OUR CONVERSATION

Diving Talks

Tróia, bird's-eye view

My conversation with Arlindo Serrao, organizer of the International Diving Congress

Wojciech Zgoła: Arlindo, we did diving together 2 years ago. Since then, we have been trying to encourage Polish (and foreign) divers to visit Portugal, which has a lot to show, also under water. Are you able to indicate your favorite dive site in Portugal?

Arlindo Serrao: Only one?! Portugal (mainland) and the Azores and Madeira archipelagos are perfect destinations for recreational and technical divers. My favourite dive site would be the Serra d’Aire region because I love to dive caves, and there we have Almonda and Alviela for cave diving during the summer and Olho de Mira and Pena for the winter diving. However, Portugal offers much more. For diving recreational in mainland Portugal, I would choose Sesimbra; the marine reservation has dozens of different dive spots and wreck dives. The Berlengas where you find the most transparent waters in continental Europe and many dive spots full of life. If you prefer to dive with the big pelagics, I would recommend Madeira or the Azores, base camping, for example, in the Santa Maria island. From there, dive the right spots to meet whalesharks, manta rays, and other species, you name it.

Why do you dive at all and when did you start watching what is happening underwater?

My motivation was, first of all, wanting to breathe underwater and staying there having fun and observing not only life but also the fascinating underwater landscape.

How did your passion develop and did you find enough time to dive while working professionally?

I fall in love with wreck diving, and especially with the incredible feeling you get to experience diving inside the wrecks, visiting inner compartments, such as the engine rooms, etc. Therefore I decided to become a technical diver for the increased opportunities technical diving would bring within. All my subsequent decisions were to learn more and become an increasingly more competent technical diver.

At what point did you want to become a cave diver?

For me, it was a natural decision after discovering the feeling of diving inside wrecks. It is fascinating to dive through submerged compartments, closed spaces. So it was quite a small step to start cave diving. It is incredible, the ultimate diving; the feeling of permanent discovery, the galleries, walls, and of course, all the planning and execution of the dive, give diving a completely different meaning.

Did you first have the idea to switch to a rebreather and then start exploring the caves? Or did you start cave diving and then the natural route was the rebreather diver course and your first own rebreather?

I first completed the technical diver courses to trimix and full cave and after that crossed the road to rebreather diving. Now I am a TDI certified CCR Mixed Gas and Full Cave diver.

Where did the idea for a large diving conference in Portugal come from?

After attending conferences such as Eurotek and watching presentations from world-leading divers, I immediately thought we should have an event like that in Portugal. An event such as the Diving Talks is an opportunity to watch the best of the best divers are doing worldwide and also to meet them, talk with them face to face. That is unique.

Was it easy to put the idea into action?

Yes, it was. I talked with friends, divers and others involved in ocean-related activities, they welcomed the idea, and we started working on the project. After that, we presented the project to the Portuguese Tourism Board that supported the concept and with the Grandola Municipality that has jurisdiction over the Troia Peninsula, and their enthusiasm led us to keep on moving forward.

Center of events, Aqualuz Tróia

Hotel Aqualuz

Hotel Aqualuz

How has the environment reacted? Were such large diving conferences organized in the country before?

I couldn’t think highly of the reaction we got from all the parties we connected with, trying to put all the necessary pieces together. As I already mentioned, the Tourism Board and the Grandola Municipality immediate ”yes, count on us” was significant. The reaction of the diving community was fantastic, too. The divers we invited to come as keynote Speakers, who accepted to join us; some others offering to do so, and the support we are receiving from the brands that are deciding to sponsor the event. Those reactions guarantee that Diving Talks will be a fantastic diving event, if not an important diving event in Europe in 2021.

Who came up with the name for this meeting and why this name – Diving Talks?

We were working on the project, and someone said, ”talking about diving is the second best thing for divers”. The name came up naturally: ”Diving Talks”! And the signature too: let’s talk about diving. We want this Congress to be the starting point of a future Talks continuous event. Our idea is to have the Congress yearly or every other year and from one physical event to the other, to connect the editions, promoting virtual Talks.

What is the purpose of this conference, what do you want to achieve with it?

Center of events, Aqualuz Tróia The purpose is to offer an attractive event with as much visibility as possible, leading divers sharing their experiences with the diving community, network with them, and to promote a vivid debate on other important diving related subjects such as health and diving and technological advancements.

What is the interest in Portugal and in the world?

The feedback we have is an excellent indicator. We are sure we will have as many attendees as we can, and I say this because of eventual COVID pandemic related restrictions that may force us to reduce the number of attendees. We expect to have more foreign than domestic attendees.

Say a few words about the conference itself. What to do to be on it and how much does it cost?

DIVING Talks – Portugal 2021 will occur in Portugal, October 8 to 10. The Congress will feature 22 Talks by powerful keynote speakers from Belgium, Canada, England, Finland, Poland (Krzystof Starnawski), Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United States and Wales. We expect to host over 250+ worldwide attendees during three fantastic days at the Tróia Peninsula – a gigantic dune forming over thousands of years, with the Atlantic Ocean west and the Sado estuary east. Tróia Resort is the perfect site to talk about diving and an excellent opportunity to schedule a family weekend escapade. No need to leave your family or partner behind. We are preparing specific experiences for those coming and not attending the Talks. If coming from far, my recommendation is to arrive one week before or leave one week after, and spend a week diving in Portugal.

Are you afraid that a pandemic will thwart your plans?

I am an optimist, and I believe we will be able to do it as planned. We will integrate all the health and safety recommendations so that Congress is a safe event. However, I’m also a realist, so we have established a particular provision, ”COVID Policy”, stating that if we need to postpone the event, attendees and sponsors keep their rights for the delayed edition. If they cannot attend the postponed event, the Organization will reimburse any amounts paid, deducting only eventual payment channels fees or commissions. We think this is very important because it reduces the financial risk to (almost) zero.

But there’s a warning here too. If you want to come, don’t delay the decision, because as I mentioned earlier, we might reduce the number of attendees because of the social distancing rulings.

Thank you for the interesting conversation and for the possibility of taking the media patronage of Diving Talks by Perfect Diver Magazine.

Thank you, Wojciech, I look forward to meeting you at the Diving Talks.

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