Snooker

very often. We will selectively do shore dives as well, focussing on unusual dive sites which potentially offer interesting topology around Hong Kong.

Diving in Hong Kong offers a great variety of environments – from large boulders at 25 meters at Nine Pins, sloping coral reef at the Main Dam, to pristine marine protected areas in Hoi Ha Wan. Over 50 different species of coral and literally hundreds of different species of fish can be found across Hong Kong, including colourful clownfish, lionfish, angelfish, moray eels, frogfish, as well as nudibranchs and other. Coral you might encounter include staghorn, leaf and brain coral. We have even spotted lagoon rays during night dives. Visibility in Hong Kong usually is not on the same level as in other Asian destinations but can reach up to 12m on a good day.

Once the current travel restrictions are lifted, we will expand our diving excursion across the region. Hong Kong’s location within Asia puts some of the world’s best diving spots within just a few hours of flight, ideal for extended weekend trips. And if one ventures further, truly remote and isolated spots await, teeming with marine life. This might, right now, be somewhat in the future, but is definitely on the radar.

Education

Of course providing education to interested members will be another important part. One goal will be to introduce children to the experience of being underwater – young children from the age of 8 years can undertake various “aqua missions” in the pool, spend a fun day under the water, and earn the respective recognition. This global program has proven to be very popular and we are looking forward to rolling this out over the course of the year.

For those members who haven’t dived in a while we will, upon demand, offer refresher courses. And if other members would like to further their education, we will organize more advanced courses such as the rescue diver course, specialties such as underwater imaging, buoyancy or Nitrox (a special gas mix leading to extended bottom times), and also professional level courses including Divemaster, Instructor and beyond. And if you haven’t yet tried scuba diving, but always wanted to get certified, we can do that too. All of these courses, after successful completion, will result in PADI certifications, the largest and most recognized agency and brand in the diving industry.

If there is enough interest for more advanced and specialized training, we will organize these courses as well, including for rebreather units such as the SF2, or Trimix diving.

A few words about myself – I stumbled onto diving during a round-the-world trip in 2002, which coincidentally included some of the best diving locations in the world, as I was soon to discover. I became a Divemaster on the tropical island of Koh Tao in 2003, and an instructor on Utila in 2004. Later on my job in consulting sent me to Shanghai, where teaching diving on weekends provided a welcome reprieve from work pressures. After arriving in Hong Kong in 2009 I balanced working in finance with teaching diving from beginner courses, advanced courses and specialties to professional level courses. In 2016 I was selected by PADI to become a Course Director (instructor trainer). I am also a first aid instructor trainer, and the Shark Guardian Ambassador for Hong Kong, a UK-based NGO which recently succeeded in banning the imports of shark fins into the UK (and is currently working on getting the same ban enacted in Continental Europe). In Asia we are extremely fortunate to be mere hours away from some of the best scuba diving locations in the world. Diving opens the door to a different set of travel and opens travel locations which one wouldn’t explore otherwise. So, while we can’t easily travel to locations at this moment, maybe you feel it is time to learn something new, or refresh your training from a while ago. Call to action: If you are interested – whether very experienced and passionate, certified but a bit “rusty”, or always wanted to learn but never got around doing it – please fill out the questionnaire at https://www.rhkyc.org.hk/ ScubaDivingQuestionnaire.aspx, and become a part of the Kellett Diving Society! See you soon!

Snooker – KCC deliver some lessons

Snooker Convenor Gordon

Robinson snooker@rhkyc.org.hk

On 8 December they came from Jordan, home of the wonderful KCC snooker suite (three perfect tables, wet bar, full-time staff, ball washer, etc) three highly-experienced cuemen plus a lawn bowls whiz keen to translate his experience of the big balls to the seventy-two square foot green table. Their first trial shots caused some concern: how to deal with the bumps and hollows of our well-worn table? John and Adrian decided that speed would do the trick – hit the balls hard enough and they would scoot over the topography. On completion of the singles their strategy seemed justified with a 3-1 lead, and after dinner they took one of the doubles to go home with a 4-2 win. We learned a lot, not only by watching their expertise with the cue, but also from their wide experience of maintaining their tables and other equipment – they re-cover all three of their tables annually – and look forward to our next visit to The Sanctuary, perhaps next Spring.