Coronation off Plymouth, after substantial seabed movement left many pieces exposed. The site lies in 18-20m of water close to the shore at Penlee Point, and is relatively vulnerable to swells caused by bad weather. The damage has to have been caused by last winter’s heavy storms – but the site’s survey licensee Roger “Ginge” Crook and visitor licensee Mark Pearce didn’t realise what had occurred until mid-March. Only then were they able to make their first dive of the year there, after having been blown out on numerous occasions in early 2014. They could hardly believe what they saw. “Sand, shale and rocks had been scoured away to a depth of a good metre over the whole site,” Crook told
Musket.
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R CROOK
Pewter soldier figurine.
Ornamental copper.
Pewter bowl.
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News AUG_Layout 1 01/07/2014 11:18 Page 11
DIVER NEWS
THE BIG QUESTION Where to put your octopus We wondered how many of you make specific arrangements for stowing your alternative air source, and how many of you simply stick it through a BC strap. So we asked you last month, and now we know. Or do we?
FIONA CROUCH
Sixty-eight per cent of you said that you used ”a purpose-made device for stowing your octopus on a dive”, but of those who said both ”yes” and ”no”, a large number seemed to be using improvised devices. Our conclusion? Most of you do use a device, very few of you stick your octo through webbing and none (we hope) leave it trailing!
Keep an eye out for Asian shore crabs – now in Britain.
CRAB WATCH: ALIEN SPECIES HITS UK SCIENTISTS ARE KEEN to learn of any sightings of a non-native crab that has arrived in British waters and is ”voracious and opportunistic, with a broad diet” that could be disruptive to other marine life. The Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus) has been seen as far afield as Glamorgan and Herne Bay, Kent. It was first recorded in Europe in 1999, scientists thinking it arrived in ballast water. Native to the north-west Pacific, the crab is small at up to 4.5cm across and has a distinctive squareshaped shell with three teeth on each side and distinctively banded legs. Divers who see what they think could be one of these crabs and have
a camera to hand are asked to photograph and report it at www.mba.ac.uk/recording. Scientist Paul Clark at the Natural History Museum says: ”I would like to see a live crab, so if you do find a live specimen please make contact with me and I will arrange for it to be collected.” ✹ The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has altered its rules to allowing fishing of invasive lionfish by rebreather, so that divers can stay down longer and collect more of the creatures. Divers can also spear them in tournaments held where the practice is otherwise prohibited. ■
Best fin forward for Bite-Back BITE-BACK Shark & Marine Conservation is back with its second One F’in Mile sponsored event, to be held, as last year, at Kempton Park Racecourse in Surrey. On Sunday, 31 August, volunteers will walk a sponsored mile in diving fins around Kempton’s perimeter road. The keen can go for a full circuit at 1.4 miles. Money raised from the ungainly group walk will go to support BiteBack’s Hacked Off! campaign to make Britain the first country to ban sale of sharkfin soup. Last year’s mass shuffle raised £6000-plus for the campaign. ”This a great opportunity for people to demonstrate their passion for the marine environment in a fun and
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entertaining way, without getting wet or having to put in months of training,” said Bite-Back campaign director Graham Buckingham. Registration costs £20 and participants are asked to raise at least £100 each in sponsorship. Support is also coming from Mares UK, which returns as the event’s main sponsor. Kempton Park has 500 free carparking spaces and its own railway station, 40 minutes from Waterloo. Information: www.bite-back.com, registration: www.virginmoney giving.com A two-minute film of last year’s event can be seen at www.youtube. com/watch?v= mustc9CpBYw ■
YOU AND YOUR OCTOS ”On my old BC I have a plastic hose-clip. I have a funky little pocket on my new Scubapro. Time will tell if it works or not.” Paul Jackson ”Magnetic hose release attached to D-ring on my BC within the triangle of access. It’s clearly visible and easily accessible for my buddy, doesn’t affect my trim and stays clear of reef/wreck.” Mark Sanders-Barwick ”Industrial-strength wide Velcro strip wound around the shoulder-strap of my wing and the end of a 2m hose to hold the reg firmly up on my left shoulder.” Errol Simpson ”I use a magnetic octopus-holder and it’s so easy to clip the octo onto it and easy for my buddy to see and grab it.” Peter Bellamy ”Bowstone clip attached to the hose. I’ve tried loads of others and they either hold the octo too tight or it falls out. The octo can be positioned mouthpiece-down to lessen freeflowing.” Nick Turton ”Either a Scumball (with a kinked hose) or an O-ring/cable tie/boltsnap contraption that allows me to place the octo more effectively and holds it in place better.” Sue Brown ”A quick-release clip fastened across my chest for easy access to my buddy (or me, if he takes my second stage!). John Gray ”I don’t like the idea of tucking the octopus under webbing as it doesn’t always release easily.” Ben Easthope ”I tend to stow it in the shoulder strap of my BC – it’s more streamlined.” Jesse Swindale ”My Cetacea Scumball holder works better than the magnetic holder provided by Oceanic.” Sharon Meadows ”As a GUE diver I use a bungee cord necklace. It’s always in the correct place and it doesn’t tangle or dangle. I can even put it in my mouth without using my hands.” Rupert Vidion ”My octo clip enables me to stow my octopus easily and quickly and to adjust its position depending on my dive configuration.” Kevin Jordan ”Surgical tubing, because I dive on twin separate tanks but use a manifold if available at dive destination. Tubing is strong enough (buy reel from a pharmacy) and can be replaced each year.” Anthony Bowen ”I love the two-part yellow strap with a pinch-clip that pulls out of a recess. It works well if using the octo to fill a DSMB but most importantly it keeps it in the right place for me and my buddy.” Sue Batchelor ”Just a simple hose clip – easy to release the AAS and easily replaceable if broken or damaged. Very reliable.” Terry Orford ”A plastic hose-clip is easy to pull clear and tidy along with the contents gauge together in one place.” Geraint Owen Go to www.divernet.com to answer the next Big Question and for a chance to win a £118 Luxfer 3-litre compact emergency pony cylinder from Sea & Sea. To find out more about Luxfer cylinders, visit www.dive-team.com This month’s winner is Clair Read, Horley, Surrey.
THE NEXT BIG QUESTION On holiday, would you take a day off from repetitive diving? Answer yes or no, and feel free to comment
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News AUG_Layout 1 01/07/2014 11:18 Page 12
DIVER NEWS
Four Brits among dead in bad month for divers worldwide F
OUR BRITISH DIVERS LOST THEIR LIVES in diving incidents at home and abroad during the month of June. Peter Stanning, 44, from Highbury Hill, north London and Christopher Mehegan, 45, from Brentwood in Essex, died after both got into difficulty while wreck-diving with a group in the English Channel south of Eastbourne in Sussex. The men were recovered from the sea on to their chartered dive-boat and given emergency treatment until they could be evacuated, unconscious, by a Coastguard SAR helicopter. It was confirmed at Eastbourne Hospital that they had not survived. According to regional press, post mortem examinations established that Mehegan had suffered a pulmonary barotrauma or burst lung, while
Stanning had inhaled water and drowned. Sussex Police launched an investigation into the incident. Off the Maltese island of Gozo, a British man and woman, reported to be a couple, lost their lives after getting into difficulty while diving with two others in a rough sea in Dwejra Bay. According to local reports, they were brought ashore and confirmed dead at the scene. One of the other divers was also brought ashore and hospitalised, while the fourth diver regained the shore safely. On the same day, a 64-year-old Austrian man died after getting into difficulty while diving off Gozo’s Reqqa Point. He too was confirmed dead at the scene. Police launched investigations into both incidents. Other fatal diving incidents abroad included deaths in Ireland, South
Africa and Florida. In Ireland, two men died in separate incidents. One became unresponsive during a dive off Roches Point in County Cork. He was recovered by lifeboat and taken to shore at Fort Camden in Cork Harbour for transfer by ambulance to hospital, where it was confirmed that he had not survived. The other, believed to be a 45year-old Pole, died after getting into difficulty while diving in a group off Malin Head. He was airlifted to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Off South Africa’s Aliwal Shoal at eThekwini, technical divers Peter Timm, 51, and Adele Stegen, 45, died after entering the water together to conduct a deep dive to recover equipment lost from a research vessel. The divers surfaced, Timm reportedly attempting to resuscitate
Stegen before losing consciousness himself. The pair were transferred ashore where paramedics confirmed that they could not be saved. Off Durban, a diving spearfisherman lost his life after getting caught up in a strong riptide while diving off rocks at Brighton Beach. He was recovered ashore and hospitalised, where he later died. His dive-fishing companion was able to regain the shore safely. In Florida, snorkellers Andrew Harris and Nicole Kapfer, both 26, were run down by a powered craft near Jupiter Inlet. Both were hospitalised but, while Kapfer was later released with less severe injuries, the more seriously hurt Harris did not survive. An investigation was launched by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. ■
Divers get together in 15 countries for manta rays THE DEATH OF A YOUNG diving instructor and marine biologist with a “legendary sense of fun who lived every moment to the full” prompted a “Dive Around the World” event in early June. Divers in 15 locations covering eight countries and four continents took part in memory of Guy Joseph, 25, who died in a paragliding accident in 2011. Organised by UK charity Guy’s Trust, the event raised more than £1000 towards the Guy Joseph Internship Programme at Manta Watch, the marine conservation organisation based in Indonesia that Joseph helped found.
Each group of divers, many emulating Joseph’s habit of wearing an animal onesie or other fancy dress, had to take down a giant letter that together spelt the
words “GUY’S TRUST!” Taking the photos was often challenging, said Vicky Joseph of Guy’s Trust, “with the water temperature in Chile only 7°C,
Sweden’s photographer getting lost in the murkiness of the Baltic Sea, California’s surge causing their letter to break apart and Komodo’s three- knot current making theirs act like a huge sail”. Nevertheless, divers from Lundy Island, the Farne Islands and Norfolk in the UK, to Monterey Bay and Fort Lauderdale in the USA; Jakarta, Morotai, Komodo, the Gili Islands and Bali in Indonesia; and Thailand, Timor Leste, Chile, South Africa and Sweden were said to have reported feeling “incredibly privileged” to be part of the experience. www.guystrust.org ■
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EDINBURGH’S HERIOT-WATT University marks 50 years of scientific and research diving this year. During that period it has come to be recognised as a world leader in training students and in carrying out environmental research projects. Its first major project in the 1960s centred on seaweeds in the Canary Islands but, since the 1970s, its work has become most associated with Orkney, with projects often involving marine biological assessments related to gas- and oil-industry activity. ”Off Shetland and Orkney we have run continuous monitoring surveys over 35 years and Heriot-Watt advised the oil industry on outfall and low impact outlets when the Flotta terminal was being commissioned in the mid 1970s,” says Prof Hamish Mair of the University’s Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology, who has dived with Heriot-Watt since 1979. ”Further diving survey and mapping work in 2004 provided information resulting in Sullom Voe in Shetland being classified as a marine Special Area of Conservation.” In 1990 a major diving science training centre with on-site
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Pictured: Heriot-Watt student working off Orkney and (left) a dive outing in the mid-1980s.
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recompression chamber was established at the University’s Orkney campus in Stromness. Current and former Heriot-Watt staff and students enjoyed a celebratory gathering in Stromness earlier this summer – shortly after the completion of the university’s most recent research project, in Scapa Flow. ■
MCS plans mega-clean British freedive record THE MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY’S annual beachcleaning volunteer event takes place from 19 to 22 September. Normally called the Beachwatch Big Weekend, this year it is titled the Great British Beach Clean, as the MCS pushes to make the event ”bigger and better”. It hopes to create a ”mass beach participation event” as never seen before, with at least 10,000 people clearing and surveying at least 400 beaches around Britain. To participate, go to www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch or call the MCS on 01989 566017. ■
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BRITON JOHN MOORCROFT has set a new freediving Dynamic No Fins national record with a swim of 167m – more than six lengths of a 25m-long swimming pool. Moorcroft set his mark at the 2nd Manchester Classic competition, organised by Steve Millard of Apneists UK. The swim beat Chris Crawshaw’s previous record of 163m, set in March 2012. In Dynamic No Fins, the freediver uses a conventional stroke to swim under water, www.free divingcompetition.com ■
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News AUG_Layout 1 01/07/2014 11:21 Page 14
DIVER NEWS
Dive trail for protected Lundy wreck is active
Salvors disturb protected warships
A
MARK LAVINGTON
A diver approaches a boiler on the Iona II. The ship was intended as a local excursion and mail-boat operating between Glasgow and the Western Isles. However, shortly after commissioning, it Stern post. was purchased for use as a Confederate blockade-runner in the American Civil War. It sank after setting out from Ireland, bound for Madeira on the first leg of its trans-Atlantic delivery voyage. The wreck was found in 1976 and designated as a protected site in 1990. The trail is the fifth to open on a protected wreck. Others are on the submarine HMS/M A1 in Hampshire’s MIKE DEATON
DIVE TRAIL HAS OPENED on the protected wreck of the 19th century paddle steamer Iona II off Lundy Island, near the Bristol Channel. The trail has been created by Wessex Archaeology on behalf of English Heritage, and after consultation with the diving community on the trail’s design. ”The end result is a series of four themed underwater guides that will allow divers to easily navigate around the wreck and learn more about the vessel, its history and the local marine life,” said Wessex Archaeology as the trail opened in June. ”There is also an option to contribute to the ongoing preservation of the wreck through a photographic monitoring system.” Wreck and trail information is contained in booklets available from the operators who take divers out to the site. In addition divers can download it at the Iona II Dive Trail webpage www.landmarktrust.org.uk /lundyisland/discovering-lundy/ activities/diving/iona-ii-dive-trail. To dive the trail, divers need to obtain a free licence from English Heritage. Enquiries can also be made to Lundy Warden Beccy MacDonald at warden@lundyisland.co.uk The iron-hulled ship was lost while seeking shelter from a storm off Lundy in January 1864. It had been built on the Clyde only the year before.
Solent; HMS Colossus, in the Isles of Scilly; the Coronation, off Plymouth, South Devon; and the Norman’s Bay Wreck, near Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. The first protected wreck dive trail was opened in 2009. English Heritage aims to establish 12 trails, at wrecks ranging from the 17th to the mid-20th centuries, by 2018. Forty-six wrecks carry protected status in English waters. ■
Captain Don passes away CAPTAIN DON STEWART, a pioneer of diving tourism on Bonaire and a legendary figure among both customers and peers, has died at the age of 88. Stewart first arrived on Bonaire in 1962 and, by 1976, had opened Captain Don’s Habitat as what he termed an “environmental diving resort” – a ground-breaker for what is now a common enough commercial model. He went on to develop the facility into a leading diving hotel while
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remaining dedicated to the protection of Bonaire’s marine life. He was, for instance, instrumental in getting spearfishing banned off the island. Stewart received some 55 awards in recognition of his success in combining effective business with genuine commitment to the marine environment. He is survived by his long-term partner, Janet Thibault. A full appreciation of Bonaire’s ”Captain Don” will appear in next month’s divEr. ■
Don Stewart.
A SOUTH-EAST ASIAN salvage vessel has been impounded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia and its 10 Chinese crew arrested after a large haul of metals stripped from wrecks was found aboard. Included was aluminium taken from the British warships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, sunk off the Pahang coast in 1941 with the loss of some 850 lives. They are protected as war graves under the UK’s Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 and carry Protected Place status, so diving is allowed if nothing is touched. According to regional press, the Acting British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Ray Kyles, had expressed concern over the illegal salvage but, as divEr went to press, it was not clear whether the British Government would get involved in legal action against the offending vessel’s owner and its crew. ■
Six-hour drift divers thank their searchers TWO UNIVERSITY students have visited Holyhead RNLI station – to say thanks in person to crew who participated in a search for them. Craig Kewley, 20, and Alice Cousins, 22, members of University of Liverpool Sub-Aqua Club (LUSAC), endured a six-hour drift off Anglesey at the beginning of June when they became separated from their cover boat at South Stack lighthouse, Holyhead. A land, sea and air search was launched and the pair were eventually spotted from the air well away from their dive-site and five miles offshore. They were lucky; dusk was approaching and the helicopter from RAF Valley that winched them up was getting low on fuel and making its last pass over their area. ■
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DIVER NEWS
A
Virtual reality model of the A7… …and a 3D multibeam image.
PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY / SHIPS PROJECT
However, an initial multibeam sonar survey had been carried out. ”The submarine sits upright, partburied in the seabed with the stern particularly well dug in,” project head Peter Holt told divEr. ”It sank stern-first and rammed so firmly into the seabed that all salvage attempts immediately after the sinking failed. First a tug and then a battleship were unable to haul it out.” The cause of the A7’s loss is not known and this is something that the diving team is investigating. Little, too, is understood of the submarine’s – indeed the whole A-Class’s – general history, including the A7’s role as a trainer for submarine crews. The SHIPS team is attempting to unearth whatever information may be available and has already made some headway with its location of A-Class design files. Once diving work has been completed, the team will engage in a public outreach programme to include lectures and museum displays. Likely candidates are Devonport Naval Heritage Centre and the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport. SHIPS expects to complete its final report by the end of the year. The SHIPS Project is funded by the US charitable research foundation ProMare and is managed by 3H Consulting in Plymouth. The A7 Project can be followed at www.promare.co.uk
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
DIVING GROUP in the West Country is the first civilian team to have been granted a licence by the Ministry of Defence to survey and record the remains of a military wreck on which all diving is banned under other circumstances. Members of the Shipwrecks & History in Plymouth Sound (SHIPS) Project are examining the wreck of HM Submarine A7, which sank in Whitsand Bay just west of Plymouth in January 1914 while on a training exercise, with the loss of all 11 crew. In 2011, 30 years after its discovery by sports divers and prompted by some recovery of finds, the wreck was given legal protection as a war grave under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, under its most stringent Controlled Site category. The A7 Project team is carrying out a non-intrusive survey, archaeological contributors including the Nautical Archaeology Society and Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society. The survey includes a geophysical assessment, photographic and written records of the hull, its fittings and plate thicknesses, and a 3D virtual reality (VR) computer model of the wreck and its surroundings. The wreck lies on a seabed of flat, firm clay, in 40m of water. As divEr went to press in late June, SHIPS was finalising its plans with a view to commencing work by early July, giving it two months in which to carry out its work.
SHIPS PROJECT ARCHIVE
Plymouth divers get nod to survey protected sub
✹ The wreckage of the WW1 German submarine U26 has been found by the Finnish Badewanne wreck-diving group in the western Gulf of Finland. The submarine sank four Russian battleships in the Baltic Sea before disappearing without trace with all 30
crew in August 1915, probably after hitting a Russian mine. Fine footage of the wreck, described by Badewanne as ”probably the bestpreserved WW1 German U-boat wreck in the world”, can be seen at the website yle.fi – search for U26. ■
Swim for sharks Sea Life set to breed blacktips A SOUTH AFRICAN WOMAN has raised some US $5000 for shark-conservation campaigning by swimming the 22 miles from Thailand’s Koh Phangnan to Koh Tao. May Gene Giraudeau took 13hr 23min to complete the swim, supported by a team from Koh Tao’s Master Divers. A PADI Dive Master and former
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competitive swimmer, Giraudeau had worked as an underwater videographer on Koh Tao and had seen shark numbers gradually decline. Her raised money has gone to PADI Project AWARE’s FINathon campaign for stricter controls on shark-finning and full protection of endangered species. ■
SEA LIFE CENTRES in Britain and Europe are looking to boost their ability to breed blacktip reef sharks in captivity, with the aim of restocking wild populations. Encouraged by successful captive matings and births in Germany and Holland, the aquarium chain is to pair up breeding adults from different locations to ensure a strong gene pool, and to designate some of its centres as nurseries to house pups until they reach sexual maturity at 5-6 years old. The pup born in Holland has been reared to more than a year old, while three born in Germany in March are now said to be thriving in a nursery tank in Weymouth, Dorset. Sea Life has also devised a survey form that visitors can use to help staff monitor its blacktips for signs of courtship and mating, thus helping aquariums prepare for births and ensure that pups are delivered safely. ■
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News AUG_Layout 1 01/07/2014 11:26 Page 19
DIVER NEWS
Bird-fanciers ruffle St Abbs skippers BIRD CONSERVATIONISTS HAVE expressed concern about dive-boat movements around St Abbs Head in Berwickshire, on the grounds that the activity could be disturbing seabirds that nest there. St Abbs, owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), is a popular diving area and lies within a voluntary marine reserve. Home to a large seabird breeding colony, St Abbs Head is also a special protection area for birds, a special area of conservation and a site of special scientific interest. Following concern raised by an environmental author, Graham White, a meeting was convened in June between the NTS, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), RSPB Scotland and dive-boat operators. ”If it is the case that birds at this internationally important and protected site are being kept away from their nests, then we will ensure that all action is taken to stop illegal or unacceptable behaviour,” Kara
Brydson, of RSPB Scotland, told regional press. Boat-skippers maintained that they are mindful of local wildlife. One, Paul Crowe of Dive St Abbs, said: ”Yes, we do dive close to the rocks; it’s where the best scenic diving is. But we do it carefully, and do not disturb any wildlife in the process. ”I have been a dive-boat operator for the past 10 years and in my opinion there has never been a decrease or increase in the amount of birds.” Scottish Natural Heritage confirmed its view that the “vast majority” of dive-boat skippers did their best not to disturb seabirds, and that it was assessing how the reserve was managed with the NTS. Terry Levinthal, Conservation Director of the NTS, described the meeting as ”positive”, its outcome being an agreed plan for a voluntary code of practice governing boat movements. ■
Sick coral responds to antibiotics
Derby University lecturer Michael Sweet dives next to a coral with white band disease. SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND that coral affected by white band disease, thought to be caused by bacteria and a ciliate micro-organism, can be improved by treatment with antibiotics. Coral was collected from the Caribbean and, in laboratory conditions, samples with and without the disease were soaked in an antibiotics treatment over a period of time. The disease was
stopped or slowed in affected samples, while the treatment did not harm healthy coral. The research was led by the University of Derby, with Newcastle University, Universidad Simón Bolívar of Venezuela and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. How such treatment could be transferred to large swathes of coral in the open sea is unclear. ■
RY MYSTERY DIVERDIVER AMERICAN AIRLINES
P
RIOR TO A RECENT diving holiday to a Caribbean location, I was faced with the problem of how to get there. The dates for the direct flights didn’t work for me – flying via the USA was the only option. Until 2005, flying with diving equipment via North America was no problem for divers – just about every carrier, including British Airways, had a massive allowance of two cases weighing up to 32kg per passenger. However, all the transatlantic airlines, including BA, now have additional charges for any excess baggage over 23kg, which also includes diving equipment. If you want to check in a second bag containing dive gear in the BA World Traveller cabin it will cost you £55, and if you want to increase your luggage allowance for one case up to 32kg, it’s £40. All very reasonable, except that because of the codeshare arrangements BA has with American Airlines, the flight we wanted would defer to American’s excess charges, which turned out to be £110 for an extra case and the same as BA for an increase in weight of up to 32kg. I was also faced with the possibility of additional charges for the return journey from the Caribbean. EVENTUALLY I WENT FOR the simplest option – which was to pack light and ensure that dive gear plus normal luggage could fit all in one case weighing no more than 23kg. I opted for American as the
carrier but soon discovered how my in-flight comfort could be . rebreather An APD affected by my choice of aircraft. Flying into the same city, I found two flights per day that would connect me to my island destination. One was on American’s new 777-300 aircraft with its lie-flat beds in First and Business Classes as well as its latest offer, Main Cabin Extra, for those who prefer a little more space. The second was the older 777200, with a simple offer of First, Business (a non-lie-flat version) and Economy. YOU’D THINK THAT flying Economy on the newer aircraft, with every seat having USB and power sockets as well as in-flight entertainment, would be the ideal choice. I thought the same – until I researched the seat pitch and width on this aircraft. The older 777-200 boasts a 2 x 5 x 2 configuration but the newer version is a 3 x 4 x 3. So American has added an extra seat, reduced the pitch from 32 to 31in and the seat width from 18.5 to 17in. I decided to fly Economy on the older aircraft for the flight out and Main Cabin Extra on the newer plane on the way back. This turned out to be a wise decision, because the Economy seats on the latter aircraft were so narrow I could not have comfortably sat in one for a nine-hour journey. The island and its diving were superb – it’s just a shame that the airlines are making getting to our chosen destinations such painfully hard work. ■
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Beachcomber AUG_Beachcomber 30/06/2014 12:01 Page 20
BEACHCOMBER
JAWS 6: JIMMY FIGHTS BACK Back in the olden days, you’d get out of the water all excited and ask people if they’d seen the shark, and they’d look at you with an expression that suggested you were 30 bar short of a fill. Nowadays you show them the footage from your GoPro and smirk, a GoPro with a head-mount being the first item of diving equipment most people buy. Anyway, there was Florida diver Jimmy Roseman, minding his own business 30m down on what looks a lot like a boring sandy bottom with a nearby piece of unidentifiable wreckage to make things more interesting, when a great white shark swam past. The shark was definitely interested in Jimmy, but
Cannibalised Meanwhile an Australian team tagged a 3m great white as part of a research project, recovered the tag when it washed up on a beach and got something of a surprise when they analysed the data. The shark had been swimming along at a depth of 580m when the recorded temperature suddenly bounced from 8°C to 26°C, an event with only one possible explanation – the 3m shark had been eaten by something, and the tag was now inside the body of the unknown predator. The team eventually decided that the predator was probably a much bigger great white, a 5m massive cannibal shark weighing 2 tonnes. Two reason have been advanced for one shark eating another: either it was a territorial dispute or else the bigger shark was just hungry.
Cruz control Celebrity time again. Actress Penelope Cruz was recently asked what every woman should try once, and quickly suggested scuba-diving with sharks. She is, she says, a keen scuba-diver who loves to see these apex predators in their natural environment, although she isn’t brave enough to want to get really close. Personally, I’m waiting for the first
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not half as interested as Jimmy was in the shark, which did all the circling and getting closer and closer and closer stuff sharks do before they actually go for you. Eventually Jimmy was able to fend off the creature with his speargun, but without actually shooting or harming it. Good thing too, I’ve seen Jaws and I know that spearguns just annoy sharks so much they’ll kill you and then follow your children all over the world to kill them as well. More important, he had the video to prove that it happened. In the end, the Daily Mail headline summed it up nicely: Diver Bravely Fends Off Great White Shark With Just His Speargun And Has The Video To Prove It.
Hollywood A-list glamour queen to declare her undying passion for wreck-diving and I have an invitation already written.
Teenage revival If there’s one thing the world has in overwhelming abundance it’s teenagers, so we didn’t need cave-divers finding us another, thank you so very much. Except that this one is quite interesting. Naia was 15 or 16 when she died around 12,000 years ago, and DNA samples from her teeth and bones suggest that she was a direct ancestor of today’s Native Americans. Her remains were discovered in a cave called Hoyo Negro – Black Hole – on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, and seem to disprove the theory that modern Native Americans were descended from a much more recent migration that displaced the earliest human inhabitants of America. The team also found the remains of many now-extinct Ice Age animals, including sabre-tooth cats and elephantlike animals called gomphothereas. It’s the only time human remains have been found at the same site as animal remains from this period. And all of this discovery work was possible only because of cave-divers. For a great write-up look for “Hoyo Negro” on the phys.org site. Nice to see divers getting a properly good press.
Saves on ‘leccy Gosport Diving Museum recently came up with a great idea for the annual Museums at Night festival, a festival in which museums put on special nocturnal events. What Gosport did was turn the lights down and use just glowsticks and the odd torch to illuminate the exhibits, which must have made it feel a bit like a UK dive, except with no worries about gas or deco. To make it even more like a UK dive it had staff in period costume to chat to visitors and provide commentary and interesting facts, playing the role of the old guy on the boat who has been diving for ever and seen it all.
All right for some Guernsey is a lovely little island with great diving, or, as a Guernsey diver I know puts it:“Once you go Guern, you don’t return.” Now, however, the diving on this Channel Island is a bit more limited. Until recently St John’s Ambulance ran the only recompression chamber there, but it broke and it can’t afford to fix it. The authorities have therefore banned diving in Guernsey harbours unless divers can produce a plan that includes transport and permission to use an alternative chamber for DCI incidents.
Perhaps a bit over the top, but better safe than sorry. Except that it hasn’t tried to ban or limit other diving activities anywhere else on the island. Is it me, or is that stance just a tiny bit contradictory?
Beetle mania The natural world is an endless source of inspiration for kit designers, but this made me look twice. Scientists have discovered that male diving beetles have adhesive plungers on their forelegs to allow them to hold onto their female mating partners. The plungers act like suction cups that provide better grip when the female diving beetles start to buck and twist during mating. What intrigued me was that Time headlined its article on the study Diving Beetles Could One Day Help Scuba-Divers, and I’m agog to find out how. I await developments.
Hi-tech snorkel Like many divers I do own a snorkel – I just don’t know where it is. This would never be an issue if I owned an Easybreath full-face snorkelling mask from French company Tribord, because the snorkel is built into the top of the mask. The gadget seems to apply huge amounts of technology to solve two problems that don’t really exist. First, the mask allows you to breathe through both your nose and mouth, to avoid the “weird-feeling” necessity of breathing only through your mouth. Second, it incorporates a double air-flow system to prevent it fogging. It even has a device to close the breathing tube if the end dips under water. Presumably something far more hi-tech and reliable than the old “ping-pong ball in a cage” system that didn’t seal the end of the tube of the first snorkel I ever bought. Importantly, it does come in five colours so you can match it to your swimming costume, but none of these are black, so the tekkies won’t be interested.
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THE ISLAND OF
ETERNAL SPRING… …and powerful winds. NIGEL WADE gains first-hand experience of how the Canary Island of Fuerteventura got its name, and gets to fight a cephalopod
T
HE SOUND OF CHILDREN’S laughter hung in the air – giggling, oohs and aahs, occasional squeals of surprise and delight – and then, suddenly, it was quiet. The joyous sounds of the youngsters had been replaced by the wind-ruffling palm fronds and the water fizzing as bubbles broke the swimming pool’s rippled surface. I had joined in for a kiddies-only Discover Scuba Diving session at the hotel’s spacious swimming-pool.
Beneath the surface the kids were being well looked after, instructor Jörg keeping a sharp eye on everyone and supervising games with submersible toys. The children were wide-eyed with excitement as they took in this new experience. All of them, without exception, had taken to diving like ducklings to water. Their small BCs and undersized tanks looked enormous on their frames, their regulators seemed huge against their
tiny faces and their masks made them all look goggle-eyed, but despite their alien appearance there was no mistaking the swagger of achievement as they finished the session and reluctantly exited the water. Their parents were beaming with pride as they wrapped their little cherubs up in soft, fluffy towels. These young ones represent the future of our sport, and I was proud to be able to share the first tentative steps on their diving journey.
Left: ‘The future of our sport’ – quiet as a mouse as the briefing is delivered; playing games under water. Main image: The start of 12 miles of sand beach at Jandia.
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CANARIES DIVER
I WAS IN FUERTEVENTURA, the oldest of the Canary Islands, dating back 20 million years and born by fire during volcanic eruptions. Nowadays the island enjoys a more tranquil existence and has become a hotspot for mainly European family holiday-makers who come to enjoy the sun, the beaches and watersports. Translated from the Spanish, Fuerteventura means “strong winds”. Which is apt, because the island is subjected to swift air movement across the Atlantic from the coast of Africa. The winds that blow from the Sahara are hot but the cooler waters of the Atlantic reduce the high temperatures, keeping the climate on the island pleasant and stable through the year. As a result, Fuerteventura is also referred to as “the Island of Eternal Spring”. My base for a week’s stay here was at the beautifully landscaped Aldiana Hotel, set on top of a rocky plateau at the end of the 12-mile sand beach at
Jandia in the south of the island. Wellmaintained gardens full of colourful blooms set against an endless blue sky above the azure waters with their whitecapped waves certainly imparted a feeling of springtime. The on-site German-run Werner Lau dive centre was my host for this trip. Manager Markus Hoefert, who had greeted me at Puerto del Rosaria international airport after a pleasantly short flight from the UK, has been plying his trade since 1999 and had worked as an instructor in the Maldives and Egypt before arriving at Jandia to take over at the Aldiana centre. “Its been a bit windy recently,” was Markus’s opening sentence. “I hope we can find some sheltered spots to dive, and maybe some decent visibility.” I was soon to realise that he wasn’t kidding. As we drove south along the coast road, the sea was awash with white foam, relentless waves crashing onto the rocky shore and sandy beaches.
Not a good sign for anyone but surfers or kite-boarders, who would be in their element. We met at the dive centre in the afternoon following the kids’ DSD session and loaded our gear into vans. After a short drive to the port at Morro Jable to board the dive centre’s inflatable we headed out of the harbour – and into the teeth of a gale. Markus tried valiantly to negotiate the 3m waves as they hit us head-on. To his credit he quickly called the dive on our intended site as untenable, and headed for the shelter of the harbour wall. I loosened my white-knuckled grip on the boat’s handrail and breathed a discreet sigh of relief as we tied up in calmer water. Massive interlocking concrete blocks resembling playing pieces from a game of jacks towered above and below us, forming the breakwater and, I hoped, sanctuary for marine life. The depth here was 8-10m but I couldn’t see the ☛
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sandy seabed until it was only 2m away because the water was full of suspended sand particles, reducing the visibility and making photography challenging at best. Undaunted, we made our way around the maze of concrete, finding shoals of blue perch and silver bream ghosting in and out of the gloom. Groups of goatfish huddled around the base of the wall and looked a little startled as we approached, lifting off the seabed in unison to seek cover in the nooks and crannies of their man-made home. In contrast, a shoal of Atlantic damselfish mobbed Markus as he scratched the surface of a concrete block. Bold and inquisitive ornate wrasse joined in, pushing to the front of the group and looking to capitalise on easy pickings as Markus dislodged trapped morsels with his fingers. The water temperature was a chilly 19°C, and I was glad that on this occasion I had anticipated the conditions correctly and was diving in a drysuit and hood. The experience reminded me of summer around the UK’s south coast, so I felt totally at home. THE FOLLOWING DAY, holidaying divers from the Aldiana and other local hotels joined us. As the day’s briefing was being delivered I peered over the hotel’s boundary wall and out to sea. The surface was being whipped into an endless mass of whitecaps, and even the windsurfers were struggling to stay upright. I suspected that we were in for another challenging day’s diving. But as we exited the shelter of the harbour and headed north to our chosen site at Large Moray Reef, the earlier strong winds dropped to a mere breeze, and 10 minutes later and a few hundred metres offshore from the Jandia lighthouse we were securely tied in to permanent moorings. From the surface we could see that the water was thick with suspended matter. The dive had coincided with an outgoing tide carrying with it fine sand and debris
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Above, left to right: Markus is mobbed by Atlantic damselfish at the harbour wall; with clear visibility the reefs seem almost tropical; Atlantic sting ray hunts for lunch; Markus at the entrance to a man-made overhang.
from 12 miles of weather-beaten beach. I swam to the shotline and dumped air from my BC. The visibility was poor and getting worse the deeper we went. Near the seabed the thick suspended sediment cut out most of the ambient light, and I was having trouble seeing my fin-tips, let alone the topography. Large trumpetfish popped in and out of our visible range, accompanied by painted comber and silver sharp-snout sea bream, their flanks reflecting the light
my retrieved camera aloft in triumph as the massive mollusc with delusions of grandeur retreated into its lair, defeated. The strong winds returned, putting an end to hopes of an afternoon dive, so instead I explored the coast near the hotel. I was amazed to see chipmunks scurrying around the lava rocks. These small rodents, also known as Barbary ground squirrels, were introduced to Fuerteventura from North Africa, where they were kept as
FROM BELOW, MY CAMERA WAS WRENCHED FROM MY HANDS
Below, left to right: A chipmunk – “I didn’t expect to see these cute little guys on the beach”; purple flabellina nudibranch with eggs; spinner dolphin; outsize trumpetfish.
from our lamps and making them glow eerily in the pea-soup conditions. The sediment had carpeted the seabed and gathered in thick clumps around rocky outcrops. I was trying desperately to photograph a beautiful purple flabellina nudibranch laying eggs when, from below, my camera was wrenched from my hands. Shocked, I looked for the culprit. A large octopus had its suckers firmly stuck to my housing and was attempting to abscond with my expensive hardware. A tug-of-war ensued, creating a thick cloud of detritus around us. The battle was totally one-sided and lasted only a handful of seconds. I held
household pets in the 1960s. The entertaining animals escaped into the wild and the population has thrived, especially having no natural predators. I spent an hour or so photographing individuals – they are almost tame and come very close, looking for the free hand-outs only tourists deliver. One even sat on my knee with its front legs outstretched, comically begging for food. My prayers for the winds to dissipate were answered only near the end of the week-long trip. Markus had arranged for an early-morning dive to coincide with an incoming tide in the hope that we could enjoy clear underwater conditions,
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and this tactic proved to be spot-on as we returned to Large Moray Reef to find that the vis had risen to well over 20m. I could now see what we had missed on the previous dives. There, sitting as bold as brass outside its home, was the opportunistic camera thief, tentacles curled around its body and seeming to eye with regret the swag it had missed out on during our last encounter. I didn’t make the same mistake twice, and kept my distance as I captured its likeness on my memory card. It seemed to enjoy the session, allowing Markus to pose close behind it. Moving on to explore the reef fully, we found a large shoal of striped grunts circling en masse over the deeper water. Silver-sided sardines could be seen tightly packed in the distance. The reef is man-made and consists of concrete structures set on top of compacted sand shelves and overgrown with sponges and hydroids over time. The area attracts large numbers of fish, from bright red and yellow parrotfish to gold and blue damsels. I found an area of sand that was home to hundreds of garden eels, their bodies extended as they swayed in the gentle current, waiting for a passing meal. Big grouper and painted comber were ever-present along with the huge trumpetfish I had only managed to glimpse on our previous visits. I was now
Dolphins and whales are commonly found in the open ocean around Fuerteventura, and Werner Lau Aldiana Tauchen offers afternoon boat trips and the chance of an encounter with these amazing cetaceans. Markus’s experience in running these trips has resulted in an impressive success rate, and he is helped by his staff who, armed with powerful binoculars, look out for tell-tale signs of activity, such as flocks of seabirds swooping for baitfish forced to the surface by the hunting marine mammals. The rough seas had put the trips on hold all week, but today we could take advantage of the respite in the wind. Families from the Aldiana and adjacent hotels joined us as we powered out to sea. Within an hour the boat was surrounded by spinner dolphins, surfing the wake or riding the bow waves. The youngsters on board couldn’t hide their excitement as my week ended, as it had started, with the sound of children’s laughter. Fuerteventura is a good destination for families, because there is plenty for everyone to enjoy. Yes, it can be windy, but not all the time. The dives are best done on an incoming tide, especially adjacent to the beaches. There are some wrecks dotted around the island, too, and if the conditions are favourable I’m told they’re worth a visit. If you do find that your planned dives are blown-out, you could always try your hand at windsurfing or kite-boarding instead or, for the less adventurous, there’s the ever-reliable sunshine to enjoy on this island of eternal spring.
seeing the dive-site at its best, but was wondering why the reef was named after moray eels, as I had seen only one small white-eyed specimen. I was assured that a number of varieties of these predatory eels are commonly encountered there. After an extended surface interval we moved to the adjacent site of Small Moray Reef. The topography was similar to that of its larger brother but it had more pronounced shelves, with white tube anemones and bright red starfish dotted around them. A big Atlantic sting ray glided past us and over a pair of white-eyed moray eels peeking out from under rocks as it hunted the sand flats for its lunch. A large octopus appeared, freeswimming across the sandy seabed. Was this the same guy who had tried so hard to mug me earlier in the week, or was it just another member of its criminal fraternity? BACK ON THE SURFACE, I noticed a number of fishing-boats in the distance, their nets deployed in hopes of plundering the vast shoals of sardines that are commonplace here. The local fishermen have an agreement with the dive centres and don’t fish over the designated sites. I was pleasantly surprised to see how prolific the dive-sites were in terms of marine life as a consequence.
FACTFILE GETTING THERE8 Nigel Wade flew from Gatwick to Puerto del Rosaria taking advantage of easyJet’s 20kg hold baggage allowance but no weight restrictions (only dimensions) on the cabin bag. DIVING & ACCOMMODATION8 Werner Lau Aldiana Tauchen, www.wernerlau.com. Nitrox is free for qualified divers. Nigel stayed at the Aldiana Fuerteventura, www.aldiana.de WHEN TO GO8 Year-round, with air temperatures averaging 22°C in winter and 28° in summer. Water temperatures average 18°C in winter up to 22°C at the tail-end of summer. MONEY8 Euros LANGUAGE8 Spanish, but English widely spoken. PRICES8 Return flights from the UK from £205. Aldiana Fuerteventura from £1193 for two sharing on an all-inclusive basis. Werner Lau Aldiana Tauchen offers a six-dive package for 170 euros. All-inclusive packages with accommodation and basic flight options can be booked through Thomas Cook, from Hotel Club Jandia Princess (from £507pp) to Iberostar Playa Gravitos (from £681pp), www.thomascook.com TOURIST INFORMATION8www.turismodecanarias.com
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WRECK DIVER
1914 World War One broke out 100 years ago this August, and the remaining months of the year saw a pattern set in terms of the war at sea that has left a rich legacy for today’s divers. JOHN LIDDIARD looks at the key sinkings
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ORLD WAR ONE was conducted on an industrial scale and wrought many changes in the way warfare was conducted, including the war at sea. Such a huge proportion of our popular wrecksites originate from those four years of conflict. Here we round up the last five months of 1914 and the first five months of conflict from a wreck diver’s point of view, with a mixture of better- and lesser-known wrecks in our home waters and worldwide.
HMS Amphion – first Royal Navy loss As soon as Britain declared war on Germany, on 4 August, 1914, the passenger ship converted to minelayer SMS Konigin Luise left Emden to lay a minefield off the Thames Estuary. HMS Amphion was one of a flotilla of Royal Navy light cruisers and destroyers to intercept and sink the
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Konigin Luise, but only after the German ship had laid that minefield and was on her way home. Returning to port on 6 August, at 6.45am HMS Amphion struck first one and then a second mine and sank. The wreck of this warship is designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, so while divers are permitted to visit we are not allowed to interfere with it in any way.
A few years ago I was on a trip based in Lowestoft with Dave Ronnan, skipper of Dive 125. The trip was blown out, but Dave and co-skipper Sylvia then got a dive in on HMS Amphion while moving the boat back to Eastbourne. “We had the only decent visibility of the trip,” says Dave. “The bow and stern are broken off. The centre section is upright and intact with the starboard row of guns visible and no surrounding turrets left. The port side was under a sand wave.” Asking further afield, Stephan Panis says: “It’s about 45 miles out from Belgium. Last year the wreck deteriorated through trawling.”
City of Winchester – first shipping victim Earlier that day and a quarter of the way round the world off Oman, the German cruiser SMS Königsberg captured and then scuttled the 6601-ton steamship City of Winchester, making her the first ship sunk in the Great War. Steve Dover wrote about a 1997 expedition to dive the wreck in divEr in 1999. After buying the wreck for £1, and describing the difficulty of organising and running the expedition, he wrote of his first dive: “From the huge prop, we glided above the shaft tunnel over the collapsed decking and rails crumpled about the hull. “We passed over the crew’s quarters, towards the great shadow of the triple- ☛
THE WORLD AT WAR 28 June Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip.
28 July Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia. Russia mobilises.
Top: Shell-cases on the wreck of the cruiser HMS Pathfinder. Left: HMS Amphion sank after striking a mine.
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EVENTS AT SEA 6 August HMS Amphion sunk by a German mine. Steamship City of Winchester captured and scuttled off Oman by German cruiser SMS Königsberg 9 August U15 becomes the first U-boat casualty, rammed and sunk by HMS Birmingham off Fair Isle. The Admiralty becomes aware of the risk U-boats pose to the fleet in Scapa Flow. 13 August Austrian liner Baron Gautsch runs into a newly laid AustroHungarian minefield while returning to Trieste. 17 August 7 September British and Japanese forces capture Tsingtao in China, ViceAdmiral Graf Spee’s base for the German East-Asia squadron. The German squadron is at sea and sets about raiding across the Pacific. 28 August Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers ambush German cruisers and destroyers in the Heligoland Bight. Three German light cruisers and one destroyer are sunk for light damage to British ships. As a consequence, the German fleet is held safely in port.
4 September SS Aorangi sunk in Holm Sound as the first of many blockships at Scapa Flow. 5 September In the Firth of Forth HMS Pathfinder becomes the first warship to be sunk by a submarine launched torpedo, fired by U21. 8 September RMS Oceanic, commissioned as the armed merchant cruiser HMS Oceanic, runs aground off Foula, Shetland Islands. 13 September German light cruiser SMS Hela torpedoed by British submarine E9 off Heligoland. 20 September German cruiser SMS Königsberg sinks the British light cruiser HMS Pegasus in Zanzibar harbour. The Königsberg subsequently suffers an engine failure and hides in the Rufiji river delta, to be blockaded by British cruisers. 22 September Royal Navy light cruisers HMS Hogue, Aboukir and Cressy torpedoed and sunk in the southern North Sea by U9. SS Urmstone Grange becomes the first blockship in Burra Sound, soon to be followed by the Doyle and then the Gobernador Bories.
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expansion engines amidships. Hard corals bedecked the twisted remains, and the huge engine-block was festooned with iridescent soft corals swaying in the breeze of the fish and our fin-strokes. “From the top of the engine we flew down over the crumpled bridge, between the three boilers and condenser.” These days the wreck is on the itinerary of liveaboards from Oman. At a depth of 28m in tropical water, the City is within the reach of most divers. The Königsberg continued to raid merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean until, on 20 September, 1914, her last victim was the light cruiser HMS Pegasus, caught at anchor off Zanzibar. The Königsberg subsequently suffered an engine problem. Prevented by the British blockade from returning to port in Dar-es-Salaam, the cruiser hid in the Rufiji river delta. The Royal Navy blockaded the delta channels for almost a year until two shallow-draught river gunboats were brought in to sink the Königsberg. At the bottom of the river, the wreck remained in German-held territory. The crew managed to salvage many of the guns and built improvised field carriages, serving as artillery with the German East African army until 1918. There is nothing of the Königsberg left for divers, but the story inspired author Wilbur Smith’s novel Shout at the Devil.
SMS Emden – Cocos Keeling At the other side of the Indian Ocean, the German cruiser SMS Emden was one of the most successful raiders, sinking 31 ships in the first few months of the war. That run ended on 9 November when she was cornered at Cocos Keeling by the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney. The Emden had sent a party ashore at Direction Island to destroy the wireless station. HMAS Sydney was escorting a troop convoy nearby. With
bigger and longer-range guns, the Sydney pounded the Emden until the captain was forced to beach the ship at Pulu Keeling and surrender. Nigel Holder, owner of the Old Harbour Dive Centre in Weymouth, spent a few seasons working at the dive centre on Cocos. “It’s a national park and the dive centre needs to apply for a licence for each visit. It’s over the horizon from the dive centre across open ocean and out of radio range, so for safety they will only go with a minimum of three boats. Every trip is an expedition.” Photographer Pete Atkinson tells me: “Over two expeditions I spent a total of 13 weeks on Cocos and only got to the Emden twice. You can’t plan a two-week holiday in CK and be sure of getting up to Pulu Keeling. “The wreck’s shallow, broken up and a lot has been salvaged, so you’re just looking for things that are recognisable, like the props and shaft struts and guns. It’s interesting, but not a really good dive. It’s shallow and exposed, so even on a calm day there is surge.”
HMS Pathfinder – first torpedo victim While most nations involved at the start of the war had submarines, their use in combat was completely untested. For Germany, the first month of the war had been
discouraging, with U15 becoming the first U-boat casualty, rammed and sunk by HMS Birmingham off Fair Isle. That all changed on 5 September, when U21 easily torpedoed the light cruiser HMS Pathfinder in the Firth of Forth, within sight of land. Following a magazine explosion that tore off the bow, HMS Pathfinder sank in four minutes, leaving only nine survivors. Afraid of the public losing confidence in the supreme power of the Royal Navy, the government
forbade any publication about the disaster. This action proved futile, because The Scotsman had already published an account and the writer Aldous Huxley was an eyewitness from St Abbs. I have written about HMS Pathfinder for divEr several times, most recently in April. Standing upright at 56m to the main deck and 63m to the seabed, it’s one of my favourite dives in that part of the country. Scapa Flow-based wreck researcher Kevin Heath tells me that the wreck of U15 has yet to be dived.
HMS Hogue, Aboukir & Cressy Later that month, on 22 September, the Royal Navy light cruisers HMS Hogue, Aboukir and Cressy were torpedoed and sunk in the southern North Sea by U9. At 6.45am the U-boat fired a single torpedo at HMS Aboukir, striking the port side amidships. As the Aboukir began to sink, it was at first thought she had struck a mine, and the other
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two cruisers were ordered in to assist. Realisation that it had been a torpedo came too late, and from 300 yards U9 fired a pair of torpedoes to claim a second victim. At this stage U9 briefly broke the surface – firing torpedoes leads to a sudden change in buoyancy. The U-boat used another pair of torpedoes to cripple the Cressy and another to finish her off. “The three wrecks are close together, so it can be hard to tell which wreck you are diving in advance,” says Dutch wreck photographer Vic Verinden. “They’re about 25 miles out from Ijmuiden by charter-boat. “I dived the Aboukir. It lies upsidedown in 30m and was heavily salvaged in the 1950s and ’60s, so is well-broken. There is still a lot of ammunition on the seabed. Visibility can be very good.” Dave Ronnan has dived all three: “We dived them from Taurus when Steve Howland owned it. It was a three- or four-day trip based out of Sheveningen, a nice marina and very helpful local divers who assisted with fills. All three are very similar and very broken up in 30m. “There is loads of ammunition and cordite cases,” says Dave.
German and Turkish warships fall to British subs To dispel the impression that the submarine war was one-sided, on 13 September the British submarine E9 had torpedoed and sunk the German light cruiser SMS Hela off Heligoland. A few weeks on, E9 torpedoed and sank the German destroyer S116. Two months later, on 13 December,
Royal Navy submarine B11 navigated the currents and minefields of the Dardanelles to torpedo and sink the Turkish battleship Mesudiye. Commanding officer Lieutenant N D Holbrook was subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross. Diving film-maker Savas Karakas informs me that the Mesudiye turned turtle in shallow water, the masts and upper works digging into the seabed. Welders from Istanbul cut into the upturned hull to rescue all but 34 of the trapped crew. “After the war, the wreck was heavily salvaged and scrapped,” says Savas. “Only her ribs and a few shells can be seen littering the seabed. “It’s an easy dive at just 14m, but rather than a shipwreck it is a junkyard.” “During my dive I was always thinking of the men trapped inside the hull, and those who were saved later became the first anti-submarine watchmen. They had learnt what Allied submarines could do by living it.” Author of the Dardanelles wreck guide Selcuk Kolay advises that dive centres in Canakkale have permits to dive the wreck if you want to take a look.
ss Glitra – first merchant U-boat victim While we all think of the carnage U-boats wreaked among merchant shipping through both world wars, it’s surprising how few merchant ships fell victim to U-boats in 1914. The first was not sunk until 20 October. The 866-ton ss Glitra was carrying a cargo of coal from Grangemouth to Stavanger in Norway. Approaching the Norwegian coast, U17 surfaced and ordered the ship to halt. Sailors from U17 boarded the Glitra, ordered the crew to abandon ship and scuttled it some 14 miles out from Skuesnes. Unlike the unrestricted operations later in the war, at this time U-boats operated in strict accordance with prize rules when attacking merchant ships.
The sea off the Norwegian coast is a few hundred metres deep, so the Glitra is not a wreck for divers.
Baron Gautsch – the first liner During 1914 considerably more ships fell victim to mines than U-boats, and mines are indiscriminate. On the afternoon of 13 August, an early victim was the 2069-ton Austrian liner Baron Gautsch, making the short return journey from Cattaro and Losinj along the Croatian coast to Trieste. The passengers were a mixture of holidaymakers returning home and refugees. The captain was sleeping in his cabin and the bridge watch had been handed to the second officer so that the first officer could take afternoon tea with the First Class passengers when the Baron Gautsch entered a newly laid Austrian minefield. The minelayer Basilisk tried unsuccessfully to give warning. The ship struck a mine and sank, taking many of the passengers with her as burning fuel oil prevented them from escaping. The wreck now rises to 28m from a 40m seabed and is reported by Croatian divers to be the finest in the north of the Adriatic. The wreck site is protected, and diving is restricted to a few licensed dive centres.
THE WORLD AT WAR 1 August Germany declares war on Russia. 3 August Germany declares war on France. 4 August Germany invades Belgium on the way to France. Britain protests against German intrusion on Belgian neutrality and declares war on Germany. President Woodrow Wilson declares US neutrality. 5 August Ottoman Empire closes the Dardanelles. 6 August Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. Serbia declares war on Germany. Field-Marshal Kitchener becomes Secretary of State for War. 7 August British Expeditionary Force begins deployment in France. 17 August Russia invades East Prussia. 23 August Japan declares war on Germany. 25 August Royal Flying Corps win the first air conflict by forcing down a German reconnaissance aircraft. 26 August Russian army heavily defeated by Germany at Tannenberg.
HMS Audacious – RN loses a capital ship With a U-boat threat to the fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow now apparent, on 18 October the fleet was moved to Lough Swilly in Ireland. On 27 October the 2nd Battle Squadron left Lough Swilly on a gunnery exercise off Donegal. At 8.45am the 23,000-ton King George V-class battleship HMS Audacious struck a mine, the explosion occurring beneath the port engine-room. After counter-flooding to reduce the list, attempts were made by the White Star liner ss Olympic to take the ship under tow, but under the weight of ☛
5 - 10 September German advance is halted by the first Battle of the Marne. Trench warfare has begun on the Western front.13,000 British, 250,000 French and 250,000 German casualties.
Opposite page, from top: The German cruiser SMS Emden; gun breech fallen to the deck on the port side of HMS Pathfinder; the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney. Top: The light cruiser HMS Hogue. Left: The Turkish battleship Mesudiye; HMS Audacious.
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WRECK DIVER EVENTS AT SEA 7 October Japan occupies Yap, formerly a German colony. 17 October U-boats sighted near Scapa Flow. 18 October Grand Fleet dispersed from Scapa Flow to the Western Isles. 20 October ss Glitra becomes the first merchant vessel sunk by U-boat, captured and scuttled off Stavanger by U17 in accordance with prize rules. 27 October King George V class battleship HMS Audacious sinks after striking a mine off Donegal. 30 October Hospital ship Rohilla wrecked off Whitby. 31 October Seaplane carrier HMS Hermes torpedoed and sunk off Dunkirk by U27.
1 November Vice-Admiral Graf Spee’s squadron sinks the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth at Coronel, Chile. 2 November Naval blockade of Germany begins. A German raid on Yarmouth is ineffective. The armoured cruiser SMS Yorck strikes a mine and sinks while returning to port. 4 November Obsolete battleship HMS Hood scuttled to block the south channel into Portland Harbour. 9 November Australian cruiser Sydney sinks the German cruiser Emden at Cocos in the Indian Ocean. 11 November HMS Niger torpedoed and sunk by U12 off Deal. 22 November U18 enters Scapa Flow to discover the fleet is away. On exiting the flow U18 is subsequently rammed and sunk in Pentland Firth. 23 November U16 enters Scapa Flow and escapes. 26 November Battleship HMS Bulwark destroyed by magazine explosion at Sheerness.
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the flooded battleship the line parted. At 9pm the Audacious rolled over and sank with an explosion tearing out the keel, possibly from shells falling in a magazine. As with HMS Pathfinder, the Admiralty tried to cover up the loss of Audacious, going so far as to keep the ship on the order of battle – a somewhat ridiculous prospect, as American passengers on board the Olympic were even taking photographs of the sinking ship. The loss was only officially announced on 14 November, 1918, after the war had ended. “We boarded mv Salutay in Stranraer before steaming across to Malin,” says Justin Owen. “My primary dive light failed on the descent, but the water was so clear I could see by the ambient light and take in the scale of the wreck. “The hull is upturned. Watching my buddy swim between the rudders and props was an awesome sight. On our ascent, a 3m porbeagle shark stayed with us for a few minutes.”
Blockships for Scapa Flow To protect the anchorage at Scapa Flow from submarines sneaking in, the Admiralty sank blockships across some of the channels. First was ss Aorangi in Holm Sound on 4 September, followed later that month by the ss Urmstone Grange, Doyle and then the Gobernador Bories in Burra Sound, to form the core of the blockships that have become a regular dive for visiting divers. I have always been amazed by the excellent visibility found when diving the blockships of
From the north end of barrier 2 you can cover seven ships in one long dive. Only two, the 1589-ton Teeswood and 1185-ton Argyle, were scuttled in 1914, the remaining five having been added at the start of WW2.
U18 – the first U-boat into the Flow Approaching the Pentland Firth at night, U18 was guided by the Pentland Skerries lighthouse. Waiting for daylight and with batteries fully charged, on 22 November the U-boat navigated through Hoxa Sound into Scapa Flow to find the anchorage empty. Exiting the flow again through Hoxa Sound, U18’s periscope was spotted and the U-boat rammed by the minesweeping trawler Dorothy Gray. While badly damaged and with little control of depth, U18 continued her escape, alternating between striking the seabed and breaching the surface. Next to ram the U-boat was the destroyer HMS Garry. U18 surrendered, the crew abandoning ship and scuttling their boat in the Pentland Firth. I asked Kevin Heath about the wreck and he tells me that while he has not dived it himself, U18 lies at 70m in a trough between sand waves and is a difficult dive to plan because of the fierce tides of the Pentland Firth. The wreck is reported to be remarkably intact, standing upright with the deck-plating rotted through and a large gouge at the stern where the ramming took place. On 23 November U16 also entered Scapa Flow to find the fleet absent but, unlike U18, managed to escape undetected.
THE WORLD AT WAR 14 October 22 November First battle of Ypres. Trenches are now established from the coast to the Swiss border. 19 October Ottoman Empire enters the war.
5 November Britain and France formally declare war on the Ottoman Empire. 23 November British forces occupy Basra, securing the oil supply for the Royal Navy.
HMS Hood – the Portland blockship The first all-metal constructed battleship to bear the name HMS Hood was a modified variant of the 1889 order of Royal Sovereignclass battleships. While the other seven ships mounted their guns in barbettes, Hood was fitted with heavier turrets and had a lower freeboard. This in turn reduced seaworthiness, and led to her serving mostly in the Mediterranean.
Left: The blockship Doyle in Burra Sound Below: HMS Hood.
Burra Sound. Despite being conveniently shallow, the short or non-existent slack water and screaming currents mean that these are not dives for beginners or the faint-hearted. On my last trip to Orkney I was introduced to the eastern blockships, made obsolete by the Churchill barriers of WW2. These wrecks are even shallower but not subject to current, making them suitable for absolute beginners.
www.divErNEt.com
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WRECK DIVER EVENTS AT SEA 8 December Battle of the Falkland Islands. Vice-Admiral Graf Spee is lured into a trap by a fake telegram ordering him to attack the British base. Royal Navy battlecruisers sink the German squadron. Only SMS Dresden and an auxiliary escape. Graf Spee is killed. 13 December British submarine B11 navigates the Dardanelles to torpedo and sink the Turkish battleship Messudiye. Commanding officer Lieutenant N D Holbrook is subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross. 16 December German battle-cruisers and cruisers shell Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, killing 137 civilians. Despite Royal Navy attempts to intercept, the German ships return home.
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By the early 1900s Hood was so obsolete that she was placed in reserve and then used as a receiving ship, moored at Queenstown in Ireland. In 1911 Hood was towed to Portsmouth and modified with “secret” underwater bulges to be tested as a means of torpedo protection. On 4 November, 1914, Hood was scuttled across the southern channel to Portland Harbour. As an easily accessible battleship in only 16m, the wreck of the Hood became a very popular dive-site from Weymouth and Portland. I enjoyed diving the wreck numerous times up until the privatised Portland Harbour banned diving to clear the approaches for a new fuelling jetty.
After successful trials through 1913 the ship was paid off in December 1913, but recommissioned at the end of August 1914. On 31 October HMS Hermes was returning from delivering a load of seaplanes to Dunkirk when she was torpedoed by U27. Again I approached Dave Ronnan, as he is a diver who knows this side of the country. “It’s very tidal and you’re meant to call Gris Nez traffic when diving, but on my trip we had no reply from them,” he told me. “The wreck’s upside-down in 30m. You can see some of the guns, but I never found any planes. “I think we’ll be visiting again some time, as divers who have visited the second HMS Hermes in Sri Lanka are wanting to complete the set,” says Dave.
THE WORLD AT WAR 15 December Zeppelins sighted off English coast. 21 December German aircraft raid Dover, bombs drop in the sea. 25 December Combat on the Western front suspended by an unofficial Christmas truce.
HMS Hermes – the first aircraft-carrier With the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War, the WW2 aircraft-carrier HMS Hermes has gained popularity among wreck-divers. Less well-known is that she was the second aircraft-carrier to carry that name. The first HMS Hermes was built as a protected cruiser in 1898. In 1913 the forward turret was removed and a platform added to launch seaplanes. Aircraft could take off from the deck, then land alongside the vessel to be winched back on board.
Left: HMS Hermes sinking
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AIRWAY TO I
DON’T THINK ANY OF US WHO
travel in anything other than executive /priority /business/ooh-aren’t-you-rich class will ever learn to love flying and airports. For me, they are occupational hazards. However, there are steps we can take to make the whole sorry business as simple, uncomplicated and, above all, inexpensive as possible.
You’ve booked your ticket to your dream diving destination – now all that stands between you and a holiday in paradise is the flight and, in particular, the dreaded check-in. RICHARD ASPINALL has his own strategies for minimising the suffering
THE POINT OF AIRPORTS We are all captives in airports. Brightly lit day or night, with music in the shops and a solid psychological wall of marketing to part us from money and in return make us look nicer or smell better (in conflict with all the high-calorie food outlets) they are relentless. We’re there to travel, but there is significant profit to be made from us beyond that initial ticket purchase. “Keep ’em awake and keep ‘em spending” might be the unofficial strapline of airports the world over. I’m writing this at midnight in Ataturk airport in Istanbul en route to Hurghada, and the place is buzzing. As the “crossroads of the world”, Istanbul has grown wealthy from international travellers for centuries, and this airport is extracting every available euro, pound and dollar from us, as it was designed to do. It’s more boutique than bus station. One way to feel a little better is to avoid this fiscal extraction process. It’s difficult, but can be as simple as taking a few home-made butties and sitting smugly in front of the shops that would cheerfully charge you a tenner for a baguette and a coffee. Am I tight? No, it cheers me up. Save a few quid in the soulless hangars and have an extra-special meal in a nice restaurant to celebrate an amazing trip with awesome dives and new friends made. This is what you remember, not the greasy thing in a bap that gives you indigestion throughout your flight.
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After all, divers have enough to worry about. We have a huge, expensive assortment of robust yet inexplicably delicate kit to cart around, and we’re convinced that the baggage-handlers are just waiting to jump up and down on it. I suspect that they actually take more care of it than myth would suggest, but I also expect there to be exceptions. My camera kit travels in a sturdy plastic container that on occasion appears to have been used as a sledge.
CHECK-INS AND SHOUTING The main problem at check-in is consistency – between airlines and within the same airline and final destination. How many times have I sat on boats listening to tales of woe from people who get fleeced for every extra kilo, or to the slightly embarrassed but also smug folk who got away with no charges at all. If the rules were the same and were enforced in a similar manner, we would have far less to grumble about. The best thing to do is to read up well beforehand. Don’t think you know the airline’s policy because “that’s what you did last year”. In a competitive market, airlines often change their offers and rules. Is this done to keep us guessing while extracting every last bit of profit? Possibly.
Check-in staff are at the sharp end, and have a tough time of it. They are the public face of an airline that I assume is not actually malevolent, and have to follow often contradictory and confusing instructions. Anyone who has travelled regularly will have heard divergent tales from the same airline’s staff at each end of the journey. I once flew with a low-cost airline to Sharm and had 7kg of cabin baggage. The check-in people insisted that I take some items out and put them in my hold luggage – which put my hold luggage over 30kg. I was a little peeved! I was informed that in case the cabin bag fell from the overhead lockers it needed to be below a “hazardous” weight. Yet some airlines do not weigh your cabin baggage every time and 10kg or more is allowed nowadays on some flights, with more generous allowances for those customers not flying in steerage. Their heads must be less fragile than ours. Once when travelling with an airline that’s now defunct, I heard the check-in staff telling each other “we are now charging”, whispering it down the line like naughty school-kids in a dull lesson. What quota had been reached, what tipping-point had been exceeded that caused passengers who joined the queue late to have to pay a penalty? Being charged for extra luggage at the gate is a kick in the whatsits, especially if your buddy gets through gratis but you don’t. Or the guy flying from Gatwick with 10kg of camera kit didn’t have to weigh his cabin baggage but you did at Manchester, and all you had was a Mars Bar and a reg.
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TRAVELLING DIVER
HEAVEN It’s annoying, but please don’t spend the first night on a boat ranting about it. Seasoned travellers accept the airlines for what they are, and will have checked well ahead or talked to the helpdesk before going to the check-in and baggage drop. Be prepared! Read the policies of your airline and comply. And in case its staff don’t know the policy, print out the relevant page from the website and take it with you. It may help. Some airlines allow you to transport your scuba kit for free, some don’t. Some give you a certain amount of free allowance for sporting kit (including scuba), some don’t. Some ask to see your certification card, some don’t. No good will come of standing in the check-in queue shouting while your partner or buddy disowns you. No matter that you’re not normally this way, you’re just tired and you forgot to get euros – shouting, cursing and generally kicking off will achieve nothing more than incurring the wrath of everyone queueing behind you.
BAGGAGE, WE’VE ALL GOT IT! Comparing one airline with another isn’t always straightforward, but the table overleaf provides enough information from some of the leading airlines’ economy baggage allowances to give you a flavour of the varied offerings. Prices are very likely to be higher (40% seems to be the norm) if you pay any baggage charges at the airport. Some
airlines may demand a “heavy bag charge” if an individual bag is over 23kg or, in some cases, 20kg, so you may need to pack your kit into two bags, which is very annoying. Some check-in agents will refuse to take any single piece of baggage over 32kg. This restriction is often dictated by airports and baggage-handling companies mindful of the health of their staff. If in doubt, ring up – better on hold for a while than ranting at check-in! As the table indicates, long-haul operators taking a significant number of passengers to destinations where diving is a possibility are offering good deals, with Qatar Airways and Etihad looking very attractive. Airlines at the budget end of the market that many of us will use when travelling to the Red Sea, for example, are probably competing on flight costs rather than on baggage allowances, and seem to offer similar services. Monarch is one I’ve used before, with satisfaction. Low-cost airlines often have variable luggage allowances or require you to book the allowance you need when you make the reservation – all very confusing, and making it harder to offer any comparison. Interesting to note is the service offered by Turkish Air, with which I have travelled recently (not in a sponsored capacity – I had to pay like everyone else). It took my 20kg-
odd bag of kit and a 15kg case of camera gear to Hurghada and back without charge – worth a look-see, as it now flies from a number of UK airports. Many of the large, long-haul operators seem less open to carrying diving equipment – presumably they don’t see supporting divers as worthwhile at present, but things change, so keep an eye out. Lastly, if the booking mentions a valid certification card, don’t forget to bring it!
CABIN LUGGAGE Whether you are allowed to carry 5, 10 or even more kilos, the dimensions of your cabin bag must be no more than 56cm long x 45cm wide x 25cm deep and, of course, certain substances and items cannot be carried. If you carry one, make sure your dive knife is in your hold luggage, and if you are taking any kind of gas cylinder, for a BC or a DSMB, for example, this will need to be shown to be empty and stored in your hold luggage. ☛
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TRAVELLING DIVER
BAGGAGE ALLOWANCES Airline
Typical Hold allowance included in flight price
Typical Cabin allowance included in flight price
Free diving equipment allowance
Thomson & First Choice
Typically 15-20kg
5kg
5kg extra with C-card
Turkish Airlines
30kg
8kg
Free scubadiving set* to destinations such as Sharm and Hurghada
American (to/through Europe)
23kg
Not specified
No
Thomas Cook
Buy at time of booking, price varies with route
5kg
5kg extra with C-card
easyJet
Buy at time of booking, price varies with route
No limit, but one bag only and must fit into locker
No
Monarch
Typically 15-20kg, but some flights sold without hold luggage
10kg
Extra 5kg free to Egypt with C-card
British Airways
23-32kg, depends on destination
23kg
No
Qantas
30kg
7kg
No
Emirates
30kg
7kg
No
Air New Zealand
23kg
7kg
No
Ryanair
Buy at time of booking, price varies with route
10kg
No
Qatar Airways
30kg
7kg
10kg extra with C-card
Etihad
30kg
7kg
15kg extra with C-card
* Each airline has its own definition of a ‘set’, but all include the standard items, presumably as long as an individual bag does not exceed the individual bag weight limit.
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WEIGHT-SAVING Careful packing can save enough kilos to translate into £40 or £50 at the airport. Pack light and avoid non-necessities. I once shared a cabin with a friend who had visited the supermarket for toiletries before we got to the airport. A large can of shaving foam, a bottle of shampoo, deodorant and a big tube of toothpaste may have been economical buys, but at least a kilo of weight was involved. Liveaboard divers tend to pack fewer clothes. Living in a very relaxed atmosphere, they don’t feel the need to pack a shirt and tie for dinner. A few T-shirts and some shorts usually suffice, saving a kilo or so. Some airlines allow you to combine your allowance with that of a travelling companion; very useful if they don’t carry loads of camera gear, for example. Just don’t agree to carry anything given to you by someone you don’t know and trust! It’s surprising how many people carry a few kilos of lead in their BC trim pockets and forget about them. Remove drysuit inflator hoses from your reg and pony-bottle clamps from your camband, and do you really need that shark-stabber you thought looked cool on your thigh? A 5cm blade with a line-cutter suffices in most situations, especially with knives banned in many marine reserves. I’m not a fan of travel BCs. I like to use the same BC on every dive so I don’t get confused if I need to get out a bit quickly or my buddy needs to get me out (not yet, and hopefully never). A travel BC will save you kilos, I know, but the offset in buying another piece of kit might not be worth it in the long run. Tempting as it may be to get a “second
sun”, often all a big powerful torch does is scare away the marine life you want to see. A smaller, lighter torch may make your night dives better and save you cash. Put in fully charged batteries before you travel – most modern LED torches using new, good-quality batteries will easily give you enough burntime for five or six night dives. Make sure the batteries in your backup torch are new, too. You’re then doubly protected, and not tempted to bin flat batteries in countries that don’t recycle. Too much kit? Can you temporarily replace some of those brass and steel clips and D-rings? It might not sound a lot, but shedding this associated hardware might shed a few hundred grams. Many polycarbonate items are perfectly good – they might not last as long as metal, but you can keep them for “easy” diving, where they won’t get the abuse they do back home as they bash into your favourite wrecks. Aim never to buy extra kilos at the airport. It can cost several times what it would have done if prebooked, so always book ahead and make sure it's sufficient. Paying an extra £5 for a kilo beforehand might be annoying, but it’s better than joining a long queue to pay £20 at the airport. Remember, airline directors are legally bound to act for their shareholders and make cash out of you. You can be bang on your check-in limit, but once through you can still buy bottles of drink, laptops, cameras, suitcases and garish shorts at “Internetbeating prices” (if only). Lack of sleep and a past-caring attitude can easily result in the purchase of overpriced iPad covers and sunglasses – try to resist. ☛ www.divErNEt.com
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TRAVELLING DIVER SAFETY FIRST
DIRECT OR NOT?
We all learn in basic training that flying after diving can be hazardous, or we should do. Commercial airliners are pressurised to the same conditions as would be found at around 2400m altitude (about 0.74 atmospheres). Leaving Earth’s surface at 1atm and travelling in a box kept a little below 1atm is, as far as our risk of decompression illness is concerned, like surfacing again. The lower pressure allows those micro bubbles that can cause problems to form. And if plenty of nitrogen remains dissolved in our tissues, that gas may come out of solution. Standard practice is to wait 24 hours between the last dive and the flight, although agencies such as DAN suggest at least 12 hours. Many diving itineraries are planned around ensuring that the little aircraft symbol on your computer vanishes before your plane leaves the tarmac. And there was you, wondering how it knew it was time to go home! We might not always travel with conscientious operators; we might forget that our plane is leaving at 10am, not 10pm; we might have carried out a very demanding series of dives and be physiologically unlucky; or we might be plain stupid and risk it, only to get a nasty rash, pain or even worse at 30,000ft. Does this happen often? I asked a doctor at London Hyperbaric Medicine. It doesn’t keep full records on causes – “we don’t even ask to see their computers any more” – because the cause is less important than the treatment. The doctor reckoned two or three patients a year have flown too soon after diving. We also run a small risk of DCI if we travel to altitude after diving. Many divers who choose to climb Mount Sinai after staying in the northern Red Sea are told not to dive the day before. I had the (rare) foresight to check my map of Greece before driving home after some Aegean diving when the road I needed would have taken me over 1000m. The risk may have been small but we’d been on a wreck at 40m. So I took time out with a moussaka, a glass of white and harbour views before returning on a longer but slightly lower road.
Could you fly direct or fly more cheaply on a number of shorter flights? The answer to this question may be influenced by the depth of your pockets and your willingness to undertake a lot of complicated calculations. For example, you can fly to the Maldives from London Gatwick direct with British Airways. This will be easier, quicker and involve less fannying about and expenditure at the airport, but BA offers only 23kg of hold luggage. Etihad or Emirates offer more hold luggage allowance but I believe you will need to change at Dubai or even Singapore. So the complications build. Draw up a list of positives and negatives and have a think for 24 hours before booking. Do you want to take 36 hours and waste money in airports to reach your destination, or arrive more quickly but with a little less in your wallet?
HAND-LUGGAGE ADVICE: www.gov.uk/ hand-luggage-restrictions TRAVEL ADVICE BY COUNTRY: www.gov.uk/ foreign-travel-advice
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THE INDUSTRY VIEW For a travel insider’s perspective, I spoke to a helpful chap called James at tour operator blue o two, and he was very keen to underline that divers should take nothing for granted and check on everything before travelling, because circumstances change. Earlier this year, he said, Thomas Cook withdrew its offer of a 5kg free baggage allowance for divers, which presumably made for heated conversations at the check-in desk and may well have left travellers with hefty bills and bad starts to their holidays. blue o two now uses Monarch for a lot of its flights to Red Sea destinations, because it retained the 5kg free allowance. I noted on the Thomas Cook website that the free 5kg allowance appeared to have been reinstated and contacted the company for comment, though none has been offered. Reputable tour operators will do all they can to keep you informed of changes, because they too are affected by airline changes and it’s in their interests for you to have a good trip from start to finish. So stay informed, be prepared, and plan ahead. Sounds a bit like diving!
Survey R/H PAGE_Layout 1 01/07/2014 13:33 Page 37
DIVER SURVEY 2014
WIN AN £1800 RED SEA TRIP FOR TWO! “NITROX FOR FREE” IN ALL DIVING CENTERS WORLDWIDE
BALI / INDONESIA
Pondok Sari Beach & Spa Resort The best hotel for divers in the north western region of Bali at an affordable price. It also boasts one of the worlds‘ largest artificial reefs directly off the beach in front of the hotel. Daily excursions to the marine national park of Menjangan, to the local dive sites and the Secret Bay.
WERNER LAU WORLDWIDE MALDIVES Bathala · Nord-Ari-Atoll · top dive sites Filitheyo · Nord-Nilande-Atoll · wrecks on the housereef Medhufushi · Meemu-Atoll · spectacular diving Kuda-Funafaru · Noonu-Atoll · exclusive diving MY Sheena · unique diving TOUR safari IN in the unexplored south 2x 10 DAYS‘ SEPTEMBER
EGYPT / RED SEA
SUMMER SPECIAL DISCOUNT Helnan Marina · Sharm el Sheikh: Dive20% Sinai‘s world class reefs The Oasis · Marsa Alam: Charming divers‘ hotel, house reef
BALI / INDONESIA Siddhartha Ocean Front Resort & Spa · Kubu/Tulamben Alam Anda Ocean Front Resort & Spa · Sambirenteng/Tulamben Matahari Beach Resort & Spa · Pemuteran/Menjangan Pondok Sari Beach & Spa Resort · Pemuteran/Menjangan
CYPRUS / MEDITERRANEAN SEA Aldiana · Alaminos · Wreck of the Zenobia
FUERTEVENTURA / ATLANTIC OCEAN Aldiana · Morro Jable · Big fish Offered by several tour operators as well as through different Internet booking portals!
Book your great value diving package online:
www.wernerlau.com www.divErNEt.com
W
E GET TO KNOW A FAIR BIT about you, our
cherished readers, from your regular feedback in letters and features such as Big Question. Every now and then, however, we like to take stock of you and your preoccupations, to make sure we’re giving you the content you require. Our latest easy-to-complete reader survey form can be found online at www.divernet.com. And to thank you for taking part, we’re offering the chance of a great diving holiday in the Red Sea, courtesy of tour operator The Scuba Place. A reader whose name is drawn at random will be able to take a companion to enjoy seven nights’ half-board accommodation in a deluxe chalet at the Egyptian resort Roots Luxury Dive Camp. It’s in El Quseir, equidistant between Marsa Alam and Hurghada. The prize, worth £1800, also includes six days’ unlimited housereef diving, return airport transfers and flights from London, Birmingham or Manchester. And you always have the option to jump onto a boat to one of the classic dive-sites accessible from El Quseir, should you want a change of underwater scene. Terms and conditions apply, and can be found on Divernet. Entries must be in by 20 August, so please take the earliest opportunity to visit the site and complete the survey.
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E
VEN WHEN YOU AREN’T DIVING you can still have fun in the company of divers, and that’s what the divEr Group’s national Dive Shows are all about. Enthusiasts have had a long wait since the London Dive Show took place in February, but the Birmingham NEC event is now taking shape and advance bookings are being made. Booking ahead not only means significant savings on the ticket price but puts you in the frame for the possibility of winning a three-week dive trip of a lifetime for two to Papua New Guinea worth £12,500 – the biggest Show Grand Draw prize yet! Details across the page.
DIVING DREAMS AT THE NEC
The last weekend of October sees the Dive Show of the year at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. So make a note or, better still, book up right away!
Kit up and go So what can you expect to find at the NEC this year? More than enough dive-gear manufacturers, distributors and retailers to ensure that all your kit needs are covered – compare and contrast, try and buy. The doors are open to dive centres from all over the world as well as tour operators and training agencies, all with specialists on hand to discuss your next dive-trip, whether it’s purely for fun or with a skillsboosting slant. The Asia-Pacific Showcase, Caribbean Village and British Isles Experience (look out for those popular free dive-computers from Suunto!) help to make specific providers easy to find.
Wetter the better Talking of skills, the PADI Village will dazzle you with possibilities for travel and training, while BSAC and SSI are among other training agencies set to have a presence at the Show, the former with its Branch Pods. The Try-Dive Pool, which gives youngsters and others a chance to get a taste of breathing under water, is now run by staff from the Dive School at Stoney Cove, the UK National Diving Centre, so the kids will be well-supervised. The Technical Pool, run by MR Divers, provides a chance for divers to get wet with unfamiliar kit, especially the new breed of closed-circuit rebreathers. And expect more in-water activity with Marcus Greatwood’s NoTanx freediving crew, who will also be conducting free dry breath-hold training sessions and leading you through the 3D Simulator and Total Immersion Freedive Experience.
Newcomers at DIVE 2014 will be crimefighting divers Claire Gwinnett and Laura Walton-Williams, who run courses in underwater forensics; and South Africa’s Patrick Voorma, who seems to be uncovering historic wrecks by the month. Other technical wreck-divers include the familiar faces of Jack Ingle, with his workshop on how to be a better wreckdiver, and Leigh Bishop, who is taking part this year in some extraordinary, deep and at the moment still secret expeditions. At the less hairy end of the diving spectrum, we hope to have some recent Miss Scuba champions present to share their experiences, too!
Image Central Beside the two main presentation areas, the divEr Stage and the Centre Stage, expect a powerful line-up of audio-visual presentations in the two Ocean Theatres. Centre Stage is where you’ll be able to see presentations by PhotoZone experts dedicated to helping visitors hone their photographic and videographic talents, including the likes of Saeed Rashid, Paul Duxfield and John Carlin. One-to-one advice on technique and equipment will also available in the PhotoZone from British Society of Underwater Photography (BSoUP) members and others. BSoUP’s annual Prints Competition entries will be displayed, with the chance for you to get involved in the judging, and we also look forward to a special big pelagics photography display by Danny Kessler and Doug Perrine.
RIB-eye view Look out too for Humber’s exciting 7m dive RIB, purpose-built for Great British Expedition leader Monty Halls with the help (through Big Question) of divEr readers, and set to be unveiled at the Show.
Talking stars The full special guest presentation line-up has still to be finalised, but already set to speak are divers of the calibre of TV presenters Monty Halls and Paul Rose; Australian great white shark deep cagediving specialist Andrew Fox; and technical instructor Mark Powell, whose latest provocative presentation title is “Are Rebreathers Safe?”
Booking now Book online for DIVE 2014 now and you save £3 per ticket, because advance tickets cost just £9.50, instead of £12.50 on the door. Under-16s accompanied by an adult can enter free. Order six or more advance tickets and save even more, paying only £8.50 per ticket – just visit www.diveshows.co.uk DIVE 2014 is a divEr Group event in association with Egypt Tourism and Oonasdivers E B RAT I N EL G C
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Dive Show_Layout 1 30/06/2014 12:30 Page 39
SHOW PREVIEW
WIN £12,500 DREAM DIVE-TRIP FOR TWO
IN PNG! S
URELY THIS HAS TO BE the most highly valued Dive Show Grand Draw prize yet? This year’s holiday is worth £12,500, so it surely is! All connoisseurs of fine diving will be pleased to know that their Show ticket gives them a chance of winning this amazing dive-trip to Papua New Guinea with a chosen companion. UK tour operator Original Diving is organising the prize trip, which includes all flights, transfers, fees and taxes. This is no quick break. It’s a full-on, three-week, three-centre holiday that kicks off at the celebrated Walindi Plantation Resort in Kimbe Bay. There you’ll spend seven nights in a bungalow, full-board, and get in six days’ diving. Then it’s on to Lissenung Island Resort in Kavieng for six nights’ full-board in a bungalow and four days’ diving, before wrapping the experience up in style with five nights’ full-board in a deluxe room at Tufi Dive Resort in Oro Province
www.divErNEt.com
and another three days of diving. That’s 52 dives between you in some of the world’s most biodiverse and colourful seas. In Kimbe you’ll be struck by the abundance and good condition of the hard and soft corals, and there is also a sunken Zero fighter to dive. Kavieng is all about big pelagics – it’s not uncommon to see up to 20 grey reef, white and blacktip sharks on one dive, says Original Diving – but it’s also strong on macro life, with enough critters to keep photographers enthralled. And Oro’s dive-sites range from muck-
diving in the fjords and inner reefs to big stuff such as hammerhead and reef sharks in the outer reefs, and shipwrecks too. Your time will fly by. You’ll find full details of the diving, the resorts and facilities at Original Diving’s website www.originaldiving.com. The winner will be announced on the Sunday at the Show and the prize will be valid for one year from that time (except during December, January and from 2-10 April). Flights and accommodation are both subject to availability at the time of booking. Terms and conditions apply.
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WRECK DIVER
Ask wreckdivers where in the world they would most like to be, and the answer ’Truk’ would come as little surprise. Wreck expert ROD MACDONALD has taken time out from Scottish wrecks to write a guide to the iconic diving destination in Micronesia
W
HEN MY GOOD FRIEND and regular dive buddy Paul Haynes and I were asked to present at the OZTeK 2013 conference in Australia, we decided that after the event we would return home to Scotland via Truk Lagoon. I had been there several times but Paul had not, although he had had to suffer hearing about it from me for years. I also asked another good friend, Ewan Rowell, who did most of the underwater photography for my early books, if he’d like to come to OZTeK and then on to Truk with us. So, after a whale of a time in Sydney, the three of us visited Truk in March last year. I hadn’t decided to write a book about Truk wreck-diving at that stage, but once there it became clear that although Truk is one of the world’s great wreck-diving locations, there was almost a complete lack of hard diver information, other than a few good but older books. Although there are lots of good close-up photographs of specific artefacts inside the wrecks, there seemed to be no decent illustrations of what the wrecks actually looked like on a larger scale. I suspected that if you asked most divers what the ship they had been diving actually looked like, many would not know. So, on the long flight home, I decided to write the book and make my contribution Left: Paul Haynes holds to Truk wreck-diving. I determined to a Samurai sword on the illustrate the main wrecks divers tend to Rio de Janeiro Maru wreck. visit on a one- or two-week diving holiday. Chuuk Lagoon, as Truk Lagoon has Below: Reconstruction been officially known since 1990, is a great from the new book of the natural harbour 40-50 miles in diameter, San Francisco Maru.
ringed by a protective reef about 140 miles in circumference. Rising from the deep blue oceanic depths of the western Pacific, the many lagoons and atolls of Chuuk State form one of the four Federated States of Micronesia – Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae – that together comprise 607 islands scattered over almost 1700 miles north-east of New Guinea. By the start of World War Two, Truk Lagoon had become the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Fourth Fleet Base, and from 1942-1944 it was the Japanese Combined Fleet’s main forward naval base in the Pacific. A significant portion of the Japanese Fleet was based there, and it was a focal point for supplying and resourcing the conquered Japanese Greater Asia Prosperity Sphere islands and territories. TRUK HAD BEEN FORTIFIED against an anticipated amphibious invasion with coastal defence and AA gun positions, a military infrastructure of roads, trenches, bunkers, caves, five airstrips, seaplane bases, a torpedo-boat station, submarine repair centres, a communications centre and a radar station. The Japanese garrison comprised almost 28,000 Imperial Japanese Navy personnel and almost 17,000 Imperial Japanese Army service personnel. US forces had captured the nearby Marshall Islands in 1943, but even at this stage of the war the Allies had no real ☛
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EWAN ROWELL
idea of the scale of what lay in the lagoon – it had been off-limits to foreigners for decades, and shrouded in great secrecy. When the first long-range reconnaissance overflight by US Navy Liberator aircraft took place on 4 February, 1944, the sight that met the aviators’ eyes was astonishing. Large elements of the Japanese Imperial Navy Fleet lay below – battleships, cruisers, submarines and aircraft-carriers were at anchor, along with a huge number of vulnerable naval auxiliaries, merchant supply ships and tenders. US military planners immediately made plans for a carrier raid but, knowing that the secret of their presence was out, the valuable heavy Imperial Japanese Navy warships immediately left the lagoon. However, many smaller warships, destroyers and light cruisers stayed behind as heavily laden naval auxiliaries frantically tried to off-load cargos of tanks, beach mines, land artillery, shells, vehicles, aircraft, spares and masses of small arms ammunition before they too could leave. TASK FORCE 58, a US naval assault force of battleships, cruisers and nine aircraftcarriers carrying 500 combat aircraft, was immediately assembled and approached the lagoon undetected to take up a holding position about 90 miles off Truk on 16 February, 1944. The next day, Operation Hailstone began at dawn with Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter sweeps of the lagoon designed to destroy Japanese air power. The Hellcat sweep was so swift and unexpected that, with uncanny parallels with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, many of the Japanese aircraft were caught
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EWAN ROWELL
Top: Stern of the Rio De Janeiro Maru, showing the legible lettering. Above: Hemispherical antiinvasion beach mines stacked on the tween-deck of the forward holds on the San Francisco Maru. Main picture: The Rio De Janeiro Maru. Right: A single Type 95 HaGo light tank on the port deck in front of the bridge superstructure of the San Francisco Maru.
by surprise and destroyed on the ground, while others were shot down as they scrambled to get airborne. Those that did get airborne were shot out of the sky, and today Japanese aircraft lie around the lagoon, some in shallow water just hundreds of metres from the end of their airstrips. With US air superiority established, carriers launched wave after wave of divebombers and torpedo-bombers escorted by Hellcats, to attack the now-vulnerable shipping and land fortifications. They met limited anti-aircraft fire from the lightly armed merchant ships and the island land defences. It was a one-sided battle – and more then 50 ships were sent to the bottom of the lagoon. In 1969, French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau and his team mounted an expedition to Truk Lagoon. The resulting
mesmeric and haunting television documentary Lagoon of Lost Ships was an instant hit around the world. Our “welcome to Truk” dive was straight into the engine-room of the Shinkoku Maru before exiting to explore the rest of this massive tanker in a twohour dive. This was followed by a second two-hour dive in the afternoon, and this became our normal pattern. Our closedcircuit rebreathers were perfect for Truk, giving long run-times with little deco. Lying in the sheltered waters of the lagoon, the wrecks are structurally in very good condition, barring their war wounds, and are still packed with their wartime cargoes. One of our stand-out dives was the 384ft, 5831grt [gross register tonnage] San Francisco Maru, originally built as a passenger-cargo vessel in 1919. After 20 years of civilian service, she
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WRECK MARINEDIVER LIFE
THIS BEAUTIFUL SHIP IS SO INTACT THAT IT LOOKS AS IF IT WOULD FLOAT, EVEN MORE THAN 70 YEARS LATER
was requisitioned as a naval transport at the outbreak of war in the Pacific, in December 1941. She left Japan in a supply convoy for Truk, arriving there on 5 February, 1944, and anchoring in the Fourth Fleet Anchorage, south-east of Dublon Island. During the US air strikes of 17/18 February, several aircraft attacked her and she was hit by a number of 500lb bombs and set on fire amidships. With catastrophic damage to her shellplating and hull, water flooded into her two aft holds and she was dragged under by the stern. Today the wreck of the San Francisco Maru rests upright in about 60m with a least depth to its bridge superstructure of about 45m, its main deck at about 50m. It is still filled with its wartime cargo – some of which is particularly photogenic, such as the deck cargo of tanks. ☛ www.divErNEt.com
EWAN ROWELL
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WRECK DIVER
EWAN ROWELL
Aft of a large gun at the bow, the 8fthigh tween-decks space of hold no 1 is packed with hundreds of hemispherical beach mines, ready for burial on beaches that the Allies would possibly assault. IN THE TWEEN-DECKS of hold no 2, two tanker trucks and a staff car can be found, while on the deck level below 50lb aerial bombs stand alongside artillery shells and a radial aircraft engine. The foremast with its H-frame support and cross-tree is still upright on deck between hatch 1 and 2. On the main deck in front of the bridge superstructure on the starboard side are two three-man Type 95 HA-GO light Japanese battle tanks. On the port side sits another Type 95 resting partly on the gunwale – its barrel pointing forward and slightly depressed. A large steamroller can be seen lying on the seabed nearby on the port side. In the aft holds are lorries, artillery shells in boxes, more hemispherical beach mines, detonators, bombs, small arms ammunition and 55gal fuel drums. Hold no 5 contains dozens of 30ft Long Lance torpedo bodies and engines plus a lot more of the fuel drums. Another iconic Truk wreck dive is the 9627grt Rio de Janeiro Maru, a substantial eight-deck passenger-cargo liner built by Mitsubishi in Nagasaki in 1929 for the Japan to South America run. She was 461ft long with a beam of 62ft and could accommodate 1140 passengers. Large cargo holds were set fore and aft of the long central superstructure. The Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned her on 8 October, 1940, and work began to convert her to a naval auxiliary transport. She was latterly converted to a submarine tender and attached to the Combined Fleet. On 3 February, 1944, she set off from
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Above: Promenade deck walkways on the Rio De Janeiro Maru.
Yokosuka for Truk, escorted by the Mutsuki-class destroyer Yuzuki, arriving on 11 February – just six days before Operation Hailstone. She was struck by several 1000lb bombs from US aircraft in the first group strikes of the day after the Hellcat fighter sweep. They caused severe damage and started fires aboard. She started to sink, slowly listing to starboard before finally slipping beneath the waves 30 minutes after midnight the next day. By daylight on 18 February, US aircraft found no sign of her. Today the wreck of the Rio de Janeiro Maru is one of the most popular in the lagoon. It lies 400-500m offshore from Uman Island on its starboard side, in relatively shallow water. With that broad beam, the wreck's shallowest parts rise to within 10-15m of the surface. This is a massive ship, one of the largest in the lagoon, and lying in such shallow water allows divers long bottom times with little deco penalty. This beautiful ship is so intact that it looks as if it would float, even more than 70 years later. Several feet aft of the bow, its name in large Roman and Kanji nonferrous letters can be made out, interspersed with portholes with glass intact. On the now-vertical forecastle deck sits the 5.9in
Dive Truk Lagoon: The Japanese WWII Pacific Shipwrecks by Rod MacDonald is released on 31 July by Whittles Publishing, www.whittlespublishing.com ISBN 9781849951319, 288pp, £30
bow gun; the foremast still jutting out horizontally from a masthouse between holds 1 and 2. Hold 2 contains a 15ftdiameter circular base support for a large artillery piece destined for installation on the land, along with recoil springs and a number of large-bore artillery barrels. Rows of portholes line the lower levels of the long superstructure, while on the two deck levels above, long promenade walkways run along either side of the superstructure with cabins leading off – now entered through vertical doorways. IN THE ENGINE-ROOM, where the walls are covered with switching panels, gauges and two telegraph repeaters, divers can find the Mitsubishi Sulzer diesel engines. The funnel is still in place, bearing its shipping-line markings, along with its steam whistle, running lights and fixed ladder. Several sets of lifeboat davits are located along the uppermost port side of the superstructure on the boat deck. Hold 4 contains coal and another large circular artillery base, runners for the ball-race and a large artillery barrel. Hold 5 contains masses of bottles, many of which are still stacked in their original wooden crates. Moving around the stern, the ship’s name is again easily legible. The Rio was a twin-screw vessel and both screws are still present, flanking the large rudder. The uppermost four-bladed port propeller dominates the area and dwarfs any diver. In 2013 a katana sword, which may have been hundreds of years old, was present on the wreck. These were highly treasured weapons, and often passed from one generation to the next. This is just a snapshot of Truk – there are more than 30 large wrecks and a number of complete aircraft wrecks for divers to explore.
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Teaching Kids_Layout 1 30/06/2014 13:18 Page 46
TAKING THE
PLUNGE You’re a keen diver, so when you have kids it’s only natural to want them to share in the experience as soon as possible. But in getting their underwater adventure off to the best start there is more to consider, says TIM ECOTT. Pictures by NIGEL WADE
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B
ECAUSE I HAVE WRITTEN so much over the years about diving – and because so many people know my book Neutral Buoyancy – people assume that my children learned to dive shortly after they could walk. It is true that the first time my son swam in the sea he came face to face with a shark that was longer than he was. I was apprehensive, knowing that he was a cautious child (aged four) and that the only thing he knew about sharks was that they could “eat people”. In fact, before he would jump off the boat into my arms he paused and asked me shyly if there might be any sharks in the sea. I told him that it was very unlikely and that we would be very lucky to see a shark.
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JUNIOR DIVER I didn’t expect to see any sharks, even though we were swimming about a mile offshore on a shallow reef in the Caribbean. But if I had told him that there were definitely no sharks, he would never have trusted me again. And I didn’t want to lie and tell him that sharks never ate people. I explained that it was true that sharks sometimes bit people, but rare, and that most people never see a shark in their entire life. Luckily, he was not eaten, and I reinforced the experience by telling him that he was a very lucky little boy to meet a shark on his first swim in the sea. Since then, he has loved every chance he has had to swim, snorkel and dive. And, being a typical boy, he is convinced that he is highly skilled at all of these activities. My daughter, who is a superb swimmer and a child who has always been at ease with every form of wildlife, is much more cautious. However, she dives with ease, and is calm and unhurried under water and has been methodical about learning how to use the equipment. But I didn’t let my son try scuba equipment until he was 10, and my daughter until she was 14. The opportunity came with trips to Maldives and Seychelles, but just because a diving centre tells you that children can learn to dive does not mean that they should. AS READERS OF divEr well know, the PADI system is the most commonly encountered method of learning to dive and allows children to do a basic certification (with restrictions) from the age of 10. Children from the age of eight are called Bubblemakers, and are allowed to familiarise themselves with scuba under supervision in a pool. From 10 they can dive in open water down to a maximum of 12m but only when accompanied by a PADI professional or a certified parent or guardian. After the age of 12 they can dive to 21m accompanied by a certified adult. I believe in encouraging people to try scuba-diving. And I always say that sharing the experience of being under water and seeing the endlessly fascinating and unusual underwater life is an experience best shared with someone you love. But I would never tell an adult that they “must learn to dive”, and I am even more cautious about encouraging children to dive. Diving is statistically a very safe activity, but there are inherent risks in breathing under water, and when something goes wrong, it can easily be fatal. Children rarely have the emotional maturity to consider those risks in the same way that we their parents do. As a
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parent it is you who take on that risk. Even if a child is a confident swimmer, you need to think about how they could react to an underwater emergency. If something unexpected happened, would they panic? It could be something as simple as losing a fin under water, or their mask filling with water. Decompression sickness is probably a low risk with children’s diving (given the depth and the level of supervision under water) but what about embolism or lung-expansion injury? Bolting for the surface is a natural reaction under stress, and few 12-year-olds will remember being told not to do it if they lose their mask. I don’t say this to put people off diving as a family – but parents need to be aware of what they are undertaking.
HE ASKED ME SHYLY IF THERE MIGHT BE ANY SHARKS IN THE SEA
However, if you are going to take your kids diving then I think it’s sensible to draw up some rules. Only you can judge how ready you think your child is to try diving. Your first responsibility is to be a confident and experienced diver yourself, but the first practical step is to get them into a swimming pool with an instructor so that they can try it out. This is not a crash-course in diving. It should be an exploratory experience to see how they handle the equipment, and how controlled they are when they swim around. Being comfortable in the water also contributes to safety. I would advise buying your child his or her own mask,
because there’s nothing worse than an illfitting mask that keeps filling with water. Make sure they know how to prevent it fogging up, and that they know how to clear it of water while under water. It’s a skill that the instructor will teach, but it’s the one that can make all the difference between a good dive and a bad one. ALSO, REMEMBER THAT water conducts heat away from your body much faster than air – even tropical waters can make you feel chilly after several minutes. Children generally have less body fat than adults, so will feel the cold sooner – it’s worth considering buying them a wellfitting wetsuit. They can always wear it when swimming to protect from stings and sunburn. There is another physiological condition that people can overlook. Children often have narrow Eustachian tubes – the passage connecting the ear to the throat – and this may never give them problems until they try clearing their ears under water.
My son struggled to equalise his ears but he would persist in descending even in pain rather than admit that he had a problem. He was desperate not to be left out – but he was too young to understand that he was risking a burst eardrum. And don’t forget, you’ll be asked to certify the kids’ medical questionnaire. A good diving school will take the responsibility of teaching children seriously, but you should make sure that your child feels comfortable with the instructor they are assigned. My daughter’s first experience was with an extremely stern woman, who barked orders and became irritable when she took a while to master putting on her BC. ☛
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JUNIOR DIVER
TIM SUGGESTS… Check ahead on resort diving centres’ entrylevel training charge, as it’s usually cheaper for beginners to learn before they leave – or at least to do the classroom and basic pool skills in the UK. I can recommend the following destinations and operators:
THE MALDIVES
has prolific fish life and conditions suitable for beginners. Non-stop flights can be taken from London and there are no serious health concerns. Original Diving offers seven nights’ accommodation at Soneva Fushi in Maldives for a family of four for £7900, including flights, seven nights’ half-board and seaplane transfers, www.originaldiving.com
MALTA has long been a favourite with British divers. It’s one of the cheapest options for a diving holiday, with generally good vis and many sites accessible from shore. Dive Worldwide offers seven nights including flights, transfers, self-catering accommodation at the Sands Holiday Apartments and 10 dives from £775 per adult, £425 per child (up to 12), www.diveworldwide.com I asked for a different instructor. There is no hurry. I would always rather a new diver – whether they are an adult or a child – took their time and was absolutely happy about going into the sea than pushed themselves and risked being put off diving for life.
Tim Ecott is a qualified Divemaster and has worked as a dive leader all over the world. He is author of Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World (Penguin, £9.99). More information on diving courses for children
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Finally, think about where you could go diving. It’s not essential that children see a whale shark or a mimic octopus on their first dives. Consider whether you want the hassle and expense of a long-haul flight and whether the destination poses other challenges for children – malaria, for example? Also, do some careful research about the weather at your destination. Hot sunny days may be accompanied by a prevailing wind that makes the sea rough, or it may be the time of year when there is plankton in the water and visibility is limited. You may want to be on a liveaboard, but will the whole family enjoy that experience? As the comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said: “Fun for all the family is a very rare thing.” Clear, calm, warm water makes beginners happy. They can brave the North Sea when they’re older.
can be found at www.padi.com, www.divessi.com and www.bsac.com. A version of this article originally appeared in Family Traveller magazine's May-June 2014 edition. For more, visit www.familytraveller.com
BONAIRE in the Caribbean has a protected reef system and easily accessible shore-diving. The resorts are experienced at handling family groups. Buddy Dive Resort is
family-friendly and offers opportunities and education programmes for children taking their first look at the marine world, mainly through its Buddy Rangers operation. Dive Worldwide offers seven nights in a two-bedroom apartment with breakfast, unlimited diving and six days’ car rental from £2740 (excluding international flights). www.diveworldwide.com
EGYPT and the Red Sea offers the best warmwater diving easily accessible from Europe at the keenest prices. Bear in mind that winter temperatures on land and under water will be considerably cooler than in spring and summer. Regaldive offers seven nights’ half-board at Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge at Soma Bay from £732pp including flights, transfers and a pool-view room. Diving costs from £57 for three dives on the house reef. A PADI Open Water course typically costs £263pp, www.regal-diving.co.uk www.divErNEt.com
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Trewavas AUG_Layout 1 30/06/2014 15:14 Page 51
TREWAVAS FISHY TAILS DON’T WE ALL LOVE A MERMAID? With my nose pressed against the glass of those lit-up frames in the darkened and strange-smelling halls of the Brighton Aquarium, the four-year-old me would have loved nothing better than to find a mermaid on display. Stories and myths of beautiful sea-dwelling creatures have long seized our imaginations. From fishermen’s fables through to popular culture – there’s Marina in the classic TV animation series Stingray, the Manga-style Neptina in Japanese underwater cartoon Marine Boy, and Daryl Hannah in Splash. More recently there’s Ariel in the Disney-fied The Little Mermaid with her singing crabs. We might be grown-ups now, but we still secretly wish it was all true. And so, with equal fascination, I devoured Lisa Collins' brilliant report on Miss Scuba UK in last month’s divEr. Fabulous girlies in underwater romps, and they get to dress up as mermaids! It’s every under-eight-yearold pretty pink princess’s dream come true. I don’t doubt that every one of them wants to save the seas, AND WORLD PEACE. You see – there we go. There we go. This is exactly why I would never trust myself to cover this event. My reflex response is to mock. And while I might revile the whole idea of an “underwater beauty pageant”, I sincerely applaud every one of those girls. Respect! Respect, because the path you’ve chosen may look glittering but it is as harsh as that of The Little Mermaid – the original Danish version. In truth, life is more Borgen than Disney; the hints of darkness were cleverly reflected in the divEr report. Respect, because we need every one of you. We need young girls to thrill at the very idea of becoming a diver. For many, that means being allowed and encouraged to be gorgeous and girly and a great diver all at the same time. We don’t need hacks like me sniping about the bonkers-ness of diving with hair extensions. Go mermaids! Alicia Caley, Miss Scuba UK 2014, I wish you every success. If the prevailing culture in scuba-diving can’t tolerate girls being girls, then we are a sad breed. We are doomed to extinction through being boring, judgmental and – let's face it – mean. Unfortunately we don’t have to look very far within scuba circles to see mean-ness. Witness the ridiculous and highly personal abuse aimed at our own “Mr Scuba TV” Monty Halls (and colleagues) by scuba trolls. Free speech should be protected, but crappy, abusive behaviour shouldn’t be tolerated. We are all belittled by spitefulness. Of course, Monty is big enough to shrug it off, but the point is that he shouldn’t have to. Nobody should. I’d happily smack the lot of them myself if I didn’t suspect that it’s a service most of them usually pay for. So how would we judge a “Mr Scuba UK”? He’d dive bare-chested in UK waters and launch an SMB in under three seconds while simultaneously rescuing a sunfish trapped in fishing-line. He’d do this with perfect buoyancy while remaining cool and photogenic in front of an ever-present video camera. And arrive back on the boat with flawless hair, a cheeky smile, and offer to make everyone on board a nice cup of post-dive tea. To be honest, the last one alone would earn him my vote. LOUISE TREWAVAS
WE NEED YOUNG GIRLS TO THRILL AT THE VERY IDEA OF BEING A DIVER
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Our Best Dives v2_Layout 1 01/07/2014 15:51 Page 53
OUR BEST DIVES
OUR BEST DIVES Canada Canary Is Egypt Fiji Gozo Iceland Indonesia Maldives Malta Mauritius Mozambique Solomon Is Thailand Tobago Truk UK
We asked you to tell us about your best dives, with a prize holiday for two in Tobago for the very best. Here are our favourites – including the winner
NIGEL WADE
Around the world with 25 divEr readers ☛ 53
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OUR BEST DIVES
H
AVING BOTH qualified in 2007, my girlfriend and I invested in BCs, regs, fins and masks, and planned to continue our training and look forward to developing a new career in diving. We booked a three-week holiday to the Florida Keys in late 2008, intending to progress our skills with the friendly staff at Key Dives Florida. We paid extra to take our shiny new kit to America, and were full of excitement. We returned to the UK three weeks later
I
AM FORTUNATE to make regular trips to Tobago, diving both the Atlantic Speyside area and also the Crown Point end of the island. We had completed our first dive on Diver’s Dream, a fast drift enlivened by several 2m nurse sharks. During the surface interval, our dive leader announced a rare treat – the tide was right to dive the ss Kioto, several miles away, and on the journey across he told us her story. Kioto was first torpedoed and then shelled by a German submarine in 1942;
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SIX-YEAR WAIT, by Adam Rose Mauritius / Indian Ocean with all our kit still new, shiny and unused. This was thanks to Gustav, Hanna and Ike, the hurricanes that put a stop to any diving, and even forced us to evacuate the Keys and find a new hotel on the mainland. Not to be deterred, we rebooked to go back to Florida in 2009. That year turned out not to be a great one for us. I was made redundant and suffered a few months of depression while trying to find employment and keep up with the bills, mortgage etc. We were able to take our Florida holiday thanks to family, but could not afford to complete any diving. The holiday was great, however, and I was able to relax and get things sorted in my head. In 2010 I found new employment, and we started saving and planning again. That year was not plain sailing, however. My girlfriend had become seriously ill and had to undergo several operations, and it took her until 2012 to recover fully, by which time we were engaged to marry in 2013. With a wedding comes the honeymoon planning, and we decided to go to Mauritius. Down came the dusty new
unused diving equipment, and across it went with us to Mauritius. We booked our first dive with Easy Dive in Le Morne on my 33rd birthday, a few days after arriving on the island. Everyone there was so friendly and helpful, and it reminded us of why we loved diving. The excitement we both felt on the boat trip out to the divesite was visible to all around us. Our first dive was only to 14m, but we saw plenty of fish and coral and it meant so much more to us just to get back into the water and dive – especially to me, now with a wife as a buddy. Our new kit was finally used, and 35 minutes later we were back on the surface and, while floating looking out to sea, we both knew that our dive adventure was back on track. All we have talked about since is diving, and we have joined our local BSAC school with plans to become instructors, and planning our first UK dive off the North Wales coast. We will no doubt have more exciting dives, but this one will live forever with us as the second start to our dive careers.
BARRACUDA HANG-OUT, by Nigel Webster Tobago / Caribbean Sea later in the war the hulk was used for bombing practice by the USAAF, so the wreck is badly broken up. From the surface we could already make out the huge boiler, and we dropped into clear, 29° water. At only 8m depth we were able to separate to explore the wreck individually – any problems and we could go straight to the surface. The bow area is recognisable, with anchor hawsers containing some chain – the rest was salvaged long ago – and hatches and bollards. There were many reef fish, and a few small nurse sharks under some of the plates, but the main owners of the wreck now are giant barracuda, patrolling in ones and twos, offended by our intrusion and circling around us, but unable to move us off their patch. The boiler stands on the edge of the debris field, filled to bursting with reef fish. The centre section is largely destroyed, with a large area of debris – including the ship’s spare propeller, mounted on the rear deck when she sank. The propshaft and some winch gear are both obvious, as are the base and the top of the mast. In a strong current I worked my way
slowly astern, to the obvious and continuing concern of the barracuda, and was pleased to find that the stern area had survived the attentions of U514 and the USAAF. It lies on its port side, with the propeller and rudder in place, towering over the seabed. I examined the propeller – there was a small scratched area where the bronze of the blade was visible – then swam through between the rudder and the propeller. As I emerged on the other side, two barracuda formated on my right shoulder, a metre or so away, willing me to agree that there was nothing more to see and move on. After 40 minutes or so we returned Kioto to the barracuda and drifted off across a sandy seabed, littered with smaller debris. In among the fragmented plates were several cylindrical objects, instantly recognisable as unexploded bombs! We surfaced with big grins on our faces. I have since been back to Kioto a couple of times, but that first visit will never be forgotten. On a subsequent dive our safety stop was disrupted by a passing leatherback turtle – but that’s another story…
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O, THERE WE WERE sitting in a friend’s kitchen, all set for the off. The off being the long drive from Birmingham to Seahouses for a weekend’s diving. It was early Friday afternoon and the car was packed ready to go. It was to be me and one friend’s first UK open-water sea dive, but our other friend was a Dive Master who had plenty of UK open-water sea diving experience – thus he was God to us. We briefly discussed cancelling the trip and going out on the town instead. Somehow we overcame this temptation and went for it, arriving at Seahouses many hours later. The next morning we got ready to go out on the boat, lugging all our
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DREW BACK the curtains to view paradise. Brilliant clear blue enveloped the sky. Palms swayed like gladioli in the breeze and the azure Pacific beckoned. I had found my oasis of total tranquillity, the Blue Lagoon resort in Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. Well-manicured gardens with ultra-green grass, floating plumerias and that wonderful hum of happy insects. Warmth from the waking sun pervaded my senses as I strolled to the dive centre. Over the next two days I dived six of the most amazing wreck-sites on our wonderful planet, culminating in my ultimate dive, on the Fujikawa Maru, the 132m cargo-carrier that the Japanese navy had refitted to carry Zero fighters and parts during WW2. Like the other 60 or so ships sunk In February 1944 in Operation Hailstone, the Fujikawa Maru had been fatally wrecked by American fighter planes. Amazingly I was the only diver on both days, so had the full attention of Advin, the dive-guide, to explore unrestricted the best that Truk had to offer. On the way down I caught a glimpse of a medium-sized grey reef shark patrolling the heavy 6in gun that stood sentry at the bow. As usual for me, as soon as I had the camera ready the chap disappeared. A shoal of batfish with their amazing moon faces smiled a welcome into their world. The occasional small group of trevally in their silver suits lazily transgressed my downward course. Our first visit was to the commemorative plaque on the deck, reminding me that this experience should be tempered with respect and awareness for the people who
THE BIG LESSON, by Kevin O’Neill Seahouses, England / North Sea cumbersome kit with us, and onto the boat taking us out we popped. A short while later we were at the dive-site, all kitted-up and ready for the plunge. Our Dive Master friend allowed all the other divers to go in first before taking us in. After entering the water, the three of us gathered at the shotline. We all gave each other the OK and started to descend. We hadn’t got very far before the visibility was down to inches. Our Dive Master friend looked at the pair of us inexperienced divers and made the cutting sign with his fingers, indicating that we were aborting the dive. So up to the surface we went, not having gone to any great depth and not having seen a thing.
When we got back on the boat, the two of us inexperienced divers were a little deflated, to say the least. Then it started. Another diver appeared at the surface like a Polaris missile – he had lost his friend and panicked and shot to the surface. Another group later came to the surface with the missing friend. They had found him by accident, pinned down by a large piece of metal that had come off the boat on which we had intended to dive. Once we heard their stories, I looked at my friend the Dive Master and nodded to him. He had just given me the most invaluable lesson I have ever learnt – always abort a dive if your safety is at risk.
FUJIKAWA MARU, by Brendan Coote Truk Lagoon, Chuuk / Pacific Ocean had died during those two days of terrible violence almost 70 years ago. Scattered around the deck were sake bottles, cups and plates. After skimming through the bridge we floated through gangways, popping in to visit the captain's room and a large toilet area complete with tiled shower and bath walls, sinks and urinals. I followed my guide down flights of stairs and into the guts of the ship, through a galley-way and into a relatively small room containing a number of robot-looking dials and piping. He suddenly started shaking his torch rapidly and pointing towards the ceiling. Sensing that he was panicked I looked up, expecting to see Jaws pop out from behind the metalwork – but it was worse. A solitary skull caught in my powerful torch glared down at me. I gulped and looked over at my guide. He had removed his mouthpiece to show me that he was laughing. At 20m or so, it was time to start heading up. Next stop was the engine-room. It had a workbench with a vice attached, numerous tools with lots of dials, tanks of various sizes and a complicated array of piping. The final trip was into three of the five holds. In one were three Zero fuselages, complete with pilot seat, joysticks and instrument panels. Spooky. Beside them were aircraft parts, propellers and wings. In the adjoining hold we came upon munitions, gas-masks, tripods of rifles and again sake bottles, cups and plates. Strangely, there were very few fish and little coral growth within the structure.
As we exited the final hold, I came face to face with a large open-mouthed barracuda having its teeth cleaned by a smaller fish. It ignored me. The Blue Lagoon resort and dive centre looked after me as if I was royalty. Doublestorey wooden cabins with large rooms, a restaurant that serves more than adequate food, a large bar and dance area, a central hang-out, lots of beach… bliss. Outside its gates is real poverty and an island that is in bad need of investment. Truk Lagoon – I will be back.
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HAVE BEEN diving for more than 20 years and, lucky me, have been all over the world and seen some amazing things. Dives with sharks in the Solomons, close encounters with mantas in Thailand and an encounter with dolphins in the middle of the Red Sea are all faithfully recorded in my logbook. But the one dive I will always look back on with a smile was in Malta in 2012.
COOL UNCLE, by Cris Treacher Malta / Mediterranean Sea In a desperate bid to win ”cool uncle” status with my 15-year-old nephew, I had taken him to Malta to learn to dive. He had done the first part of his PADI Open Water Diver with the local dive shop in the UK, and we had arranged for him to complete his referral in Malta with a shop I had dived with before, as I trusted it to do a good job. Sam completed his OWD and was doing the dives towards his Advanced Diver certification, so I tagged along for the ride. This was dive number 9 for Sam, and I watched as he carefully went through his buddy-check with his instructor before we jumped into the water at Cirkewwa. It was a fairly ordinary dive by most standards, lots of small marine life in good visibility. But what made it special was watching Sam (a typical teenager who grunts and displays no enthusiasm for anything) effortlessly controlling his buoyancy and moving through the water
without the flailings common in new divers – he was fantastic! However, this admiration was tinged with severe jealousy. My confidence, posture, buoyancy control and air consumption were never that good when I was at his stage! Even better, when we returned to the shore and we were all de-kitting, Sam was asked by his instructor how he had enjoyed the dive. As usual there was the customary grunt, which we interpreted to mean ”fine”, but followed by the slow emergence of a beaming smile, something rarely seen and to be long treasured (and I knew I had finally secured that treasured cool uncle accolade). Sam has since done his Deep, Drysuit and Nitrox speciality courses, and is working towards his Master Scuba Diver qualification. Needless to say, his parents aren’t impressed that his Christmas present requests have suddenly become that much more expensive! Well, a new reg versus an Xbox?
THE MOMENT, by Julie Kelley Stoney Cove, Leicestershire
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Y OLD CLUB, Leamington & Warwick 217, is very land-locked, so we had to make use of Stoney Cove for the majority of our training. As an instructor I came to know the site all too well, clocking up many hours of training in the murky depths. But even a site you use over and over again can throw up a memorable dive, and it just happened to be my 300th as well. It was 2 December, 2011, and my trainee was in a drysuit for the first time, but the water was still a comfortable 11°C. It was mid-week, so there were few other divers out to play, and we had an easy bimble along the 6m shelf to complete some drills. The gob-smacking thing was the 15m visibility. I just couldn’t believe how clear it was! We made our way around towards the Ammo Hut (near to where the Gresham is now located) and we could look down over the shelf edge and almost to the bottom of the 20m zone, which made me shake my head in awe – just crazy. I saw the Cove in a completely different light. The grass weed towering up in long spires that reminded me of organ pipes; the layout of the railway track drawing us back to the Nautilus and into the pub. I beckoned Rodger to join me and stand with our backs to the far wall underneath, just looking out to see right across the submarine structure and to the shelf’s edge itself. I still have that shot in my mind. It reminds me that it’s still possible to take a ”moment” in a place about which you’ve grown complacent after so many dives.
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FAMILY FEELING, by Steve Simons Malta / Mediterranean Sea
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E ARE FORTUNATE to have visited Malta on seven trips, making 50-odd dives around the island, and 13 of those have been on one of our favourite wrecks, the 110m freighter scuttled in 1998 as an artificial reef. This wreck sits beautifully settled in 37m of water, and offers great penetrations into the engine-room and up into the superstructure. It has a photogenic bow, open holds, picturesque companionways to the sides and schooling barracuda around the stack of the funnel. We have enjoyed all our dives here, but the best was diving as a family when Tom celebrated his 16th birthday by completing his Advanced
Open Water certification just as his 13-year-old sister got her Junior AOW card, with handshakes all round on the upper deck of the wreck! Seeing our children starting their diving adventures, experiencing all those ”firsts”, excitedly discovering marine life, thrilled by wrecks materialising out of the blue, studiously compiling their logbooks – what a privilege it was to share all this with them as parents who started our own diving in the years BC (Before Children). We will happily keep returning to the Um El Faroud, never tiring of exploring its inner secrets, but will always remember the family gathering on the deck!
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OR MY PARTNER’S 40th birthday in April I took her to Iceland, the main objective being to see the Northern Lights (or so I led her to believe!). Both of us are keen divers, and it didn’t take much persuading when I mentioned that we should have a look at Lake Silfra. I had read reviews and was confident that it was going to be a worthwhile dive. We arranged to dive with Dive.Is as it had been very quick to respond to my emails and very helpful on the phone. The centre provided excellent kit – Apeks XTX200 regs, Bare drysuits and Buddy BCs, so we were happy bunnies before even getting near the lake. It was a gloomy day in Iceland. Standing above the steps leading down to Silfra’s entry point and looking down it looked much like any other lake. We stepped in and bobbed around on the surface, waiting for the rest of our group to enter. As we descended I was blown away by the clarity of the water. The temperature was 2°, but having had
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F YOU LIKE the weird and wonderful, you can’t beat the Lembeh Straits in North Sulawesi. We were staying at Kungkungan Bay. Every day we would do two dives in the morning and one in the afternoon, and every day we would see something different, from mimic octopus to hairy frogfish – and always nudibranchs. On our last day of diving my husband wasn’t very well and decided that he couldn’t dive but, rather than spoil the day for me, he told me to go and enjoy myself. Feeling slightly guilty, I went. The dive-boats were small and dhow-like, and it was a fairly steep climb up the ladder at the end of each dive. Normally there were only four to six divers per boat, with a divemaster and a helper. But this morning there was only me
NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT, by Damo Whitington Silfra, Iceland / Atlantic Ocean a very close relationship with Stoney Cove over the years this was not a problem for us. The visibility was easily 100m-plus. The water in the lake is filtered through volcanic rock, apparently taking 100 years to reach Silfra from its source. You are literally diving in mineral water, and very nice-tasting mineral water, I might add! Not long into the dive we came to the point where you can touch both the European and American tectonic plates at the same time. How many divers can boast that? Maximum depth was about 18m, but there is no need to descend to the bottom because you can see it so clearly from the surface. We were no deeper than 15m, and as much as I would have liked to have explored some of the nooks and crannies I was under orders from the missus to stay close to her at all times. The dive lasted about 40 minutes, and we surfaced almost speechless, other
than to comment on the snow that was now falling. I recorded the entire dive with my GoPro and this was without doubt the most spectacular I’ve done to date. I highly recommend Lake Silfra. You won’t be disappointed, especially if you’re a keen photographer.
VINTAGE PLEASURES, by Marie Jewkes Lembeh Strait, Indonesia/ Pacific Ocean and an American gentleman of, let’s say, advanced years. We introduced ourselves, and on the way to the first dive-site had a really good chat. His name was Bob, and he had taken up diving when he retired. Ten minutes later we did a quick backward roll into the water and started our dive, swimming over an enormous field of green cabbage coral. Our guide spotted an anemone with small, thin white snakes swimming through it. Then it was on to the next gem. The pair of us tootled along gently, spotting different things to point out to one another, from a small frogfish to a walking crab with all sorts of assorted treasures stuck to its shell. The dive lasted 50 minutes, certainly not long enough. Back at the boat the divemaster and his helper assisted my dive-buddy up the ladder and we enjoyed a hot cup of chocolate and some nice dry towels as we sat comfortably together discussing what we had seen. Kitted up again, we were back in our element. In the water people forget that they are totally weightless, and age, infirmities and anything else are no drawbacks. Again we had a relaxing dive, with no rushing about, and again we saw fantastic creatures, from multi-coloured nudibranchs
to Indian Ocean walkmen, tiny porcelain crabs under anemones and just about anything you can think of in-between. I was really sorry when it was all over, especially as it was the last dive of the holiday. Bob and I had a quick 10-minute boat-ride back to the jetty. He thanked me very much for diving with him, and hoped his age hadn’t held me back on the dives. I told him that I had had a wonderful time and that he was an excellent diver, which he was, who had made my day very memorable. Age isn’t something you have to worry about when diving. In fact it’s much more fun when you don’t rush around or go deep just to prove something. I intend to be diving for a very long time, and look forward to meeting more people like Bob.
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S
O WHAT MAKES a ”best” dive? Is it exploring a spectacular wreck, or perhaps a beautiful reef teeming with colourful marine life? In my case it was neither. What I expected to be a routine shallow dive at the end of a holiday in 2008 proved to be a really memorable experience. It was the final dive of a week spent on the Red Sea liveaboard Blue Pearl, courtesy of Oonasdivers. We had moored in a lagoon where dolphins and turtles are known to congregate, the latter to eat the seagrass that grows on the sandy bottom at about 15m. The morning dive had proved to be a major disappointment. Our group of 19, plus two guides, had spent an hour searching for large mammals but there was very little marine life to be seen, just a few of the usual suspects. So that afternoon, when deciding on the venue for the final dive of the week, everyone but me and my divebuddy Marty chose to travel by RIB to a reef outside the lagoon. Our plan was an underwater swim towards the far end of the lagoon with a zigzag return. As with our morning dive, we
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’VE THOUGHT ABOUT this a lot over the past two months, the concept of having a ”best dive”. And you know what, even when I am right down to the wire submitting this little diving story, I still can’t choose a “best dive” from the 300-odd that I have done over the past 12 years. The problem, you see, is that from the moment I first dropped beneath the surface of the water, I felt as if I had found a missing piece of me. I found a place in water that soothed my soul, opened the door to another world I never knew existed and made me keenly aware of my own mortality every time I heard my breath bubble up past my ears. So to choose one dive is like trying to choose my favourite day with the love of my life. I can’t split my love affair with diving into dives. It’s a relationship. I did think that I could tell you about the things I have seen under the water that have made me feel truly privileged. Like the last dive of my Open Water in Sharks Bay, Egypt, where on the final exam the instructor took the last person up to the surface and left me sitting at 10m on a sand shelf waiting for him to come back down. I sat there, in 50m visibility, feeling that my heart was going to burst just being there, when two huge manta rays flew past
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PROFITABLE RETURN, by John Horner Egypt / Red Sea initially saw nothing of interest. We had stopped to make our turn for the first leg of the return journey when, on looking up from my compass, I was astonished to see a green turtle walking along the bottom, heading directly towards us. We approached cautiously, and the turtle seemed completely unperturbed by our presence. It lifted its head to look at us once, but maintained its steady pace and continued to feed while on the move. Given the size of the creature and the sparseness of the seagrass, it probably couldn’t afford to waste any time if it was to satisfy its appetite. At close quarters we could see that the turtle was carrying a remora suckerfish on its back. This was joined by a second just a few minutes later. I didn’t know what these fish were at the time, which added to my level of interest. We accompanied the turtle and its passengers for about 10 minutes, and it was time for us to return to the boat. Coming at the end of what had already been a really enjoyable week, this dive was a real highlight. We both felt enormously privileged to be
able to observe such an animal in its natural habitat, and it prompted me to find out more about turtles in general and the work being done by HEPCA and others to protect them – in particular, the importance of the project to make the Red Sea a plastic-bagfree zone, as these pose a lethal threat to turtles. With a little thought we can help to ensure that the turtles are still around to be seen by future generations of divers.
CAN’T DO IT!, by Helen Taylor me, wings outstretched like soaring eagles. I cried. Or I could tell you about the only time I ever went into deco off Weymouth when at 35m I finned round the side of a wreck to come face to face with a toaster-sized cuttlefish that looked me straight in the eye. For 15 minutes, I swear we had a conversation. I thought I could tell you about the times when things have gone wrong and I have
seen deep into my soul and known who I really am. Like when I was struggling with being underweighted, so I went with a trainee divemaster into Capernwray with 16kg on a belt that unravelled at 20m. Luckily my buddy grabbed it and me, and got it back on. Here I learned raw, gutwrenching trust in another human being. Or the time at the Farnes that I was cold, so I put an extra jumper on under my drysuit and was then a little underweighted. My buddy dropped like a stone, and I struggled to get down. Then, at 6m, I couldn’t get the air out of my suit and thought: ”Uh oh, I’m losing control here”, looked up and right above me was the bottom of the boat. I remember thinking: ”If the skipper turns the propeller on now, I’ve had it.” But he didn’t. And I am still alive. But after two months of thinking, none of these are my best dives. Because my best dive is every time I get in the water. No matter where it is, lake, sea, puddle – as soon as I get into the water I feel its silky fingers holding me up. It slips its hands around my soul and says: breathe, just breathe. All the noise above the surface goes quiet, and for a short time everything makes perfect sense.
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T WAS APRIL 2012. We dropped slowly to the sandy seabed 7m below the boat: me, a young Dutch couple – my buddies – then Khaled, our divemaster, guiding an elderly German woman. Visibility was less than 10m and the divers soon disappeared into the murk. I was content to follow. A large column of coral appeared out of the haze, like a double-decker bus emerging from London fog. Flashes of movement crystallised into fish shapes and then bright, shiny colours. Shoals of orange anthias flitted in and out of cover, vying for my attention with triggerfish with their strange undulating fins, and numerous blue, white and yellow butterflyfish. We glided across the sand, descending slowly into deeper waters. Small coral patches appeared below us, with their own small fish communities. It was magical. Suddenly, there was a flash of movement and three huge shapes shot past me, veering across my front. For a split second I had trouble registering these unexpected
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Y BEST DIVE still has to be Dillon Rock. It was back in October 2007 when I was lucky enough to experience with like-minded friends the wonderful diving to be had around Vancouver Island in British Columbia. So what was so special in 2007? Imagine diving accommodation so remote that there’s no TV or mobile signal. It’s a place surrounded by trees and wildlife, but it’s not on land, nor a liveaboard. It’s the Hideaway, owned and run by John de Boeck, an old loggers’ float home consisting of wooden huts on a load of logs chained together and anchored to the seabed. John has enough equipment and
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‘MY DOLPHIN’, by Peter J Stephenson Marsa Imbarak, Egypt / Red Sea images, but it was clear what they were – dolphins! The other divers were moving ahead, unaware. Luckily the dolphins arched left and cut across the group. No-one could miss them now. I stopped, transfixed, as two of the animals curved back towards us. One moved to the left of the divers and came straight at me. I saw his long bottle-shaped snout, large smiling face and big black eyes. He approached so close that I thought we were about to touch. I held out my arm, only to see him flash by and disappear behind me. I looked to my left and saw two torpedo-like silhouettes pass by 10m away. They moved ahead of us, then cut back. ”My dolphin” came back, on the same trajectory as before. He swerved around the other divers and came straight towards me. I heard a clicking noise as the dolphin checked out his mammalian cousin. As before, he passed on my left, allowing me a clear view of his face and smooth,
grey-skinned body, elegant flippers and tail, before he arched off into the open ocean. This time the dolphins didn’t return. We went on for another 40 minutes. The dolphins clouded my memory of the rest of the dive; I was left stunned and awestruck by my first sighting under water. I remember a huge golden spadefish hanging motionless as if suspended by an invisible thread, and a metre-long humphead wrasse taking refuge in a coral canyon. We encountered butterflyfish and triggerfish and a host of other reef species – angelfish, clownfish, goatfish, schooling bannerfish, fusiliers and more. And then the dive ended and Khaled took us to the surface. As the crew set course for home everyone was gabbling at once, exchanging their own excited tales of the experience. The Dutch girl danced around the deck chanting: ”I’ve seen a dolphin, I’ve seen a dolphin!” These animals really do touch everyone they come close to and made this the best dive of my life.
BIG FIRSTS, by Tom Cowan Vancouver, Canada / Pacific Ocean supplies to dive there safely and live in comfort. The food is excellent, and you bring your own wine and beer. There’s now a new dive lodge, all rooms with en suite bathrooms – progress, yes, but not quite the rustic charm I can remember in the old bunkhouse. The Hideaway is in a small backwater called Clam Cove, 12 miles north-west of Port Hardy at the top of Vancouver Island. The local dive-site Browning Wall never fails to amaze me – every inch is covered in life, wherever you stop. Of the dive-sites further afield, two are indelibly printed on my memory: Nakwakto Rapids and Dillon Rock. At Nakwakto there are very strong
currents of up to 14 knots. Turret Rock sticks out of the water and trembles in these currents, so it is known locally as Tremble Rock. It’s famous for large red gooseneck barnacles, and to see these we dropped in at the lee of the rock. When the tide turns there’s about a 20-minutes window to see the barnacles and get to the other end of the rock and safe shelter. Saving the best until last, we moved on to Dillon Rock. Both above and below the surface nothing seemed out of the ordinary – until I saw the male Pacific giant octopus out in the open! It was huge, sitting there not at all concerned about us divers kneeling around it. We stayed observing it for what seemed like ages. Further on, there were quite a few wolf-eels, larger than those in Scotland and tolerant of divers. One came out to say hello and show its size. Another first were ratfish. These usually live in deep water, but here they were swimming around on the sandy seabed at about 20m. Although there were all the usual rockfish and other life to see, I remember this dive because of the number of firsts seen on one dive, especially the gigantic octopus. John describes this as the best temperate diving in the known universe, and he’s right.
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TIMING, by Marco Crisari Maldives / Indian Ocean
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FEW YEARS BACK, my partner and I decided to cap two weeks’ diving on Kuredu in the Maldives with a final dive at the famous Kuredu Express site. Express is a channel dive between Kuredu Island and its neighbour. It is dived on both incoming and outgoing tides and never fails to deliver a thrill-ride. However, this time the divemaster jumped in to check the current and we had somehow managed to hit slack. Never mind, we said, let’s get going anyway. Our group of 12 dropped right on the corner of the channel, and immediately we were investigated by a half-dozen large grey reef sharks. After 15 minutes’ hanging out with the inquisitive greys they seemed to lose interest, and started drifting off into the blue. The DM signalled the group to continue to the outer reef. On a whim I caught my partner’s eye and suggested that we two should stay. We let the guide know, and waved the rest of the group off. With just two of us left the greys came back in close, and for another 10 minutes we had a closeup view of these magnificent sharks swimming around and checking us out. Just as I was signalling my partner that we should start following the group, the sharks suddenly swam off. I began to hear a noise. It was like the sound of old-fashioned TV white noise, but high-pitched. We looked at each other, confused. The noise started to grow louder and louder, and eventually in a sudden flash an enormous school of dolphins came flying out through the channel less than 10m in front of us, heading into the blue. I have no idea how many there were but they were massed and moving very fast. This wasn’t social behaviour – they were off to hunt. It was breathtaking. Once they were gone and we had regained our composure, we headed up the outside reef wall to shallower water to finish our dive. Around the 10m level we noticed two more big greys cruising the wall beneath us, and in the time it took to get to our safety stop we also came across a huge Napoleon wrasse and a lone great barracuda. On the safety stop itself we were treated to an octopus and a juvenile sting ray, as well as the usual array of stunning Maldivian reef life. Back on the boat, it turned out that the rest of group had had a pleasant enough dive after the greys on the channel corner but had missed the dolphins (they had heard them), the extra sharks, the Napoleon, barracuda, octopus and baby ray. All of which goes to show the difference just a couple of minutes can make in the ocean. Frankly it’s a miracle we weren’t thrown back in the water and made to swim back to Kuredu against the current – which had, strangely, only just started to run again after we exited the water.
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GREAT WHITE WALL, by Sherilyn Duckworth Taveuni, Fiji / Pacific Ocean
Y BOYFRIEND AND I waited anxiously to find out if the current conditions were favourable to dive the famous Great White Wall of the Somosomo Strait in Fiji. The strait is known as the ”Soft Coral Capital of the World” but the current needs to be just right to see the coral bloom. The Great White Wall is also rated by some as one of the best dive-sites in the world. So there was enormous relief as the divemasters surfaced and signalled that the dive was on! The dive with Taveuni Ocean Sports started with a cave swimthrough that came to a dramatic ending – a vertical wall that appeared to be covered in snow, dropping to more than 100m. In awe of this majestic scene, we spent quite some time staring at it to take it all in. We didn’t think it could get much better than that but the rest of the dive was as impressive. There were all sorts of soft corals, including seafans, tree coral, leather coral, cauliflower coral and bubble coral. And they were in spectacular shades of purple, pink, blue, yellow and many others. We were also lucky enough to see some rare marine life. The furry orangutan crab was a first in our diving career, as was the hawkfish,
dartfish and Fijian anemonefish (which has only one white stripe). There was even a whitetip shark lurking nearby. This dive really had it all, and everyone on the boat was in high spirits as we headed to the next dive-site. Suddenly, someone shouted: ”Dolphins!” and we oohed and aahed as we saw the fins coming out of the water and the captain steered the boat in their direction. As we approached, we realised that this was in fact a pod of about 10 pilot whales. Elated, we moved about the boat to get the best viewing spot. The boat was travelling beside the whales and they were swimming right underneath us and jumping out of the water every now and then to give us a show. Apparently, they are spotted there only a couple of times a year, so it really was our lucky day. Our final dive was at a site called Jack’s Place, where the coral is as spectacular as at the other sites of the Somosomo strait. It is one of the few places in the world where you can see schools of blue tang, their electric blue colour stunning against the rainbow backdrop of the reef. As we returned to our bure, nestled among fruit trees on the garden island of Taveuni, we thought to ourselves: ”Diving cannot get better than this”.
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HAVE SCUBA-DIVED in some great places around the world – the Maldives, Mexico, Thailand, Mauritius, Reunion, Malta, Egypt – and have seen some amazing fish, coral and big sea life such as whales, eagle rays and sharks, dolphins and so on. However, on my first trip on a diving liveaboard to the Similan and Surin islands I had a dive-guide called Ishmael who totally changed my perspective on macro-diving. Previously my attitude to scuba was that I wanted to see the biggest creature I could,
INTO THE MACRO, by Alvin Askoolum Similan Islands, Thailand / Andaman Sea so that I could savour the memories, boast in pubs, and post photos on Facebook of me eye-to-eye with a whale shark. On this trip, Ismael explained that some of the dive-sites such as Koh Bon and Richelieu Rock had some fantastic macro life. I was thinking: have I flown halfway around the world to see something as small as a fingernail, if not smaller? I already knew about the beautiful nudibranchs, their array of colours and how they differed around the world, and about the elusive ghost pipefish. But this diveguide’s mission was to find a tiny fish, and why would I want to see anything so small? Why was he excited about it, I wondered, and why were others excited by it too? Extremely puzzled, I stepped into the turquoise. After 30 minutes at 30m we were greeted by a few batfish, watching us closely as if they wanted to join in. A spotted ray glided in and out of the picture, and the sea anemones hid a few black and white clownfish. That’s when I heard the clink of a tank, and turned to see the guide pointing at a
BIG THRILL, by Peter Edwards Mozambique / Indian Ocean
A
PERFECT HOLIDAY is nearly over. I have dived with leopard sharks, whale sharks, so many reef mantas around 3m across that I have lost count, and a whole raft of small stuff. What more could I ask for? The giant manta! The weather has been windy and the sea unseasonably rough. Now it eases and we are at Manta Reef – a manta cleaning station – for a last dive. So much to see, but at 25m time is running out, and we have seen no mantas. The ”air” group of divers go up, leaving just the three of us who are on nitrox. Suddenly our leader signals ”manta”, and we move over to the cleaning station. This one is big! I watch it slowly circling for some minutes. I move up slowly and am rewarded with a view of it from above. I exhale and sink slowly so that I can see the distinctive pattern on its underside. Can it get better than this? Yes, it can! The manta turns and comes right over me – 6.5m across and so close that I feel I could reach up and touch it. That was truly awesome! We have had 14 minutes with that manta, but now it is time to go. Thank goodness for nitrox – without it I would have been in the boat with the air group, and would have missed the best dive experience of my life.
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fish. Ok, it was a beautiful juvenile emperor, and its colours were electrifyingly amazing. But was that it? We approached the 17m mark and were starting our ascent. The coral wall was beautiful, timeless, and that’s when I heard the clink again. This time it was rapid. I approached the dive-guide, whose eyes were as wide as plates. I could see a grin, and looked down at where his finger was pointing, but there was nothing there. Then I looked more closely, and saw a speck of yellow. Hold on, are those eyes? Sitting there was a yellow frogfish. The anglerfish species may be considered ugly, but this example was somewhat beautiful. I had never seen one before. Apparently it had been there for months, and the diveguide knew where to find it. All I could talk about when I got on board was this small creature. The meeting with the whale shark was a distant memory. As the trip went on, I managed to find two more frogfish myself – so out went my GoPro and in came my DSLR. All I need now is a macro lens!
DISCWORLD GLIMPSES, by Sian Vaughan Galapagos / Pacific Ocean
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Y BEST underwater experiences so far have come while snorkelling on consecutive days on different Galapagos islands, and I’m not sure if my humble flapping along the surface, with no tank and no belt, and just the odd duck-dive to a couple of metres will qualify for your hi-tech illustrious magazine. On the first day I had swum out, marvelling at the fish and having my breath taken away at least twice by passing sea-lions. I had spotted a couple of Galapagos penguins out on a rock, so decided to swim over to take a closer look. I was circling the rock when I came mask-to-beak with a darting penguin. It seemed as stunned as I was, and we both came up (in a somewhat undignified manner) and eyed each other on the surface for a few intense seconds, before going our separate ways. We had been cautioned about not causing damage to the corals
with our feet and not approaching the wildlife, particularly the turtles. On the second day I swam along, in my best non-interfering, nondamaging way, wondering whether I might spot a turtle, only to have first one, then dozens of these gentle green giants swim under and around me. I can’t explain my elation. The sea-lions had been playful, curious, almost mischievous; the penguin was alarmed, but I felt we had shared a very similar experience. These turtles, however, were beautiful in an alien way, effortlessly flying through their world, completely unconcerned by the clumsy, visiting bipeds. Being a Terry Pratchett reader might have influenced me (Discworld fans have a soft spot for turtles and elephants). These experiences will be with me for the rest of my life, and they confirmed my love of the undersea world and its inhabitants.
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N AUGUST 2013 I wrote to divEr about my health issues and new love of diving, and my letter was published. At the time, despite the severity of the emergency surgery I had undergone (an ileostomy on my wedding anniversary in late July), I was feeling positive. But a few days later my health suddenly took a major turn for the worse. Complications with my heart, accompanied by the realisation of what I had just undergone, meant that my positivity was rapidly discharging itself. Life was beginning to look very different – lists of dos and don’ts, cans and cannots overwhelmed me, and the longer I stayed in hospital, the more ”normal life”, let alone diving, scared me.
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HAVE ONLY ever dived in Gozo, but the relaxed atmosphere and willingness of everybody to do everybody else a good turn changed one day on which things were going quite badly to truly memorable. I arrived in the shop and the instructor was gobsmacked when I explained that we were supposed to go out that day. We had arranged it a couple of days previously while the staff were very busy, and the booking had not been written down. As there was nobody else going diving that morning we had a short conversation about where to go, and decided on Reqqa Point, as I had never dived there. We grabbed the gear, jumped into the van and drove down. Gozo is such a small island that it takes only a short time to go anywhere, so we arrived within 10 minutes. The waves were a gentle 2-3ft, but about 500m off the coast there was a lot
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THE NEW ME, by Anthony deCaux Tenerife, Canary Islands / Atlantic Ocean Towards the end of a three-month stay, more surgery was needed. My family tried to keep my spirits up, and my wife surprised me with new diving equipment and a promise that we would dive again. I appreciated the support and encouragement, but loathed the idea – it wasn’t going to happen now I had a new addition to my body, aka ”it” – the stoma bag. However, after the last bout of surgery this February my consultants said that there was no reason why I shouldn’t lead a normal life, so diving was back on the cards. Believing them was hard with my confidence at an all-time low. I felt very different, and it was difficult getting used to how things were. I needed a break, time to relax and my
wife suggested that I try out the new dive gear. What? I did my research, got the relevant checks and certificates, and on paper I was good to go. My confidence told me otherwise, but we were off to Costa Adeje, Tenerife. We met a dive instructor at our hotel. Knowledgeable and understanding, he gave details on the location of what was to be my first ”new” dive. Was I doing the right thing, would ”it” be OK? On the day of the dive, concentration levels were at an all-time high, kit, pre-dive checks, ”it” and a whole load of what-ifs – I was nervous. Then I was in and off. I suddenly felt completely free, in my own world. I didn’t think about ”it” at all but remembered why I loved diving so much. I went onto autopilot and enjoyed every second. I saw a host of different fish and dived with a sea turtle, an amazing experience. What a first ”new me” dive – wow! After the dive I checked my air out, my dive computer, got my logbook and recorded my dive, and that was it – without realising it, this was the old me. So for me this dive was and will be forever a massive step in my recovery. I learnt that ”it” doesn’t have to stop me doing the things I love, I feel a little more confident in myself and I now can’t wait for my next dive!
THE TURNROUND, by Alastair Reid-Smith Gozo / Mediterranean Sea of activity. I asked if there was a reef there and was told there wasn’t. I was shown the exit (a bit awkward) and entry points, and we started to kit up. To my horror I had forgotten my regs! A short, embarrassing conversation with the instructor took place, and we concluded that regs were essential. Rather than drive back to collect them, he phoned the shop and a few minutes later they appeared in a car – it was unbelievably good of them to take this trouble. I set up my gear and found that my BC was auto-inflating, making a dreadful whistling noise as it did! We tried to repair it with no tools, which at one point involved whacking it against the floor, but gave it up as a bad job. We decided that the best course of action would be to inflate manually as required and fix it later. The divemaster had referred to diving at Reqqa in almost mythical tones. He had seen a sunfish there before and, on
another memorable occasion, a swordfish. If he was ever going to see something unusual he had decided that Reqqa was the most likely place to see it. We had a really nice dive, and the visibility was great, the sea a perfect colour and all too soon we were preparing to get out. As we surfaced, we noticed that the top of our heads were being slapped. We had surfaced into a baitball that had been forced into the shore. The exit point we had chosen was a small pool about 1m deep and the fish had been herded into it. We still had enough air to drop back into the water and as we were watching we couldn’t stop laughing. After turning up unexpectedly, forgetting my regulator and equipment breaking, the world had seemed to be against us – and then we had a magical dive, finishing with a baitball. On the way back to the shop we were still laughing, and writing this now I can’t stop smiling.
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HE LIVEABOARD Bilikiki embarked from Honiara, Guadalcanal. Honiara Bay is known locally as Iron Bottom Sound because of the number of warships sunk there during World War Two. However, virtually all the wrecks here are
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N 2008, I DECIDED to take a career break from being a mathematics teacher and use the money I had saved for a deposit on a house to undertake an ambitious round-the-world trip. I cherry-picked some of the places I had always wanted to see, booked my roundthe-world ticket, handed in my notice and, three months later, was on a flight to Johannesburg. So where does scuba-diving enter this story? Well, having selected Australia as one of my destinations so that I could see the Great Barrier Reef, it made sense to get my PADI Open Water certification to experience more than I might simply by snorkelling. I had started the course in April in the cold and murky waters of Bouley Bay, Jersey. At the time I was told that if I could cope with these conditions, anywhere else would be a walk in the park (or the scuba equivalent). Initially, I intended diving only when I got to Australia, but having caught the scuba bug (which was much more pleasant than the malaria I caught in Tanzania) I found myself diving at every possible opportunity, from popular sites such as Belize’s Blue Hole
OUR BEST DIVES
VOLCANIC ACTIVITY, by Anthony Bowen Solomon Islands / Pacific Ocean undiveable because of the depths. Diving was from tenders that made the short journey to the dive-site. We dropped onto the top of an extinct underwater volcano at 12m that continues down to more than 700m. There is an active volcano towards Papua New Guinea, and its rumbling could be heard distinctly while we were under water. It was possible to descend through a chimney left by an ancient lava eruption. Looking up through the chimney to the surface provided a perfect photo opportunity of a Hickson’s fan coral with the dive-tender framed on the surface. Further down the shaft, it was possible to exit into the open sea at 37m. Looking through the bottom of the shaft to the open sea I could see a passing grey reef shark, but by the time I exited it had gone. Given my nitrox mix the PO2 was 1.5, so I slowly ascended towards the top of the volcano, keeping a wary eye out into the blue. A slight movement caught my eye, and I spied a crocodilefish. It allowed me to take a number of photos but then darted over my head, and although I spun round quickly it took a few moments before I could identify where it had come to rest, as it was now completely camouflaged again.
On the edge of the plateau at the top of the volcano a small brown leaf was swaying backwards and forwards – a leaf-fish, about the size of a little finger. On top of the plateau were barrel sponges and soft corals in pristine condition. There was an abundance of small clams, but also a massive giant clam. Determined to get a picture of the inside of this beautiful creature, I inverted myself with fins towards the surface, established neutral buoyancy just above its wide-open jaws and then exhaled. This allowed me to descend into the clam’s jaws and take the photograph as they started to close. I then inhaled to rise back above the clam, whereupon the jaws opened fully once again. I repeated these manoeuvres several times, obtaining a photo each time. Also on the plateau was a large old discarded anchor and some wreckage. Perched on a hatchway was a female Napoleon wrasse, which I anticipated would take off on my approach. However, it allowed me to get close to the point of obtaining a close-up photograph of its eye. It was then time to ascend and finish the dive, overwhelmed by the kaleidoscope of colours and the fascinating diversity of species I had been privileged to experience.
IN CLEAR VIEW, by Phil Pattinson Iceland / Atlantic Ocean to lesser-known sites such as Lake Malawi and Mexico’s cenotes. However, the dive I would like to share is the one that provokes the most surprise when mentioned. It was towards the end of my trip and I was in Keflavik, Iceland, hoping to get a glimpse of the Northern Lights and experience the Blue Lagoon’s hot thermal springs. When I went to the hotel reception to book my trips I saw an advert for scubadiving. October in Iceland was almost certainly going to be colder than diving in Bouley Bay, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity. I was met and taken to Silfra ravine, a fissure at the edge of a large lake. Following our buddy check we waddled along the volcanic stone path towards the fixed metal staircase that entered the crystalline waters. This was an amazing dive, not because of the aquatic life (I saw only one fish) but for the lucid vibrant blue, the like of which I haven’t experienced on any dive since. In places, my dive profile resembled that of a yoyo, because one had to get over boulders that had fallen into the fissure. At one point we were virtually floating
and clambering over rocks to get to the highlight, the aptly named Very Blue Lagoon. At the end of the dive I was asked if I would like to go through again. When the blood finally came back to my mouth and face, I replied: definitely! Not the longest (27 minutes) nor the deepest (10.1m), but this was definitely the coldest dive and clearest visibility I have experienced to date.
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HE WEATHER FORECAST was looking good for the next day, dry with sunny periods. I needed to get up early and drive along the spine of Cornwall to the very end of mainland England, at Lands End and Sennen Cove. I arrived at the harbour car park at 8am. What a beautiful morning, with sunlight dancing over a turquoise, almost blue, sea! My arrival was timed for a low spring tide and the intention to snorkel around the exposed granite reef, the Cowloe. I had previously snorkelled around this reef but the feeling on this beautiful morning was one of anticipation. 21 June,
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T IS 7AM on our second day of diving. I’m still half-asleep. Big swells, the RIB going up and down wakes me up a bit. Equipment has been checked. Regs, fins, computer, mask. We are reaching the dive-site. The guide shouts the command and here we go, roll back into the blue. Air out and we go down. We go down. Oops. Everybody goes, just not me. Damn! I don’t have my weighted pockets in my BC. Group is already gone but I don’t want to miss out. I climb back on the RIB. Using signlanguage, I explain my problem to the boat-driver. He doesn’t speak English, and the only words of Spanish I know are huevo and tequila. Yes, he has more lead! Without thinking, I stuff my pockets with it. Quick
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WONDERFUL THINGS, by Dave Peake Cornwall, England / The Channel 2009, was the time for oceanic visitors – large and small. Scanning the sea with binoculars from the harbour wall, I could count around a dozen basking sharks out there near the reef. Money was placed into the dreaded car-park machine, the boot opened and wetsuit donned. With weightbelt, mask, snorkel, fins and a compact camera with a wide-angle lens, I started swimming away from the harbour wall and entered another world. Vis was 12-15m. Between colourful granite boulders golden kelp, oar weed and green and red plants swayed in a dancing rhythm, all backlit with sunlight flashes.
Just ahead, I saw a grey triggerfish swimming away, and carried on to the reef. A grey seal looked toward me, then twisted and turned away, not wishing to be photographed. I floated over the kelp forest and dived down into gullies and through the kelp fronds and holdfasts. Starfish and spider-crabs were there in abundance, and grey mullet shoaling near the surface. I swam into deeper water until, frequently looking up, I could see an area where large triangular fins and tails were circulating. They were not close, and stronger fin-kicks were needed to somehow, casually, get into a suitable position. I focused on one shark, anticipated its movement and lay as still as possible with the camera outstretched in front, waiting and hoping. The dark shape appeared out of the blue, came closer and closer, turned away slightly and I took the image. Then it was gone, and didn’t return. No luck with the others, so I finned back to the reef. Suddenly I was overtaken by a large shoal of bass. Over a sandy area a pulsating compass jellyfish hung in the water at the surface. It had long tentacles and was in good condition, and I captured its beauty. Heading back towards the harbour, I looked up to see thousands of people now on the beach, sunning themselves. I was the only one looking under the sea. Standing in the shallows, taking off my mask, snorkel and fins, two boys no bigger than my freedive fins came up and one said: ”What you seen, mister?” I turned and said: ”I’ve seen lots of wonderful things.”
SHARK, SHORT & SWEET, by Mateusz Bednarczuk Darwin, Galapagos / Pacific Ocean look for the bubbles and splash, back to the water. Just follow the bubbles and you will find a diver, they say, so I go down, fast. They must be at the end of them. Bubbles become smaller, then disappear completely. I stop. No bubbles, no divers. Sharks instead. A few, a dozen, hundreds. Wall of sharks, circling around. Quick glance at the computer, 38m. The sharks are pretty close. Visibility is a maximum 10m and I can see them really well. Hammerheads mostly. Too close for comfort. I have seen them before, but I was never alone. Let’s pump the BC and get out of here. I am massively overweight from all the lead in my pockets. Jacket is full of air and I am not ascending. Sharks are still close, the panic starts to build.
I am trying not to make any rapid movements. Painfully slowly, I am swimming up. I don’t want to be here any more. I have noticed the shadow of the RIB. This calms me down slightly. The vision of death leaves me. Oh, great! There is a huge Galapagos shark circling under the boat. What should I do now? I remember my camera. Taking a picture could be an option. As soon as I have snapped the first one, the nasty fish decides to leave. I am back on the boat, breathing heavily. I am thinking now that I couldn’t find the group because the current pushed their bubbles and me away from them. Somehow I can’t quite believe that the sharks had the others for breakfast. I am checking the computer again. Dive time: 9 minutes. Seriously?!
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THE WINNER…
G
ET YOUR GEAR ON!” Those simple words sparked a frenzy of activity on the boat, and marked the beginning of my best dive yet. We were in the Red Sea, relaxing on deck after an enjoyable but uneventful dive of a pretty little wreck. We’d been told that dolphins often turned up during dives there, but none did and, of course, we weren’t surprised. It was some time later that we first spotted them, a small pod in the distance. This wasn’t the first time we had seen them but this time, to our amazement, they came right up to the boat. We rapidly donned our snorkels and jumped in, not wanting to miss the opportunity, but it soon became clear that the pod wanted to play, and with no sign of them departing, the guide gave us the go-ahead: ”Get your gear on!” And in that instant, all of our training was forgotten! We broke records in donning our kit, rushed through the
BEST (AND WORST), by Graham Wadie Egypt / Red Sea buddy-checks and were in the clear blue water within minutes. Down we went. At least, some of us did. Others just bobbed around on the surface, wondering why they were so buoyant today, until their hearts sank and they realised their weightbelts were still on deck. I was one of the lucky ones, and as the surface group shrank away and the light began to fade, the pod closed in around us. These were not timid beasts; they were full of curiosity and desperate to show off as they swam in tight circles around us, changing direction in an instant and seeming to laugh when we couldn’t keep up. It felt as if we spent hours watching them play, and with no computer (on the deck, with the weightbelts), who knows how long it really was? Eventually the pod had had enough, and we were left alone on the bottom. Our guide pointed and swam off in the
direction of the boat. Two of us divers were together then, and that was when we noticed that the current had really picked up. I didn’t have the strength to swim against that current, and all I could do was grip the seabed to remain still. The other diver was there, but the guide was out of sight. Fear started to kick in then. How far had we drifted? What if they couldn’t find us? Were there other boats around? I started unravelling the DSMB. And then the guide reappeared, thumbed up, and up we went. The boat was right there where we had left it! Stories were excitedly exchanged, but as the adrenaline slowly wore off the mood noticeably dulled: ”Plan the dive and dive the plan.” We had been reckless. To this day I don’t know the depth of the dive or how long we were down, and so this was also my worst dive, and a lesson long remembered. We skipped the night dive.
GRAHAM’S PRIZE… A £2800 trip for two to Tobago Graham Wadie’s Best Dive wins him a week’s diving holiday for two in Tobago, organised by UK tour operator Oonasdivers (www.oonasdivers.com). The prize includes return flights from London, transfers, seven nights’ B&B at Blue Waters Inn & Dive Centre and five days’ diving, including equipment hire. Tobago is one of the Caribbean’s best diving destinations and Blue
Waters Inn is located in Speyside, where some of the island’s best dive sites can be found, including the world’s largest brain coral. Visibility can be impressive at sites such as Angel Reef, Black Jack Hole, Book Ends, Japanese Gardens, Batteaux Bay Drift and Coral Gardens. Here’s hoping Graham gets to enjoy a new Best Dive!
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BEHIND THE SCENES slick industry machine. I’m not knocking the established dive operators, by the way – most work incredibly hard to ensure that the diving experience remains fresh and invigorating for returning clients. It’s just that every now and then it’s nice to go back to our roots.
‘GO ON, IT’LL BE BELTING. I’M EXPECTING VOLCANOES AND DRAGONS. MINIMUM’
AND WHAT ARE THOSE ROOTS? They’re the days of the legends of our sport. The days of Bernard, of Hans, and of Jacques. They’re the days of laying out a chart and studying it with your mates, peering at coves and contours, at depths and details. They’re long meetings running into the night, planning trips, logistics, admin, and dreaming of the dives you’ll make. They’re packing the wagon, throwing in the tent, and heading off into the unknown. They’re arriving on site and realising that what you thought would be easy is going to be hard; that you’ve got a real challenge on your hands, but having that sneaky conviction that you can pull it off. It’s not knowing where to launch the boat, not knowing where to pitch the tent, and not
T
HE GREAT BRITISH DIVING EXPEDITION rumbles on in good form, with our latest project taking us about as far north as it’s possible to be on the mainland without getting wet. There’s something rather glorious about clambering into the Land Rover and thinking “Right, I’m going to drive until I run out of Britain.” Thirteen hours later – a linear festival of relentless Radio 4 and Test Match Special – I clambered stiffly out of the wagon and, after shuffling around the car park in a foetal position for 10 minutes, eventually straightened to find myself in a rather nice place. We’d planned this phase of the expedition simply because the destination had the word “Wrath” in it. This was mainly Andy Torbet’s idea, and when I questioned him about the diving there, he looked rather evasive and simply said: “Did I mention it has the word ‘Wrath’ in it? It’s not like it’s called ‘Cape Moderately Stimulating’ or ‘Cape Quite Interesting’. It’s called ‘Cape bloody Wrath’, man”. He then went on to say: “Go on, it’ll be belting. I’m expecting volcanoes and dragons. Minimum.” On this somewhat tenuous recommendation alone, 10 worthy souls had signed up, and off we had trundled, not having the first idea what to expect. Hoorah for the Corinthian spirit of divers and diving! The ethos was minimum research, maximum exploration, low levels of preparation, and high levels of getting stuck in. THOSE WHO KNOW CAPE WRATH will be well aware that we needn’t have worried. Towering cliffs, booming caverns, white sand, steep walls and big skies. What a place, what an adventure, what memories, and what a splendid way to spend a week or so!
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Full details will emerge in the feature on the Great British Diving Expedition in divEr later in the year, but suffice to say that I can’t recommend it highly enough. That isn’t the point of this month’s column, however – worthy though that recommendation undoubtedly is. It’s something far simpler than a grand journey up a long island to a mighty headland; it’s about the whole ethos of crafting your own adventures. I think the attraction of the Great British Diving Expedition has been the unpredictability of every phase, of simply not knowing whether the next dive will be a crystal exploration of a sunlit sapphire chamber, or a muddy scramble in a foetid pool (the latter has probably narrowly pipped the former, I’d say, but only just). There is a certain weariness with the predictability of our normal dives, of revisiting the same locations and slotting into the same
knowing what awaits you as you roll over the side into the water. When you plan your next dive, how about doing all of the above. The length of the British coastline is 7723 miles according to the, er, CIA. I’m not kidding, I’ve just Googled it and the first result was the CIA figure. So when you do plan your expedition, be aware that you’re probably being watched. And don’t say anything detrimental about the American Constitution. But aside from that, you should be fine. My point here is to ask how much of that coastline we’ve actually explored. How many gems of dive-sites await, silent and mysterious, keeping their counsel purely because they’re a bit too far to walk from the car park? So spread out those charts, clamber into the car, shrug into your kit, stagger and stumble to the entry point, and stand there alongside the long shadow of Bernard and co to find another great British dive-site.
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SECRET APPOINTMENT WITH A
WILDCAT 10
MAY 2014: I was on my way back to Orkney for a long-awaited trip to revisit the wrecks of the WW1 German Imperial fleet. For any diver interested in wartime wrecks, Scapa Flow is a must. It is rated as one of the world’s top three dive-sites – and, unlike the other two, this one is in UK waters. Even so, the long drive from London was not appealing, so I flew to Aberdeen. The connecting flight was not so stressfree, but we made it to Kirkwall by sea only 10 hours late! Our base was the Valkyrie, a converted trawler based in the harbour at Stromness. Beautifully appointed, the vessel is very comfortable and meticulously run by skipper Hazel Weaver, with crew Helen Hadley and Rob Baxandall. Just before leaving for Orkney Alex Khachadourian of divEr, knowing that aircraft greatly interested me, had mentioned that a WW2 aircraft had been located in the Flow only a couple of months ago. About 20 years ago, a piece of aircraft airframe snagged in some fishing gear, and was brought up and dumped on Scapa pier. A local man picked it up, took it home and left it in his garage. Many years later, he heard that ARGOS (Aviation Research Group Orkney & Shetland, not the high-street retailer!) was researching missing aircraft. He contacted the organisation, which came to examine the mysterious object. By comparing diagrams and matching up part numbers, it became apparent that the fragment was almost certainly from a Grumman Wildcat or Martlet. RECORDS SHOWED THAT only one Grumman Wildcat, JV571, went missing in Scapa Flow. The single-seater fighter had been stationed on HMS Trumpeter, and the ship’s log, obtained from the National Archives, revealed that at 10.45 on the morning of 2 December, 1944, three Wildcats and two Avengers were launched to fly to Hatston.
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Persistence pays for BRUCE MILANI GALLIENI – in fact it recently resulted in what could well be any military aircraftenthusiast’s dream dive As the result of a faulty retaining ring on the ship’s catapult , JV571 was prematurely launched while still preparing for take-off, and “fell off” the port side. The pilot, Sub/Lt EE Ames RN, was rescued unhurt. JV571 was listed as a total write-off and forgotten. Many years later, on 6 February this year, wreck-hunter Kevin Heath of ARGOS was able to calculate the probable trajectory of the plane at the last recorded point of take-off and, using the latest scanning equipment, spotted an object on the seabed. The discovery was confirmed by Kevin on 10 March, when a Seabotix ROV sent back images of the Wildcat JV571. I ASKED SKIPPER HAZEL if she knew anything about the aircraft wreck, and to my delight she told me that her crew and Kevin Heath were the only ones to know the exact location. In fact, Rob Baxandall had been the first person to dive it. My excitement was soon quelled when I asked if we could dive the wreck. Hazel was very sorry, but she was unable to take us to the site for fear of the secrecy of the location being compromised. I promised to pester her all week until I got my way. “Try, you never know,” said Hazel with a smile. A glimmer of hope? Day three, and the conditions were flat-calm and sunny. “Any chance today, Hazel?” I asked, but I didn’t get the response I wanted. However, I was dekitting after a fantastic dive on the Markgraf when the exciting news I had almost resigned myself to not hearing was whispered in my ear. We were heading for the Wildcat! There were no other boats in the Flow
that day, so Hazel was satisfied that there would be no prying eyes in the vicinity. Video footage from the initial discovery showed the Wildcat to lie upside-down at 35m. Rob briefed us at the site, and a shotline was dropped with extreme precision about 6m off the wreck. At last I was on my way to look for the elusive Wildcat. As only the second group of divers allowed on the site, the sense of privilege
Above left: “Grapefruitsegment” wheel. Main image: Looking along the wreck from the tail. Below: A Fleet Air Arm Grumman Wildcat.
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was huge, and a first for me. Care was needed not to stir up the very silty seabed – but unfortunately what should not have happened did, and a huge cloud enveloped us. VERY FRUSTRATED, I remained above the cloud and, with my buddy Jean Marc Jefferson, started a search pattern. JM came across a detached wheel first. It was clearly from the Grumman because of its distinctive “grapefruit-segment” wheel. This was a relief to find, but it was just a wheel. Our deco time was racking up but we persevered. Then, in the corner of my eye, I spotted something glinting. There it was, the still very silverlooking fuel tank and, just in front of it, the distinctive nine-cylinder Curtiss Wright radial engine. The Valkyrie crew could have heard our shrieks of joy!
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As luck would have it my strobe malfunctioned, and I could take only a few shots in ambient light. No matter, we were on the Wildcat. It was missing a propeller, which had detached itself when the plane crashed, but the engine was an impressive sight, the oil-cooler clearly visible. The wing spars and stringers were in remarkably good condition, with the guns still in place. The still-intact starboard-side undercarriage was housed in its correct location just behind the engine. Wildcats had a unique landinggear stowage system that stowed just forward of the wings in the underside of the fuselage. What a sight, and what a dive! I could have stayed there for ages spotting bits and pieces, but it was time to leave the Wildcat for a slow journey to the surface.
The wreck has been registered with the Hydrographic Office and has a mark valid for five years, allowing only a handful of authorised people access to its exact location. My thanks to Hazel, Helen and Rob for laying on my most memorable dive.
Above: The Curtiss-Wright radial engine.
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BE THE CHAMP! F
ISH AREN’T THE WORLD’S most charismatic animals. Not my view, but undeniably the opinion of many non-divers and, if we’re honest, probably to a fair few of our rust-loving brethren. As underwater photographers we are far more likely to get those “oohs” and “aahs” by aiming our cameras at cutie sea-lions or smiling dolphins than at our finned friends. But we can hardly call ourselves underwater photographers if we refuse to shoot fish! There are about 25,000 species of fish living today, which is more than half of all vertebrates. In short, if you want to tell the story of life on Earth, you can’t avoid fish photography. I am not going to tell you that every fish species is perfect for jaw-dropping images, but we are lucky that among those 25,000 there are some true supermodels. The subject of this month’s column is a perennial diver’s favourite: the frogfish. MY NAME IS ALEX, AND I HAVE a frogfish
addiction. And it is getting worse, not better, the more of them I see. I have seen frogfish in the west Atlantic, east Atlantic, Red Sea and right through the Indo-Pacific as far south as the chilly waters of Melbourne. I have seen clusters of football-sized giants and newly arrived youngsters in bright orange that are no bigger than cooked grain of pilau rice. Yet I still want more, and whenever dive-guides bang on their tank and makes that dangling finger-lure gesture to indicate that there is one lurking near the end of their pointer, I can never resist swimming over and taking its picture, often lots of pictures. I’ve got it bad. So how do we make sure we turn this irresistible urge to click into a set of winning images nestling on our memory card? Most important is to understand the visual lure of frogfish and, to put it simply, it is all in the face. Frogfish have upright faces, with eyes above a nose, above a mouth; it is the same configuration as our own, and therefore we see them as much more than fish, but as individuals.
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Where dolphins can’t help but smile, frogfish can only turn a grumpy face to the world, but these charmers are potential photo-contest winners too. ALEX MUSTARD can never resist them (except perhaps the black ones)
’The key to winning frogfish images is to get down to eye level’ Their faces are also warty, lumpy, hairy and come in every colour, giving them a grotesque, cartoonish appeal – a clear caricature of some of my diving buddies! The key to winning frogfish images is to get down to eye level and focus on these features, so that their character and personality jump out of the image and engage our audience. Several angles can work: I usually try head-on first, although frogfish often don’t give good two-eye contact. So I
STARTER TIP Frogfish don’t have swim-bladders, so you will almost always encounter them on the seabed. Use a single strobe, aimed from the side you are shooting, to light the frogfish, not the background. This will allow it to pop out of the picture, framed against black and showing off its textured skin.
usually find myself coming round to the side and trying a three-quarter side-view of the face or an entirely profile image. I’ll usually shoot all the angles on a dive, then judge which one has worked best when I download the shots later. WE’RE NOT FINISHED YET, because now we need to decide what else we want to say visually about our particular frogfish. And our tool is our lighting. If we want to emphasis its spongemimicking colour, we should use two strobes on roughly equal power. If we want to show off its warty texture, then we should use one strobe, aimed from the side we are shooting. And if we want to show off its hairiness, we should move one strobe round beyond the frogfish, so that it fires back across the fish, backlighting the hair. We can’t discuss frogfish without talking about yawning. There is no denying that a frogfish with its cavernous mouth agape is a dramatic ☛
Below: Vary your lighting, with two strobes for colour, one for texture, or one in front and one behind, as here, for hair. Taken with Nikon D4 and Nikon 60mm. Subal housing, Inon strobes. ISO 200, 1/250th @ f/20.
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PHOTO TECHNIQUE
Pictured: Frogfish faces remind us of caricatures of our own faces, so get down to eye level and make their features the centre of your images. Taken with Nikon D2x and Nikon 105mm. Subal housing, Subtronic strobes. ISO 100, 1/250th @ f/29.
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PHOTO TECHNIQUE shot. And I’d encourage everyone to collect this image when they have the chance. However, we should remember that yawning is a frogfish’s way of saying “you’re hassling me, leave me alone”. I have shots of yawning froggies, but generally choose not to show them, as I always see that gaping mouth spelling out the “o” of “Bugger Off!”. I once dived with a celebrated Italian photographer in Mabul, Malaysia. Each giant frogfish he saw, he would race up and pump his camera backwards and forwards in their faces. Each one would shuffle about uncomfortably and, within a minute, yawn. Then he’d take a shot. For this reason, I don’t believe in holding this shot up as the ultimate. Some photographers show off
collections of frogfish yawning as a badge of honour, but it really says something more about their approach to their subjects than their skills. FROGFISH ARE AMBUSH PREDATORS.
MID-WATER TIP I am regularly asked how to get a good photograph of a black frogfish. In short, don’t bother with these featureless, light-absorbing, backscatter-inducing behemoths. An important photographic skill is subject selection: learning to recognise what will make a good picture and what won’t. Black frogfish won’t!
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Below: Confident in their camouflage, frogfish are ideal for wide-angle macro shots. This specimen was smaller than a golf ball. Taken with Olympus E-PL5 and Panasonic 8mm fisheye. Nauticam housing, Inon strobes. Subal ND2 housing, ISO 200, 1/40th @ f/14.
Their camouflage gives them the confidence to stay stock-still and entice prey by fishing with their lure. This behaviour makes them both very easy to photograph and provides an interesting story in our images. And catching the lure, quite unlike a yawning shot, shows that our presence was not an intrusion. We’re unlikely to capture the end result, however, because frogfish have one of the world’s fastest strikes, just 6 milliseconds! Their self-assured nature also makes them ideal subjects for wide-angle macro, or WAM images. To take these shots we need a wideangle lens positioned very close to the subject, so that it still fills most of the frame, as it would in a normal macro photo, but the wide-angle optic means that the remainder of the image gives a view of its habitat. They are very powerful images, but only possible with the right subject and a very careful approach. Successful WAM images are actually most easily taken with smaller-format cameras. Firstly, the small size of the
ADVANCED TIP Not all frogfish are well positioned for photography, and it is important to recognise when one is not going to give special pictures. But when we get one that is a great colour and well positioned we should work the opportunity, remembering to take shots with just one flash to reveal their shape and texture. camera is beneficial when manoeuvring in close to the subject and, perhaps, more importantly, for lighting the subject. Big housings, like those for fullframe SLRs, just get in the way. We also need to use a minidome on our housing (or a small accessory wideangle lens on a compact camera). This has a double benefit both in terms of not blocking our lighting and, by allowing the lens to be closer than with a big dome, magnifying the subject. The smaller the camera format, the smaller the dome we can use, and the larger a small subject will appear in the frame. This is why I use a 2x crop micro four thirds camera specifically for these types of images.
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THE FAMILY THAT …we’d like to think thrives together, but perhaps DAN BURTON can put us in the picture after taking his own nearest and dearest to the Red Sea
I
HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE to dive some of the most exotic and remote locations on the globe. Most of these trips have been on assignment or on expeditions. I often dreamt of bringing my family on location but it was not generally practical or possible. So these experiences have been shared with my family only through postcard images, and my children have seen little of what I actually do in my unusual line of work as an underwater photographer. I met my wife Caroline while studying photography at college. She is an accomplished diver and worked many years ago as a divemaster and instructor. After having the children, family life took over and diving for Caroline was put on hold. Her last dive had been 10 years ago, off a Devon beach when our son Christopher was 18 months old. My children were always keen and confident swimmers and would often talk about the day they would dive as if it were a given. They had sampled snorkelling but as yet nowhere exotic. PADI sets the age of the Junior Open Water Diver qualification at 10, and Christopher (now 11) was keen to give it a go. Annabel, nine, was not quite old enough but was really keen to do a Bubblemaker course. So where should we go? Although not technically "outnumbered", family life has at times felt not dissimilar to that of TV's Brockmans. While the new generation have a way of letting you know what they think, feel and want in a way alien to me, I have developed enough as a father to know that if there is a choice involving the hard way or the easy, there is no contest.
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I have never been afraid of roughing it while on an assignment, but if there was a more comfortable and peaceful option for the family I was open to it. Caroline and I contemplated many dive locations and decided to choose the best possible closest to home. The world's northernmost tropical body of water, the Red Sea, beckoned!
Pictured: Instructor Patric (left) with Christopher and his mother Caroline – Dad is taking the picture. Right: The youngest member of the family, nine-year-old Annabel, goes snorkelling.
THE DIVE RESORTS HAD CHANGED considerably since our first dives there together in the late 1980s. Na'ama Bay, Sharm el Sheikh, had only one hotel and one dive shop then, and on our first visit we slept in grass huts on the beach. On my more recent visits I had found both Sharm and Hurghada noisy and hectic. Looking for somewhere a little more peaceful, I was reminded by a friend of El Gouna, just 12 miles north of Hurghada.
El Gouna is a private resort on what is now being called the Red Sea Riviera. It was developed in the 1990s by Samih Sawiris, an Egyptian billionaire who felt inspired to create a luxury resort complex in a labyrinth of sea lagoons. Within the secure resort complex there are a number of hotels and villas from which to choose. The Mövenpick has a very good reputation and had the convenience of Euro-Divers' PADI 5* diving facility on site. Following what had seemed a long and particularly wet British winter we set off from Gatwick on a cold April morning, looking forward to the Egyptian warmth and sunshine. It was a five-hour flight and we passed through Hurghada airport with relative ease. Euro-Divers was there to greet us and escort us to the hotel.
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RED SEA DIVER
DIVES TOGETHER
With two weeks booked there was no pressure to dive straight away, but Annabel was eager to start, so she undertook the Bubblemaker course on our first day. This introductory course familiarises children with scuba gear and allows them to find out what it's like to breathe under water, under direct supervision. A friendly instructor called Ahmed gave Annabel a simple poolside briefing, and then ran her through all the different pieces of equipment. She entered the water a little nervously, but determined. I sat on the bottom of the pool and watched as she dropped to the tiled floor and looked towards Ahmed as he demonstrated some basic skills. Her breathing wasn’t yet under control and she was none too happy with the idea of removing her regulator or filling her mask with water. She made
a couple of ascents in protest, but was encouraged back down, and gradually relaxed. Within the hour, she was able to complete the skills and explore the pool. Caroline was allowed to spend some extra time with her and they sat on the bottom, just breathing. Annabel’s confidence increased, and she was soon grinning through her mouthpiece and making little heart signals. She was very excited and very proud of herself. Amazing how breathing can calm the nerves and relax the mind! THE FOLLOWING DAY, Christopher started his Junior Open Water course. He was introduced to Freddie and Patric, two French instructors who were friendly, easy-going and spoke fluent English. Freddie supervised the first day's training and then entertained us on ☛
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RED SEA DIVER
the boat in the following days as divemaster – full of jokes and camaraderie, Patric was great fun, and had lots of experience teaching children with Club Med. Christopher was in good hands, and in the following days was given the personal attention and patience that I believe is needed for children learning to dive. Christopher coped pretty well with the theory. A year before (aged 10) and still at primary I think he might have struggled, but a year into secondary school he was able to absorb the information well. The equipment and pool skills he managed as well as most adults, and my only concern was that, given the chance, he would have been happy to bypass much of the theory in his eagerness to get diving. It’s vital that children have a vigilant instructor and we were fortunate to have that – and particularly lucky that Christopher happened to be trained 1:1. ON THE THIRD DAY he was to undertake his first open water dives. It would also be a special day for Caroline – her first time back in the sea for 10 years! Annabel was also very excited, as she was kitted up for her first snorkel on a coral reef. We were taken to a local reef called Dolphin House, just 30 minutes from El Gouna and a perfect site for a first dive. We moored over white sandy shallows, just behind a beautiful coral garden. Christopher was slightly nervous, but set up his equipment with confidence. After a briefing from Patric and a buddy-check they jumped in and made an easy descent to the sandy plateau beneath the boat. I watched from the side, and could see Christopher’s wide eyes as he gazed in awe at the reef and multitudes of
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fish, and pointed at schools of anthias as they swam in the gentle current around a coral head. I could sense his little heart racing as fish darted around him. Once Christopher had done his first set of skills, he was taken on a tour of the reef. We decided to explore the shallow cuts in the lagoon. Christopher had a keen eye, and was soon pointing out bluespotted rays, clownfish and even wellcamouflaged crocodilefish. As he grew more confident, he pulled out a small waterproof Panasonic Lumix
Above: Christopher gets his first Nemo sighting at the Dolphin House site… Below: …and is soon inspired to get started in underwater photography. Bottom: Surprise! Actual dolphins at the Dolphin House reef.
from his BC and started to photograph some of the reef residents, as well as the beautiful pink soft coral as it waved in the gentle current. After 50 minutes the dive had finished and Christopher, starting to feel a little chilly, surfaced with his instructor. CAROLINE AND I CHOSE to stay a little longer, scouting around close to the boat, and within a few minutes a school of dolphins appeared! They circled, eying us closely. It was a special moment. We had seen dolphins many times from the surface, but in all our years of diving had swum with wild dolphins on only one other occasion. The reef had lived up to its name! We watched in awe as the pod twisted and turned between us, dancing across the white sandy bottom. A few minutes later the dolphins were gone. Caroline really enjoyed her return to diving. She was extremely happy to see "old friends", and doubly excited to be greeted by dolphins after her 10-year diving gap. Annabel, meanwhile, had decided ☛
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not to wait for us to go snorkelling and had joined a small group led by a lovely female divemaster. We could hear her on the surface squawking and squeaking in excitement through her snorkel. She spotted, among many other things, a baby turtle! We couldn’t have wished for more on our first day on the reef (Christopher might argue with that, as he was in mild grief at missing the pod of dolphins!). His training continued to go well, and we swam alongside him on his remaining training dives. Each dive he spotted something new and could be heard chatting to himself as he interacted excitedly with the marine life. He did well with all the skills and passed the course with relative ease. Annabel enjoyed her snorkelling exploits and demanded attention as she eagerly tried to point out every fish she saw (there were a lot of them). WITH THE TRAINING COMPLETE and after a day off spent enjoying the good weather and the luxury of the Mövenpick, we returned for another day's diving. Euro-Divers took us to one of its favourite dive-sites, Careless Reef. The reef consists of two coral blocks that come up from 20m to just a few metres below the surface. The northern side slopes off quickly to the depths, and is known as a great dive for pelagics. It was an adventurous dive for Christopher, because although he was to remain at a depth of 12m, the limit for JOWDs under 12, he would be diving in water that at 20m was a lot deeper. It was good experience for him to stay vigilant with his buoyancy and depth gauge. The reef was covered in a beautiful array of hard corals. Between the coral blocks was a sandy bottom with a patchy coral garden covered in swaying soft corals. The site reminded me of Yolanda Reef in the shallows behind the Yolanda wreck at Ras Mohammed. We passed over huge table corals teeming with life. The vis was crystal clear
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Above: Christopher enjoys seeing the shoals of fish on the reef and (left) getting to grips with scuba gear.
and the sun's rays danced among the coral bommies. What a perfect dive! During the surface interval, Caroline and I returned with the kids to the reef with our snorkelling gear. We all got kitted up, and Annabel and Christopher led the way to the top of the coral. The sea was quite choppy and there was a bit of current but the children loved the challenge of swimming out in relatively deep water to find the reef. The whole family enjoyed bobbing up and down, as we swam hand-in-hand like parachutists in freefall. The children were as excited to be thrown around by the waves as they were to point out new fish. They didn’t appear perturbed by a few mouthfuls of water as the waves splashed over them. In the days that followed, Caroline and the kids took a few days off diving, giving me the chance to do some wreck dives. I managed to visit Abu Nuhas, the site of some of the best wreck dives in the Red Sea, made two good long dives on the Giannis D and the Carnatic, and still managed to get home by 4.30pm! The site is just two hours from the resort on a regular day-boat. Euro-Divers offers a special RIB that runs trips to this site in just 45 minutes. If you want to dive the Rosalie Moller, that wreck is a similar distance from the resort. It usually runs a boat each week to both sites. After a week of diving, I was really
pleased with Euro-Divers’ great hospitality and service. Christopher enjoyed the whole experience, and said he wanted to be a diver when he was older. Annabel was hooked, too, and wants to come back when she is 11 to complete her JOWD course. If you’re thinking about getting your children certified, I recommend using a reputable dive centre that has instructors experienced in teaching children. Naturally they need more guidance and, depending on the child, may need extra time and patience with both the theory and practical skills. El Gouna has so much to offer, both as a resort and as a diving base. All the reefs and wrecks are close, offering a great variety of excellent dive-sites. With fewer dive-boats than Hurghada, the local reefs are less crowded. It is also well worth considering if you prefer a relaxed, hassle-free destination.
FACTFILE GETTING THERE8 Direct flights to Hurghada from Gatwick two or three times a week depending on carrier. The hotel is a 20-minute drive north of downtown Hurghada. DIVING & ACCOMMODATION8 Euro-Divers, www.eurodivers.com at the Mövenpick El Gouna Resort, www.moevenpick-hotels.com WHEN TO GO8 Year-round, though bear in mind the cooler water temperatures in winter. MONEY8 Egyptian pounds, euros, US dollars or sterling. PRICES8 The cheapest airline is easyJet, but book early to get the deals. Half-board rooms at the Mövenpick start at US $113 per night, two sharing, but there is a 30% discount on best available rates until the end of September. Dive packages start at three days for 185 euros, Bubblemaker 36 euros. In August 10-17-year-olds get 30% off all locally booked Euro-Divers packages and courses. TOURIST INFORMATION8www.egypt.travel
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NDS E I R F H T I Club Med El Gouna DIVING W Grand Hotel - Hurghada MALDIVES I N D ON E S I A EGYPT THAILAND S PA I N OMAN M AU R I T I US JA PA N C R O AT I A
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FIRST LADY OF THE
AQUALUNG DIANA WILLIAMS pays tribute to the first woman ever to don scuba gear as we know it – and one who never sought the limelight
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HISTORY DIVER
AST DECEMBER, during the Cozumel scuba festival in Mexico, I watched Jean-Michel Cousteau lay a wreath under water to honour his mother. The dive-site was renamed La Francesa Simone Cousteau. It was a special moment. Jean-Michel, as well as talking about his Ocean Futures Society and giving a stamp of approval to an underwater bronze bust of his father, was there to draw attention to the role his mother played in relation to the Cousteau family’s pioneering marine research. Listening to him talk about his mother intrigued me, and I decided to find out more about her. Little is written about Simone Melchior Cousteau, first wife of underwater pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Not one to crave the limelight, Simone tended to keep away from the cameras, perhaps content to be seen as Jacques’ supportive wife. Even so, she was an adventurer in her own right, and played a crucial role in the operations of the underwater research ship Calypso. BORN A TWIN IN TOULON on 19 January, 1919, Simone had the family background for a life involving the sea. Her father, Henri Melchior, and both grandfathers were admirals, and her husband was initially an officer in the French navy. She married Jacques Cousteau after meeting him at a party in 1937 when she was just 17, and the couple lost no time in realising their goals. Fascinated by the underwater environment, Jacques needed to find a way to explore it safely. Simone introduced him to Emile Gagnan, an engineer with the company Air Liquide. Working together, Emile and Jacques set about creating the demand-valve by adapting a similar valve used in gas-
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Left: Simone Cousteau aboaxrd her beloved Calypso. Above: A family outing – Jacques Cousteau is in the car, with his sons Philippe and Jean-Michel by the door and Simone on the right. Inset left: The first dive as a family. Below: The young Simone. .
All images courtesy private collection
generator engines. This was to become a central feature of their aqualung system. By helping also to obtain funding for the aqualung, Simone’s contribution to the development of recreational diving, as well as undersea research, was significant. In May 1938 Simone gave birth to her first son, Jean-Michel, and in December 1940 Philippe was born. The Germans had taken over Paris in 1940, and the family sought refuge in Megéve, near the Swiss border. With Jacques serving as a gunnery officer and later with the French Resistance, as for many other women the war would have been a tense and difficult period in which to bring up children. IN JUNE 1943 JACQUES undertook his first dive testing the aqualung prototype in the river Marne, and Simone entered the water shortly after him to become the first female to use an aqualung – the first woman scuba-diver! The success of these trials meant that when World War Two ended the equipment could be used to locate and remove underwater mines. Through the second half of the 1940s Simone and her family undertook countless dives on France’s Mediterranean coast, between Toulon and Marseille. And by selling her family jewels and fur coats, she helped to purchase the former Royal Navy minesweeper Calypso in 1950. The ship was converted into an oceanographic vessel, complete with underwater observation chamber, and a trial trip was undertaken in June 1951 off Corsica, with Jacques, Simone, JeanMichel, Philippe and family friends. The Calypso performed well, and in November 1951 it sailed to the Red Sea to study corals. Simone was on board, for the first of many voyages.
According to Jean-Michel, his mother spent more time on the Calypso than any of the others in the family. She was given the nickname La Bergere, the shepherdess. Keeping the 30-plus all-male crew together as a unit, cooking for them, attending to their medical needs and participating in expedition-planning for around 40 years, she was a vital force, spurring on the Calypso. She once said that the ship gave her everything, but this was a two-way relationship. She continued to dive from Calypso too, but on an occasional basis. La Bergere has also been credited with saving the Calypso. It was filming in the Red Sea when a storm struck while the crew were under water. Simone, the only person left on board, had to steer the vessel when the anchor broke. The story goes that the storm lasted eight hours, and with no anchor she had to keep the Calypso away from the coast and ride out the bad weather. The divers, meanwhile, had swum to shore. When the storm subsided, Simone brought the vessel closer in and the crew were able to rejoin her, finding that she had already prepared coffee for them. It’s a story that fits well with the strong Simone – the woman who loved the Calypso. IN 1963 SHE VISITED Starfish House, an underwater habitat for the Conshelf 2 project in the Red Sea. Five aquanauts lived and worked on the seabed at 10m for 30 days (there was also a 25m station). As reported by Jean-Michel, this was a special and unique experience for Simone, given that she was able to take in “the dazzling array of colourful fish in very clear water” without getting wet and within the “comforts of Conshelf 2”. The project was regarded as making a significant contribution towards the study of diver physiology and technology. Did Simone have a favourite marine creature? Jean-Michel believes that it was the dolphin. Often riding the Calypso’s bow on expeditions, the creatures were seen by Simone as the leaders of the ship. Unlike her husband, she would not talk about the condition of the oceans. Whether this was because it touched her too deeply, we can only speculate. Simone died before her husband on 1 December, 1990, in France, of cancer. After a full military funeral, her ashes were scattered over the sea off Monaco. It was a fitting end for someone who made such a positive contribution to undersea exploration. At the end of Cozumelfest, Rubén Arvizu’s film El Alma del Calypso (The Soul of Calypso) was shown. Simone and this famous ship are synonymous. You can see it at www.oceanfutures.org/news/ blog/simone-cousteau-soul-of-calypso
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Reviews AUG_Layout 1 30/06/2014 18:42 Page 84
BOOK/APP UK DIVING REVIEW
Carefully composed Winning Images With Any Underwater Camera by Paul Colley A RAFT OF “how to take photos under water” books have hit the shelves over the past few years. Some are very basic and have tried in vain to cover what is a complicated subject with just a thin veneer of information. Others are a blatant showcase of the authors’ images and would be more suited to a coffee-table format. Winning Images is different. Underwater photographer, instructor and writer Paul Colley has put in print what is the first of its kind, a book dedicated to the much misunderstood and therefore overlooked subject of composition – specifically the composing of images taken under water. Colley pays no more than lip service to camera models, menus and settings, because these vary with type, model and manufacturer and it would require a huge publication just to cover the popular cameras alone, apart from the fact that they’re changing all the time. Instead the author concentrates on something we can all use and need but which very few of us (myself included) have mastered, the understanding of how the structures, elements and layout that make up an eye-catching photo can be put together to create something special. Topics covered include why composition, aesthetics and photographic intent matter, along with chapters on subject selection, light, contrast, depth perspective and backgrounds. The section covering lines, shapes and vectors was one I found particularly informative. The book also contains some very useful and easy-to-remember reference models that cover preplanned concepts for 12 typical underwater scenes. The author uses his own outstanding images to illustrate the concepts but, to his credit, has avoided the trap of over-indulgence. Colley concentrates on technique rather than boggling the mind with camera technology, and he covers this very well indeed, also providing little tips and tricks to help improve your outcomes.
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ANIMAL APPROACHES Dolphins And Whales World Sighting Guide by Jamie Watts & Pamela Le Noury Bob Halstead’s Coral Sea Fish Guide by Bob Halstead
Sections on how to rescue poor composition in post-production and image manipulation combining two objects to create an artistic rendering of common subjects complete this excellently written, highly informative and well-executed publication. Winning Images goes far beyond the basic rules of composition, cleverly providing any underwater shooter with the ingredients and techniques needed to put together their own recipe for outstanding imagery. I am confident that this book will stand out as the essential guide on this subject. In his foreword, photo guru and regular divEr feature-writer Alexander Mustard writes: “This book will arm and inspire you to transform your underwater photographs, whatever camera you use.” I agree wholeheartedly, but as Paul Colley has so eloquently written: “We first need to read our manuals and master our equipment… only then can we attempt this transformation.”
Nigel Wade Dived Up Publications ISBN: 9781909455047 Softback, 224pp, £25
What do you look for in an app? I look for three things: ease of use, ease of interaction and value for money. So when I was given these two new marine-life ID apps for iPhone/iPad to review, both put together by longtime divEr contributors, I put them to the test on these key points. Dolphins And Whales World Sighting Guide has wonderful descriptive content written by the two marine biologists (Watts from the UK, Le Noury from South Africa) on where to see these magnificent creatures around the world. There are plenty of photo slides, artwork and text covering key pointers to look for in recognising the differences between 84 species. As
you might expect, the slant is towards topside sightings. The app also provides a notetaking facility so that you can keep your own record of when and where you encounter any dolphins or whales, and allows you to retain details of the species if you’re not sure what it was you saw. Subjected to my three-key test, however, I did feel that this app proved lacking when it came to some of the finer points. The navigation was very fiddly – trying to get back to the
TOP 10 DIVING BOOKS as listed by www.amazon.co.uk (18 June, 2014) 1. Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die, by Chris Santella (1) 2. Amazing Diving Stories, by John Bantin (-) 3. Open Water Diver Manual, by Drew Richardson (-) 4. Reef Fish Identification, Tropical Pacific, by Gerald Allen, Roger Steene & Paul Humann (-) 5. Jim Church's Essential Guide to Nikonos Systems, by Jim Church (-) 6. Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World, by Tim Ecott (-) 7. From the Depths: Life Lessons from a Scuba Diver's Perspective, by Jack Dolan (-) 8. Dive - The Ultimate Guide to 60 of the World's Top Dive Locations, by Monty Halls (-) 9. Raising the Dead: A True Story of Death and Survival, by Phillip Finch (-) 10. Diving and Snorkeling Thailand, by Tim Rock (-)
home page being one example of this – while some of the interactivity, such as the user’s ability to expand the glossary or photographs, proved extremely limited. I felt the same about the notetaking capacity, because a ceiling of 105 characters is rather limiting. “Any Brits coming to dive the Great Barrier Reef, PNG, Solomons and so on will find this app unique and very useful!” So says veteran Pacific diver Bob Halstead of his new regionspecific app Coral Sea Fish Guide. With its 850 marine species and 2000 photographs, this one seemed to me to be more accomplished than the Watts/Le Noury app in terms of picture quality and production. The sub-dividing of categories was very well thought-out and the app proved easy to use. I particularly enjoyed the cracking section called “Rogues Gallery”, containing species that have yet to be categorised. Halstead does admit that his app is still a work in progress, however, so I'm sure we will be seeing an upgrade fairly soon. As with the other app, I did feel that there was room for improvement in some key areas, ease of reading being one of these. I like to be able
to expand text at times, such as when light text appears on a black background. The note function in this app gives you unlimited scope for what you can write – but a note of caution here. You have the opportunity to email your report to anyone around the world who might be interested but that will cost you, so make sure that your data roaming is turned off! The dolphin/whale app is a tad expensive at £7 – though of course it can be used the world over – whereas the Halstead app, should you be lucky enough to be off diving in the Pacific – costs only £3.
Alex Khachadourian mydigitalearth.com, £6.99 benno.com.au, £2.99 Available from iTunes/Apple Store www.divErNEt.com
085_DIVER_0814_DIVER_2014 30/06/2014 18:36 Page 085
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Booking Now AUG_Bubbling 01/07/2014 10:04 Page 86
HOLIDAY NEWS
BOOKING NOW…
Seven-atoll shark specials
Scuba Tours Worldwide is taking bookings for two “Shark Specials” in the Maldives early next year, travelling through seven southern atolls to visit rarely dived sites. Many are “hook-inand-looks” in channels containing large numbers of grey, silvertip and occasionally hammerhead sharks, plus night-diving with “huge” nurse sharks plus sting rays and pink whip rays. The company says the safari will suit experienced divers (at least 100 logged dives) happy in fairly strong currents and making
fast descents. Nitrox certification is an advantage. The first trip from 27 January to 7 February “meanders” south from South Male via Felidhoo, Vattaru, Mulaku, Thaa, Laamu and Huvadhoo atolls ending with a flight back to Male. A subsequent 7-21 March trip follows the reverse itinerary. Each trip costs £3268pp, including flights from the UK, one-way domestic flight, transfers, full-board on Sea Spirit (two sharing), diving and land excursions.
8 www.scubascuba.com
BOHOL/PALAU SAFARI UK scuba-diving tour company Dive Safari Asia has created a 14-night guided safari featuring a selection of dive-sites in the Philippines and Palau. It promises guests the chance to dive pristine reefs off Anda on the east coast of Bohol in the Philippines with “an abundance of healthy soft corals and critters” followed by grey reef and whitetip sharks, rays and schooling pelagics in an environment of caverns, overhangs and deep walls in the shark sanctuary of Palau. Various land-based side-trips are also included in the safari, led by Ben Stokes and Sarah Kemsley, who started Dive Safari Asia six years ago.
Radiant transformation in Scapa Flow Orkney dive-boat operator Radiant Queen Charters is building a new 16m boat for the 2015 season that it says is “raising the standard for Scapa Flow”. The steel and aluminium Huskyan has a 6m beam and is powered by twin 230hp engines. There is central heating throughout, two showers, two toilets, a large dry changing room with individual lockers, cabins “for overnight adventures or afternoon snoozes”, wet changing-room/kit store, equipment bench, widescreen TV and a large galley/dining area.
The 33sq m dive-deck contains four benches with bottle-racks, two booster pumps and two compressors. Mixed gases are available and there is an extra-wide lift to take heavily laden
technical divers. “The new boat’s clever design means that we will double the space of the Radiant Queen without needing to be double the length!” says the company, which also offers shore-based accommodation at Divers Lodge. And it promises no price increase for 2015 – at present £5500 pays for the full group package for up to 12 people with seven nights’ accommodation and 12 dives.
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Port Hardy and the Sunshine Coast. After 23 years of running liveaboard dive-charters, Nautilus tells divEr it is switching to a landbased dive-lodge at Cates Island, a private island near Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast accessible from Vancouver.
8 www.divesafariasia.com
Cheaper Cocos Aggressor Fleet is celebrating 25 years of diving at UNESCO World Heritage site Cocos National Park by promising up to US $700 off trips there aboard Okeanos Aggressor. The rocky pinnacles of the Costa Rican island attract hammerhead, whitetip and whale sharks, mantas, tuna and turtles. Ten-night charters from November cost US $4495pp, with eight-nighters from $3995 in 2015.
8 www.aggressor.com
August deal Until the end of August, if you book a trip on either of its motor vessels Nouran or Tala Red Sea Explorers is offering a “hot summer deal” – 750 euros pp on any routes, with one person in groups of 10 going free . When booking, quote Code N750.
8 www.redseaexplorers.com
Mid-Atlantic
There are 20% discounts on an 11-night liveaboard trip to Alaska leaving on 10 September and on shorter trips to Port Hardy and the Sunshine Coast in October and November, for drysuit divers wanting a last chance to dive from the Swell.
“Explore the volcanic seascape as well as the historic wrecks of old merchant navy and battleships just off the coast of Sao Miguel” is the invitation from Original Diving for divers to discover the Azores archipelago this year. In September and October the tour operator is offering seven nights’ B&B at a seafront hotel for £890pp, which includes direct four-hour flights with SATA International from Gatwick to Sao Miguel, transfers and six dives. SATA also offers free travel for diving equipment up to 15kg per head.
8 www.nautiluswell.com
8 www.originaldiving.com
8 www.divescapa.com
ALL SET FOR A SWELL FAREWELL It’s the end of an era in Canadian liveaboard diving as Nautilus Explorer’s liveaboard Nautilus Swell sets out on its last voyage at the end of the season on 27 November. Operating out of British Columbia, the liveaboard takes divers into the cold waters of Alaska, Gwaii Haanas,
It takes place from 1-16 May next year and includes 14 nights’ accommodation, 29 dives, internal transfers and full-board (except evening meals in Palau) for £2745pp, two sharing (flights extra).
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HOLIDAY NEWS
BOOKING NOW…
NOW EMPEROR EXPANDS TO THE MALDIVES Having operated dive centres in the Red Sea since 1992, Emperor Divers asked guests where else they would like to enjoy “the Emperor experience”. The Maldives, they replied – so Emperor Divers Maldives is now open. The Emperor Voyager (formerly Atoll Cruiser) sails from Male and Emperor says it is a spacious liveaboard built to
ALEX MUSTARD
LEGENDS & LIONS
Scuba Week: Legends & Lions is the name of an inaugural diving festival in the Cayman Islands that pulls together a number of events at a traditionally quiet – and hence less expensive – time of year. The event runs from 4-11 October and includes lionfish-hunting, with “culling certifications”, and appearances from International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame divers, the Hall being Caymans-based. Packages include seven nights’ accommodation, six days of varied diving, dining at the Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, photo clinic/ competition, Lionfish Dinner & Street Party and the chance to test new diving equipment. A number of Grand Cayman dive operators offer the packages, ranging from Cayman Diver for US $959pp to Dive-Tech at $1525pp, two sharing.
www.cobaltcoast.com
Eighty miles by good road from Dubai City is Oman’s rocky outpost the Musandam peninsula, and Diverse Travel is organising sevennight trips there on new Oman
situated on a local populated island, within speedboat or seaplane’s reach of the capital, Male. A price of £988 will buy you seven nights’ full-board with six days’ diving (17 dives including one night dive) and free nitrox, transfers and taxes.
8 www.maldives. emperordivers.com
Prodivers’ fourth
Prodivers, best known for its dive centre on Kuredu in the Maldives, has opened a fourth centre at Lily Beach Resort & Spa in South Ari Atoll. Dive-sites include Five Rocks / Hudu Thila / Reethi Thila, with grey reef sharks, barracuda and Napoleon wrasse; Kuda Rah Thila, with its shoals of fish, the Kudhi Maa wreck complete with multiple critters; Madivaru / Hukuru Elhi Faru and Madifaru, with mantas in season, and Kuda Maafushivaru Giri / Noo Giri, with corals, fish and turtles.
8 www.caymandiver.com,
Queen explores the Musandam
a high standard, accommodating 20 guests in comfort on itineraries such as The Best of the Maldives and Manta Madness. The liveaboard has a separate diving dhoni. Emperor Divers Maldives is also offering day-diving from Casa Mia, a boutique resort with 10 beach-front rooms. It’s one of the few resorts
liveaboard Queen of Musandam, leaving every Saturday. The 25m boat has six airconditioned, en-suite cabins for 12 guests. Sightings on dives amid “dynamic underwater topography” include lobsters, rays, turtles,
Dive-centre apart, the 5* resort has 125 villas, four restaurants, three bars, spa, gym, tennis and water sports centre. Its Platinum Dive & Spa allinclusive plan includes unlimited diving for one, and daily spa treatments for a non-diving partner (both for six days) from US $965 a night for two sharing a beach villa. The basic Platinum Plan starts at $831 for two, and a six-day no-limits diving package costs $540pp.
8 www.prodivers.com
barracuda and jack, plus the possibility of whale sharks, sunfish and pilot whales, with a wide range of critters making Musandam “a macro-photographer’s delight”. Prices from £1249pp include direct flights from Heathrow to Dubai, seven nights with all meals, six days’ diving with up to three guided dives per day and transfers. Diverse suggests that add-on stays in Dubai are an option. It also runs two-night-and-up liveaboard trips to Musandam on other boats.
8 www.diversetravel.co.uk
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HOLIDAY NEWS
BOOKING NOW…
FAMILY ROOTS An appropriate offering for this family-focused issue of divEr, Regaldive has come up with a “Family Package” at the Egyptian Red Sea’s Roots Luxury Camp in El Quseir. Aimed at “adventurous families“, its package priced from £949pp includes flights and all-inclusive accommodation plus the choice of 10 guided dives or a
PADI Scuba Diver course, quad-biking, horse-riding and a day at the Akassia Aqua Park. Timed for the school holidays, the Family Package at British-owned and operated Roots is available for travel dates up to 25 August so you will need to move fast. The price is based on two adults and two children up to 16.
8 www.regaldive.co.uk
Worldwide’s Master plan
Worldwide Dive and Sail, which runs the Siren Fleet of phinisi yacht liveaboards in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is set to introduce its first yacht under the “Master Liveaboards” brand umbrella – Galapagos Master. The boat, now operating as Deep Blue, is to be refitted and
modernised, and the company claims that with new engines and water-makers she is set to be “the most environmentally conscious boat operating in the Galapagos”. The vessel will be relaunched next May to offer seven- and 10night trips including at least three days’ diving at Darwin and Wolf
Celebes Sea pairing
Celebesdivers consists of two Swissmanaged resorts in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi called Mapia and Onong. Fifty minutes apart by boat, they give divers access to macro and muckdiving in Bunaken Marine Park. Allowing divers to switch between the two resorts and their distinctive diving attractions, Celebesdivers visits sites such as Lekuan near Onong Resort, organises day trips to critterhaven Lembeh Strait and says that larger animals such as sharks,
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dolphins, giant turtles and barracudas are often seen on dives too. A marine biologist based at Onong Resort gives regular presentations. Quality Divers has a September offer of seven nights’ full-board at Mapia with 10 boat dives and a volcano trip for 744 euros (two sharing), and suggests that guests extend their stay with a few days at the Onong Resort (additional nights there from 80 euros). Flights extra.
8 www.quality-divers.com
Islands, plus two land excursions. Prices for seven-nighters start from US $4750pp, with 10-night trips from $6150. Worldwide Dive and Sail is offering 10% off any trip leaving in May or June 2015 – but only if it is booked by 31 July.
8 www.masterliveaboards.com
Far end of Europe Somewhere less heard-about but no less rewarding for divers is volcanic El Hierro, smallest and westernmost of the Canary Islands. Oonasdivers reckons the island offers some of Europe’s best diving, with its warm currents providing water temperatures from 21-25°C year-round, 30m-plus vis and abundant oceanic and tropical life. Oonasdivers can arrange weeklong trips from £695, with a threehour flight from London and an overnight in Tenerife, two-hour ferry ride to El Hierro and an hour-long transfer around the island to the fishing village of La Restinga. You stay in a one- or twobedroom self-catering apartment close to both the dive centre and El Bar – Europe’s most southerly drinking-place! You can do five days’ diving with the El Submarino Dive, with 27 dive-sites no more than 10 minutes away by RIB.
8 www.oonasdivers.com
Solomons – ‘guaranteed’ pristine Working with Bilikiki Cruises and dive resorts in the Solomon Islands, Ultimate Diving has introduced a new Pacific diving destination to its portfolio, and says it offers “some of the most pristine dive sites in the world, guaranteed!” The tour operator dangles the temptation to dive “beautiful caverns and wide-angle reefs… experience close-up encounters with masses of macro marine life and explore a plethora of World War Two wrecks“. The archipelago of just under 1000 islands, cays and atolls is part
of the biodiverse Coral Triangle and lies east of PNG and north-east of Australia. A seven-night trip aboard the Bilikiki liveaboard starts from £1950pp for full-board accommodation, up to five dives daily and transfers. International flights and stopover hotels are not included but can be arranged by Ultimate.
8 www.ultimatediving.co.uk www.divErNEt.com
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An experience without equal Wakatobi is the dive resort you have always dreamed of: spectacular, unlimited diving on pristine coral reefs, five-star amenities and friendly personalized service. It would be the dive vacation of a lifetime, but you will want to come again and again.
”Very impressed with the quality and comfort of a resort so remote. The diving is premier. Lovely beautiful reefs. Having our own private guide was great. Felt like rock stars. Awesome experience!” Sarah and Steve Smith, March 2014
www.wakatobi.com
Step off the beaten path in outback Indonesia. Komodo Resort offers access to rich reefs, manta cleaning stations, komodo dragons and stunning landscapes. 12 nights at Komodo Resort including 20 dives, full board, half day tour to Rinca Island featuring Komodo Dragons and return transfers from Bali. Quote: KD001
Call today to reserve your place. 0800 955 0180 info@divesafariasia.com divesafariasia.com
Diver Tests_AUGUST_v1a_Q8_Layout 1 01/07/2014 10:10 Page 90
WELL AND TRULY
TESTED
Atomic is known for its highly regarded but unarguably expensive regulators, so when it came up with a ‘budget’ version, NIGEL WADE was keen to learn what divers could expect for their cash
REGULATOR
ATOMIC AQUATICS Z3 ATOMIC AQUATICS ARE GAINING a reputation across the dive world as a company that produces high-quality, high-end products at high-end prices. Its flagship titanium regulator is possibly the most expensive example on the planet. All its regulators utilise the same design principles – it’s the materials that vary from model to model. Atomic’s latest offering is the Z3, which it claims is its most economical yet. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one to see for myself if price determines performance. Atomic loaned me a Z3 to take diving in the Maldives.
The First Stage Built using chromed brass with a highly polished zirconium finish, the first stage is the standard jet-seat high-flow piston design found in all Atomic’s regulators. The turret is fixed, with six low-pressure ports around the circumference and a seventh at the top, with two high-pressure ports set either side of the barrel. All Atomic regulators available in the EU market are factory-sealed to prevent external contamination from sand, silt or salt crystals, with the added advantage that this provides anti-freeze properties. The first stage is compatible with the use of nitrox mixes up to 40%.
The Z3 under water.
The Second Stage The main body of the second stage is constructed using high-grade polymers with internal components crafted from precisionmachined brass with zirconium plating and titanium. As is found throughout the entire range, the regulator is fitted with Atomic’s seat-saving orifice. This clever design lifts the valve away from its seat when the regulator is not in use,
ensuring that it doesn’t become engraved and so extending its life. A single adjustment knob for rapid de-tuning and the maker’s patented automatic flow control, combined with the Z3’s newly designed high-flow second-stage case, is said to significantly reduce breathing effort at all depths. A black PVD-coated anatomical swivel is fitted to the second-stage hose joint to reduce restrictive head movement. The dual-material front cover is available in a choice of six colours and enables the entire front to be used in purging the regulator. The mouthpiece is made from dual silicon with tear-resistant bite tabs.
In Use
Atomic Aquatics’ latest budget regulator, the Z3.
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This is a good-looking regulator, I thought, as I set up my kit on our first day’s diving. The model I had been given featured the standard front cover with gloss-black inserts. I know looks are less important than performance, but I was instantly impressed. The whole thing looked a million dollars as it caught the sunlight on the deck of our dhoni. The six lp ports set around the fixed turret on the first stage gave me plenty of options for neat and functional hose-routeing. Under water, I put the reg through what has www.divErNEt.com
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DIVER TESTS become our standard set of tests. Starting with the purge, the large cover made the valve very easy to access and depress. The action was progressive, starting with a light flow through to a full tonsil-rattling tornado, and it was easily controlled by varying the pressure applied, clearing any unwanted water from the mouthpiece instantly. I turned the rapid adjustment knob to its minimum setting to de-tune the airflow, and still had a comfortable if slightly laboured breathe. At the other end of the scale, the airflow became a little too gushy for my taste. I found and settled on a setting somewhere in-between. It made the air delivery perfect for my breathing style and, once set, the Z3 proved as smooth as any top-end regulator I’ve used. I inverted myself to check for water ingress. There was none, so I spun slowly horizontally to make sure, and the mouthpiece still remained dry. With the regulator adjusted to my preferred setting, I spat it out at around the 25m mark to check its resistance to freeflow, and the mouthpiece didn’t let a single bubble escape. The exhaust ports are quite stumpy but didn’t push my exhaled bubbles in front of my face. Nowadays all this is pretty standard fare, to be
honest – what really separates regulators is how smoothly they breathe at depth. The Z3 was incredible in this department. I own and regularly dive with Atomic’s signature T3 titanium model because that is, for me, the smoothest-breathing mechanical device I’ve ever put in my mouth under water. The Z3 delivered air in exactly the same way, as smooth as silk no matter how hard I was breathing, and no matter at what depth.
SPECS PRICE 8£420 FIRST STAGE 8Jet-seat piston PORTS 87lp, 2hp CONNECTIONS 8DIN, A-clamp SECOND STAGE 8Pneumatically balanced, poppet with seat-saving orifice.
OPTIONAL COLOUR KITS 8Grey, yellow, violet, blue, red, pink.
Conclusion The performance of this “economy” regulator was outstanding. Atomic’s smart choice of materials coupled with its standard design meant that under water I could hardly differentiate it from my own set, which costs three times as much. I was left trying to justify spending the extra on the titanium model. Ah, I remember, it was for the weight-saving (that’s what I tell the wife). The Z3 represents great value for money for an Atomic product. To be fair, it still costs as much as some other manufacturers’ top-end models, but after spending a week of intensive diving with it, I’m confident that it would hold its
CONTROLS 8Automatic flow control (AFC). Rapid adjustment knob.
NITROX 8EAN 40% WARRANTY 8Limited lifetime (not contingent on proof of purchase). SERVICE INTERVAL 8Two years / 300 dives CONTACT8www.atomicaquatics.com
DIVER GUIDE - ★★★★★★★★★✩
own against all-comers. Everything about this successor to the highly rated Z2X screams quality – plus, you get a limited lifetime warranty with two-year or 300dive service intervals. ■
DRYSUIT
SCUBAPRO EVERTEC LT LAST CENTURY I PURCHASED a trilaminate drysuit from the other side of the Atlantic. It was state of the art for that era, with innovative features that made the design unique. The American manufacturer had built a suit with a telescoping torso, diagonal front-entry zip and crushed neoprene sock-ends that took the company’s own hard-wearing rock-boots. That suit was made by San Diego-based Diving Unlimited International (DUI) and was the most comfortable, easy-to-use trilaminate suit on the market at that time. It also looked very smart, resembling a separate jacket and trousers. The patent for that design was first registered 30 years ago, in August 1984, and as far as I am aware has expired. Certainly other suit-makers have since been able to incorporate those distinctive elements in their own products. Scubapro’s Evertec drysuit was very similar to the original DUI design and has now been made even lighter with the recently released LT model.
The Design The Evertec LT is built using a lightweight ripstop trilaminate fabric. Said to be 25% lighter than its predecessor, the material has a slight stretch to improve flexibility and allow more freedom of movement. ☛ www.divErNEt.com
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DIVER TESTS
Left: The telescoping torso and diagonal front zip makes this a self-donning suit.
Middle: An elasticated crotch-strap keeps the top section in place.
Right: Red braces are easy to find, and they’re attached with trident clips.
A long diagonal front “Tizip MasterSeal” waterproof zip extends from the left shoulder to behind the right hip and is protected by a Velcro-fastened flap. This plastic zip represents a leap forward in waterproof zip design and should require a lot less maintenance than traditional brass and rubber models. The torso is lengthened and folds at the waist. It is held in place using an elasticated crotch-strap and extends as the wearer raises his or her arms, leaving the bottom portion of the suit staying in place. Soft neoprene socks without seams are incorporated. They need the addition of separate drysuit or rock-boots, though oversized wetsuit boots could also be used. The neck- and wrist-seals are latex, with a Neoprene neck-collar fitted for warmth and comfort. There are two pockets on the upper leg with drainage holes, and large Velcro-fastened flaps to keep safe and secure essentials such as a spare mask, DSMB or slates. The suit also has “I-safe” keepers on the inside of the forearms for the secure fixing of wristmounted instruments. Swivel Si-Tech valves fitted at the sternum and left shoulder allow for easy inflation and dumping of air. Removable red braces, full-length soft Kevlar kneepads and double-stitched seams complete this “feature-rich” exposure suit.
In my experience the manufacturer tends to err on the small size compared to others. I know I’m short and rotund, but I’m definitely not unique in shape and size. All my wet- or drysuits are size L/short and fit really well, but this suit in size L was a little more snug than I’m used to. It allowed only for a medium-thickness thermal top and leggings to fit underneath – something to bear in mind if you’re considering ordering one electronically. The replacement suit did its job superbly. It was comfortable and flexible, and the telescoping torso worked exactly as I had expected it to do, so lifting my arms above my head didn’t result in an increase of an octave or two in my voice. The wrist-seals were an exact fit, but the neckseal was a little tight. If it were my own suit I would have carefully set about it with a pair of sharp scissors, cutting away a bit at a time until it was the perfect fit. Getting in and out of the LT was easily accomplished without any need for assistance. The bright red removable braces, which are held in place with trident clips, were easy to locate inside the suit (black ones tend to be
invisible). The long diagonal zip left plenty of room for this exercise, although it ended up being closed behind my hip, on my blind side, and for security and peace of mind I asked my buddy to check that it was in fact fully closed. I found the sock-ends to be the most comfortable I’ve ever used. Short and stretchy without seams, they slid easily into my own rock-boots. There was no loose material to scrunch up at the toes and they felt spongy, cushioning my feet as I walked topside or finned under water. They didn’t feel as robust as you’d expect, so don’t walk around on sharp gravel without the protection of boots. The real advantage of wearing rock-boots is that it’s difficult to get a substantial amount of air trapped where you don’t want it, which can easily cause buoyancy and trim problems. The swivel inflation valve was positioned in the right place for me at my sternum and was easy to use, as was the shoulder dump-valve, which is adjustable and automatically dumps air if it’s at the high point of the wearer. A neoprene flap inside the suit covers the valve, protecting it from being restricted by loose undergarments. The instrument strap-keepers at the wrists securely placed my Galileo Sol computer in the perfect position, and I liked the extra security and additional stability this offered.
In Use I took the suit for a few pool sessions to get accustomed to its buoyancy characteristics before using it to keep me dry and warm at an inland site. I was hoping to take the Evertec LT to the Canary Islands, diving in the temperate waters of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the first suit to arrive was so small that I couldn’t get it past my thighs, and the replacement suit arrived too late for that trip – which brings me to the sizing of Scubapro products.
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SPECS PRICE 8£1049 TYPE 8Self-donning, front-entry MATERIAL 8Ripstop trilaminate SIZES 8S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL VALVES 8Si-Tech, swivel COLOURS 8Black with silver livery KNEEPADS 8Kevlar, full-length POCKETS 8Two INCLUDED 86.5mm Neoprene hood, lp inflation hose, zipped drysuit carry-all, silicon zip lube. EXCLUDED 8Drysuit boots CONTACT8www.scubapro.com
DIVER GUIDE - ★★★★★★★★✩✩
Conclusion Scubapro has done an excellent job with the Evertec LT, taking what many consider to be the best design characteristics ever seen in a trilaminate drysuit and bringing them bang up to date by virtue of hi-tech materials. It has even added a few of its own unique features as icing on the cake. The sizing issue needs to be noted, unless of course you’re built like a whippet and are more than 6ft tall – a shape that, as far as I can see, is on the wane. ■ www.divErNEt.com
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DIVER TESTS
FINS
ATOMIC BLADE FINS HAVE BEEN HIGH ON THE diver agenda recently. A few months ago we tested 14 pairs in our comparison test (Kickin’ Back The Power, June), measuring the power they produced when pulling against a set of digital scales. I was disappointed that the latest fins from Atomic Aquatics weren’t available in the UK in time to be included, but Atomic has since sent me a pair of its state-of-the-art Blade fins to well and truly test.
The Design The new Blade fins are constructed using Atomic’s “Power Loop Monocoque”, which involves two structures combined with a flexible skin. The frame of the monocoque has been inspired by technology used in racing-car and aircraft design. One structure loops over the front of the foot-pocket and down the side-rails of the fins, while the second connects the base of the foot-pocket to the inner blade with a floating stabiliser in the centre section. The side-rails run the full length of the blade and act as stiff spines, which become more flexible as they taper towards the tip. The frame material is rigid and this, according to Atomic, is where the fins generate their power. A synthetic-rubber flexible skin which, through clever moulding techniques, joins everything together, allows the fin to gather and contain the water flow, channelling it where it needs to go. Oversized wings at the tips of the side-rails are there to add stability. The fins are fitted with rubber straps as standard, with Atomic’s EZ-Lok buckle system that snaps into place on pegs placed either side of the foot-pocket. Spring-straps are available as an alternative at extra cost.
I warmed my muscles with an extended leisurely swim around the pool using both flutter- and frog-kicks. The fins felt as if they were an extension of my legs and extremely stable, showing no signs of twist or roll. They did however feel rigid, especially when initially increasing the kicking speed, which added to a feeling of sharp acceleration as they snapped me through the water. I clipped a line from me to the scales and finned as hard and as quickly as I could. At this increased kicking rate the blades felt more pliable than when gently finning. They cut through the water easily and caused very little strain on my overworked calf and quadriceps muscles, giving me the impression that they were not producing much in the way of power. So you can imagine my surprise when my assistant shouted out the reading on the scales. During the group fin tests the highest reading we had achieved had been 23kg, produced
SPECS Above: Atomic’s EZ-Lok quick-release buckle system.
In Use I took the fins to the pool to put them through the same power tests used for the last comparison. The large foot-pocket engulfed my rock-booted feet, leaving very little heel exposed. www.divErNEt.com
PRICE 8£118 SIZES 8S, M, L, XL COLOURS 8Blue, red, yellow and silver. Sizes S an M in pink or purple WEIGHT 8Size XL, 2.38kg (pair) STRAPS 8Rubber with EZ-Lok buckle. Atomic spring-straps available at extra cost CONTACT8www.atomicaquatics.com
DIVER GUIDE - ★★★★★★★★★✩
Instructor Yvonne Tatchley under dark skies with the Blade fins. unsurprisingly by the ever-consistent Mares Plana Quattros. Atomic’s newly designed Blade fins produced a pulling pressure of – wait for it – 22.5kg! I was shocked, so I dug my trusty Quattros from my dive-bag and put them through the same test and checked the scale readings again. I must have been even more determined this time, as I got a reading of 23.25kg. So, surprisingly, Atomic’s new Blade fins had very nearly toppled the long-running champions of the fin world!
Conclusion The Blade fins not only performed extremely well in the pool but have since cut the mustard out in the real world of diving. I took a pair with me on a short trip to the eastern Atlantic, and although I did not encounter any strong currents, prolonged diving sessions left me feeling less fatigued than perhaps I would have normally have been. The styling, described as “wicked” in the sales blurb, is actually created by the monocoque design. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but these distinct fins are certainly eye-catchers. It’s not all about the looks, however – the Blades worked well enough to very nearly steal the kicking crown. Kudos to those clever Atomic engineers. ■
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DIVER TESTS
FIN-STRAPS
AQUA LUNG ADJUSTABLE SPRING IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, fins fitted with spring-straps are far superior to those oldfashioned rubber versions. For a start, there’s the longevity factor, because rubber tends to perish over time and always seems to break at an inopportune moment. I had to miss a dive in the Bahamas some years ago when a strap decided enough was enough and gave up the ghost just as I was about to enter the water. I foolishly had no spare, and nor did anyone else on the boat. I sat for an hour sulking and drinking tea with the skipper before discovering that my fellow-divers had enjoyed a stunning encounter with a large hammerhead shark. After forcing a smile while having to view their spectacular images of this rarely seen predator, I made the decision to get a pair of stainless-steel spring-straps. The problem with having just one pair of springs for divers who alternate between wetand drysuit diving is the fit. Drysuit boots are by default much larger than the thin neoprene wetsuit booties, so you either compromise on size, suffering a looser fit than you’d like for the smaller boots, or get two pairs, one small and one large, then change them when you need to. Until now, that is, because those geniuses at Aqua Lung have produced “one-size-fits-all” adjustable spring-straps, and sent me a pair to try out.
Aqua Lung adjustable spring-straps
pegs set at 90°, and these push into the holes in the rod. Move the springs outwards to make them longer and inwards to shorten them – simple! The plastic rod actually sits inside the heelpad and can be accessed by pushing a locking section inside, then sliding the adjustment rod out to expose the holes and spring-ends. After you’ve made the adjustments, it’s just a matter of putting everything back in place. The spring-straps are connected to a set of fins via a shrouded hard plastic sleeve that fits neatly over the flanged peg that’s moulded onto nearly all makes and models of fins. I say “nearly”, as some use different systems, so it would be worth checking to ensure that your fins are suitable before attempting to fit a set.
In Use
I love simple solutions to the annoying little problems that seem to litter my diving experiences, and the design of these straps is exactly that. A durable, flexible plastic rod with spaced out holes is set inside twin stainlesssteel springs, the ends of which have plastic
Left: The exposed adjustment bar, showing the holes and spring ends.
Middle: Top strap adjusted to its largest size; bottom set to its smallest.
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SPECS PRICE 8£40 SIZES 8One size fits all MATERIALS 8Marine-grade stainless-steel, plastics
I have had these straps on my own fins for a few overseas trips wearing 2mm neoprene boots, and I have also conducted some colder-water diving with my drysuit and rock-boot combination. The adjustment couldn’t be easier, and only needs to be done once at the start of a session or series of dives. The heel-pad is broad and spreads the pressure across the Achilles area at the back of the foot, making for comfortable finning. Each pad has a substantial pull-loop that is part of the overall mould. When the straps are in position the loops face upwards and slightly outwards, keeping them low-profile but still
The Design
enabling easy access to pull the straps on or remove them after a dive. The heel-pads are quite stiff and, unlike the curved generic pads found on Aqua Lung’s high-end fins, they are flat in profile. I thought this would prove uncomfortable when I first used them, but found after a few dives that they had moulded themselves to mimic the profile of my heel and now resemble the generic versions.
ATTACHMENT 8Flanged peg CONTACT8www.aqualung.com/uk DIVER GUIDE - ★★★★★★★★★✩
Conclusion If you’re in the market for a replacement set of straps for your fins and, like me, alternate your exposure suits, these adjustable models could be the answer. I’ve no idea whether they’ll last as long as my previous single-size models, (which have been resigned to my spares box) but I’m willing to bet they’re still going strong after the next few years – something I’m sure can’t be said for rubber straps and buckles. ■
Right: The spring straps fitted, adjusted and ready to go.
www.divErNEt.com
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Six good reasons for choosing
MARINOX MARINE OXYGEN THERAPY UNIT ❶ Specifically designed for boat use or any hostile environment.
❷ Designed as a medical therapy system – not a diving regulator derivative.
❸ Supplied with a 540 litre 200 bar pin index aluminium cylinder.
❹ Totally operational and “Ready to use” WITHOUT removal from its protective case.
➎ Unrivalled performance and specification.
COMMERCIAL DIVING Get job satisfaction, flexibility, lucrative earnings and worldwide travel. Take your diving to the next level with training from the commercial diving experts. Contact our Student Advisors to find out more: +44 (0) 1397 703786, fortwilliam@theunderwatercentre.com www.theunderwatercentre.com or scan the code for more info.
➏ Lightweight, rugged and compact – buoyant.
Just unscrew the lid and it’s ready to use!
www.subaqua-products.com Sub-Aqua Products Unit 8, Lycroft Farm Industrial Park, Park Lane, Upper Swanmore, Southampton, Hants SO32 2QQ. Tel: 01489 878055 Fax: 01489 878002 E-mail: websales@subaqua-products.com
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NEW BUT
UNTESTED The latest kit to hit the dive shops
Tusa Freedom HD Mask 4444 The M-1001 Freedom HD mask is the latest design to evolve from Tusa’s Freedom Technology. It’s a single-lens item with a wide field of vision. According to the maker, Freedom technology means a set of revolutionary features offering superior fit, comfort and increased performance. Freedom HD masks are available with black or clear skirts in six frame colours, priced at £70 each. 8 www.tusa.com
BigBlue VTL 2500 Video Lamp 3333 New on the market from BigBlue, this 2500 lumen 9x LED widebeam video light features dual spot and flood beams with the addition of a built-in red colour mode. An anti-corrosive anodised aluminium alloy body gives a depth rating of 100m. The li-ion rechargeable battery-pack gives claimed burntimes of between 1.5 hours (level 4 power) and 15 hours (level 1 power) and the unit weighs in at only 461g. Price is £325. 8 www.liquidsports.com
Scubapro Chromis Dive Computer 4444 This wrist-mounted, watch-style dive computer from Scubapro features easy-to-read katana-sharp display graphics and Apnea, Gauge and Dive modes with nitrox settings from 21 to 100%. The computer uses a ZHL8 ADT MB algorithm, and the watch includes dual time and stopwatch functions and even includes Scubapro’s patented swimming stroke counter, which calculates distance by counting kicks or strokes. It’s available in black, orange or white from Scubapro dealers for £339. 8 www.scubapro.com
Breitling Superocean Chronograph Steelfish Watch 5555 This new diver’s watch from Swiss watchmaker Breitling boasts the company’s Caliber 13 self-winding mechanical movement with a 1/4-second, 30-minute, 12-hour chronograph. A unidirectional bezel sits around the 44mm face. The stainless-steel case and screw-locked crown enable a depth-rating of 500m. Expect to pay from £4410 for this particular timepiece. 8 www.breitling.com
Fujifilm XQ1 Camera & WP-XQ1 Housing 4444 The XQ1 is a pocket-sized compact camera from Fujifilm, the many features of which include a 12MP CMOS sensor, a customisable control ring that allows the camera settings to be changed without having to dip in and out of the menu. The f1.8-f4.9 aperture range lens has a 4x optical zoom (25-100mm) with optical image stabilisation. The WP-XQ1 clear Perspex underwater housing has a depth rating of 40m and allows access to all the camera’s functions. The XQ1 carries a recommended price of £300, with the housing a further £229. 8 www.fujifilm.co.uk
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JUST SURFACED
Swimseal Ear Drops 6666 Originating in South Africa, SwimSeal is said to have been developed by ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialists as a self-administered treatment designed to prevent water from being trapped in the ears. Trapped water can lead to discomfort, pain and may even lead to the infection known as otitis externa, or swimmer’s ear. Two or three drops in each ear creates a natural barrier to infection and trapped water. The news is that the product is now available from high street retailers such as Boots and Superdrug, for a penny under £8. 8 www.swimseal.com
Marine Conservation Society Apparel 5555 The MCS has teamed up with eco-fashion label Rapanui to design a range of marine themed T-shirts and sweatshirts. The clothing is said to be printed using low-waste technology and made using 100% organic cotton, with all items constructed in an ethically accredited, wind-powered factory. The apparel is available in sizes from XS to XXL, with the tees priced at £19 and the sweatshirts £40. 8 www.mcsuk.org
Oceanic Omega 3 FDXI Regulator 4444 The Omega 3 is a side-exhaust regulator featuring what Oceanic says is the latest in technology and design. The balanced diaphragm first stage with four low-pressure and two high-pressure ports and a pneumatically balanced servo second stage are available in either all-black or all-white colour schemes. The Omega 3 is 40% nitrox compatible straight from the box and is priced at £525. 8 www.oceanicuk.com
NEXT ISSUE NORTHERN VOYAGE… Sue Daly joins a two-week expedition to Norway
…EASTERN VOYAGE
WHAT THE…?
www.divErNEt.com
FREE IN THE RED SEA A young freediver’s holiday diary LISA COLLINS
A look at some of the more bizarre dwellers of the deep
A new liveaboard operation in the Maldives
ON SALE 21 AUG
DHD – Aug 2014_Holiday Directory 02/07/2014 15:23 Page 98
HOLIDAY DIRECTORY FACILITIES INCLUDE:
Hotel or guesthouse
Self-catering
Equipment for hire
Dive boat charter arranged
Suitable for families
Packages from UK
Compressed Air
Nitrox
Technical Gases
BSAC School
PADI Training
NAUI Training
TDI Training
SSI Training
DAN Training
Disability Diving
AUSTRALIA GREAT BARRIER REEF – CORAL SEA MIKE BALL DIVE EXPEDITIONS 143 Lake Street, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia. Tel: (00 61) 7 4053 0500. Fax: (00 61) 7 4031 5470. E-mail: mike@mikeball.com www.mikeball.com UK Agent: Divequest – divers@divequest.co.uk
OCTOPUS DIVING CENTRE PO Box 40124, Larnaca, Cyprus. (Dive centre located on the Larnaca to Dhekelia Road, 100m from the Princess Hotel.) Tel/fax: (00 357) 24 646571. Mobile: (00 357) 9965 4462. www.octopus-diving.com E-mail: octopus@spidernet.com.cy PADI 5* Gold Palm Resort & Cyprus’ only BSAC Premier School.
SHARM EL SHEIKH ELITE DIVING Divers United Dive Centre, Karma Hotel, Hadaba, Sharm El Sheikh, Red Sea, Egypt. Tel: (00 20) 1224 308 780. E-mail: info@elite-diving.com www.elite-diving.com British owner managers.
INDONESIA ALOR ALOR DIVERS Jl. Tengiri N. 1 Kalabahi, Alor Island, NTT, Indonesia. Tel: (00 62) 813 1780 4133. E-mail: info@alor-divers.com www.alor-divers.com Pristine. Diving. Exclusive. Covert. Destination.
CANARY ISLANDS FUERTEVENTURA DEEP BLUE P.O. Box 33, Caleta de Fuste, Antigua E-35610, Fuerteventura. Tel: (00 34) 606 275468. Fax: (00 34) 928 163983. www.deep-blue-diving.com E-mail: info@deep-blue-diving.com CMAS, IAHD. Harbour location. Special group rates.
PAPHOS
BALI
CYDIVE LTD Myrra Complex, 1 Poseidonos Avenue, Kato Paphos. Tel: (00 357) 26 934271. Fax: (00 357) 26 935307. www.cydive.com E-mail: cydive@spidernet.com.cy PADI 5* CDC. First Career Development Centre in Cyprus and Eastern Mediterranean.
FRANCE COTE D’AZUR DIAMOND DIVING 11 Rue des Pecheurs, Golfe Juan. 06220. Tel: (00 33) 615 305223. E-mail: info@diamonddiving.net www.diamonddiving.net Quality PADI training French Riviera. PADI 5*IDC Resort, six IDCs per year.
AQUAMARINE DIVING – BALI Jalan Petitenget 2A, Kuta, Bali 80361. Tel: (00 62) 361 4738 020. Fax: (00 62) 361 4738 021. E-mail: info@AquaMarineDiving.com www.AquaMarineDiving.com
RAJA AMPAT PAPUA DIVING Sorido Bay Resort and Kri Eco Resort, Kri Island, West Papua. Bookings Office: +62 (0)811 4804610. E-mail: info@papua-diving.com www.rajaampatdiving.com First dive operator (since 1993) and conservation centre in Raja Ampat. Resorts open 365 days.
LANZAROTE SAFARI DIVING LANZAROTE Playa Chica, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote. Tel: (00 34) 625 059713, (00 34) 928 511992. www.safaridiving.com E-mail: enquiry@safaridiving.com English owned, award-winning BSAC School and Seamanship centre, SSI Instructor trainer facility and PADI dive centre. Open every day of the year. Daily shore and boat dives, night dives too – all same price. Great deals for groups, universities and the solo diver.
DIVE POINT Parmenionos St. No4, Tombs of the Kings Rd, Kato Paphos, Cyprus 8045. Tel/fax: (00 357) 26 938730. E-mail: divepointcyprus@hotmail.com www.divepointcyprus.co.uk British BSAC/PADI instructors.
GREECE CRETE CRETE UNDERWATER CENTER
EGYPT HURGHADA
Mirabello Hotel, Agios Nikolaos, P.O. Box 100, P.C. 72 100. Tel/fax: (00 30) 28410 22406. Mob: (00 30) 6945 244434, (00 30) 6944 126846. www.creteunderwatercenter.com E-mail: info@creteunderwatercenter.com IANTD Nitrox training. Groups, individuals & dive clubs welcome.
IRELAND CO. CORK OCEANADDICTS Ballynaloughe, Nohoval, Co. Cork. Tel: (00 353) (0)87 7903211. E-mail: anne@oceanaddicts.ie www.oceanaddicts.ie Day boat and liveaboard diving.
ILIOS DIVE CLUB Steigenberger Al dau Resort, Yussif Affifi Road, Hurghada. Tel: (00 20) 65 346 5442. E-mail: info@iliosdiveclub.com www.iliosdiveclub.com PADI Dive Centre, border free.
CYPRUS LARNACA RECOMPRESSION CHAMBER 24/7 professionally manned and fully computerised, privately owned and operated 14-man recompression chamber, internationally approved and the DAN Preferred Provider for the island. If in doubt … SHOUT! Poseidonia Medical Centre, 47a Eleftherias Avenue, Aradippou, Larnaca 7102, Cyprus. 24hr Emergency Dive Line: +357 99 518837. E-mail: info@hbocyprus.com www.hbocyprus.com
LIVEABOARDS SEA QUEEN FLEET Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Tel: (00 20) 12 218 6669 or (00 20) 12 100 3941. E-mail: seaqueen@link.net or karen@seaqueens.com www.seaqueens.com Red Sea liveaboards. Dive Centre.
GRENADA ST. GEORGE’S SCUBATECH DIVE CENTRE Calabash Hotel, L’Anse Aux Epines. Tel: +1 (473) 439 4346. Fax: +1 (473) 444 5050. E-mail: info@scubatech-grenada.com www.scubatech-grenada.com Discover The Difference!
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KENYA KISITE MPUNGUTI MARINE PARK FIREFLY OCEAN CAMP Shimoni Beach Road, Shimoni. Tel: +254 (0)724 442555 or +254 (0)720 205120. E-mail: info@pillipipa.com www.pillipipa.com Tropical waters, dolphins, snorkelling and diving.
To advertise in the divEr Holiday Directory contact Alex on 020 8941 8152 • e-mail: alex@divermag.co.uk
DHD – Aug 2014_Holiday Directory 02/07/2014 15:25 Page 99
HOLIDAY DIRECTORY MALAYSIA
PALAU
TANZANIA
TOBAGO
BORNEO, SABAH
KOROR
PEMBA
THE REEF DIVE RESORT
BLUE WATERS DIVE’N
FISH ’N FINS DIVE CENTER / OCEAN HUNTER I & III LIVEABOARDS
DIVE 710
Batteaux Bay, Speyside. Tel: 1 (868) 395 9343. E-mail: wpalmer@bluewatersinn.com www.bluewatersdiven.com PADI 5* Dive Centre.
(Mataking Island), TB212, Jalan Bunga, Fajar Complex, 91000 Tawau, Sabah. Tel: (00 60) 89 786045. Fax: (00 60) 89 770023. E-mail: sales@mataking.com www.mataking.com PADI 5* Dive Resort.
PADI 5* IDC & TDI. Technical diving. 6 & 16 pax luxurious liveaboards. 30+ WWII Japanese wrecks to explore. Check our special events! www.fishnfins.com www.oceanhunter.com
Fundu Lagoon Beach Resort, P.O. Box 3945, Pemba Island/South Region, Zanzibar. Tel: +255 (0)7774 38668, Fax: +255 (0)777 419906. E-mail: reservations@fundulagoon.com www.fundulagoon.com PADI 5* Gold Palm.
PHILIPPINES THRESHER SHARK DIVERS Malapascua Island, Daanbantayan, Cebu 6013. Tel: (00 63) 927 612 3359. www.thresherdivers.com E-mail: dive@thresherdivers.com British, PADI 5* IDC, IANTD.
MALTA (inc. GOZO & COMINO
THAILAND
GOZO
TURKS & CAICOS IS.
SURAT THANI/KOH TAO
GOZO AQUA SPORTS
DAVY JONES’ LOCKER
Rabat Road, Marsalforn, MFN9014, Gozo, Malta. Tel: (00 356) 2156 3037. www.gozoaquasports.com E-mail: dive@gozoaquasports.com PADI 5* IDC & DSAT Tec Rec Centre, BSAC Dive Resort. Premier Technical Diving Support Service.
9/21 Moo 2, Mae Haad, Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, Surat Thani, Thailand 84280. Tel: (00 66) 77 456126. Mob: (00 66) 79 700913. www.techdivethailand.com E-mail: djl_kohtao@hotmail.com Recreational, reef, tech, deep, wreck.
DIVE PROVO Tel: 001 (649) 946 5040. Fax: 001 (649) 946 5936. E-mail: diving@diveprovo.com www.diveprovo.com 1990-2010, 20 years of Diving As It Should Be!
SPAIN BALEARIC ISLANDS – MALLORCA SCUBA MALLORCA C/d’el Cano 23, 07470 Port de Pollença, Mallorca. Tel: (00 34) 971 868087. Mobile: (00 34) 615 875609. E-mail: info@scubamallorca.com www.scubamallorca.com PADI 5* IDC.
MALTA MALTAQUA Mosta Road, St. Paul’s Bay. Tel: (00 356) 2157 1111. Fax: (00 356) 21 580064. E-mail: dive@maltaqua.com www.maltaqua.com On-line booking service. BSAC Centre of Excellence 007, PADI 5* IDC. ANDI
ANCHOR DIVING MALTA Sunhaven, Lampuki Street, Bugibba/St Paul’s Bay, SPB 03. Tel: (00 356) 2756 7238. e-mail: info@anchordiving.com www.anchordiving.com
BALEARIC ISLANDS – MENORCA BLUEWATER SCUBA AQUAVENTURE LTD The Waters Edge, Mellieha Bay Hotel, Mellieha MLH 02. www.aquaventuremalta.com Tel: (00 356) 2152 2141 Fax: (00 356) 2152 1053 e-mail:info@aquaventuremalta.com PADI 5* Gold Palm. Watersports available.
Calle Llevant, Centro Civico Local 3, Cap D’Artrutx, 07769 Ciutadella de Menorca. Tel/fax: (00 34) 971 387183. www.bluewaterscuba.co.uk E-mail: sales@bluewaterscuba.co.uk Dive the famous Pont D’en Gil cavern!
Get Britain’s bestselling diving magazine on Apple Newsstand, major Android devices, Kindle Fire, HP Touchpad and PC & Mac. How It Works Simply download the divEr app for FREE from the App Store or Google Play and receive a copy completely FREE. Once you have the app, you will be able to download new and back issues or take out a subscription all for less than the newsstand price.
ANDALUCIA – COSTA DEL SOL HAPPY DIVERS MARBELLA
DIVE DEEP BLUE Deep Blue Lido, 100 Annaniija Street, Bugibba. Tel: (00 356) 21 583946. Fax: (00 356) 21 583945 E-mail: dive@divedeepblue.com www.divedeepblue.com PADI 5* Gold Palm/BSAC Premier. Technical Diving support service. ANDI
Happy Divers Marbella & IDC College, Hotel Atalaya Park Marbella-Estepona. Tel: (00 34) 609 571920, (00 34) 952 88 36 17. E-mail: college@idc-spain.com www.happy-divers-marbella.com The only PADI 5* CDC & NG center in Spain, Nitrox & DPV speciality center.
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99
Liveaboard Directory – 08_14_Liveaboard Directory 02/07/2014 16:59 Page 100
LIVEABOARD DIRECTORY DWw Dive Worldwide
HD
Holiday Designers
RD
Divequest
0
Oonasdivers
STW Scuba Tours Worldwide
OD
Original Diving
AF
Aqua-Firma
A
Aquatours
DQ
CT
Crusader Travel
Emp Emperor
CT DWw STW UD
AUSTRALIA – Cairns Spirit of Freedom www.spiritoffreedom.com.au Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
26 11 Y 37m steel
240V Y Y Y N
www.mikeball.com Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
26 15 Y 30m alum
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
16 8 Y 32.3m
240V Y Y Y N
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
16 8 Y 40m wood
www.explorerventures.com
DQ
RD 110V Y Y Y N
TSP DWw AF STW
COCOS IS. – Puntarenas, Costa Rica Argo www.underseahunter.com Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
16 8 Y 39m steel
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
20 10 Y 38.2m wood
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
14 7 Y 30m wood
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
A
110V Y Y Y N
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
EGYPT – Sharm el Sheikh & Hurghada South Moon
MALDIVES – Malé Sea Queen & Sea Spirit
www.seaqueenfleet.com
www.scubascuba.com
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
CT 20 10 Y 27m wood
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
220V Y Y Y Y
HD
EGYPT – Sharm el Sheikh VIP One www.vipone.com Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
100
16 8 Y 29.5m wood
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
220V Y Y Y Y
16 9 Y 38.2m Steel
16 8 Y 34m wood
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
220v,110v Y Y Y Y
DWw UD AF STW
PALAU Ocean Hunter Palau www.oceanhunter.com Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
16 8 Y 31m steel
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
RD
PALAU S/Y Palau Siren
240V Y Y Y Y
CT DWw AF DQ
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
16 8 Y 40m wood
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
220V Y Y Y Y
CT DWw UD DQ STW www.worldwidediveandsail.com
220V N Y Y Y
CT DWw AF DQ
www.worldwidediveandsail.com
DWw
DQ UD DWw STW
www.trukodyssey.com
240V Y Y Y N
www.maldivesdivingadventure.com
www.explorerventures.com
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
MICRONESIA – Truk Lagoon M.V. Odyssey
AF RD
PHILIPPINES S/Y Philippine Siren
MALDIVES S/Y Maldives Siren
20 10 Y 37.8m alum
Ultimate Diving
www.worldwidediveandsail.com Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Silver Bank DQ Turks & Caicos Explorer II Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
UD
220V Y Y Y Y
MALDIVES – Malé Eagle Ray
110V Y Y Y Y
Sportif
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
A DWw DQ AF
www.explorerventures.com
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
S
TSP The Scuba Place
N Y Y N
CT DWw STW DQ AF www.worldwidediveandsail.com
MALDIVES – Malé Carpe Vita Explorer
18 9 Y 35.1m alum
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
RD
INDONESIA S/Y Indo Siren
CARIBBEAN – St. Maarten & St. Kitts A DWw Caribbean Explorer II Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
Scuba Travel
A DWw DQ RD AF STW
GALAPAGOS Humboldt Explorer www.explorerventures.com
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
CT DWw
AUSTRALIA – Cairns Spoilsport
ST
Regaldive
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
16 8 Y 40m wood
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
220V Y Y Y Y
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
220V Y Y Y N
THAILAND & INDONESIA M.V. Queen Scuba www.queenscuba.com
220V Y Y Y Y
STW
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
21 9 Y 28m steel
A
TURKS & CAICOS Turks & Caicos Explorer II
DWw DQ
www.explorerventures.com Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
12 6 Y 26m wood
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
220V Y Y Y Y
Pax Cab EnS Lth Hull
20 10 Y 37.8m alum
Elec Cour A/C Ntx CCR
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110V Y Y Y N
101_DIVER_0814_DIVER 2014 02/07/2014 10:45 Page 101
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Classified page 102-103_08_Classified LHP 02/07/2014 15:28 Page 094
CLASSIFIED ADS CHARTER BOATS
Dive Belfast, Strangford Loughs and Rathlin Island. Weekend break packages from £190 per person, inc ferry, accommodation and diving. Tel/fax: (02891) 464671, web: www.dvdiving.co.uk (33970)
Scotland
South West
South
Bovisand Lodge Estate, Plymouth. 4* self-catering holiday park, 2.5 miles from Mountbatten Diving Centre. Range of quality accommodations. Free parking for RIBs. Indoor heated pool. Weekend and part week bookings available. Tel: (01752) 403554, www.bovisand.com (37839)
Lymington - “Wight Spirit”. Diving West Wight, East Dorset, English Channel. Beginners to technical and small groups. Electric lift. Easy access, easy parking. Owner/skipper Dave Wendes. Tel/Fax: (023) 8027 0390, e-mail: wightspirit@btinternet.com www.wightspirit. co.uk (37159)
Scotland (Scapa Flow)
PLYMOUTH DIVE year round on CEEKING Price per diver or full boat. Boat only or with B&B. Side lift. Free drinks 01752 663247 07702 557317 www.divingplymouth.com & cylinder hire.
Call Sara on: 020-8941 8152 e-mail: sara@divermag.co.uk
North East All year round diving from our hard boats and RIB for groups and individuals. Air Station with air fill collection service.
53
DI V
07764 585353
www.dive125.co.uk Eastbourne Charters
www.brightondiver.com
Call Paul: 07901 822375 or 01273 301367
With full shelter deck for all weather, six spacious double cabins with hot & cold water, two showers, two toilets, large saloon, central heating throughout, galley with all facilities and two dry changing areas. Long established, high standard of service. Nitrox, trimix & onboard meals available. Reduced off-peak season rates.
2014 SPACES AVAILABLE
Isle of Wight. “Penetrater”. Diving East & West Wight, English Channel. Mainland pick up. All experiences, groups welcome. Electric lift, easy access and parking. Owner/skipper Mick Martin. Tel: 07890 372958. Email: matzenmarine@btinternet.com (42963) www.channeldiving.com Midweek diving for individuals. Tel: 07970 674799. (30914) www.sussexshipwrecks.co.uk “Sussex” Eastbourne. Fast Cat, lift, O2, toilet, tea/coffee. Groups and individuals. Diver/Skipper Mike mobile: 077115 70294, e-mail: dive@sussexshipwrecks.co.uk (37038)
Tel: 01856 874425 Fax: 01856 874725 E-mail: dougie@sunrisecharters.co.uk
HOLIDAYS IN UK
divescapaflow.co.uk
Scotland
Now taking bookings for 2015 & 2016 with an amazing 10% discount.
Yasawa Princess with full board 15 dives – 7 nights Excursions – Group Rates info@kljdivertravel.co.uk www.kljdivertravel.co.uk
DIVING MEDICALS Diving Medicals - Midlands (Rugby) - HSE, Sports Medicals and advice at Midlands Diving Chamber. Tel: (01788) 579 555, www.midlandsdivingchamber.co.uk (42100) Diving Medicals - Nottingham. Sport Diving medicals: £50. HSE Commercial Diving medicals: £110. OGUK Offshore medicals: £100. Student and Group discounts. Combine with an HGV/taxi medical for an extra £5. Tel: (07802) 850084 for appointment. Email: mclamp@doctors.org.uk (41869) Diving medicals: London. HSE, Sport and phone advice. Tel: (020) 7806 4028 www.e-med.co.uk (36917) Dr Des McCann, Dr Gerry Roberts and Dr Mark Bettley-Smith. HSE Medicals and phone advice. Tel: (01202) 741345. (43990)
PHOTOGRAPHY SEAPRO - SUBSEA MODULES are HOUSINGS for SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT and VIDEO SYSTEMS Special Packages on Video Cameras and Housings See web site:
www.greenawaymarine.com “PACKAGE DEALS”
GREENAWAY MARINE Tel: (01793) 814992
ACCESSORIES
Swim with Hebridean Giants!
Contact: leigh@divescapaflow.co.uk
www.baskingsharkscotland.co.uk info@baskingsharkscotland.co.uk
WRECKS • WALLS • REEFS • SEALS See the best of underwater Argyll www.diveoban.com
• TWO CHARTER BOATS WITH LIFTS • TWIN/DOUBLE ENSUITE B&B • DORMITORYS • CAMPING • AIR STATION • RIBs WELCOME
07975 723140 | dive@diveoban.com Beautiful Tobermory, Isle of Mull. Diver-friendly accommodation in 2 quality properties, sleeping 9 and 6. www.tobermorylets.com or tel: (01688) 302228. (37721)
STAN/LEE HALL (01665) 720615 www.farnedivingservices.com e-mail: leehalldiving1@aol.com
DIVING
COMPRESSORS
Seahouses
Tel/fax: (01665) 720760 or www.sovereigndiving.co.uk
58 53
10m cat with dive lift. Individuals and groups. All levels, novice to technical. BSAC Advanced and trimix skipper.
FARNE DIVING SERVICES
Dive the Farne Islands aboard Sovereign II & III Seals, scenic and wrecks. Own quality B&B. Fully stocked dive shop and air station. Air to 300bar and nitrox available. Tank hire also available. Ailsa, Toby & Andrew Douglas.
764
DIVE BRIGHTON
diver@farne-islands.com WILLIAM SHIEL www.farne-islands.co.uk Tel: 01665 721297 Mob: 07799 666573 www.farneislandsdiving.co.uk
EREIGN
OUR W
07
Custom built 42' dive vessel, huge deck space, Diver lift, large wheel house + separate toilet.
Dive Littlehampton “Final Answer”. Shallow to deep, we cater for all. Skipper & crew on board, available 7 days a week. Maximum 10. Tel: (01243) 553977 or 07850 312068. www.ourjoy.co.uk (39900)
(01856) 850055
Farne Islands
.CO.UK
www.jeanelaine.co.uk
Wales
WANT TO ADVERTISE?
25 E1
SCAPA FLOW, ORKNEY'S NORTH ISLES, SHETLAND IS., EAST & WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND We cater for all types of diving from the wrecks in Scapa Flow through to deep technical projects. Air, Nitrox and Trimix onboard, dayboat or liveaboard option.
Diving in Newquay - Atlantic Diving. Two 10mtr super fast catamarans, both with diver recovery lifts. Superb visibility, stunning wrecks, basking sharks, seals, blue shark cage diving. Accommodation, midweek specials. Air, nitrox & trimix available. www.atlanticdiver.co.uk Tel: 07860 927833. (43530) Plymouth, Discovery Divers, Fort Bovisand, boat charter, air, nitrox, trimix, from £15pp. Groups + individuals. Contact Danny 07739 567 752. (39312) Venture Dive Charters. For quality diving from Plymouth, visit: www.venturecharters.co.uk or tel: 07778 494274. (33341)
Anglesey. Hard boat diving aboard “Julie Anne” and “Empress”. Diver lift. Visit: www.julie-anne.co.uk or tel: (01407) 831210, mobile: 07768 863355. (44123) Quest Diving. Hardboat with lift. Diving Anglesey and North Wales. Tel: 07974 249005. Visit: www.questdiving.co.uk (31451)
DIVE 125
Air + Nitrox
Dive or snorkel with friendly seals at Lundy Island. We are offering big discounts to groups of snorkellers, see our new website. Clive Pearson is one of the area’s most experienced skippers. Wrecks, reefs, drop-offs, basking sharks July/August, some weekends still available. Normally three dives a day, individuals can book midweek. Please phone for a chat and a brochure: (01237) 431405. www. clovellycharters.com (39521)
Onboard Compressor
WEEKDAY SPACES FOR INDIVIDUALS
SO V
HOLIDAYS ABROAD
Northern Ireland Aquaholics. Diving from Rathlin Island to Malin Head www.aquaholics.org (39033)
Used HP compressors. Electric/diesel/petrol. Many makes, models & sizes available. New stock available daily. Spares & servicing all compressors also available. Tel: (01772) 687775 for details. www.smp-ltd.co.uk (31165)
Looking for last minute spaces on a UK dive charter boat? Then go to:
www. divErNEt.com
Classified page 102-103_08_Classified LHP 02/07/2014 15:29 Page 095
CLASSIFIED ADS
WANTED Brass & copper diver’s helmets wanted by private collector, Siebe Gorman - Heinke. Tel: (07976) 294981 or (01708) 551967 or Email: andy@deepdive.fsnet.co.uk (43151) Wanted: Dive gear. Anything considered. Cash waiting! Tel: (07834) 640 659, e-mail: DiveGear2000@aol.com (39191)
REPAIRS/SERVICES WET & DRY SUIT
REPAIRS All makes, all types
0161 304 8471 9 Waterloo Court Waterloo Road Stalybridge Cheshire SK15 2AU
email: repairs@gybe.co.uk
www.gybe.co.uk
INSURANCE
CLUB NOTICES
FREE OF CHARGE. (Max 25 words). Non-commercial clubs, no sales. Active and friendly BSAC club. All year diving in local lake. New and qualified divers of all agencies welcome. Own club house with 7m RIB and compressor. For further information visit www.mksac.co.uk (42721) Alfreton (Derbys) BSAC 302 welcomes new members and qualified divers. A small but active club with own RIB, wreck diving a speciality. Contact Charlie on (01246) 236328. (32567) Banbury SAC friendly, active club with weekly meetings and training sessions, own boat, compressor and equipment. Welcome divers/non divers. www.bansac.org or call 07787 097 289. (35352) Bracknell Sub Aqua Club welcomes new and experienced divers from all agencies. Meets poolside at Bracknell Sports Centre, Thursdays from 8.30pm. Diving, training and social calendar: www.bracknellscuba.org.uk or tel: 07951 855 725. (29999) Braintree Riverside Sub Aqua Club based in Braintree, Essex. A friendly club, we welcome divers of all abilities and have an active diving and social programme. Come and join us! email: denise.f.wright2@btinternet.com www.braintreeriversidesac.co.uk (35863)
Brixham Divers (BSAC) Torbay. East Devon reefs/ wrecks. Novices/experienced/visitors/groups all welcome to join us. 7mtr RIB, new 150hp Evinrude electronics. Cruises 30 knots. Takes 10 divers. Club/social nights. Tel: Gary: 07740 288 670. (33843) Bromley/Lewisham. Active divers required. Full programme of hardboat diving throughout the year. Check out Nekton SAC www.nekton.org.uk or contact Jackie (01689) 850130. (40223) Buckingham Dive Centre. A small, friendly club welcoming all divers and those wanting to learn. We dive throughout the year and run trips in the UK and abroad. www.stowesubaqua.co.uk Tel: Roger 07802 765 366. (34497) Buntingford Horizon Divers (East Herts). All welcome. Pool meetings. Dive trips UK and abroad. 5.8mtr RIB. Social calendar. Tel: 07971 491702 or visit: www.horizondivers.org (32812) Chelmsford and District SAC meet at 8pm every Friday at Riverside Pool. New and qualified divers are welcome. See our website for details: www.chelmsforddiveclub.co.uk (38377) Cheshire. Icicle Divers SAA club. Meet every Monday evening 9pm at Crewe Pool, Flag Lane. New and experienced divers welcome. Try dives available. www.icicledivers.com (31966) Chingford, London BSAC 365. Friendly and active club welcomes divers from all agencies and trainees. Meet Wednesday 8pm, Larkswood Leisure Centre E4 9EY. Information: www.dive365.co.uk Email: loughtondivers365@gmail.com (33462) Cockleshell Divers, Portsmouth, Hants. Small, friendly club welcomes new and experienced divers from all agencies. Meets at Cockleshell Community Centre, Fridays at 8pm. Email: cockleshell.divers@aol.co.uk (27116) Colchester Sub-Aqua Club welcomes experienced divers and beginners. Sub-Aqua Association training. Diving at home and abroad. Meets at Leisure World Friday evenings. Contact Tony 01787 475803. (35202) Cotswold BSAC, a friendly club based at Brockworth Pool, Nr Cheltenham, Fridays 8pm. Regular inland diving and coast trips. Tel: 07711 312078. www.cotswoldbsac332.co.uk (38256) Darwen SAC, in Lancashire, with an active diving programme. Own RIB. new members welcome regardless of agency/training. We provide BSAC training. Weekly pool sessions. www.darwensac.org.uk (35277) Dream Divers. Very friendly dive club in Rotherham welcomes divers of any level/club. Meet at the Ring O Bells, Swinton, last Thursday of the month at 19.30. Email: info@dreamdiversltd.co.uk (36421) Ealing SAC, BSAC 514. Friendly, active club, own RIBs; welcomes new and experienced divers. Meets Highgrove Poo,l Eastcote, Tuesday nights 8.30pm. www.esac.org.uk (32401) East Cheshire Sub Aqua. Macclesfield based BSAC club. Purpose built clubhouse, bar, two RIBs, minibus, nitrox, compressor. Lower Bank Street, Macclesfield, SK11 7HL. Tel: (01625) 502367. www.scubadivingmacclesfield.com (30269) East Durham Divers SAA welcome new/experienced divers of any agency. Comprehensive facilities with own premises half a mile from the sea. Contact: John: 07857 174125. (36633) East Lancs Diving Club based in Blackburn. Friendly and active club welcomes new members at all levels of diving from all organisations. Tel: 07784 828961 or email: ELDC@ hotmail.co.uk www.eastlancsdivers.co.uk (34572) Eastbourne BSAC; RIB, banked air (free) to 300bar, Nitrox, Trimix. Enjoy some of the best diving on the South Coast, all qualifications welcome. www.sovereigndivers.co.uk (30179) Eastern Sub Aqua Club SAA 1073. We are a small friendly dive club and welcome new and experienced divers alike. We are situated north of Norwich for training. For more information please see out website: www.esacdivers.co.uk (30089) Eastleigh (Southampton) Sub Aqua Club (BSAC). Whether you want to learn or are an experienced diver, interested in a course or a try dive. We meet every Tuesday at 10pm in the Fleming Park Leisure Centre Bar. Contact us on: 07923 553 645. www.eastleighsubaquaclub.org.uk (32311) Ellon Sub Aqua Club, Aberdeenshire, welcomes newcomers and experienced divers. We dive year round and meet on Thursday evenings. Contact www.ellonsubaquaclub.co.uk (30359) Flintshire Sub Aqua Club based in Holywell, Flintshire, welcomes new and experienced divers from all agencies. Full dive programme. Meet Wednesdays. See us at www.flintsac.co.uk or call (01352) 731425. (42604) Hastings SAC 58 years old SAA Club (0044) welcomes new and experienced divers. Two hard boats. Meets 8.45pm Tuesdays at Summerfields, Hastings. See www.hastingssubaqua.co.uk (31696) Hereford Sub Aqua Club, is looking for new members. Regular diving off the Pembrokeshire coast on own RIBs. Training and social nights. Contact: rusaqua@ googlemail.com (36231) HGSAC. South Manchester based friendly, non-political club welcomes newcomers and qualified divers. Lots of diving and social events. Family. Three RIBs and compressor. www.hgsac.com (40310) High Wycombe SAC. Come and dive with us - all welcome. Active club with RIB on South coast. Contact Len: 07867 544738. www.wycombesubaqua.com (35597)
Holborn BSAC, central London club. 50% M & F. Diving every weekend from our 6.5mt RIB on the South coast. Contact Kate: 07561 801 886 for more details. (31576) Crawley-based club. Twin engine dive boat with stern lift in Brighton Marina. Training for novices, diving for the experienced - all qualifications welcome. www.ifielddivers.org.uk Email: info@ifield-divers.org.uk or tel: (01883) 345146. (41116) Ilkeston & Kimberley SAA 945, between Nottingham and Derby, welcomes beginners and experienced divers. We meet every Friday night at Kimberley Leisure Centre at 8.30pm. Contact through www.iksac.co.uk (40145) K2 Divers, covering West Sussex/Surrey. A friendly BSAC club, but all qualifications welcome. Training in Crawley, boat at Littlehampton. Email: k2divers@yahoo.co.uk or tel: (01293) 612989. (32722) Kingston BSAC, Surrey. Two RIBs , clubhouse and bar, active dive programme, 2 compressors, nitrox, trimix, full training offered at all levels. All very welcome. www.kingstonsac.org or tel: 07842 622193. (35776) Leeds based Rothwell & Stanley SAC welcomes new and experienced divers, full SAA training given. Purpose built clubhouse with bar, RIB, compressor. Meet Tuesday eves: 07738 060567 kevin.oddy@talktalk.net (36139) Leicester Diving - Friendly & active BSAC club based at Wigston pool. Meet Tuesday nights at 8pm. Contact Daniel on 07957 507517 www.delmardiveclub.co.uk (30449) Lincoln - Imp Divers. Small, friendly, non-political diving club with our own RIB are looking to welcome new and experienced divers. Contact Richard: 07931 170205. (36050) Lincoln and District BSAC. Active club with own RIB, compressor and other facilities. Regular trips and training. www.lincolndivingclub.co.uk (35688) Lincs Divers BSAC 1940. Friendly, active dive club offering dive trips and training for new/experienced divers, Lincoln based. www.lincsdivers.co.uk (32146) Llantrisant SAC, two RIBs, towing vehicle, welcomes new and experienced divers. Meet at Llantrisant Leisure Centre 8pm Mondays. Contact Phil: 01443 227667. www.llantrisantdivers.com (40301) London No. 1 Diving Club encourages divers of all levels, from all agencies. Based in Central London with 7mtr RIB, compressor, hire kit etc. www.londondiver.com (31786) Manchester Diving Group. Friendly, active club, welcomes new and experienced divers. Own clubhouse with bar, lecture room, compressor, RIB. Weekly pool sessions . Email: buddy@manchesterdiving.org.uk (28056) Manta Divers. Norfolk wreck & reef diving. Small, friendly, experienced club. All agencies welcome. SAA training. www.mantadivers.org (42838) Mercian Divers (BSAC 2463) Active & friendly club. New, experienced & junior divers welcome. Own RIB. Based in Bromsgrove, West Midlands. Tel: (01905) 773406, www.mercian-divers.org.uk (30464) Millennium Divers. Active, friendly club for all levels and certifications of diver, based in Portland, Dorset. UK diving and holidays. Club social nights www.millenniumdivers.org (32642) Mole Valley Sub Aqua Club. Surrey based SDI club, own RIB, active diving UK & abroad, training and social events. Trainees/crossovers welcome. Contact: 07552 498558 or email: committee@mvsac.org.uk (36527) Nekton SAC. Based in Bromley, we are a friendly and active SAA club that welcomes experienced and new divers alike. Info@nekton.org.uk or call Steve: 020 8467 4599. (32476) Nemo Diving Club. Small, friendly dive club offering dive trips and training for non/experienced divers in Retford and surrounding areas. Contact: www.nemodivertraining.co.uk (43440) North Notts Nautilus SAA942, Mansfield. Family dive club, diving and social members welcome. Clubhouse with licenced bar. Regular dive trips and holidays. www.NNN Divers.co.uk Tel: (01623) 622130. Facebook. (30630) Nuneaton. Marlin BSAC welcomes experienced divers to Pingles pool every Thursday. Active training, diving, social programme in a flourishing club with no politics allowed. www.marlinsac.com (35427) Preston Divers SAA 30. The friendliest dive club. Come and meet us at Fulwood Leisure Centre, Preston on Monday nights between 8.00pm - 9.00pm. www.prestondivers.co.uk (42502)
Monastery Dive Club (Dunkerton Branch). New divers welcome to join our club. Trips to Plymouth and NDAC. GSOH is a must. South Wales area (Crosskeys, Risca.) Please text me: Flinty 07971 432803 or email: welshflinty@hotmail.com (30540) North Glos BSAC 80. Friendly, active club welcomes new and experienced divers. Own boat and equipment with weekly pool sessions, Thursdays, 8.30pm at GL1 Gloucester, (Gloucester Leisure Centre). www.nglos.co.uk (40387) Reading BSAC28 offers an active, friendly diving club. Open to all grades and agencies. Pool training Mondays, club night Thursdays. www.rbsac.org.uk Email: rbsacinfo@gmail.com Tel: Sue 07772 172 575. (43308) Reading Diving Club. Experience the best of UK diving with a friendly and active club. All welcome. Tel: 01183 216310 or email: info@thedivingclub.co.uk www.thedivingclub.co.uk (34392) Rochdale Sub-Aqua Club. Beginners and experienced divers welcome. Full training provided. Pool session every Wednesday. Club has two boats. More info at www.RochdaleDivers.co.uk or call Mick 07951 834 903. (30721) Ruislip & Northwood BSAC. Friendly, active club, RIB, welcomes new and qualified divers. Meets Highgrove Pool, Thursday nights 8.30pm. www.rnbsac.co.uk Tel: 07843 738 646 for details. (34317) Scotland Plug Divers. Small, friendly dive club welcomes newly qualified and experienced divers to join us. Regular hardboat diving around Bass Rock/Firth of Forth/ Eyemouth and trips abroad. Tel George: 07793 018 540. Email: plugdivers@btinternet.com (41273) Sheffield BSAC36. Friendly, social and active dive club welcomes newcomers or qualified divers. Trips, socials, weekly pool and club/pub meetings, club RIB. See www.bsac36.org.uk (33552) Slough 491 BSAC; small friendly club welcomes divers at all levels. Meet at Beechwood School Fridays 19.30. Diving holidays and South Coast. Email: malcolm@uv.net or tel: Tony 01344 884 596. (36329) Somerset Club. Wellington and Taunton SAC dive out of Plymouth on their own hard boat. Training available and all trained divers welcome. Tel: 01823 338 086. www.watsac.org.uk (27222) South Coast Divers (SAA 1150) Portsmouth. A friendly and active club welcomes new and experienced divers from all agencies. Email: southcoastdivers@hotmail.co.uk or call Darren: 07449 794 804. (33718) South Queensferry SAC, near Edinburgh. Two RIBs, gear for hire. Pool training during the winter; trips & expeditions in the summer. Pub meeting at Hawes Inn. Call Warren: 07980 981 380. www.sqsac.co.uk (26812) Tamworth, Staffs - Eurodive Club seeks new members for local diving and trips. Photographic section. Pool sessions 3rd Thursday in local 3m pool. Tel: 07739 208 094 or 07815 745 709. (27388) Teddington Pool, Teddington, Middlesex, Wednesday’s 21.00. Training and good social side. Diving near and far. deepexplorer@blueyonder.co.uk Tel: 07951 064448. (43425) Totnes SAC (Devon). An active multi-agency club, we welcome new members and qualified divers from all organisations. Two RIBs and own compressor/nitrox, plus club 4WD. Diving around South Devon and Cornwall. Visit www.totnes-bsac.co.uk for details. (33642) Watford Underwater Club BSAC. Family friendly, approachable, established and fun club. Portland based 7m RIB. Development & training all levels. www.wuc.org.uk email: info@wuc.org.uk (32056) West Wickham Kent. BSAC 0533. Welcomes new and qualified divers. Active training and diving. Club RIB at Brighton Marina. All agencies welcome. Thursday 20.30 22.00. Dave 07906 837 744. www.wickhamdiver.co.uk (31876) Wiltshire’s premier Scuba Diving Club - the Seahorses. Friendly active dive club, all affiliations welcome, weekly pool sessions, trips UK and abroad, RIBs, socials. Training partner JC Scuba, Swindon, beginners to advanced. www.seahorsediveclub.co.uk (35082) Witham, Essex. BSAC 1159. Friendly dive club welcomes new and experienced divers. Meets at Bramston Sports Centre every Thursday 8.30pm. Visit our website: www.bramstonsac.com (35958)
WEBSITES www.lumb-bros-das.co.uk
www.otterboxes.co.uk
Quality Diving Products Rugged waterproof cases for every environment
www.tek-tite.co.uk
Torches, strobes, marker lights for diving and outdoor pursuits
www.unidive.co.uk
A quality range of masks, snorkels, fins and knives
DCD – Aug 2014_Centre Directory 03/07/2014 12:04 Page 104
DIVE CENTRE DIRECTORY IANTD
FACILITIES INCLUDE:
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PADI Training
SSI Training
TDI Training
IANTD Training
Member of SITA
IDEST approved
DAN Training
Cylinder testing
Regulator servicing
Equipment for hire
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Compressed Air
Nitrox
Technical Gases
Disability Diving
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KENT
ENGLAND
WARWICKSHIRE
DIVE MACHINE
CORNWALL PORTHKERRIS DIVERS PADI 5* IDC Centre. Porthkerris, St. Keverne, Nr Helston TR12 6QJ. Tel: (01326) 280620. www.porthkerris.com E-mail: info@porthkerris.com 7 days a week, tuition from novice to instructor, hardboat/RIB charters, escorted dives, dive shop, beach café, basking shark trips, camping, shore dive.
Unit 11 Orchard Business Centre, Sanderson Way, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1QF. Tel: (01732) 773553. Fax: (01732) 773663. E-mail: robert@divemachine.com www.divemachine.com Mon-Sat 0930-1730, closed Sunday. Friendly, helpful, huge stocks. PADI CDC Centre.
NORTHERN IRELAND
DIVING CYLINDER AND REGULATOR SERVICES
AQUAHOLICS DIVE CENTRE 14 Portmore Road, Portstewart BT55 7BE. Tel: (028 70) 832584. E-mail: dive@aquaholics.org www.aquaholics.org Open 0900-1730. Diving Malin Head to Rathlin Island.
148 Coventry Road, Warwick CV34 5HL. Tel/fax: (01926) 493797. E-mail: dc-rs@hotmail.com Open Mon-Fri 1030-1800. Computer/watch batteries and pressure testing.
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WEST YORKSHIRE THE DIVERS WAREHOUSE
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DIVERS DOWN 139 Babbacombe Road, Babbacombe, Torquay TQ1 3SR. Tel: (01803) 327111. Fax: (01803) 32463. E-mail: info@diversdown.co.uk www.diversdown.co.uk Open Mon-Fri 1000-1730; Sat 0900-1730; Sun 1000-1600. PADI 5* IDC.
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HAMPSHIRE 256 Bridge Road, Lower Swanwick, Southampton SO31 7FL. Tel: (01489) 581755. Fax: (01489) 575223. E-mail: bookings@andark.co.uk www.andark.co.uk Open 7 days, PADI 5* IDC, RYA powerboat, 3.5m pool & classrooms, large shop, mail order, kids parties, Club, helo escape, disabled friendly, 300bar.
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164-192 Cleveland Street, Birkenhead CH41 3QQ. Tel: (0151) 647 5131. Fax: (0151) 666 2631. e-mail: sales@wirralsports.co.uk www.wirralsports.co.uk Mon-Fri 0900-1730; Sat 09001700. Air to 300bar. Diving, watersports, mail order and online shopping. Friendly, helpful staff, PADI Centre.
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MIDDLESEX Unit 1 Willow House, River Gardens, North Feltham Trading Estate, Feltham TW14 0RD. Tel: (020) 8751 3771. Fax: (020) 8751 2591. E-mail: Ghdiving@aol.com Mon-Fri 0900-1800; Sat 0900-1230. ANDI Training.
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FOURTH ELEMENT
APEKS MARINE
15
FUJIFILM
AQUA-FIRMA
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GOPRO
35
ATOMIC AQUATICS
26
MALTAQUA
50
BEAVER SPORTS
21
MARES
BLUE O TWO (MALDIVES)
52
OTTER DRYSUITS
BLUE O TWO (SIREN FLEET)
45
PRODIVERS MALDIVES
BONAIRE FUN TRAVEL
52
PROFESSIONAL DIVING ACADEMY
78
CAMEL DIVE CLUB
81
RED SEA DIVING COLLEGE
51
CAMERAS UNDERWATER
16
REGALDIVE (LIVEABOARDS)
75
DANCER FLEET
26
REGALDIVE (RED SEA)
81
DEMA SHOW
50
REGALDIVE (WORLDWIDE)
49
107
SCUBA TRAVEL (INDONESIA)
75
DIVE SAFARI ASIA
85/89
SCUBA TRAVEL (MALDIVES)
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DIVE SYSTEMS MALTA
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SCUBA TRAVEL (RED SEA)
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SEA & SEA (AQUALITE)
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DIVEQUEST
16
SEA & SEA (BERSUB)
75
DIVER APP
99
SEA & SEA (DIVERITE)
58
SEA & SEA (LIQUIVISION)
16
SINAI COLLEGE
78 13
DIVER SUBSCRIPTIONS: MAGAZINE ONLY
18
RUCKSACK & DIVER TRAVEL GUIDE
101
SPORTIF
TORCH
101
SUB AQUA PRODUCTS
WATCH
105
SUUNTO DIVING UK
108
DIVERS EMERGENCY SERVICE
85
THE SCUBA PLACE
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DIVERSE TRAVEL
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TRUK ODYSSEY
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UNDERWATER CENTRE
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EGYPTIAN TOURIST AUTHORITY
G&H DIVING SERVICES
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020 8941 8152
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MERSEYSIDE
ANDARK DIVING
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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
11 Power Road, Chiswick W4 5PT. Tel: +44 (0)20 8995 0002. Fax: +44 (0)20 8995 5100. E-mail: info@londonschoolofdiving.co.uk www.londonschoolofdiving.co.uk Open 1000-1800 Mon-Thurs, 1000-1700 Fri-Sat. PADI CDC, onsite pool, kids parties.
The Pier, High Street, Swanage, Dorset. Tel: (01929) 423565. Mob: (07977) 142661. E-mail: medina@madasafish.com www.diversdownswanage.co.uk Open 7 days a week during the dive season. The UK’s oldest dive centre.
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LONDON
DIVERS DOWN SWANAGE
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DIVE CENTRE DIRECTORY
Leicester, LE9 4DW. www.stoneycove.co.uk www.underwaterworld.co.uk Sales & service: (01455) 273089; The Dive School (PADI 5* IDC): (01455) 272768; Nemo’s Bar & Diner: (01455) 274198. UK’s leading dive company. Dive “Stanegarth”, Britain’s biggest inland wreck.
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DORSET
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TO ADVERTISE IN THE
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STONEY COVE – THE NATIONAL DIVE CENTRE
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Otter House, 911 Wakefield Road, Dudley Hill Slip Road, Bradford BD4 7QA. Tel: (01274) 307555. Fax: (01274) 730993. E-mail: sales@diverswarehouse.co.uk Mon-Fri 0930-1730; late night Thurs ’til 2000; Sat 09301700; closed Sun. Manufacturer of Otter drysuits. PADI 5* Centre. PSAI.
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ELITE DIVING
52
WAKATOBI DIVE RESORTS
EMPEROR DIVERS
31
WERNER LAU DIVING CENTERS
EURO DIVERS
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WESTFIELD INSURANCE
EXPLORER VENTURES
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WORLDWIDE DIVE & SAIL
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Diver Subs watch rev 0814_Layout 1 02/07/2014 10:50 Page 105
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Also available: SAVE 47% on a 1-year subscription. Pay only £27.95
✹ Depth rated to 200 metres, the Apeks Professional Diving Watch has a stainless steel case and high-quality movement ✹ Features include a uni-directional bezel, luminous face and hands, date window at 3 o’clock, and extra-long strap
(See page 18)
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08/14
Deep Breath AUG v2 Charlotte_Layout 1 27/06/2014 17:23 Page 106
DEEP BREATH
‘I had to practise rescues on tired adult divers’ Twelve-year-old CHARLOTTE BURNS‘ progress as a diver has been remarkable. She can look back on a career spanning all of two years yet packed with experiences
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NSPIRATION TO DIVE CAME FROM my
being so young, but after four or five dives it was more relaxed. I soon felt part of the crew – I know the dive-sites and just keep learning and practising skills, I’m going back to dive there for three weeks this August. I completed the Rescue course for my Junior Master Scuba Diver certification at Alpha Divers in Cyprus. Some dives were around the Zenobia wreck in Larnaca, which was awesome, and the rest were a mixture of shore and rescue-diving exercises. It was exhausting, because I had to practise rescues of tired adult divers. I also met the oldest BSAC diver in the world, Ray Woolley, and was invited to do a night dive with the RAF Akrotiri BSAC club. It was awesome seeing the luminescence in the dark – that dive lasted 52 minutes.
brother Will, who dived a lot when he was younger. He had a picture on his bedroom wall of himself with Jean-Michel Cousteau, who had presented him with a PADI award. I completed my PADI Open Water course when I was 10 and since then I haven’t stopped. I’m most proud of becoming a PADI Junior Master Scuba Diver two days after my 12th birthday and then. two days after that, becoming a BSAC Sports Diver. I’ve had great instructors and help from different ones for most of my courses, and I’ve been lucky to dive in lots of different countries. Before I go on, I just want you to know that I’m still 12, and sometimes it’s like being an alien when I turn up to dive somewhere new, with: “Oh, we haven't got any space left” when they see that I’m young. You’ll see that I have got experience diving in different locations, conditions, temperatures and visibility, in drysuits and long and shorty wetsuits. The only way to get experience is to get out and dive, which I have done and am still doing. In Barbados – in a wreck and (right) turtle release. It all started at Vobster Quay, where I did my Open Water Diver course, with Andark Diving introducing me to the fun of I really enjoy diving in Barbados too. It’s so safe diving. Vobster is an inshore lake in Somerset different to UK diving, with some great shallow that is home to attractions for visiting divers, wrecks and reef diving. including a submerged plane. The water is very clear with lots of wonderful sea life but most of all it was the place where my mum I HAVE GROWN TO KNOW my instructors at Andark decided to learn to dive last year. She was very and have done other courses with them such as nervous at first but always calmed down when she SMB, nitrox and dive-equipment training. I help out was with me. there with the Aquanauts club at weekends and also It was fun for us having new experiences together. at kids’ scuba parties when I can, and this experience Our favourite dive was when we both realised that is helping me to get leadership skills and see other we were swimming with wild sea turtles and had to areas of the diving. invent new underwater signals for “cute”. Every summer I dive in the South of France at H2O I did 16 dives in Oban at -1°, brrrrr, with Puffin Dive in St Maxime. It’s a friendly French dive school. Centre. I got great training there – it’s tough and very Each day I cycle the four miles each way from Port different to lakes like Holborough in Kent, but I learnt Grimaud to Saint Maxime, and the diving is a a lot. I also dive with Isle of Wight Divers, and did my mixture of hardboat and RIB dives. I dive mornings Pier Diving speciality and some drift dives there. and afternoons. At first they were worried about me My ultimate dive was in San Diego, California.
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I was diving with my mum, and we had hired an independent dive guide, a lovely PADI Instructor called Virginia Hatter, and dived with her in La Jolla shores. I was invited by the Chief of San Diego Police John Bolduc to join the elite Specialist Dive Team on an Underwater Improvised Explosive Device training dive on the USS Midway aircraft-carrier. The briefing was intense, because of the dangers of 6m propellers, shafts and rudders, and the visibility was only about 1m so you could get lost. The rules state that all divers must be tethered, and it was a brilliant experience! I COMPLETED MY Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) at Andark, and it was so cool being in a class with pilots and other aircrew! I also helped to run the Scuba Youthzone at the London International Dive Show earlier this year with my dad, and it was great to talk to other kids of my age and share diving stories. I have also spent time getting further experience in and around water by completing my Power Boat 2 qualification, so I can now skipper a RIB. I also completed my VHF Radio and Sea Survival Training – together with the HUET training, it all helps you to be safe. The last course I did was Marine Mammal Medic with British Divers Marine Life Rescue. You learn an awful lot – I did this course with my mum, and we both loved it! What next? I would love to be the youngest ever to dive the Silfra crack in Iceland [see Our Best Dives section], if I can find someone to help me achieve this. I’m a member of Croy-Tech BSAC club in Croydon, and love going every Monday, when we have an hour of lectures followed by an hour of diving. I HAVE TAKEN MY TURN, giving a 45-minute talk on sea turtles in Barbados to everyone, and I loved it. They are very experienced people I can learn from and I couldn't ask for a nicer club. I’m slowly working my way towards BSAC Dive Leader and hope to complete that before I go to university. I’m doing my best to keep learning – so far I’ve completed 21 PADI and 24 other courses. I’m getting as many different experiences as I can because you never stop learning. Just keep practising, there are great people out there to help you. To everyone who has helped me, THANK YOU!
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