Scuba Diver UK July 18 - Issue 17

TRAVEL ESSENTIAL:

Q&A WITH JILL HEINERTH:

DRYSUIT VIRGIN NO MORE:

16-PAGE SUPPLEMENT FOCUSING ON THE EGYPTIAN RED SEA

THE CANADIAN ICON TALKS ICEBERGS, CAVES, CCRS AND WHAT DRIVES HER

WARM-WATER-LOVING SAMARA IRONSIDE SEES THE APPEAL OF THE COLD

CELEBRATING

WOMEN IN DIVING ISSUE 17 | JUL 18 | £3.25

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EDITOR’S NOTE CELEBRATING WOMEN IN DIVING On 21 July, PADI will bring together female divers from across the globe for its fourth annual Women’s Dive Day, encouraging them to adventure together and grow as a community at events worldwide. In light of the upcoming dive day, Scuba Diver has created an issue to celebrate women in diving - from pioneers in the fields of underwater photography, technical diving, publishing and freediving, to archaeology and medical diving, and those who are Course Directors.

It’s no secret that throughout history, scuba diving has been seen as a predominantly male sport, especially right here in the UK. But times are changing as more and more women are becoming certified each year, with many going on to work in the industry and contribute to the underwater world. With countless awards under her weighted belt, Jill Heinerth is one of the leaders in her area of work, a technical cave and rebreather diver, film-maker, writer, and Royal Canadian Geographical Society Explorer-in-Residence.

In this issue, you can expect a fascinating Q&A with her.

Also in the magazine this month, we shine a spotlight on the current top female freedivers, offer a ‘women’s kit special’ Gear Guide, showcase articles penned by female authors on diving Grand Cayman and Cornwall, and include a captivating 16-page guide to the Egyptian Red Sea, home to some of the best diving in the world.

All divers share a deep passion for exploring Earth’s waters.

Now more than ever is the time to unite and demonstrate our collective responsibility to protect them.

LORNA DOCKERILL, Online Editor

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Mark Evans Tel: 0800 0 69 81 40 ext 700 Email: mark.evans@scubadivermag.com

DESIGN

Matt Griffiths Email: matt@griffital.co.uk

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ISSN 2514-2054

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TRAVEL ESSENTIAL:

Q&A WITH JILL HEINERTH:

DRYSUIT VIRGIN NO MORE:

16-PAGE SUPPLEMENT FOCUSING ON THE EGYPTIAN RED SEA

THE CANADIAN ICON TALKS ICEBERGS, CAVES, CCRS AND WHAT DRIVES HER

WARM-WATER-LOVING SAMARA IRONSIDE SEES THE APPEAL OF THE COLD

ON THE COVER

CELEBRATING

WOMEN IN DIVING ISSUE 17 | JUL 18 | £3.25

+

7

Cornwall

p001_ScubaDiverJul18.indd 1

‣ Grand Cayman ‣ Gear Guide: Women's kit WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

PHOTOGRAPHER: MARK EVANS

22/06/2018 07:05

REGULAR COLUMNS

FEATURES

Mission High Water is a success, plus Bite-Back gets a huge financial boost.

Award-winning underwater photographer Ellen Cuylaerts hails from Belgium, but she now calls the Cayman Islands home. Here she gives a personal tour of some of her favourite dive sites.

8 News

28 Dive like a Pro

A panel of training agency experts offer advice on what to buy first when you are new to diving.

42 Underwater Photography

Anne Medcalf discusses colours, and how to use them to bring out the best in your photos.

63 Our-World UW Scholar

Eric Jorda completes his Divemaster internship with the Cornish Diving Centre.

98 The Commercial Diver

Warren ‘Sal’ Salliss looks at the common tools of the trade for commercial divers.

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22 Grand Cayman

32 Women in diving

We talk to women who have found their niche in various diving disciplines, including freediving, technical diving, underwater archaeology, education, underwater photography and the field of diving medicine.

38 THE NEXT GENERATION

Part two of Zac Cuff’s odyssey from young snorkeller to experienced junior diver, plus a night-dive pool session and a youngster who has achieved Master SEAL Team Diver with his instructor Grandad.

47 Guide to Egypt and the Red Sea

Special 16-page supplement showcasing the main resorts of the Egyptian Red Sea and the top dive sites, plus information on the topside attractions of this ancient land.

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CONTENTS

64 ABOVE 18m: Cornwall

Roisin Maddison gives the shipwreck of the Hera the Above 18m treatment, and reckons it is well worth a visit whether you are a relatively novice diver or a more-experienced underwater photographer.

68 FREEDIVING: Women in freediving

DeeperBlue.com’s Francesca Koe takes a look at those competitors who are making waves in the world of freediving.

72 First-time drysuit diver

Samara Ironside was a hardcore warm-water diver, but during a stint in the UK she embarked on her first-ever drysuit dives and is now smitten with cold-water diving.

78 TECHNICAL: Q&A - Jill Heinerth

Canadian Jill Heinerth is world-renowned for her ground-breaking expeditions and photographs/films, often in the most-inhospitable places, and here she discusses what drives her interests.

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GEAR GUIDE 84 What’s New

New products recently released or coming soon, including Fourth Element’s Pioneer swimsuit range, Mares’ rash guard range, Atomic Aquatics BC1, and Fantasea wide-angle lenses.

86 Group Test

The Scuba Diver Test Team press-ganged Smara Ironside into equipment testing for this women’s special, including the Santi E.Motion+ drysuit, Mares Kaila BCD, and Aqualung Phazer fins and Reveal X1 and X2 masks.

94 Long Term Test

The Scuba Diver Test Team gets to grips with a selection of products over a six-month period, including the Apeks RK3 HDs, Santi Diving Flex 360, Aqua Lung Outlaw BCD, Suunto’s EON Core, Momentum Deep 6, and the Aquasketch Minno 1.

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NEWS

Each month, we bring together the latest industry news from right here in the UK, as well as all over our water planet. To find out the most up-to-date news and views, check out the website or follow us on social media. www.scubadivermag.com/news | .com/scubadivermag | @scubadivermag

FEMALE DIVING DUO BECOME FIRST WOMEN TO COMPLETE THE THREE LAKES CHALLENGE A female diving duo from the UK has completed a mission to dive the UK’s three highest altitude lakes in a mountaineering fundraiser, making them the first all-women team to conquer the challenge PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHARLIE PRIESTLEY

S

arah Tingey, 27, and Rachael Priest, 25, both Divemasters from the Southwest, are the first women to complete the Three Lakes Challenge - a gruelling adventure involving diving lakes in Scotland, England and Wales that was initiated and completed by Monty Halls and Andy Torbet for Help For Heroes in 2007.

The pair finished the challenge in just under 28 hours, narrowly missing their aim of 24 hours, but managed to smash their fundraising target of £1,250 - raising £3,180 for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. Sarah said: “We actually reached £2,500 as we set off in Scotland, which was a great boost. It feels absolutely incredible to have smashed our target. It was probably one of the hardest things I have ever done!

“We are the fastest non-military team and the first all-women team ever. The

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next non-military civilian team to my knowledge completed in 45 hours or so.”

Aside from her training dive at Vobster Quay Inland Diving Centre in Somerset with Rachael, Sarah worked hard to secure sponsors from across University of Bristol, where she is studying toward her PhD in Glaciology, through other links in the industry and from friends and family.

“The support from everyone was just mind-blowing and was a real push not to bail during the bad weather in Scotland – we got our heads down and got it done,” she added.

Sarah and Rachael battled snow, rain and gale force winds in Scotland - their first leg of the tour - navigating icy gullies which affected their schedule, then taking on the 14km route back with 30kg of dive equipment.

“The weather in Scotland was terrible and made us slightly behind

schedule after really pushing ourselves to complete the first one,” Sarah said. “14km uphill in those conditions, lumbered with dive kit, is not ideal!

“I always said the 24 hours would be great but our primary aim was making the money for charity and completing it safely. At times, the thought of cancelling due to the weather did cross my mind, but you just have to breathe, think and then act, putting the pressure of failure to the back of your mind.

“It is far more important to be able to come back and tell the story than not come back at all – or fundraise for our own Mountain Rescue helicopter!”

The target time for each dive was ten minutes and 5m. With such difficult conditions, they tackled Scottish lake Loch Coire an Lochain and completed a dive of five minutes at a depth of 2m, dazzled by clear waters in spite of the cold.

“It was just so cold on the

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surface and with the winds, a 4°C air temperature, a 3°C water temperature and being so far away from any help, it was dangerous if we got too cold. In the water wasn’t the problem, but getting changed afterwards could be disastrous if we got our dry clothes wet.”

The English lake, Red Tarn, came with its own buoyancy challenges, but Rachael and Sarah still managed a dive time of 15 minutes at a depth of 3.5m.

Sarah said: “In this lake we could find depth, but we just couldn’t gather enough rocks to sort our buoyancy. The water was about 4°C, but with no lead we were clinging onto rock overhangs or carrying rocks around and bobbing about on the bottom – it wasn’t the most graceful of dives, but it was pretty funny!

“From about 3.5m it got so unbelievably silty that we decided not to go much deeper and experience a siltout. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to see the rare and endangered Schelley fish that live in the lake.”

Finally, lake Fynnon Loer in Wales was a little warmer at 11°C, but

achieving depth was tricky.

“Ffynnon Loer felt like a slog but we managed 80cm in ten minutes – there was nowhere any deeper.” said Sarah. “Rachael and I swam around looking for a slightly deeper patch but we just ended up crawling across algae mats. Our Suunto D4i dive computers didn’t register it as a dive!

However, the screens were great and very visible in the poor conditions.”

The most exhilarating part of the event was the finish line, said Sarah: “I cried with joy – which if you know me is pretty rare. 27 hours 56 minutes of being on the go is tough, but I am so proud of the whole team and all the support from home has made it very worthwhile.”

A short movie about Mission High Water is due to be released later this year, and Sarah has her sights set on another bonkers mission soon.

“There has been a long-standing rumour of another version of some ‘extreme pond-dipping’,” she said.

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The Northern Federation of Divers was created in 1958 and comprised of dozens of clubs sharing their resources and training skills with other less-equipped clubs. It was very successful and many other Federations were conceived across the UK. Norfed led the way in expedition diving, identifying wrecks, raising small boats, raising World War Two aircraft and guns plus many cannon, all of which are now on public display. Norfed divers also acted as stand-by divers for the water speed record attempt by Donald Campbell in Blue Bird.

Diving has come a long way since then, with BSAC establishing itself as a premier club-based organisation and numerous other training agencies shaping the diving industry as we see it today. Sadly, Norfed’s presence declined as clubs began to buy their own boats, training kit and organise their own diving, however a core of divers kept the group alive.

This year, Norfed celebrates 60 years of diving. A new Facebook group page has been created and the aim is to develop into a community of clubs and divers to promote ‘Diving with a Purpose’. To celebrate this birthday,

Norfed have planned a Dive Festival in the North East of England called Nor-Fest, which will take place on Saturday 28 July at Beadnell Harbour and Beadnell Village Hall, Meadow Lane, Beadnell, Northumberland. Those of you who have visited the Farnes Islands will know the village. Visiting divers can shore dive or launch RIBs from the Harbour on the morning LW. From 4pm onwards, there will be presentations from guest speakers, held at Beadnell Village Hall, along with light refreshments followed by a BBQ in the evening. There will be trade stands outside the hall, and the BSAC technical team will be offering help on open circuit and CCR technical diving. The day will come to a close as delegates adjourn to a local pub to enjoy the annual craft beer and jazz festival.

Tickets are priced at £5 each, which allows entry to the guest speaker presentations, a delegate bag full of goodies and free prize draw. To get a ticket and receive updates and announcements, visit the Nor-Fest Facebook group.

THE DAN ROLEX DIVER OF THE YEAR 2018 IS… JARROD JABONSKI Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) and Halcyon President Jarrod Jablonski has been named the 2018 DAN Rolex Diver of the Year in recognition of his contribution to diver training and safety.

According to DAN President and CEO Bill Ziefle: “We received nominations from around the world, and Jarrod stood out because of his outstanding contributions to diver training and safety. It is our great pleasure to recognize Jarrod’s important work with this award.”

As well as his roles within GUE and Halcyon, Jablonski has also served as the training director for the Woodville Karst Plain Project, where he recognized the need to provide enhanced education for cave and technical divers with a greater emphasis on safety.

Jablonski said: “I’d like to express my deepest appreciation to DAN and Rolex for their significant contributions to the sport of scuba diving.

Throughout my career, both DAN and Rolex have remained prominent voices for underwater excellence. I’m very honoured to join such a prestigious group of award recipients.”

With Rolex supporting many of DAN’s activities and initiatives, Jablonski’s award includes a specially engraved Oyster Perpetual Submariner watch.

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INDUSTRY NEWS SHARK CHARITY BITE-BACK GETS SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL BOOST Entrepreneurs from across Europe have contributed £18,500 to support Bite-Back Shark and Marine Conservation, following an exclusive sharkdiving trip to the Galapagos Islands organised by businessmen and shark-conservation fans, Swen Lorenz and Marcel Maschmeyer.

The eight-day trip involved encounters with scalloped hammerheads, Galapagos sharks, Galapagos bullhead sharks, blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, plus spotted eagle rays, sea lions, mola molas, turtles and dolphins in the protected waters around the famous archipelago.

The funds, collected from all participants of the trip through a visitor philanthropy scheme of adding a donation to each package, will significantly boost the organisation’s typical annual budget of around £50,000.

The charity says the funds will be crucial in its campaign to make Britain the first major country in the world to ban the trade in shark products.

Swen Lorenz said: “As a former conservation charity CEO, I know of the importance of backing well-run charities by giving their management unrestricted funds. Bite-Back has an unparalleled track-record in the UK for achieving significant impact in shark conservation on a lean, well-managed budget. We back its founder and want to help him to build on his existing success.”

Marcel Maschmeyer said: “As an avid diver and vegan since 2015, I have focused my efforts towards those species that cannot help themselves, but are crucial to the survival of our planet’s most-vulnerable ecosystems. I try to lead by example, always happy to support those with a passion for their cause and the right ideas to have a lasting impact. Graham at Bite-Back has done exactly that. We hope our contributions help to leverage his existing track-record and allow him to aim for even bigger targets.”

Because of Bite-Back’s campaigns there are already 80 percent fewer restaurants in the UK serving shark-fin soup. The charity also prompted ASDA, Iceland Foods and MAKRO to remove shark steaks from stores nationwide and inspired Holland & Barrett to end the sale of shark cartilage capsules.

Graham Buckingham, founder of Bite-Back, said: “This generous donation will invigorate our campaigns to rid the UK of all shark products by 2022. We can now look forward to launching new initiatives to end the current 20kg personal importation of shark fins to the UK and eliminate the sale of shark meat, fins, teeth, jaws and supplements.”

Unregulated overfishing and increased demand for shark fin soup coupled with a global apathy for shark conservation means that the ocean’s ‘big cats’ could be wiped out, throwing the marine environment into chaos and, ultimately, threatening life on earth.

Now Bite-Back can scale up its efforts to deliver a series of intelligent campaigns that address these issues and highlight the urgency for shark conservation. Shark fans and those concerned about the survival of the species can follow Bite-Back’s progress at: www.bite-back.com, or on Facebook and Twitter.

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INDUSTRY NEWS BSAC DIVER RECOVERS STOLEN PROSTHETIC LEG FOR DISTRAUGHT SWIMMER

A disabled swimmer left fuming after thieves stole her prosthetic leg while she went swimming in the River Tees on Monday 4 June was overjoyed when her missing limb was recovered from the water by a BSAC diver.

Kate Sunley, from Stockton-on-Tees, who lost her leg in 1993 following knee problems, was faced with a six-week wait for a new prosthetic leg to be created. She said she couldn’t thank diver Neil Richmond, BSAC Northeast Regional Coach, enough for his efforts, and was very pleased to be reunited with ‘Pogo’, as her prosthetic was known.

She had been with a group of fellow swimmers in Preston Park, County Durham, and had left the limb, along with towels, shoes and other items, on the riverbank. When they returned from their swim, all of the items were missing.

Kate, who is recognised by the International Ice Swimming Association as the world’s first disabled female to complete the ‘Ice Mile’ race, said at the time that the theft would have a huge impact upon her life. Her plight was shared across Social Media, and diver Neil Richmond heard about the loss in an article on the Incidents in Teeside and Durham Facebook page.

He got in touch through them with Kate, and offered to try and find her missing leg, which it was feared may have been thrown into the river.

Neil said: “I found out from Kate where she had last seen the leg and just started a fingertip search of the riverbed as best I could in the zero visibility – ‘cold coffee’ would be the closest I would say it was like! I search for a few minutes, finding a mountain bike, a shopping trolley (obviously!) and a number of other items before finally I located the prosthetic limb.”

He added: “She was very grateful to get ‘Pogo’ back from the depths.”

ROB STEWART’S SHARKWATER EXTINCTION DUE FOR RELEASE IN OCTOBER 2018

www.puredivinggrenada.com

Sharkwater Extinction, the final film by the late Rob Stewart, is scheduled for release in October 2018.

The Canadian director and conservationist tragically died last year while attempting to collect deep-water footage for Sharkwater Extinction in the Florida Keys, which is the follow-up to Sharkwater and Revolution.

Part of the movie’s soundtrack will include the song Child of the Water, a tribute to Stewart, written and recorded by Chantal Kreviazuk. www.sharkwater.com

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PHOTOGRAPH BY TIPPY BUSHKIN

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AQUA LUNG CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF INNOVATION AND CONSERVATION There are few companies with as rich of a history, heritage, and passion for our oceans as Aqua Lung. Celebrating its 75th anniversary, the company is both known as a true pioneer and the leader in innovative products in the dive, snorkel, and swim world.

A timeline of excellence It all began in 1943 when French Naval Officer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Air Liquide engineer Emile Gagnan developed an autonomous diving system with a demand regulator, (scaphandre autonome) – later named the ‘Aqua Lung’. Prior to this invention, the underwater world was virtually a mystery, craving much needed discovery, attention, and preservation. This was the ground-breaking piece of equipment that made underwater exploration possible, and kick-started the company’s deep commitment to revolutionise scuba diving and continually improve, develop, and acquire products and companies to further the pursuit of adventure, exploration, and recreation on and underwater.

Over the decades, the entire industry has benefitted from Aqua Lung’s impressive timeline of success as they set industry standards for technology, safety and design.

Committed to conservation With 75 years of experience and dedication to ocean and water environments, Aqua Lung is known for its commitment to conservation. While Aqua Lung’s products have empowered people’s ability to discover, learn, and embrace the vast underwater world, the company is looking to the future with a positive outlook on our global oceans. Brand Ambassadors Philippe and Ashlan Cousteau lead the way by raising environmental awareness on a global scale through powerful content, advising on sustainability, and political activism all for the mission of ocean health.

While few companies truly change the world, Aqua Lung was key to unlocking 70 percent of our globe, and through an unyielding commitment to create technically advanced products to pursue their mission, the company continues to lead by example. The future is bright. www.aqualung.com/uk

EUROTEK – DATE FOR YOUR DIARY EUROTEK, the European advanced and technical diving conference, turns ten this year.

“I am delighted to be able to confirm two exciting pieces of news”, stated Rosemary Lunn, EUROTEK Co-founder. “Firstly, we are moving to The Rep in the centre of Birmingham. This purpose-built venue benefits from three-tiered theatres, which will mean that it is a better experience for attendees. Leigh Bishop is currently working on an interesting speaker list, and we will be revealing who will be talking shortly.

“The second piece of important news it that EUROTEK will be held on 1-2 December. We have been told by many divers that they are normally still diving in October, hence we have moved EUROTEK to the latter end of the year”. Tickets will be on sale shortly.

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INDUSTRY NEWS ALL STAR LIVEABOARDS ANNOUNCES TUBBATAHA PHILIPPINES ITINERARIES All Star Liveaboards is pleased to announce its newest member of the All Star Liveaboard brand – the All Star Philippines. This 36-metre luxury yacht has ten spacious cabins with private baths decorated in a retro-chic décor that can accommodate up to a maximum of 21 passengers. The three levels feature the guest cabins, the main salon for indoor dining, socializing and entertainment centre, the upper deck with sun and shade with comfortable chaise lounges and a relaxation area. The bow has a hot tub and sundeck area with the dive deck located at the stern of the boat. Diving is done from two eight-metre custom-designed hard-bottom tenders and crewed by captain and Divemaster.

Based out of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, the All Star Philippines will operate a sixnight itinerary that leaves Puerto Princesa on Wednesday evenings, with a return the following Tuesday. After an overnight voyage to Tubbataha, the remainder of the trip is spent diving the atolls of Tubbataha. Tubbataha is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which ensures the absolute pristine conditions for diving this richly abundant biodiverse area of the world. The underwater life here is spectacular and pristine, with lush hard and soft corals everywhere. This nutrient-rich openocean diving brings pelagics - sharks, whalesharks, mantas, dolphins and whales – as well as many macro-critters.

Reservations are now being accepted for the 2019 Tubbataha diving season, which will operate 13 March – 13 June. www.allstarliveaboards.com/philippines

CORONER RULES BRITISH DIVER ‘NOT GIVEN ADEQUATE DIVE TRAINING’

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A coroner has ruled that a British student who drowned on the Great Barrier Reef while scuba diving for the first time ‘was not given adequate training’. Bethany Farrell, who was 23 and from Colchester in Essex, lost her life off the coast of Queensland in Australia.

Bethany had become separated from her diving instructor but ‘had not been given appropriate supervision,’ said Coroner David O’Connell at Queensland Coroners’ Court.

Farrell, who was a University of Southampton graduate and had studied English and media, died in February 2015 at Blue Pearl Bay in the Whitsunday Islands, just six days after arriving in Queensland for her gap year. While around 7m underwater, Farrell had become separated from diving instructor Fiona McTavish, an inquest in Australia found.

The court heard that the diving instructor had briefly ‘turned away from the group of beginners to negotiate some coral in poor visibility conditions.’ According to the report, novice diver Farrell panicked and reached the surface for approximately 40 seconds, but wasn’t able to stay afloat. Witnesses said they heard her call out and ‘wave her arms in distress’, but the skipper conducting the surface watch did not see Farrell.

An hour later her body was discovered on the seabed.

Coroner David O’Connell made 12 recommendations for the diving industry following the three-day inquest into the death of Bethany Farrell.

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MEDICAL Q&A Dr Oliver Firth has gained considerable experience in the field of diving and hyperbaric medicine since joining LDC in 2006. He is an Approved Medical Examiner of Divers for the UK HSE, and a medical referee for the UK Sport Diving Medical Committee. He is involved in the management of all types of diving-related illness, including recompression treatment, as well as providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy for non-diving conditions.

He remains a passionate diver and has participated in various expeditions and conservation projects throughout the globe.

Q: I’ve been diving for 30-odd years and was a smoker until five years ago (I’m now 48). Unfortunately I think I left giving up a bit too late - I was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) six months ago. The docs say it’s mild but because I smoked for 20 years (an average of 40 a day), it’s likely to get worse. I do wake up coughing and have to clear some fairly putrid-looking oysters in the morning, but otherwise I’m pretty fit (still run and cycle to work). Can I still dive?

A: Your typical COPD case is picked up in those aged 45 or older, with a smoking history of at least 20 packyears. (one pack year is equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes a day for one year, so in your case you have a 40 pack-year history.) Early symptoms such as frequent throat clearing, breathless on mild exertion and an irritating cough are often blamed on aging or lack of fitness. Progression to chest tightness and wheezing may take years, but other behavioural signs may appear first – avoiding the stairs in favour of the lift, taking longer to mow the lawn, etc. Lung infections become more common and severe as time wears on. Your major achievement has been to stop smoking, which is the most important treatment. There’s nothing you can to do to reverse the damage, but at least it won’t accelerate now. Medications can help widen the airways and treat infection. I’m afraid your diving days are numbered though; poor lung function will reduce exercise tolerance and put you at risk of barotrauma. Borderline cases with very mild symptoms and satisfactory lung function tests might get away with it, but it’s difficult to be certain of safety and personally I wouldn’t risk it. Time to hang up those fins.

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Q: As well as being a keen diver I also have a passion for hang-gliding.

I suspect I already know the answer to my question, but I’m going to ask it anyway – would it be safe for me to go hang-gliding after a dive?

I’m guessing ‘no’, but I wondered whether there are any tables or formulas to give me some idea on how much altitude I can gain before the risk of DCS becomes too high.

Surely our venerable Royal Navy or Air Force would have looked into this, but maybe the information is top secret stuff. Can you help?

A: I can’t imagine why you’d want to jump off a cliff and catch thermals immediately after a dive, but each to their own. You are correct – from the point of view of DCS risk, this would be an eminently unsafe thing to do.

That said, there are occasions when people have no choice but to ascend to altitude, for example in military situations. Far from being top secret, the US Navy guidelines are publically available. There are tables therein which enable you to calculate the surface interval required before flying, dependent on the planned increase in altitude and the highest repetitive group designator obtained in the previous 24 hours. If you absolutely must fly, the current generic recommendations are to do it ‘as low as safely possible, preferably less than 1,000 feet’. Although I’ve never tried hang-gliding, I would imagine that it’s easily possible to exceed this altitude, and moreover find it very difficult to control the speed of ascent if you end up in a thermal. Might I suggest a slightly less provocative post-dive pastime – macramé perhaps, or beekeeping?

Do you have a question for Dr Firth?

Email: divingdoctor@scubadivermag. com and we’ll pass it on.

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Next month’s issue:

Next issue available 10th August

SUN, SAND AND SOMA BAY

ABOVE 18m: Dorset

Q&A WITH BSAC’S DAI ATKINS

TECHNICAL: ICE CAVE IN ICELAND

THE CRITTERS OF CORON BAY

GEAR GUIDE: BUDGET BCDS

Lawson Wood returns to Egypt and the man-made resort of Soma Bay The British Sub-Aqua Club’s new National Diving Officer talks about the future Coron Bay in the Philippines is known for wrecks, but it also boasts macro life

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Jeremy Cuff ventures into the underwater delights of Kimmeridge Byron Conroy embarks on an expedition to explore an ice cave in Iceland Wallet-friendly back-inflate BCDs are rated and reviewed

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DIVING Grand Cayman INSIDER’S GUIDE TO

Southern stingrays

Underwater photographer Ellen Cuylaerts might hail from Belgium but she calls Grand Cayman her home, and here she lists some of her favourite dive spots from around the island PHOTOGRAPHS BY ELLEN CUYLAERTS / WWW.ELLENCUYLAERTS.COM

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T

he Cayman Islands offer year-round diving in pristine clear, balmy waters. And I’m the lucky one living here, with a choice of 365 dive sites - one for every day! As there is hardly any industry on the islands and no rivers, there is no run-off or sediment ruining the visibility, and on calm summer days, 35 metres is not exceptional. A water temperature of 26-27 degrees Celsius even gets the most-spoiled diver wet and, although big schools of fish are vanishing all around the world and coral is having a hard time due to human-induced stress factors, the Cayman Islands’ waters seem to have found the secret key to resilience.

I started diving and photography seven years ago and couldn’t stop documenting the beauty beneath the surface of the place I call home, but due to a health break which led to snorkelling with big animals in cold places, I only got in Cayman waters for conservation goals, or when the mesmerising silversides appeared in grottoes.

Until recently, that is - I had a British ‘Cayman virgin’ visitor (RAID UK and Malta Director of Training Garry Dallas) and I couldn’t wait to show him the best spots on Grand Cayman. And guess what? Going back with four years of extra knowledge about coral reef ecosystems and the stress they endure, my appreciation for the local reefs and the life on them opened my eyes even more to the beauty they still hold, and the come back they are making.

My favourite dives are shore dives, since as a photographer you can really choose your dive site and revisit as much as you like. But if you just want to have great and easy dives, boat dives with valet service bring you all around the island depending which operator you choose and where the company is based, since all areas of Grand Cayman have typical peculiarities – swim-through openings bringing you right into the big blue at the wall in East End; grottoes with tarpon hanging around in the Georgetown and South West are; colourful deeper pinnacles on the lesser-dived North Wall; and a bit less visibility but more chance of big encounters in the blue at North West Point.

The Guardian of the Reef

Sidemount through a swim-through

DEVIL’S GROTTO Driving just outside of Georgetown, still close to the port, you can find Eden Rock Diving Centre. A humble blue building (with a recently added bar on the top floor!), but probably one of the busiest dive sites of the Cayman Islands due to the easy access to shore dives Eden Rock and Devil’s Grotto. You might suspect such busy sites to be damaged and empty, but this cavernous area is full of life and surprises, despite recent damage by a cargo ship.

Everywhere you look while swimming out to the shallow grottoes, you can witness young coral growing and older coral restoring itself. Devil’s Grotto is most famous for the summer presence of big schools of silversides, with tarpon and other predators hunting them. Swimming through a silvery curtain opening up in unison and closing neatly behind you, while sunlight enters the caverns and lights the scene discretely, is surreal and a goosebumps experience. But even empty, these countless grottoes and narrow connections never bore me - I could dive this site every day!

LIGHTHOUSE POINT REEF Lighthouse Point is situated on the northwest of Grand Cayman and is the home of dive operator Divetech. This shore dive location offers day and night entries as long as the weather conditions allow the ladders to be out (as on tropical islands, the trade winds can pick up quickly and change the water conditions locally). As long as you register at the office during the day and reserve your tanks, you’re good to go. This side of the island is known to get some of the currents bringing lots of nutrients and surge among the typical ironshore in this area, hence the presence of a wide variety of small critters, bigger schools of fish and some sightings of larger animals in the blue (hammerhead sharks and eagle rays, for instance).

Due to the buoys and markers, Lighthouse Point is easy to navigate and depending on your goal, you can choose a different dive plan. Don’t forget to spend some time with the Guardian of the Reef, a stunning and impressive work of art sunk in 2014 and made by Canadian sculptor Simon Morris. Majestic and silent, he keeps an eye on his reefs, and when you dive near the statue at dusk, you almost expect him to come alive! Or is this just wishful thinking?

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“Swimming through a silvery curtain opening up in unison and closing neatly behind you, while sunlight enters the caverns and lights the scene discretely, is surreal and a goosebumps experience”

Swarm of silversides

IRONSHORE GARDENS

Coral head framed through a swim-through

Seafan

Technically, this dive site is located on the southeast of Grand Cayman, but it belongs to the East End district and can be reached by getting onto one of Ocean Frontiers’ boats.

Ironshore Gardens is shallow (average depth of 9m) and allows a long dive gliding through canyons and swim-throughs so familiar to East End wall diving, except… this isn’t a wall dive, but a very diverse journey through ironshore and coral boulders protecting you from surge, with sandy patches inbetween where stingrays, eagle rays and turtles can be found resting. Meanwhile, schools of horse-eye jacks contrast nicely with the blue, and schoolmasters and mahogany snapper travel over the reefs. Tarpons hang out around or in the wide swim-throughs, and one of the ‘caverns’ is even named The Throat. It’s truly one of the most-beautiful and less-visited dive sites of the Cayman Islands. If you want to dive east, mention it to your operator before you book and maybe they will make it happen.

Pristine sponges

BABYLON Some diehard Cayman Island divers have never been lucky enough to dive the North Wall’s most-spectacular dive, since it’s also almost the furthest to get to, and the north is most prone to heavy winds and choppy seas. But… this one is really worth hitting as a shore dive, especially on sidemount, which I was recently certified in. The swim out is about 500 metres and with one tank you would have to do that at the surface, with almost 100 percent chance of a sore back the next day, but sidemount diving gave us the possibility of a beautiful steady navigation to the Babylon pinnacle, while moving through the water at an Corals and sponges art Babylon average depth of 7-8m keeping an eye on the sandy patches and coral heads below us for unexpected encounters with bigger marine life. From afar you can see the blue getting darker and feel the attraction of the wall. That sight and feeling alone makes the shore entry worthwhile. Once descending to the pinnacle, make sure you have some lights, because Babylon will show you some of the best-preserved sponges and corals in Cayman waters, in an abundance rarely seen these days. The huge fans of black coral veiling colourful tube sponges is simply stunning.

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“As a photographer I’ve always preferred two consecutive dives on the outside of the wreck as I love to witness the changing of the light during the day and the differences in visibility and sand reflections on the Kittiwake”

The wreck is perfect for photographers

Stern of the Kittiwake

USS KITTIWAKE This artificial reef was sunk in 2011 at a depth of 20m, close to West Bay Dock. The aim was to limit the overhead environment by creating big holes at strategic places and offer this as a guided recreational boat dive.

After the passing of tropical storm Nate through the Caribbean in September 2017, the wreck now lies on its port side and was pushed some 6m deeper and very near to some big coral boulders teeming with life.

As a photographer I’ve always preferred two consecutive dives on the outside of the wreck as I love to witness the changing of the light during the day and the differences in visibility and sand reflections on the Kittiwake. In a blink of an eye, conditions can change and your shot set-up can evoke a whole different mood. Apart from my fascination with natural light, there is a school of horse-eye jacks around that when you are caught in the middle can make this static wreck dive extremely dynamic! Normally this dive is only offered as a one tank, but Off The Wall Divers are the way to go, to give you as much time as needed.

The bow of the Kittiwake

Framing up the bow

CONCLUSION As you can read, diving these sites again, over and over, I discover more interesting angles and marine life each time, and rediscovering my favourites on sidemount gives me all the freedom – and time - I need to get the shots! Even if you’ve dived Grand Cayman before, it is time to return once again, and if you’ve never dived around the Cayman Islands, why not? n

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As a new diver, it can be a little confusing as to what order you should buy your own equipment in. This issue, we get our panel of experts to offer their opinions PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK EVANS

M

ark Powell from TDI/SDI said: “More often than not, new scuba students have no idea what their first set of gear should cost. The best answer doesn’t have as much a monetary answer as it does getting the gear you need to make your first experience one worth continuing in scuba. The £100 mask isn’t guaranteed not to leak or fit perfectly, the £150 fins aren’t guaranteed to fit like your favourite shoes, and buying a pre-made kit might not be the right answer either. The cost of your first set of gear will more likely be dictated by what works for you as a new diver than any particular price tag. Masks, snorkels, fins, and even weights, all have their particular appeals. Colour should be second, ‘it’s cool’ should also come second, keeping up with the other guy or girl that has several hundred dives should come second, your buddy has it…

“Masks are some of the most-inciting pieces of equipment. Every manufacturer produces a multitude of shapes, sizes, and colours. First and foremost should be fit and comfort without fail. The colour won’t stop a mask leak; the shape needs to be conducive to your face to help produce a good seal. Once you find the right mask that fits your face then see if they have that mask in whatever colour you want. Masks can be frustrating; you may need to try several before you find the right one. Finding the right mask will make your diving experience so much better. Buying last year’s model can sometimes save you several pounds.

“Surface Marker Buoys are probably some of the mostunderrated pieces of equipment in the scuba industry, but they are extremely important. They only come in a handful of colours and a few slightly different size variations. They can be the simplest pieces of equipment to use or complex enough to connect to external air sources.

As a new diver, you don’t need anything overcomplicated. You need an SMB that that you can manipulate (with or without gloves) that is easy for you to get air into. Some have oral inflation tubes and some have valves that can be a little challenging, depending on your manual dexterity and the strength of your hand. Check them out

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thoroughly in the store and make sure you understand how to work it.

“The sum total cost of your first set of gear will equal what works for you, be it a few pounds or several. Set a budget, comparison shop, and buy what fits best, is comfortable, and works for you. A final parting word about purchasing scuba gear from friends or social media – be very, very careful. Unless you know firsthand how the equipment has been maintained or you can put your hands on it, don’t buy it. Be safe, support your local dive shops, and with the help of a dive professional, you’ll be set up for success.”

BSAC’s National Diving Officer Dai Atkins said: “So, you’ve taken a dive and you’ve caught the bug, the branch membership secretary has surgically removed club fees from your wallet and now you’re on the hunt to accrue kit to take your newfound hobby to the next level – where do I start?

“The local dive shop becomes an Aladdin’s Cave of shiny things, blow-up things, engineery-looking things, stuff with dusty ‘Special Offer’ signs on them – but from the shopping list your new club mates have given you, how do you tick it all off without having to visit the mortgage broker, hide stuff from the spouse, or avoid being sold technology from the last century? And which is the priority item?

“Firstly, do you need it all? You just joined a club, right?

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So they may have several sets of kit that you can borrow or loan for a small maintenance cost that might just save you several hundred pounds while you decide what direction your hobby takes you. Clubs frequently have the core scuba kit like cylinders, regulators, BCDs and weights, and it’s an opportunity to try some different models and styles out before you work out what’s comfortable for you.

“Suits are a tricky one – if you’re in the UK, at some stage you will probably need a drysuit, and this requires a bit of training and you’ll want to be comfortable in it so it doesn’t make your diving needlessly hell, but to begin with you can buy a cheaper wetsuit or semi-dry to hone your other core skills before moving on – during which time you may have found a club buddy who is around the same size as you who has got one you can try first and see if you like it (or that buddy may well have already eyed you up as they have a cheap suit for sale…).

“Reels, DSMBs, line-cutters, torches come in a range of different styles - and the clips! Oh God, the clips! But to save you losing your new toys, it’s good to have something to hold them into your jacket pocket in case you need your hands to do something else.

“Interestingly, one of my first items was a multi-gas dive computer, not the cheapest outlay but it was something that proved a sensible early buy and lasted many years as I looked to future-proof myself.

“Some clubs hold ‘bring and buy’ sales to raise money for their maintenance funds and there’s an opportunity to pick up items for a fraction of the cost - as always, with any second hand kit you buy, get some reassurance that it’s in working order and fit for purpose, you can ask for servicing records or receipts, or just take someone with you to check it over and give it the ‘OK’.”

Garry Dallas, Director of Training for RAID UK and Malta, said: “So, after

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you’ve bought the dive bus, the house with the large air-conditioned garage and every latest piece of dive gear and antiques to fill it, you wake up and smell the coffee. Rationally speaking with a budget in mind, you need to buy the most-important piece of equipment first… confidence!

“Confidence comes in various forms for different people.

Similarly, when you go to your first ball wearing your best outfit, you need to feel confident. Given a £500 budget for new dive gear, ask yourself what means more to you?

“The piece of mind that the regulator set works perfectly underwater, has gadgets, shiny and never been breathed from.

“The wet/dry or undersuit that has never been ‘used’ by anyone and fits like a glove.

“The mask, fins, snorkel and dive knife that fits perfectly and makes you feel a bit like James Bond or Ursula Andress.

“Or the state-of-the-art BCD and tank, because you really feel like a diver now since no one else would own one.

“Each piece of equipment should give you confidence. Renting any of these items may not give you the effect you wanted and possibly not work as well as hoped, so a decision needs to be made.

“For me and those I care about, my life is important! So, in prioritising equipment, reliability would be top of my list, then practicality, comfort/fit and then looks.

“Would I buy something second hand?

Well, if it compromised any of the above, then the answer is no, as it would compromise my safety in the water.

“Much of what I’ve said relates to safety, if it’s not fit for purpose would you let

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your loved ones use it? Be savy, be safe!”

GUE’s John Kendall commented: “For me, the mostimportant bits of diving equipment to own are the ones that you are physically wearing. So it makes a lot of sense for you to own your own mask (that fits properly) and your own exposure protection. In the UK I very regularly see people taking classes in badly fitting and often leaking rental drysuits. A drysuit is not a complex piece of equipment, but it does have to fit you properly, with the correct sized boots and seals. A badly fitted suit will be uncomfortable and could well be dangerous. So that to me is the second thing to buy.

The final part of the beginner’s kit should be a decent set of fins, you shouldn’t try and buy these prior to getting your suit, as you need them to fit the boots on the suit. Pretty much everything else can be rented. Moving past those very basics, I would buy a proper wing and backplate set-up, look for a wing designed specifically for single tank use (anything that suggests it’s good for both single tank and twinset isn’t normally any good at either), and then a regulator set.”

Vikki Batten is a PADI Examiner, Course Director and TecRec IT. She said: “If you’re diving in the UK, a drysuit is usually one of the first items to purchase. I started with mask, fins and snorkel before my Open Water Diver course, then prioritised a drysuit and undersuit because they need to fit really well and you can then be responsible for making sure they are

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well maintained.

Even now, when I travel as a PADI Examiner, the one piece of kit I always take is my drysuit, which is my favourite piece of kit – everything else I’m happy to hire if necessary.

Don’t forget to get proper training in the use of a drysuit and get lots of practice in easy conditions before you extend your limits.”

Emily Petley-Jones, PADI Regional Training Consultant said: “Purchasing new kit is something which is incredibly exciting, especially when you have just certified! When considering what kit to purchase, you should consider what sort of diving you think you might enjoy. In general, start out by purchasing kit for your comfort in the water - getting a mask that fits your face well for most divers would be their first purchase.

Items such as hoods, gloves, knives, torches, SMBs and reels are all items which are great to purchase early on as they are good for diving in the UK and overseas.

“If you are planning on going on lots of diving holidays, then a good dive computer is a good investment. Again, it is worth thinking ahead with this as if technical diving is a temptation for you, then you should consider all the features you should be looking for in a computer above just recreational diving and using enriched air nitrox.

“After that, you should prioritise what you purchase based on where you are planning on doing most of your diving and what type of diving you will be doing.

Some regulators are designed to be lightweight for travel, others are designed for optimum use in cold water. Likewise, there are travel BCDs available, others have lots of weight pocket space which makes them better suited for drysuit diving. The key thing is to research your options and work out what will be best for you.” n

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WOMEN IN DIVING Rachael scootering through a cave system

rachael kendall

THE CAVE/TECHNICAL DIVER

I learnt to dive in 2004 because I was going on holiday to Australia, and did my PADI Open Water Diver course off the Cornish coast. Progressing from there, I knew that caves existed and could hear them calling to me - I wanted to be able to see what was inside, so in 2008 I headed to North Florida to take a GUE Cave Diver class from Jarrod Jablonski (one of the top cave explorers in the world, and the DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year 2018).

I love being able to go to places that most people can’t ever see. Also, caves can often be stunningly beautiful, especially underwater caves, with breath-taking geological scenes.

I’ve been a member of the WKPP (Woodville Karst Plains Project) for many years, and have actively been involved with their exploration efforts at Wakulla Springs, Sullivan Sink, Turner Sink and Sally Ward Spring. I’ve also done several scientific data collection dives with the MCEP (Mexico Cave Exploration Project), where we were working in association with scientists from a number of universities, collecting core samples and surveying passages. About six years ago myself and my team founded the St Georges Survey Project, where we have been doing a high quality 3D cave map of the St Georges Cave in the Lot Region of France.

I’m an active GUE Advanced Trimix and CCR diver, and while I often combine this with the cave diving, I’m actually writing this from an open water project – diving the Mars wreck. Mars sank in 1564 and was discovered in 2011 in 75m depth off the coast of Sweden. Since then, almost every summer, there has been a large exploration and documentation project, and we continue to make new discoveries every day.

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Rachael on the Mars wreck

While the ratio of men to women in diving in the UK is a little skewed in favour of the fellas, elsewhere in the world it is nearer a 50/50 split. Women are just as capable as us blokes underwater, and below we talk to a selection of specialists who discuss their areas of expertise and what got them into diving in the first place WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

Margo Peyton

Margo Peyton

KIDS SEA CAMP FOUNDER

18 years ago, I wanted to show my kids my love of the ocean and travelling. At the time I was a single mom running a company called Caribbean Dive Adventures.

I was gone a lot, working hard and supporting my two kids Jen and Robbie.

So in 2000, I created Kids Sea Camp as a single mother who loved the ocean and wanted to share it with her children and other like-minded families who had stopped diving because they had kids.

If I could sum up in three words what I created for the dive industry, it would be the term ‘The Bunny Slope’. The dive industry created courses for kids, starting at age five (SASY, age eight (SEAL Team) and age ten (JOW certification), but there were not many resorts for them to go to. And the truth? Not many old divers wanted a bunch of young kids running around the docks or in the dive shop. Little did I know that the KSC families would become a sustainable business model for the future of diving and creating new divers.

Kids Sea Camp now hosts 15 weeks in eight to ten countries each year and has become the world’s largest family dive event. Because of the nature of the family-friendly weeks, the KSC has a 75 percent return rate with the families. So once you become a part of the Kids Sea Camp family weeks, you return year after year.

All from a simple idea, showing my kids how much I love family and what the ocean truly means to me.

Champion freediver Sofia Gomez Uribe

sofÍa gomez uribe THE FREEDIVER

Sofía was born on 15 April 1992 in the middle of the Colombian Andes, in a town called Pereira. Far from the oceans but close to the pools, Sofía leaned how to swim when she was four years old and by ten she would start an aquatic career that would last until today. She started Finswimming (a popular sport in Colombia) and through this sport she would discover freediving, first in the pool and then in the depths of the ocean.

In a short space of time she has climbed to the top of the female rankings and asserted herself as a dominant force in female freediving. She has more than 20 national records, nine South American records, six Pan-American records and two World records.

To add to her accolades, she has also been nominated 2017 Colombian Sports Person of the Year, winning the popular vote, as well as winning the Latin American Extreme Sports Athlete of the Year award in the Univision Sports Awards.

She is based in Dominica, where she has perfect conditions for training all year round. Her and her partner, Jonathan Sunnex, run Blue Element, a freediving school located in the calm waters of Soufriere Bay in the south of the island.

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clare dutton

Clare returning from a dive

THE COURSE DIRECTOR

I got into scuba after a Discover Scuba Diving experience in Cuba, the surreal sensation of being the opposite side of the waves. We all remember the first time! That feeling is something I will always remember, and what I wanted to share with others.

In 2014 I started my own dive school, Duttons Divers. I was using various swimming pools around the UK, with the shed in the back garden as the kitroom! Four years later I moved to a ‘slightly’ bigger venue, as the owner of Vivian Dive Centre, North Wales, and was accepted by PADI as a Course Director.

Diving to me is sharing the experience with anyone; to that end I have actively used my role as Course Director to create an all-inclusive dive environment, by encouraging the younger generation into the dive industry with ‘Scuba School’, and creating events such as ‘Scuba Pride’ to support LGBT groups.

Operating in the dive industry as a 25-year-old female Course Director has not been without its challenges. Turning up at the dive centre and the students assuming I am part of the course and not the one teaching it. Comments like ‘I’ve been diving since before you were born’ or ‘How many dives do you have?’ are commonplace.

Dispersing the myth that years in diving is better than hours under the water and in the text books has been one of my missions in the dive industry.

The journey has been worth it. It’s not a bad deal ‘having’ to travel to guide divers around some of the most-amazing parts of the world, as well as witness their first breath under the water, or watching them take the leap from Divemaster to instructor. This is one of the best careers I could have wished for.

Hopefully this inspires some of you young divers out there to chase your ambition and work towards your own dive centres or becoming a PADI Course Director. If you have an empty shed in the back garden, I guess you’re already halfway there!

delia nÍ chÍobhÁin enqvist THE ARCHAEOLOGIST

Delia tending a colleague on an archaeological survey in Gothenburg, Sweden

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I took up diving in 2003 when I was studying archaeology so I could someday get a job as a maritime archaeologist. Through the CMAS dive club at Galway University I took my first dive certs, and I then worked for a few summers at my home town PADI centre in Dingle.

Armed with my dive master cert I then applied to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society and was pleasantly surprised to actually to be awarded with it. So, in 2006 I was supplied with all the dive gear, contacts and generous sponsorship from Rolex for a year of learning. Focusing on maritime archaeology I took dive and underwater videography courses and apprenticeships at some of the world’s leading maritime museums.

Next up was HSE Scuba training followed by a masters in maritime archaeology. By then I had moved to Sweden and in 2010 began working at Bohusläns museum on the west coast. We work with contract (development-led) archaeology underwater around the country.

In 2015 I started a PhD at the Graduate School for Contract Archaeology (GRASCA) where I research digital technologies, both to document archaeology underwater and for visualising our results in new and engaging ways aimed at wider audiences.

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chantelle taylor newman THE MEDICAL EXPERT

In South Africa, Chantelle became the youngest female diver to be NAUI certified and qualified. In 1990, she joined the South African Ambulance Service as Frontline Emergency Response and worked in the control room as well. She has brought together her passions for diving and medicine to increase diving safety awareness worldwide. She founded the Diver Medic Facebook Group and the Diver Medic Magazine. She developed the Diver Medical Technician (DMT) Course for recreational divers for DAN Europe in 2011, a course which Chantelle remains the only one able to teach. She currently works part-time for DAN Europe as the UK Area Manager and is a regular speaker at dive shows around the world.

In April 2016, Chantelle was inducted into the Woman Divers Hall of Fame. Chantelle was the only female featured in Scuba Diving magazine in August 2016 under the title Heroes of Diving.

Her company The Diver Medic has been very successful and she now has a Clinical Director looking after The Diver Medic in the USA. Recently, Chantelle was introduced to Surface Supplied Air Diving where she got a renewed understanding of how much physical strain the divers are put under while air diving. Chantelle continues to work on projects related to dive medicine, safety, research and education.

gill mcdonald

THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER

Patricia exploring a wreck on assignment

patricia wuest

THE MAGAZINE EDITOR

I may now be Editor-in-Chief of Scuba Diving magazine in the USA, but initially I was hired at the title in 1992 as an editorial assistant, before I was certified. My youngest child was only four, and I thought I’d be content in a nineto-five job, proofreading and fact-checking manuscripts.

But then I read a story about diving in the Kermadec Islands, a marine-protected arc of volcanic peaks some 1,000km northeast of New Zealand in the incredibly clear waters of the South Pacific. The story included a harrowing account about being in the water during an underwater volcanic eruption and desperately racing to move the boat to a protected cove, while the crew and divers rode out the aftershocks. It also painted a prolific seascape - massive shoals of blue mao mao, Galapagos sharks every which way, and fields of exquisite soft and hard corals.

I immediately signed up for a local scuba certification class. My mother was horrified. My husband said ‘I’ll stick to snorkelling’. When I told a colleague that the story spurred me to become a diver, he joked ‘It made me want to take up counted cross-stitching’. We all can point to the moment when we made the decision to earn a C-card.

Whether it’s the realisation of a lifelong dream or, as it was for me, an impulsive decision, scuba certification holds the promise of adventure - and is a joy and a privilege each and every time we enter the water. For me, it all began with an earthquake rumbling from the fiery heart of the Kermadec Trench.

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With almost three decades of diving, two with camera in hand, Gill McDonald is a veteran underwater photographer. Gill’s photos and articles are regularly published in marine media, and she is also inspiring a new generation of underwater shooters. As the result of long experience and a strong desire to share her love for the sea, she has created her own tailormade underwater photography workshops and courses, even obtaining an adult teaching qualification to give herself the best grounding to teach people who are keen to learn.

Her very first open water dive in 1989 was in the Egyptian Red Sea. She recalls the arid, dusty desert morphing into an explosion of bright, teeming, colour-filled reef and was immediately hooked. It wasn’t long before she acquired a Nikonos V which marked the beginning of an ongoing journey of discovery and a passion for underwater photography, writing, editing and teaching that has become an integral part of her life. Six years ago, she finally left behind her career in investment banking and launched into the world of underwater photography full time.

Gill served on the committee and as magazine editor with BSoUP, the British Society of Underwater Photographers, for 14 years and is still a member. After three years teaching in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Gill is currently Resident Photo Pro at Aiyanar Resort, Anilao, Philippines. In whatever way your path might cross with hers, you can be very certain Gill and her that you’ll gain from her trusty camera infectious enthusiasm for the beautiful world beneath the waterline and her detailed knowledge of how best to capture that beauty in an image.

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THE NEXT GENERATION

Kids Sea Camp is the undoubted world leader when it comes to children and diving - more than 7,000 youth certifications and counting! - and founder Margo Peyton has painstakingly crafted a series of unique itineraries with unparalleled adventures, allowing families to bond, interact with local cultures, learn history, engage with wildlife and meet like-minded families from around the globe.

www.familydivers.com

GETTING THE URGE TO SUBMERGE (A BOY'S DIVING STORY) PART TWO – VOYAGE TO OPEN WATER Zac’s scuba odyssey continues, and in this issue, Jeremy and Amanda Cuff follow his journey to become a PADI Junior Open Water Diver PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY & AMANDA CUFF / WWW.JA-UNIVERSE.COM

A

fter Zac had achieved his PADI Master SEAL Team rating, he was more than ready to move on to the next stage, but before he reached the magic age of ten – when he would be able to conduct this course – we aimed to keep his interest up by taking him along on more scuba-related holidays and getting him involved in our dive club.

THE BELIZE AGGRESSOR FAMILY WEEK After our successful Cayman Islands liveaboard trip (see Part One of this series in the June issue), we decided to repeat the experience when the next opportunity allowed, this time in Belize. Like before, this charter was one of the Aggressor Fleet’s ‘Family Weeks’.

In Belize, Zac was in the company of three other children of the same age, and we can honestly say that we’ve rarely seen children so happy and in their element, free of toy shops, shopping malls, computer games and TV, just kids being kids, having fun together. My friend Simon, his wife Tonya and son Thomas found this trip to be brilliant. The crew were great with the kids, often taking them off for dinghy rides while the grown-ups went diving.

We watched as the kids practiced their giant stride entries and dive with a SASY (Supplied Air Snorkelling for Youth) set-up, which is a self-contained regulator and tank, but for surface swimming only. With this equipment, a child can thus breathe through a regulator like a diver, check air and view the reefs from above.

As well as enjoying liveaboard life, we also visited Half Moon Caye for a barbecue and nature walk. The island is home to lizards, iguanas, hermit crabs and colonies of nesting booby birds and frigate birds. The kids loved it.

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THE LOCAL DIVE CLUB Attending our local dive club has been good for Zac, allowing him to get to know the instructors while keeping up his skills.

On club nights they bring along hoops, plastic sharks and underwater scooters for kids to bomb around on. As a result of the dive club, he’s also attended a beach clean-up at Chesil Beach and a DDI (disabled divers) pool session, which have been good experiences for him.

SPONSORED KILOMETRE FOR PENGUINS We’ve always encouraged Zac’s interest in wildlife, joining him in the RSPB’s Wildlife Explorers club. In their magazine, they launched an appeal for Rockhopper Penguin conservation, asking members to raise funds to assist in the study of this species’ decline. We came up with the idea of Zac swimming a kilometre underwater to raise sponsorship.

Zac did this on a dive club night and raised £133. He made a splash in the local papers and was even pictured in a subsequent Wildlife Explorers magazine. It was a rewarding experience for him.

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BUBBLEMAKING AGAIN, THIS TIME IN EGYPT Though Bandos in the Maldives was beckoning us back (see Part One of this series last issue), we decided instead to travel out to Dahab in Egypt in 2013, again with our friends Simon and Tonya, and their son Thomas.

Most of the diving in Dahab is shore diving, but it’s possible to do boat diving as well. For the first few days, we would visit various shore dive sites, sometimes with the boys, sometimes not. Zac would get to snorkel the famous Blue Hole with Amanda (his second blue hole after Belize), while I dived with Simon.

Later in the trip, on two days of boat diving, the boys would snorkel the reef where they were lucky to spot a couple of large reef squid. They would also do their Bubblemaker dives, with the highlight being a blue-spotted ray.

Dahab was a great overall experience for Zac and Thomas; riding in the dilapidated pick-up trucks to the dive sites and town, the local culture, the spectacular desert backdrop and riding tatty, bad-tempered camels.

ACHIEVING THE PADI OPEN WATER AGED TEN From a diving perspective, when Zac turned ten years old, the next step was to get a bit more serious. At ten, a child can become a PADI Open Water Diver (of the Junior variety).

The normal Open Water Diver is able to dive to 18m, whereas the Junior Open Water Diver is limited to 12m.

Each week for the duration of the course, we would take Zac to the dive centre classroom for the theory work before they headed off to a nearby pool.

The course isn’t easy for a ten year old, as time is spent in the classroom ensuring that the diver understands what they’re doing (which includes an exam), and that all the skills are mastered in the pool before heading to a real dive site.

He completed his course at Vobster Quay, a former quarry in the Mendips. Compared to most of the water Zac was familiar with, this was different; chilly and murkier, meaning he had to wear a thicker wetsuit and hood, which created a different dynamic. Despite struggling with his ears, he did it; his ‘Voyage to Open Water’ had been completed. With the PADI Junior Open Water Diver qualification, Zac could participate in dives up to 12m, opening up new possibilities.

NEXT MONTH: Zac’s first years as a ‘real’ diver.

39

OUR MISSION: Kids Sea Camp’s mission is to inspire families to dive, travel and explore environmentally and culturally diversified destinations, and thus we have created family-friendly resort packages, activities and tours designed to provide safe, fun and educational vacations to children and their families.

www.familydivers.com

NIGHT DIVE TRYDIVE The team at Robin Hood Watersports recently held a junior night dive trydive. The junior divers – Masie, Lewis, Callum, Sam, Coby, Ruby and Izzy - who are all aged from eight upwards, tried out various torches in the on-site pool, and afterwards were presented with ‘night diver’ certificates, which they were all very pleased with.

Victoria and Carl from the dive team at RoHo said: “We try to do fun dives like this for the kids as often as we can to keep them keen.”

They added: “Well done to our junior divers on this adventure night dive!” www.roho.co.uk

Keeping it in the family Hannah Gunning recently contacted us about her son Beau, who did his first PADI SEAL Team Aquamission back in July on his actual eight birthday.

Since then, Beau has completed all the main PADI SEAL Team Aquamissions, and gone on to some of the Speciality missions- inner space, navigation, night and safety.

Hannah said: “I am super proud of him, and he is even more proud that in his eyes, he was taught by the best instructor in the world, Alex Woods - aka Grandad! It is fantastic he got to complete his training with him and have his name on his first qualification card.”

Kids Sea Camp 2018 Summer Break Family Vacations BONAIRE: Buddy Dive Resort, July 7th – 14th GALAPAGOS: Galapagos Sky, July 15th – 22nd *private charter liveaboard*

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Kids Sea Camp Thanksgiving Family Vacation (NEW) BONAIRE: Buddy Dive Resort, November 17th – 24th New Years Trip 2018-19 Family Vacation (NEW) SOCORRO ISLAND: Rocio Del Mar Liveaboard, December 27th – January 4th, discover the little Galapagos.

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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY

DIVING INTO COLOUR

Blue Duck’s Anne Medcalf discusses the importance of colour in underwater photography, and how you can make the most of it in your shots PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANNE MEDCALF

T

he Rolling Stones were right when they sang ‘she comes in colours everywhere’ in 1967, and nowhere is this more true than when scuba diving in whichever body of water we are in. Whether we are in a vivid Red Sea blue or a Scottish green, there are a myriad of colours that we can use to our advantage as photographers. It may be a vividly coloured fish, or a flash of neon bright on a clam or scallop, and having an understanding of making the most of the colours we see while diving will improve your pictures.

When photographers talk about colours, they use the terms hue, saturation and luminance, and if you edit your pictures in Adobe Lightroom or other editing software, there will be options available to edit all three in post processing. The hue is the actual colour itself, although this depends on the amount of light hitting the subject - this can be why, when you take a picture at depth with a strobe, you may be surprised at the actual colour of the subject, as your own eyes could not see the authentic hue at that depth. As divers, we are always thinking about how we lose the ability to see colours as we descend, so it is something to be aware of; although the hue that we see can be subjective, our eyes can perceive things differently from our buddy, which led to the internet storm over whether a dress was green or gold!

Luminance describes how bright the colour is, this is dependent on the amount of light being absorbed by the subject. This is why when we get deeper, the colours we see appear more muted. Saturation is how pure a colour is, if it is highly saturated it is more vivid and if we desaturate a colour

completely in post processing, we end up with the opposite, a boring mid-grey.

Colour temperature is another thing to consider, warmer colours such as red, orange and yellow tend to jump out at the viewer, whereas the cooler colours - green, blue and violet tend to recede into the background. As divers, we are normally working with either a blue or green water background when we are taking wide-angle shots, so this does work to our advantage underwater.

Colour wheels can be found everywhere, whether for photographers or painter and decorators, and the principles are the same for the underwater photographer as the person redecorating their living room. If you want a relaxing, calm effect you should be using analagous colours, those that are next to each other on the colour wheel. If you want something to catch your attention and stand out from the picture, whether a feature wall in a different colour or an orange fish against the blue sea, then complementary colours are best. These are opposite each other on the wheel and automatically bring a sense of contrast into your picture and ensures that the elements of your picture are easily separated by the eye, making your subject stand out. So if we look at our green or blue water background, we want to find oranges and reds which will stand out, this is why anemonefish and orange or yellow fan corals make such popular pictures. Using interestingly coloured corals and sponges as backgrounds for macro shots also works well.

So how can we use our knowledge of colour to our advantage underwater? Colour links with light, your camera

Crab in Wales – bright red eyes draw viewer in

will only be able to pick up what it can read at depth and, like our own eyes, the camera’s sensor will start to lose colour information the deeper we go, starting with the reds and oranges. If you want to get good colourful images in darker conditions or at depth, then you need a strobe to get the best shots, as this will be able to shed enough light on our subject to show their true colours. Strobes are much better than a video light if you are taking still photographs as it gives a short flash of light that is more powerful than all but the strongest underwater lamps.

If you only have a video light or no light at all, don’t despair, just learn to pick your battles. For wide-angle shots stay near the surface, there is a lot going on in the first 5m of water where the light will penetrate the surface. Reef tops in Egypt and Indonesia, for example, make lovely shots with dappled sunlight coming through the surface to shine on the

colourful soft and hard corals and fish. Otherwise, get close to your subject and take macro shots - more light will be hitting the sensor of your camera the closer you are, as the light has to travel from the surface to your subject and then on to your camera, so anything you can do to lessen the distance the light travels will give you more colour. Using a custom white balance will also help to make the colours pop and be more realistic, a very useful tool if you are shooting in JPEG and not RAW and don’t like to do much post processing. If this is what you prefer, then make sure you have a camera with a good custom white balance mode that is easy to use as you need to reset this as your depth changes - some cameras offer an easy to use and effective mode, while others do not work as well underwater or need a lot of fiddly button presses to get it done, so do bear this in mind and get advice on the best options if you want to work with available light.

When we are using our camera, we need to think about the effect and feeling the available colours give as well as the composition. When we are taking close-focus wideangle shots, it is nice to have a colourful point of interest close to the camera, whether a diver, coral or marine life.

This will capture the attention of the viewer, with the added advantage that the blue or green background will always look more muted due to the lack of light reaching the middle distance, no matter how good the visibility is, and this will give a perspective of distance, making the image appear three dimensional instead of looking flat. Using strobes will help your focal point stand out but using custom white balance and staying in the first 10-15m will help if you don’t

Maldives anemonefish – stands out against the purple which is an unusual colour

BLUE DUCK PHOTOGRAPHY

Last year, Anne founded a new company with her husband Phil and Paul ‘Duxy’ Duxfield. Blue Duck Photography Ltd puts together Duxy’s years of experience within both underwater photography retail and running overseas workshops with Anne and Phil’s knowledge of teaching skills to adults, competitive underwater photography and UK diving. Between the three of them they have every base covered when it comes to underwater photography.

Blue Duck run workshops and courses in underwater photography, photo editing and videography hosted by dive centres and clubs, as well as organised by themselves. Beside training they are a retailer selling a range of underwater photography equipment based on a strong principle of giving the best advice and providing the customer with the equipment that meets their needs and budget. They can be contacted by email: info@blueduckphoto.com

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UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY Thistlegorm winch – orange anthias and rust on the winch make more colourful photo

BIOGRAPHY: ANNE MEDCALF

Anne learnt to dive in 2006 and began taking pictures underwater a short time later with a budget digital camera, beginning to get serious about shooting underwater images soon after this.

Anne and her husband Phil have been regulars on photography workshops run by Scuba Diver’s regular photography writer Paul ‘Duxy’ Duxfield since his first trip in 2010. Over the years they’ve developed from keen amateurs to semi-professional photographers who combine working as nurses with running Blue Duck Photography Ltd alongside Duxy. Anne is passionate about caring for the underwater environment and enjoys spending her dives observing and photographing the marine life in the UK and abroad.

have a strobe yet. Schools of fish come in different colours and the photographer can make the most of this by getting in as close as possible to maintain the vibrance of their colours - think of the distinctive yellow snapper in the Maldives, and how they can instantly take the viewer on a journey to the tropics, or the oranges and yellows of British starfish and anemones.

When we are taking macro shots we can get very close to some of our subjects and use some of the vivid colours to our advantage. Nudibranchs are a macro photographer’s dream as they are mostly slow moving and also come in the most-amazing range of colours, the difficulty is getting them against the right background to let their colour shine, although this is no excuse for those who condone moving critters to make a better shot! A good photographer just needs to use a little thought to protect the marine environment - is the nudibranch moving towards a better background, can you safely change your position in the water to get a better angle, or can you get your camera lower so you can shoot upwards to remove a poor background? If you enjoy muck diving in Indonesia, many of the critters are sat on a very unpleasant-looking sandy bottom, so either use photographic techniques to isolate your subject, such as using a shallow depth of field or a

WANT TO KNOW MORE? GO TO PARALENZ.COM

snoot, or find the brightly coloured creatures that will keep the viewer’s eye away from the muck. Frogfish are a great example of this, a painted frogfish will always stand out.

If you shoot in RAW and use processing software such as Adobe Lightroom, then you will be able to change the hue, saturation and luminance of specific colours after the fact.

You can also remove colours completely by desaturating and leave one prominent colour visible for a different effect.

However, although the software is a very powerful tool that can improve your pictures, there is always something very satisfying about showing your beautifully colourful shots to your buddy after a dive on the camera screen. There is a place for all images in underwater photography, and black and white shots can be stunning but we see the world in colour, and many of us got our first interest in marine life and diving by watching colourful Jacques Cousteau videos or by picking up a book which usually has an eye-catching and vibrant photo on the cover. This explains why we enjoy being able to photograph the wonderful creatures and scenery that we are privileged to enjoy, showing the remarkable colour and beauty that is below the surface. n

Blenny in a bottle – yellows stand out

ScubaDiverUK.ai 1 17/5/2018 14:27:43

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& EGYPT The Red Sea PRESENTS A GUIDE TO

WHETHER W YOU ARE NE RA TO DIVING O E VETERAN, TH S RED SEA HA GOT YOU COVERED

WORLD-CLASS

DIVING

+

Fantastic shipwrecks, vibrant coral reefs, dramatic walls, marine life a-plenty –

EGYPT HAS IT ALL

BUCKET-LIST EXPERIENCES: 12 things you must do or see when you visit Egypt

Children enjoying a camel ride

FROM THE EDITOR The Egyptian Red Sea held a fascination for me right from the moment I first dabbled in the world of diving some 34 years ago. After taking the plunge at the age of 12 in North Wales, I voraciously devoured any literature I could find on scuba diving - and books on the Red Sea were one of my initial discoveries.

I marvelled at images of the underwater museum that is the SS Thistlegorm, the vast swathes of fish shoaling off Ras Mohammed’s Shark and Yolanda Reef, the magnificent sharks on the Brothers and Elphinstone, and the wreck graveyard of Abu Nuhas. I longed to explore these heavenly visions myself - and now I have, making more than 50 dive trips to Egypt over the past 20 years. However, the Red Sea holds such a strong allure that whenever I get back home, I am already longing for my next trip to the Middle East. We Europeans are extremely lucky that the Egyptian Red Sea is virtually on our doorstep. Depending on where you live, a mere three to five hour flight and you are touching down in what is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest diving Meccas.

The Red Sea is our nearest Indo-Pacific diving, and the myriad colours of corals, sponges and marine life that greet you when you finally dip your head beneath the surface will literally take your breath away. And this is before you have ventured out to any of the famed dive sites, which include some of the best walls, wrecks and drift dives on the planet. Don’t let the relatively short flight fool you, this is world-class diving on a par with anywhere else on Earth, so I suggest you make the most of it and head out for some Red Sea action of your own.

Over the following pages, you will find an overview of the main diving resorts, together with some of the top dive sites that can be found in those areas, as well as information on things you must do when you are in Egypt, which will help you plan your perfect Red Sea diving excursion.

Motorcycle inside the Thistlegorm

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAUL DUXFIELD, BYRON CONROY, AND PAUL AND ANNE MEDCALF

Mark Evans, Editor-in-Chief mark.evans@scubadivermag.com Snorkelling on a Red Sea reef

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THE ‘TOP 12’ BUCKET-LIST THINGS TO DO IN EGYPT Dive the SS Thistlegorm

The SS Thistlegorm was a British supply ship that sank in October 1941 after being bombed by German aircraft. She was chock-full of Allied military supplies, including motorbikes, Bren gun carriers, trucks, rubber boots, rifles and munitions, and is now like an underwater museum.

Visit the Valley of the Kings

The UNESCO World Heritage Site Valley of the Kings is a place where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, rock-cut tombs were excavated for the Pharoahs and powerful nobles of the time. It is one of the most-famous archaeological sites in the world.

Ride a camel

You can’t come to Egypt and not experience a camel ride.

Once you are ensconced and get used to the undulating way they walk, it is a quite civilised way to cover rough terrain.

Smoke a shisha

Try local Egyptian food

You can’t spend an entire holiday in Egypt and not sample the delicious local food. There are a multitude of dishes, but some of the best include fava beans and falafel, kushari, veal or lamb kofta kebab, Alexandrian sausages and Baladi bread.

Explore the Deep South

Marsa Alam and beyond is your gateway to some of the best reef diving in the Egyptian Red Sea. Regions like St John’s – famed for its caverns – and Fury Shoals are teeming with marine life and myriad species of soft and hard corals.

Cruise the River Nile

To fully discover the ancient wonders of Egypt, a cruise on the River Nile is truly an unforgettable experience. Most cruises sail between the historical majesty of Luxor and Aswan, both of which are bursting at the seams with ancient wonders.

Snorkel the reefs

Another local favourite that has to be tried is shisha, also known as hookah in other parts of the world. This ornate water pipe, through which flavoured tobacco is smoked, is a staple at many Egyptian cafes and restaurants.

Just because you are here scuba diving doesn’t mean you should overlook or dismiss the many snorkelling opportunities on hand. It is a great way to spend surface intervals, or on any non-diving days. If you have any non-divers with you, use the fantastic snorkelling as a means to get them into the water.

Dive the Brothers

Barter with the shopkeepers

The Brother Islands lie some 60 miles offshore in the middle of the Red Sea and offer some of the most-exciting diving in Egypt. Sometimes swept by strong currents, they display prolific coral growth and boast some serious shark action.

Visit the temples of Karnak

Karnak, near Luxor, was known as Ipet-isu – or ‘most select of places’ – by the ancient Egyptians, and is a city of temples built over 2,000 years ago. The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan and Notre Dame Cathedrals could fit comfortably within its walls!

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The store owners in the souks, markets and main streets love nothing more than a good barter. Feel free to browse their wares, but when it comes to purchasing, be ready to try your bartering skills. You’ll end up with a bargain, they’ll still make a profit, and everyone is happy.

Visit St Catherine’s Monastery

Saint Catherine’s Monastery lies at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai. This dramatic UNESCO World Heritage Site was built between 548 and 565, and the monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world.

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FROM REC TO TEC

Underwater photographers love the Red Sea

The Egyptian Red Sea is the perfect place for all those with a love of the undersea realm. Whether you are a snorkeller or a freediver, learning to dive or a hardened veteran, an open water diver or a technical explorer, the Red Sea resorts of Egypt have got you covered

Snorkelling

The Red Sea boasts some of the world’s best snorkelling. In many places, the reefs rise right up to within inches of the surface, and the myriad colours of the corals, sponges and marine life will delight young and old. The warm waters mean that you can venture in wearing just a swimsuit with your mask, snorkel and fins, but it is a good idea to don at least a rashguard, if only to protect yourself from the sun, as well as give you a bit of thermal protection. Because you don’t have to go deep to see all manner of marine life, the snorkelling is also perfect for children to get their first taste of the underwater world.

Learning to dive

With a multitude of high-quality, professional dive centres throughout the resort areas of Hurghada and the Bays, El Quseir, Safaga, Marsa Alam and the Sinai Peninsula, you would be hardpressed to find a better place to gain your initial scuba-diving certification. Even on the local reefs, where many beginners make their first foray into the Red Sea, divers are guaranteed to be blown away by the sheer number and colour of the corals and fish species. And there is always the chance of an unexpected encounter with a pelagic visitor like turtles, dolphins, rays or sharks, so always keep one eye out into the blue.

Continued education

The Egyptian Red Sea is the ideal spot to continue your rise up the scuba education ranks. Imagine completing your wreck specialty on the Thistlegorm, your drift dive specialty along the front of Shark and Yolanda Reef in Ras Mohammed, your deep specialty on any one of the innumerable world-class wall dives, your underwater photography specialty in the midst of some of the most-prolific marine life on the planet…

The list goes on.

Tech diver descending to a shipwreck

MEDITERRANEAN EGYPT

Finally, for archaeology hobbyists, Alexandria has a lot of ancient history under the water.

This section of the Egypt coastline, into the Mediterranean, is the most-popular destination for history-loving scuba divers - with over 7,000 Pharaonic, Greek and Roman artefacts and wrecks from Napoleonic battles, World War One and World War Two, this Egyptian city offers some of the most-interesting and unique dive sites in the North Africa.

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Scuba diving

Learning to dive in Egypt

Freediving

Way beyond simple snorkelling, freediving is a rapidly expanding sport, and the Egyptian Red Sea has been at the core of this discipline, with the Blue Hole in Dahab, in particular, finding favour with freedivers and freediving instructors alike. Whether you are already a freediver and just looking to explore the rich reefs and spectacular shipwrecks, or wanting to qualify as a freediver, then there are many well-regarded instructors who can help you in your quest.

The Egyptian Red Sea is the ideal playground for scuba divers, boasting some of the world’s best shipwrecks, walls, reefs and drifts, never mind a rich Indo-Pacific array of marine life, so it is no wonder that it is often a staple on many dive centre and club trip calendars.

Land-based and liveaboard trips are a fantastic way for groups of divers to get to know one another, enjoy some fabulous diving and make some amazing memories.

However, the resorts are also perfect for singles, couples and families, so whatever your personal situation, you will also be guaranteed a warm welcome in Egypt.

Diving on a closed-circuit rebreather

Freediving a Red Sea reef

Technical diving

Whether you are an open-circuit technical diver, or have gone down the closed-circuit rebreather route, you will find a vast array of deep-water sites far beyond the scope of recreational divers just waiting to be explored.

From endless walls falling away into the abyss to dramatic shipwrecks below 100m, there is plenty for all levels of technical diver, from those making their first tentative steps into this world, to those who are pushing the boundaries and going deeper for longer. Many resorts have centres that can cater for technical diving, and there are several liveaboards which are well set up for mixed gas and CCR divers.

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HURGHADA AND THE BAYS

Rapidly becoming the tourist hotspot on the Red Sea coastline of mainland Egypt, Hurghada and the Bays, as the area is commonly referred to, encompassing both the city of Hurghada and the surrounding ‘bays’ of El Gouna, Sahl Hasheesh, Makadi Bay and Soma Bay, which between them can offer something for all ages, all budgets and all interests, be that snorkelling, diving and watersports, or golf, relaxing and general tourism

Hurghada

Hurghada is the second largest city located on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, boasting nearly 300,000 inhabitants. Compared to some of the more-ancient towns and cities along the mainland coastline, Hurghada is a more modern-day phenomenon, coming into existence in the last century and thriving ever since. The city now stretches for more than 20km along the Red Sea, though it does not venture too far inland. The city caters for both foreign and domestic tourism, with its long sandy beaches and generally calm conditions proving universally popular.

Given its size, Hurghada is the obvious choice for divers looking for a holiday that combines underwater exploration with topside entertainment. The variety of bars and restaurants will keep most people busy. The other advantage of staying in a city of such size is the choice on offer - excellent deals on both hotels and diving can be found, so it is well worth shopping around. And on the subject of shopping, don’t forget to check out the other delights of the city, such as its bazaar, which can be found in the Dahar area.

Then, of course, there is the airport and the marina. Hurghada International Airport receives flights direct from the UK, meaning that if you choose this city as your dive destination, you’ve arrived as soon as you’ve landed. And the marina wouldn’t look out of place on the French Riviera, with its promenade boasting a cosmopolitan blend of bars, restaurants and cafes, all flanked by the bustling marina.

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Dive Hotspots El Mina. The El Mina was a 70-metre-long Egyptian minesweeper that was bombed by Israeli forces in 1969.

She now lies on her port side in 30m, with the starboard side sitting four metres higher. Penetration is possible, though it can be something of a squeeze in places. For those not wanting to venture inside, there are plenty of holes to peek through.

Abu Ramada Reef. The reef of Abu Ramada Island is a great dive for those who enjoy a spot of drift. The site boasts a reef wall on the east side which is covered in corals and marine life and will hold your attention as you drift by. Big fish, including barracuda and reef sharks, can be spotted by turning your back to the reef and looking into the blue.

Giftun Kebir (Big Giftun) and Giftun Soraya (Little Giftun). These two islands boast a multitude of excellent dive sites. Subjected to nutrient-rich waters, the islands are home to an abundant amount of coral growth and fish species. The islands are featured on many liveaboard itineraries, and if boats with access to all manner of Red Sea sites are stopping off for a splash, it has got to be worth hopping out from Hurghada!

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El Gouna

Swarm of anthias

Conveniently located 22km north of Hurghada, El Gouna is only a four-hour flight from Europe’s major capitals via Hurghada International Airport.

Initially developed in 1990 by the Sawiris family and Orascom Hotels and Development, the tourist resort is now a bustling town boasting nearly 20 hotels, shops, bars and restaurants - all designed and targeted at visiting tourists - as well as plenty for its local inhabitants; there is even a hospital and a school! The basic layout of El Gouna is around a series of canals, crossed by small stone bridges. The town stretches from the beachfront to several hundred metres inland and really is quite a unique experience in this part of the world.

The town has developed significantly since its creation and now even boasts its own Egyptian Premier League football team. El Gouna is easily accessed, making life simple for visiting divers. If you like your dive trips to be well-organised, hassle-free and full of choice (both in terms of hotels and dive centres), El Gouna is certainly worth a look.

The stern of the Giannis D

Dive Hotspots SS Carnatic. This British-built steamship sank in 1869 having run aground on the Sha’ab Abu Nuhas Reef, near Shadwan Island. Having run the ship aground the captain gave the order for people to remain onboard, despite requests to disembark. The ship eventually split in two and sank, claiming 31 lives in the process. Both pieces of the wreck now lie on their port sides in less than 30m and are smothered in coral growth.

Giannis D. The Giannis D lies a short distance from the wreck of the SS Carnatic, another victim of the navigationally dangerous Sha’ab Abu Nuhas Reef. The cargo ship hit the reef and sank on 19 April 1983. She now lies in three pieces - the bow, amidships and stern - with the stern widely regarded as the most-enjoyable section. The Giannis D is very accessible, lying in approximately 24m and reaching to within 4m of the surface.

Sahl Hasheesh

Sahl Hasheesh is one of the fastest-growing destinations on the Red Sea, and lies just 15 minutes from Hurghada International Airport.The community, which boasts a charming Arabesque-style design and a unique selection of top-class amenities, hotels and residences, is situated on a beautiful bay, offering some 12.5km of pristine sandy beaches.

At the centre of Sahl Hasheesh is the beautiful Old Town commercial district, which hosts many international and locally branded shops, cafes and restaurants. It also provides a beautiful seafront promenade that has an exciting atmosphere day and night. Beyond the developed area, the resort is cradled by untouched desert and rugged mountains, which serve as a stunning backdrop to the many riches on offer from this unspoilt treasure.

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Dive Hotspots Abu Haschish. Abu Haschish is the island at the centre of a wide bay close to Sahl Hasheesh.The island was once used as a drop-off point for smugglers bringing hash into the country.

A tongue of reef extends about 1km south of the island and the dive site is at its southernmost tip, where there is a shelf running between 15m-22m before you reach a drop-off benefitting from usually great visibility.

Sunken City. The Sunken City is one of the outstanding attractions in Sahl Hasheesh. This replica of The Temple of Horus, in Edfu, has been constructed partly underwater and partly above the surface, and it makes for a great shallow site which is also visible from the walkway leading to the dock.

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Makadi Bay The modern beach resort of Makadi Bay is a satellite of the larger resort of Hurghada and is very quiet in comparison to its bustling neighbour. Situated along a beautiful natural bay that boasts long sandy beaches, Makadi Bay is ideal for those looking for a relaxed, hotel-based holiday. The location of Makadi Bay, off the road south between Hurghada and Safaga, means that divers staying here can take advantage of a wider choice of diving from some of the best sites in the area.

Makadi Bay also offers a superb fringing house reef which stretches along the bay.

For those looking for nightlife, shopping or sightseeing, the bright lights of Hurghada are a 30-minute bus or taxi ride away. Tours are also available, including the historical sites of Luxor and Karnak, as well as boat trips, sunset cruises and jeep safaris into the desert, closer to resort. There are also state-of-the-art spas, and an amazing golf course, for those days away from the allure of the Red Sea.

Dive Hotspots Abu Hashish. This dive site, the name of which means ‘Father of Grass’ in Arabic, offers everything from shallow sandy seagrass lagoon dives suitable for all levels of diver to dropoffs pocketed with caves that can deliver eagle rays and other pelagic visitors for the more-experienced.

Gota Abu Ramada. Often known by its nickname of ‘the Aquarium’, Gota Abu Ramada is an oval reef, surrounded by a sandy seabed at some 13m, with a couple of pinnacles rising to within a few metres of the surface off one end. The amount of marine life is staggering, and the shallow depth promotes fantastic coral growth.

Pristine coral growth under the dive boat

Photographing soft corals

Dive Hotspots Tobia Arba’a. This site comprises a collection of seven pinnacles that rise from 12m to just shy of the surface. The shallow depth means that plenty of dive time can be enjoyed swimming around and between the pinnacles, each of which boast a veritable feast of marine life and stunning soft corals.

Middle Reef. This dive site boasts a dramatic drop-off often washed by strong currents, which can make for a swift drift past colourful walls, but as you come to the end of your dive – or just want to remain shallow – you can ‘fly’ over one of the most-pristine coral gardens in the region, marveling at the marine life on display.

The idyllic Soma Bay

Soma Bay

Soma Bay’s location is ideally situated on the eastern shores of Egypt on the Red Sea coast just 20 minutes by car from Hurghada International Airport. The resort is an ode to relaxation and recreation, a haven of upscale pampering and leisure.

The 10 sq km Soma Bay development boasts all the amenities, activities and options you would want to have on your dream Red Sea holiday. The resort is surrounded on three sides by the sea, and it boasts some of the most-beautiful sandy beaches in the Red Sea, while the mountains and desert landscapes give the location a dramatic backdrop.

Additionally, the resort boasts top of the range luxury hotels, a championship golf course, a diving and kitesurfing centre and a leading thalasso-therapy spa, which is one of the largest on the Red Sea Riviera. With Luxor only 240km away by road, same day excursions to the Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Luxor Temples and all that the ancient city has to offer are easily done by car or bus.

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Safaga

Massive coral formation

Another ancient port town that has since become a tranquil escape for tourists, Safaga is an unassuming place. Located a short distance south of Hurghada, this is a town for those who want to leave the big city lights behind for bonfires on the beach. Popular with other watersports enthusiasts, such as windsurfers and kitesurfers, Safaga is ideal for those wanting to dive in a chilled environment.

As well as its popularity with watersports lovers, the small town is also a hotspot for sunbathers. Its black-sand beaches and beautiful blue-water bay offer the perfect condition to enjoy the sunshine and whittle away the hours - ideal if your partner doesn’t dive! The mineral-rich springs found in the area are also said to boast healing qualities.

At just over 45km from the international hub of Hurghada, Safaga is ideal for those wanting a relaxed atmosphere, great diving and not too much driving on arrival. The closeness of Hurghada does also mean that if the urge for a night out does arise then there’s a city that offers it within reach. Most people who visit this inviting little port town, however, will find plenty of contentment in the serene atmosphere, ashy beaches and beautiful waters.

Anemonefish

Dive Hotspots Panorama Reef. Plateaus, drop-offs, marine life… this site really does have it all. Panorama is a big chunk of a reef, boasting two plateaus at 18m on both the north and south of the site, as well as a deeper plateau at 30m. The drop-off along the side of the reef brings in all sorts of fish life - you just have to stare into the blue to see it!

Abu Qifan. The ultimate site for drop-off lovers, Abu Qifan is a huge lump of rock that disappears into the deep. On the north and south sides, much like Panorama, there are two plateaus at around 18m. There is also another plateau at 30m for those wanting to venture a little deeper. For those wishing to spot some big stuff, this is your spot.

El Quseir Dive Hotspots The Rock. The Rock is one of those sites that have to be seen to be believed. Atop two humble rock pinnacles lie literally hundreds of red-and-green anemones, all clinging and competing for space. Swarming in, above and around them are an even-greater number of clownfish. It is an astonishing site.

The Salem Express. While more easily accessible for those based in Safaga, the Salem Express is still a site very reachable from El Quseir. This car and passenger ferry tragically sank in 1991 with significant loss of life. The site is haunting, with the loss of life - cars, old belongings - clear to see. Lying in 30m it is a dive suitable for all experience levels, though the harrowing nature of the site may not suit all.

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Not many divers really know about El Quseir. It is arguably this fact that makes the place such a draw. Even the likes of Marsa Alam, which lies further south, have taken over El Quseir with regards to the sheer number of visiting divers. El Quseir remains a secret little gem that lies between the two international hubs of Hurghada and Marsa. The city itself is sizeable and historic, dating back about 5,000 years and with a population around the 50,000-mark.

The diving takes place outside the main throng, however, and there really isn’t much around - a smattering of restaurants and a few hotels scattered along the coastline.

But that is the beauty of the dive-centric outskirts - simplicity.

This is a place you visit for diving. Eating, sleeping and diving are the three main themes of a visit to El Quseir. Evenings can be spent waterside enjoying a cold Sakara, a BBQ or a spot of music in a Bedouin tent, or sat within the clutches of your hotel watching the desert stars.

Everything feels a long way away - Hurghada, Sharm, the city from which you came - and that is a feeling to be revelled in. Located on the main highway between Hurghada and Marsa Alam does, of course, mean that, mercifully, you are not in the middle of nowhere. It also means that daytrips out to various dive sites are both quick and comfortable, a combination that makes for a great stay.

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Gigantic gorgonian seafan

Marsa Alam Marsa Alam is fast becoming one of Egypt’s most-talkedabout diving destinations. Regarded as offering more offthe-beaten-track diving than some of the Sinai Peninsula resorts, Marsa Alam is ideal for those divers who want to do little but dive. There are a multitude of dive centres now set-up in the area, each offering a tranquil oasis in which visiting divers can base themselves, with nothing but the Red Sea on one side and desert on the other. The choice is ample and the quality excellent. While the town of Marsa Alam itself is worth checking out, most of the resorts are set up as mini-villages, where all your diving and nondiving needs are met. In-house restaurants and bars ensure visitors have somewhere to enjoy their evenings, while onsite swimming pools offer a place to off-gas. Trips out to the finest dive sites this particular stretch of coastline has offer depart from onsite dive centres or centres affiliated with hotels, making stays in Marsa Alam about as laid-back as they come. If peacefulness is your thing, Marsa Alam has what you’re looking for.

The accessibility of the area improved dramatically in 2001, with the construction of Marsa Alam International Airport. The development really did put Marsa Alam ‘on the map’ and has contributed significantly to both its development and popularity. Numerous airlines fly direct to Marsa Alam from the UK, though flights to Hurghada and a transfer south do still remain a viable alternative.

Of course, if you fancy pushing even further south, there is always Hamata, which lies 180km south of Marsa. About two-and-a-half hours by transfer from Marsa Alam airport, the Red Sea’s southern-most resort truly is the ‘final frontier’ when it comes to Egypt’s mainland Red Sea coast.

Sunlight illuminates a Red Sea reef

Dive Hotspots Abu Dabab. Abu Dabab is an absolute must for visitors to Marsa Alam. The sandy bay comprises of two reef walls - north and south - which shelter a sandy patch full of seagrass. Shallow and warm, large turtles venture in to graze. Some of the individuals who visit are enormous and quite happy for divers to get up close and personal. If you are lucky, you might get to see one of the local dugongs as well.

Hamada wreck. The wreck of the Hamada, situated at a site called Abu Guson, is a coral-clad gem. With a depth range of 5-15m, the wreck is suitable for all levels of diver.

The ship sank in 1996 on account of a navigational error, and now lies on her starboard side and in two parts. There is also a debris field, which lies between the main body of the boat and the reef.

Marsa El Fukary. As beautiful as this site is, courtesy of its series of ‘mini-canyons’ and curving walls of coral, it is a single anemone that steals the show and makes this site worth a visit. There are a great many stunning anemones out there (indeed, the Red Sea is famous for them) but this particular one is mesmerising - it is psychedelic pink!

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The lighthouse at Daedalus

OFFSHORE MARINE PARKS

The undoubted stars of Egypt’s diving attractions are the offshore marine parks. This collection of islands and pinnacles located in the middle and deep south of the Egyptian Red Sea boast some of the most-spectacular coral growth you will ever see, with the additional bonus of world-class shipwrecks, awesome shark action and the occasional rip-roaring current to spice things up

Daedalus

Daedalus Reef (Abu Kizan in Arabic) is a 400-metre-long and 100-metrewide reef situated some 90km east of Marsa Alam in the middle of the Egyptian Red Sea. The reef itself comes to just below the surface, but there is a small artificial island in the centre which holds a lighthouse that was initially constructed in 1863 and then rebuilt in 1931.

This enormous reef is renowned as a hotspot for encounters with pelagic fish, in particular shoals of hammerhead sharks off the northern tip, with the chance of thresher, oceanic whitetip and grey reef sharks as well. Turtles, barracuda, trevallies and other ocean-going predators also cruise the deep waters around Daedalus.

The sheer walls which drop into the depths are covered in a variety of hard and soft corals, so even if the ‘big boys’ don’t put in an appearance, you are guaranteed some awesome dives looking at the reef itself and the marine life living on it.

Hard coral formations

The Brothers

The Brother Islands (El Akhawein in Arabic) lie some 60 miles offshore in the middle of the Red Sea and offer some of the most-exciting and challenging diving in Egypt. Lying several hundred metres apart, Big Brother (which boats a Victorianbuilt lighthouse) and Small Brother rise up from the depths and are swept by sometimes strong currents, which means prolific coral growth and serious shark action, including oceanic whitetips, threshers and silkies, as well as grey reef and hammerheads. Plus you have two awesome wrecks on the larger island, the Aida and the bigger Numidia. The latter is impossibly clinging vertically to the north wall and drops to over 80m, well beyond recreational limits but metal heaven for technical divers. It is absolutely dripping in soft coral and sponges and makes for an unforgettable sight.

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Gorgonian seafans adorn the wall of Small Brother

St John’s has dramatic caverns

Rocky Island

Some 150km south of Marsa Alam and lying out in the middle of the Red Sea, Rocky Island is very similar to Small Brother, in that is it is a relatively small island completely surrounded by fringing reef which drops sheer into the deep, with the odd overhang and plateau thrown in for good measure.

Constantly buffeted by sometimes-strong currents, Rocky Island boasts walls that are absolutely covered with some of the most-beautiful soft corals, as well as gorgonians, fans, sponges and black coral. Pelagic life seems to flock to Rocky Island, so expect to see grey reef and whitetip reef sharks patrolling the walls, and perhaps silvertips and silky sharks out in the blue, along with occasional manta rays, dolphins and even whalesharks.

Zabargad

St John’s Reef

Close by Rocky Island, some 5km to the north, you find Zabargad, also known as St John’s Island, or Topazios. This island is considered to be geologically unique, as it is uplifted mantle, which rose above sea level after the African and Asiatic continental plates converged, causing rocks in the lower crust to be uplifted. Zabargad has been extensively mined since ancient times, in particular for the gemstone peridot. In fact, it is believed to be the first discovered source of peridot, which was called topazios in ancient times, hence the Greek name for the island, Topazios.

The island, which rises to a high point of 235 metres, serves as a breeding ground for at least nine known species of birds. The most-recent discovery was that of 150 pairs of sooty falcons in October 1994.

Around Zabargad you can find stunning coral gardens in the shallows, as well as drop-offs falling into deep water. Around the north side of Zabargad you can dive on a 70-metre-long wreck that lies upside down in 24m. The whole stern section is nearly intact, complete with stairs, davits, railings and the bridge.

Just 20km southwest of Zabargad and Rocky Island - in an area known as the Deep South - you find St John’s Reef, which is the name given to 14 square miles of diverse coral atolls and offshore reefs sitting just several kilometres north of the Sudanese border.

This extensive reef system has over a dozen known dive sites, including drop-offs, coral gardens and sloping reefs, and more are being discovered all the time. Coral growth is prolific and pristine, and you can expect huge shoals of reef fish congregating on the reefs.

Also look out for the impressive, metre-long bumphead parrotfish, which are typical to the St Johns area. Other ‘big stuff’ includes turtles, Napoleon wrasse, barracuda, trevally, tuna and various sharks, including grey reef, whitetip reef, hammerheads and silvertips.

While not necessarily considered offshore marine parks, as they are now accessible via dayboats and mini-safaris as well as fullon liveaboard trips, the below dive sites certainly sit well above other rank-and-file dive locations, and are deservedly included with the likes of the Brothers, Daedalous and Rocky Island/Zabargad on week-long excursions.

Elphinstone Reef

Located 12km off the coastline, some 25km north of Marsa Alam, Elphinstone Reef is a spectacular dive for experienced divers.

The reef is 300 metres long, and its walls drop to depths of more than 100m. The strong currents make it a perfect destination for drift diving, and the reef is covered with soft corals and sponges.

Common sightings include barracuda, angelfish, grouper and morays, as well as the star attractions in the winter months oceanic whitetip and hammerhead sharks.

Oceanic whitetip shark

Giant moray eels

Fury Shoals

Fury Shoals comprises of several reefs in the Egyptian Red Sea, south of Marsa Alam and north of Ras Banas, which have some of the most-pristine coral growth in the country. Dive sites range from shallow coral gardens to sheer drop-offs, and everything in-between, including the odd coralcovered shipwreck.

The variety of marine life on display is also spectacular, with all the usual reef fishes of the Red Sea and various species of shark, including whitetip reef, grey reef and even oceanic whitetips.

One of the most-famous dive sites in Fury Shoals is called Sha’ab Sataya, which means Dolphin Reef. A pod of spinner dolphins calls this reef home, and so if you are lucky, you are able to snorkel with them.

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Sinai Peninsula

Vibrant soft corals

The Sinai Peninsula represents the birthplace of tourist diving in the Egyptian Red Sea, and places like Sharm el Sheikh and Dahab are spoken of in hallowed terms, as are the legendary dive sites that can be visited from these locations

Sharm el Sheikh

Before 1967, Sharm el Sheikh was nothing more than an occasional base of operations for local fishermen, but it has since become one of the country’s most-popular resorts.

Many of the hotels, bars, restaurants and shopping centres/ souks are based in the Na’ama Bay area, which is the main hive of tourist activity, but increasingly hotels have been spreading further north and south, creating additional tourist hotspots such as Shark’s Bay, Nabq, White Knight’s Bay and Hadaba, among others.

There is much more than just diving here, and visitors on non-diving days will find much to keep them busy, including a variety of surface watersports, quad, camel and jeep desert safaris, Bedouin evening feasts, and sightseeing trips to Mount Sinai and St Catherine’s Monastery.

Titan triggerfish

Dahab

Some 80km northeast of Sharm you find the small town of Dahab (Arabic for ‘gold’). Initially popular with the backpacking crowd, the arrival of international hotel chains and the establishment of other ancillary facilities has since made the town a popular destination with more-mainstream tourists, while retaining its laidback, chilled-out vibe, which sets it apart from other major diving resort areas.

Dahab itself can be divided into three major parts - Masbat, which includes the Bedouin village Asalah, in the north; Mashraba, which is more touristic and has considerably more hotels, in the middle; and in the southwest, Medina, which includes the Laguna area, famous for its excellent shallowwater windsurfing. However, the main reason people come to Dahab is for the excellent shore-diving (though boat diving and even camel diving are also available), and there are numerous sites of merit.

Taba

Near to the border with Israel, on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba, you find Taba, a small coastal town which has developed into a tourist resort, with a wealth of restaurants, bars and shopping areas, known as souks, as well as an array of hotels. The diving off of this area is characterised by colourful bommies smothered in soft corals and sponges, surrounded by a sandy bottom. Combine this with the fact that most of the dive sites lie in less than 18-20m and you have the perfect destination for newly qualified divers, or those wanting to complete their Open Water Diver course.

Topside, for your non-diving days, you can head off into the mountains on a quad-bike safari, partake in all manner of surface watersports, or even take a day trip over to the Lost City of Petra in Jordan.

Dive Hotspots The SS Thistlegorm. The SS Thistlegorm was a British supply ship that sank in October 1941 after being bombed

by German aircraft. She was less than a year old when she went down, chock-full of Allied military supplies, including motorbikes, Bren gun carriers, trucks, rubber boots, rifles and munitions, and is now like an underwater museum.

The Blue Hole. This infamous dive site has tempted many recreational divers to try and ‘dive the arch’, and unfortunately not all of them made it back alive. However, the Blue Hole itself is a great dive for recreational-level divers, and technical divers will love the dramatic swim down and through the archway.

Angel’s Net. Home to an abundance of marine life, this site is made up of two coral gardens between 14-26m. Around the corals you will find large quantities of parrotfish, grouper, moray eels and blue triggerfish. Around the edges of the coral gardens you have a great opportunity to find turtles feeding in the sea grass.

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LAND-BASED EGYPT

The Sphinx

It would be remiss to travel to Egypt and only experience the Red Sea when there is so much history right on your doorstep. Why not combine your coastal holiday with a River Nile cruise, or daytrips from your diving base of operations to one of the world-famous historical sites?

Valley of the Kings

The UNESCO World Heritage Site Valley of the Kings is a valley on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite Luxor, where for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, rock-cut tombs were excavated for the Pharoahs and powerful nobles of the period, including perhaps most famously, the ‘boy king’ Tutankhamun. It is one of the most-famous archaeological sites in the world and has to be seen firsthand to be appreciated fully.

Delve into history

Karnak

The temple of Karnak, near Luxor, was known as Ipet-isu – or ‘most select of places’ – by the ancient Egyptians, and is a city of temples built over 2,000 years ago. This derelict remnant is still capable of overshadowing many wonders of the modern world. The Hypostyle Hall, covering an area of 5,000 sq metres and featuring 146 massive columns, is still the largest room of any religious building in the world, and the great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan and Notre Dame Cathedrals could fit comfortably within its walls!

Abu-Simbel

The very small village of Abu-Simbel lies 280km south of Aswan, and only 40km north of the Sudanese border. Even though it is home to several hotels, it probably wouldn’t factor as a holiday destination if it wasn’t for the majestic Abu-Simbel Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Dedicated to Ramses II and Nefertari, the world-famous temples will take your breath away.

Nile cruise

To fully discover the ancient wonders of Egypt, a cruise on the River Nile is truly an unforgettable experience. Most cruises

sail between the historical majesty of Luxor and Aswan, and within this stretch of the Nile is the world’s most-intensive concentration of temples, tombs and palaces, constructed over the span of 4,000 years. This includes the temples of Abydos, Dendara, Karnak, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae and Abu Simbel, each conceived for their respective deities, further to the tombs in the Theban Necropolis within the Valley of the Kings across the river from Luxor.

The Pyramids and Sphinx

The three majestic pyramids sitting on the Giza plateau outside Cairo are a world-renowned archaeological site, and the Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (and the only one to remain largely intact). Together with the Great Sphinx, this array of monuments and structures is truly awe-inspiring, and one of those places that has to be seen firsthand to really appreciate.

Archaeological wonders and the River Nile

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SCHOLARSHIP DIARY

The Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society is a non-profit, educational organisation whose mission is to promote educational activities associated with the underwater world. It has offered scholarships for over 35 years. owuscholarship.org

BECOMING A DIVEMASTER IN THE SOUTHWEST OF ENGLAND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERIC JORDA

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y first stop in my Scholarship year has taken me to the southwest of England, in Cornwall.

I had the great opportunity to do my PADI Divemaster internship/course at the Cornish Diving Centre, in the beautiful maritime city of Falmouth. I have never visited England before, but I must say that what I have seen so far has captivated me. The southern coast of the country, with its green hills falling into the sea, is truly charming! And the diving is great too! Especially in this area of the UK, there are lots of shipwrecks to discover and rocky and sandy bottoms full of interesting marine life.

From giant spider crabs to camouflaged flounders, skates and plumose anemones, these waters seem to be plentiful with different organisms.

The PADI Divemaster course is allowing me to understand more about the recreational diving industry, from the daily functioning of a diving centre to how to prepare and conduct safe dives with groups in a professional way. I am having the pleasure to be under the supervision of a very nice group of people: Keith Dimond and Mike Bailey, the two directors of the centre, who are guiding and helping me patiently to develop and learn all the skills that I need to dive safely and efficiently, and of course, I am having lots of help from other Divemasters and instructors who are giving me constant invaluable advice! Thank you, Liz, Sophia, Chris, Lucy, Shannon and Harrison for all the experiences we have been through in such a short time. I learned lots from each of you!

Since I have a whole year ahead full of diving adventures, I thought that getting one step closer to professional diving by acquiring this certificate in the first place would allow me to get skilled up with my abilities underwater and feel more confident with the new gear I will be using during the Scholarship. And not only that, but also to be comfortable enough planning and leading a dive safely and independently.

To anyone who wants to dive in the UK, I would definitely recommend them to go and explore the southwest coast!

And if you go diving with the Cornish Diving Centre, you will not be disappointed. The staff are very friendly and the facilities of the centre are also wonderful. They even have a small swimming pool at the back of the building to conduct confined water activities! How cool is that?

I am extremely happy and grateful with all the diving

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equipment I have got for the Scholarship year. Fourth Element has provided me with the amazing Argonaut 2.0 drysuit and the Arctic undersuit to keep me warm and dry in cold waters. I love it! It is extremely light and allows me lots of movement. I also want to thank Apeks for sending me the amazing MTX-R regulator set, which is carefully crafted for the cold-water dives I intend to carry out during my Scholarship. This cuttingedge technology is used by the military and designed to avoid freezing up and free flowing. And also, I like the donut wing WTX-D30 and the pair of RK3 HD fins in a super bright orange colour that they have provided me with. I also want to thank Suunto for sending me the new EON Core Black, which is very intuitive and easy to use. And finally, thank you to Reef Photo and Video, Nauticam and Light & Motion for all the underwater photography equipment that I will be using to document my Scholarship year.

Finally, I want to thank Rolex and the Our WorldUnderwater Scholarship SocietyÂŽ for this awesome opportunity. The beginning of my journey has already given me an idea of what can I expect for the rest of the year, but I think it will be mind-blowing. This experience is definitely changing my life and shaping my future towards the underwater world. n

Eric Jorda

18m

ABOVE

This month, Above 18m moves down to the southwest, just off the coast of Cornwall, where Roisin Maddison takes us on a tour of the wreck of the Hera PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROISIN MADDISON

T

he Hera is an 85-metre-long, four-masted German steel barque, which lies east of Nare Head, just a couple of hundred metres from Gull Rock and sits in about 1518m of water. She sank on 30 January 1914 after getting caught in foul weather off the coast of Falmouth. Her captain got disorientated in the dark and crashed into Gull Rock, taking roughly £30,000 worth of nitrate that was being exported from Chile with her. When she settled on the seabed only her masts could be seen sticking out of the water and her five surviving German crewmen clung to them, taking turns to blow the single whistle they had between them until they were heard and the Falmouth lifeboat came to the rescue. Some 19 men were lost that night, their bodies buried in Veryan churchyard.

Despite the Hera having sunk in relatively shallow waters over 100 years ago, the area is incredibly well protected, only really being affected by an easterly wind. Therefore she is in surprisingly good condition, with plenty of structure still visible to explore.

Being such a sheltered and shallow wreck, the Hera is perfect for divers of all qualifications and is a favourite wreck to dive when the rest of the sea is not looking so inviting.

The wreck is covered in marine life

“Light seeps into the hull through holes in the plating, lighting your way to the other side” 64

ARRIVAL AT THE SITE On one of our weekly Friday night dives out of Falmouth on Gary Fox’s boat the Cornish Pussy, we were very excited to hear that we would not be diving the Volney, or the Epsilon, or the Stanwood for the 100th time this year, no we would be leaving the Falmouth channel and heading over to dive the Hera. I have dived the Hera many times before, but only ever on training dives with students, so I was very excited to get on it with my camera and do some proper exploration.

Hard boat diving really is the most-relaxing way to dive, the wreck is about a 40-minute ride out of Falmouth harbour, so the other divers and myself had plenty of time to slowly get our kit together and ensure everything was ready to put on when we arrived.

The water was flat calm on this day, with the only water disturbance coming from the wake of the boat. Standing at the back of the boat breathing in the fresh sea air, listening to the seagulls flying around us and watching Falmouth disappear into the distance, I knew this was going to be a good dive. Suddenly there was a flurry of movement as the iconic outline of Gull Rock appeared in front of us, and by the time Gary Fox dropped the shotline into the water, everyone was sitting ready and eager to be the first in.

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Exploring the shipwreck

DIVE BRIEFING The Hera is only accessible by boat and a good skipper will drop the shot directly onto the wreck. As it is fairly compact and sitting on a bed of white sand, it is almost impossible to get lost. However, if you do stray too far from the shot line you can just send up your DSMB and the boat will come to you. As the wreck is still a fairly structured wreck, it is important you watch yourself on the metal skeleton, stay clear and if you are going to penetrate the wreck make sure all your kit is neat and that you have a clear exit - the last thing you want is to become stuck or entangled.

Although it is a fairly sheltered dive, unless you want to be fighting a running tide it is still best dived in slack water.

Our dive was on a falling tide so there was a bit of a current, but not to much that we couldn’t stick with the wreck.

The perfect photo-prop

HERA WRECK, CORNWALL WHAT TO EXPECT TYPE OF ‘DIVE’

The Hera is a certified boat dive, with high cliffs to either side, it is inaccessible by shore.

DEPTH

Expect 15-18m, depending on whether you are diving at low or hide tide.

MARINE LIFE/WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR

The marine life varies depending on what time of year you dive the Hera. Generally, the life increases once the water reaches above 10 degrees C, at this point you can find starfish, edible and red velvet crabs, many different varieties of nudibranchs, dead man’s fingers, larger fish such as wrasse and pollock, and plumose and jewel anemones.

SEABED

The seabed is flat white sand, with bits of rusty and sharp wreckage, so be careful - you don’t want to cut a hole in your drysuit!

HAZARDS

In good conditions, watch out for other dive boats diving the same area. Although the dive site of the Hera is protected in anything but an easterly wind, in less-thanfantastic conditions look out for strong currents or large waves. As with any wreck dive, watch out for sharp bits of metal and any nets or line you could get caught up in, ensure you have a dive knife/net cutter just in case. If you are going to attempt to penetrate the wreck, ensure that all kit is neatly stowed and that you have a clear exit.

Awaiting pick-up on the surface

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THE DIVE

“Starfish cling to every uncovered section of wreckage” Nudibranch eggs

If you’re lucky, the skipper will drop the shotline right onto the A-frame, the most-iconic structural part of the Hera. Lying close to the remains of the steering quadrant, the A-frame is all that’s left of the stern. It stands about five metres off the bottom of the seabed and is a favourite with underwater photographers. Another iconic feature of the Hera is one of the engine wheels, which is still recognisable as a wheel and stands up out of the wreckage.

Wreckage isn’t the only thing to be found on the dive however, as the Hera has become a man-made reef, and every structure and pile of metal is covered in kelp, dead man’s fingers, plumose and jewel anemones. Starfish cling to every uncovered section of wreckage and crabs can be found hiding within any gaps or holes. Nudibranchs and sea-hares can be found feeding on and within the kelp, and the hull plays home to hundreds of ballen wrasse and pollock.

There are four sections of ‘piping’ that can be found lying flat on the sand leading you to the main section of wreckage - these are the remains of the ship’s four masts and span an incredible distance under the water. This is where my buddy and I started our dive before finding and spending the majority of our time exploring and sticking our heads into the upturned hull of the ship, which has created a tunnel that you can swim through. It is a very atmospheric part of the dive, as the light seeps into the hull through holes in the plating, lighting your way to the other side. Cornwall is an amazing place to live and dive, we were incredibly lucky on our dive to have a lot of light and amazing 15-metre visibility - the perks of a spring heat wave and a sheltered dive site I suppose! n Dead man’s fingers on the Hera

Peering into the wreck

The Hera is well broken up

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THERE ARE LOTS OF HAND SIGNALS IN DIVING WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR HEART, THIS SHOULDN’T BE ONE OF THEM Book an appointment with a healthcare professional or diving doctor and check that your heart is up to it.

FIND OUT MORE AT RNLI.ORG/SCUBADIVER The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a charity registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SC037736). Registered charity number 20003326 in the Republic of Ireland.

WOMEN FREEDIVING FIN. GLIDE. SWIM.

THE MOST-POWERFUL WOMEN IN FREEDIVING TODAY In keeping with our celebration of women in diving, DeeperBlue.com’s Francesca Koe focuses on those competitors who are making waves in the freediving world PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAAN VERHOEVEN, KALINDI WIJSMULLER AND SAMO JERANKO

I

f there has ever been a golden age for women in freediving, it is likely happening right now. At this very moment in time there are so many exceptionally strong female freedivers competing, it makes me giddy to think of all the possibilities of where each of these individually powerful women will go.

Standing on an impeccable legacy for world-class performances (set-up by the unforgettable Natalia Molchanova), this next generation of female freedivers will be setting records and personal bests that are simply astounding.

And while everyone typically does like a good ‘top ten’ list, for this particular incredible list of talented ladies, I’d rather think of it as a dynamic inventory that will grow, change and expand over time. In other words, this article is not meant to be an all-encompassing critique but rather a provocative dialogue of what many of us have observed as of late in terms of an amazing leader-board, and an overall increase in the number of women with all-around strength in all of the self-propelled depth (ocean) disciplines (we’ll save the pool conversation for another day!)

To organise the contenders among the top-tier female athletes, let’s use a rubric of four categories for depth: Finners for constant weight (CWT); Gliders for free immersion (FIM); Swimmers for no-fins (CNF) and All-around athletes (Triple As) for the ladies who boldly perform incredibly well in all categories, combined.

records of 102m, 103m, and 104m at last year’s Vertical Blue.

Alenka Artnik of Slovenia made her dive to 100m CWT at the world championships look easy, and Tomoka Fukuda of Japan announced her arrival in this august group earlier this year when she realized a personal best dive of 100m in Grand Cayman, just a week after Alessia pushed the world record to 105m. We are just weeks away from the start of OriginECN Vertical Blue 2018, where all four of these current contenders in CWT will be competing together at the same time, for the first time ever. Whatever happens you can be sure it will be electrifying.

Alenka Artnik

FINNERS The discipline of Constant Weight (CWT) has become the real bleeding-edge of advancement for women’s freediving. Natalia Molchanova was the first woman to break the 100m glass ceiling, but since that time four other women have not only joined the club but pushed the limits even further.

Hanako Hirose of Japan and Alessia Zecchini of Italy battled back and forth with consecutive world

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GLIDERS Slowing your heart and mind to the perfect pace to be able to pull yourself up and down a line for free-immersion (FIM) can be trickier than it looks - timing and relaxation are key.

Jeanine Grasmeijer of the Netherlands is the current world record holder in FIM at a depth of 92m, but she has plenty of company nipping closely at her heels as Sofia Gomez Uribe of Colombia, Sayuri Kinoshita of Japan and Jessea Lu of China are just 6m off of her personal best at 86m - and Alessia Zecchini of Italy is creeping even closer within 4m at 88m.

What makes this race even more interesting is the variability in the styles in which these athletes approach this discipline.

Alessia is fuelled by determination, Sofia is a fine-tuned athlete, and Sayuri is demonstrably dedicated to her training, while then on the other hand you have Jessea, who has never trained as a swimmer and doesn’t consider herself an athlete, and Jeanine who is a natural talent.

Sayuri prepares on the surface

Alessia in Deans Blue Hole

SWIMMERS

The present and future of female freediving

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The gruelling discipline of no-fins (CNF) is not for the faint of heart. It is what many people deem the ‘purest’ form of freediving and requires the most mental and physical strength to truly compete at a world-class level. This is the reason that there a fewer names to pull out of the hat. The current world record holder Sayuri Kinoshita of Japan has had virtually no competition within striking distance of her 72m since she set it back in the spring of 2016.

Amber Bourke of Australia gave it a go this past March but ultimately did not reach the promise-land of world record white card. However, Bourke does remain the second deepest active female in the category with an Aussie national record of 68m CNF. The next pair of female freedivers in the category have both taken time off recently from the competitive circuit to focus instead on motherhood. Ashley Chapman (nee Futral) of USA and Alena Konecna (nee Zabloudilova) of Czech Republic, were dominating the no-fins field back in 2012 with respective dives to 67m CNF (a world record for Chapman) and 65m for Alena, but it remains to be seen if they are to make a return to the arena and IF they do... IF they will still be in fighting form. There are three potential ‘sleepers’ of the discipline, who might just make their presence known this year if Nataliia Zharkova , Sofia Gomez Uribe or Jessea Lu decide to focus on improving the 60m depth they all share.

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WOMEN FREEDIVING Amber attempts no-fins

Sayuri rising

ALL-AROUND ATHLETES

Champion ladies (L to R) Alessia Zechini, Alenka Artnik, Nataliia Zharkova

To excel in one category of apnea takes patience, time and practice, but to be a triple-threat, a ‘Triple A’ contender is even more daunting as the techniques and methods for perfecting one discipline may clash with the requirements of another. Sheer finesse and inner fortitude is what the following four females all share. Sofia Gomez Uribe of Colombia, Kate Middleton of New Zealand (by way of Canada), Sayuri Kinoshita of Japan and Natalia Zharkova of Ukraine are all amazing freedivers who hold myriad records, but what’s most impressive is their ability to succeed in all of the depth disciplines - and the pace at which each of them has progressed in just a few years’ time.

The mastery in which they apply their skills to the varying disciplines is nothing short of astonishing; to be in the top ten in at least two or usually all three depth categories manifests their unique and adaptable strength. To visualise it in another way, just imagine that every time one of these powerful ladies attempts a target depth, they are actually diving down (and propelling themselves back with only the air in their lungs) the average distance of the height of the Big Ben clock-tower of London!

It will be very interesting to see where and when each of these ladies decides to focus their efforts, because that will be game-changing.

Join me in applauding all of their impressive efforts so far; with some premiere competitions coming up shortly on the 2018 competitive calendar, we are all holding our breath to see what seismic shifts will occur on the ladies’ leader-board, but one thing is for sure - it will be awesome. n

Hanako and Sayuri playing in the shallows

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COLD -WATER

CALLING 18-year-old Canadian Samara Ironside has dived in some exotic locations, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos, but she had never been tempted by cold water. With university in Victoria, British Columbia, looming in September - and some of the world’s best temperate water diving on hand - she finally took the plunge in a drysuit PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK EVANS

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S

ince my first dive in open water, I knew scuba diving would be a lifelong passion. I felt my life open up to a whole new world, but what I didn’t realise was that I was still blind to over half of that world. Many people are under the impression that all beautiful diving is in warm water, but that is not the case, and as I began to delve into what lay in the waters surrounding my soon-to-be-university town of Victoria, on Vancouver Island, I knew I could not let these unseen wonders pass me by. It was time to toughen up and don a drysuit!

In the depths of Vivian - and still smiling

HOW IT ALL BEGAN On a six-month family voyage Down Under, I began my diving adventures. At the age of 13, I was taken under the wing of scuba instructor Michael Haselbacher at ProDive Coogee, in Sydney, Australia. Michael was pivotal in setting my diving career into motion. Within two months of my first dive - under fantastic guidance - I had progressed into a Junior Advanced Open Water Diver with upwards of 30 dives under my belt, and an ever-growing infatuation for the sport. I went on to dive areas such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, the Galapagos and Panama. Living in the land-locked prairies of Western Canada, I felt as though my diving opportunities

Samara and Mark about to go diving

were limited to vacations and other instances of travel - until I was introduced to the expa nsive world of cold-water diving.

Before stepping into cold water, I was predisposed to a lot of qualms about drysuit diving. When I thought of a drysuit diver, the image appeared in my head of burly, old, seasoned divers, lacking hair, and overflowing with pretensions of superiority. I saw it as this daunting art, for only the ‘hardcore’. This is not to say that drysuit, and cold water diving, are not hardcore, I believe they are, however for the passionate and capable, this should be encouraging rather than discouraging.

Being a young, female Rescue Diver with relatively little experience and confidence, I immediately thought cold-water diving wouldn’t be a fit for me. However, that all changed when I spent three weeks in the UK doing work experience on Scuba Diver magazine. When I was introduced to Editor-inChief Mark Evans (part of our Canadian clan through marriage to my cousin Penney), my perspective began to shift. His confidence in me shaped my own, and I soon realised that my assumptions were false, and that cold-water diving is enticing for seasoned divers and new divers alike. After getting an inside look at this world, I have developed a strong desire to show young, apprehensive divers, like myself, that they too can become involved - and should not be lily-livered without a valid reason.

Picturesque Vivian Quarry

“Although the style of diving is completely different, all of the things that drew me to diving in the first place were still prominent, and I even found some new things which will motivate me to continue cold-water diving in the future” WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

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DIVING DRY FOR THE FIRST TIME One of my main concerns about drysuit diving was that I imagined it would be heavy, difficult to move in, and would be quite ‘baggy’, prompting fears of air migrating around inside as I dived and catapulting me to the surface feet-first!

However, Mark had decided to use me as a test diver for this issue, and so had ‘ordered in’ a selection of women-specific dive kit, including a Santi e-Motion+ drysuit and Flex360 undersuit. I couldn’t believe it when I tried it on – it fit like a glove, and I now understood why Santi were so emphatic that they needed a vast array of body measurements. My fears were immediately allayed – it was not restrictive or difficult to move around in, and together with the ultra-warm undersuit, it fit snugly. (Ed: You can read more about the Santi drysuit and undersuit on pages 86-88).

Mark gave me a thorough briefing before we went for our first drysuit dive, explaining about inflator valves and dump valves, putting in enough gas to eliminate squeeze, etc, but I was still not prepared for the bizarre feeling of walking into water and not getting wet! All I can describe it like is when you put your hand into water inside a plastic bag – you can feel the pressure of the water, but somewhat ‘removed’ through the bag. In a drysuit, it was just the same – except for almost your whole body!

My first experience of drysuit diving was in the shallow water off Ravenspoint, in Trearddur Bay, Anglesey, North Wales. The visibility of some five or six metres and temperatures in the low teens was apparently good for the area, but for me it was some of the lowest I had experienced!

However, the dramatic rocky topography above water was matched by an underwater vista unlike anything I had ever seen before. I was entranced by the strange colours and patterns on the large rocks I was surrounded by, they shifted almost instantaneously from a deep shade of black with specks of gold to a brilliant purple, nearly fluorescence.

Though my mask was approaching its maximum fogging potential – due to my unwillingness to clear it because I was wearing a hood, and with this and my long hair, I thought it was bound to complicate the re-sealing process! – I was still able to spot some small crustaceans, including lobster, edible crabs, velvet swimming crabs and prawns, as well as gobies and blennies.

As this was my first experience in a drysuit, Mark kept us in the shallows – we did not get any deeper than 5-6m – and so I struggled somewhat with my buoyancy as I was conscious of not putting too much air into my suit to combat any squeeze for fear of floating upwards. Adding another factor into your mind while diving does take some adjustment, but I soon learned that being cautious and being scared are two different feelings.

My second drysuit dive was off Newry Beach in Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales, this time alongside Mark and Anglesey Divers’ Martin Sampson, who was using the dive as his first foray into the water after a few months lay-off.

Off the coast of North Wales

Demonstrating buoyancy control in Vivian’s ‘tunnel’

“It all seems overwhelming in theory, but when it comes to application, it becomes second nature before you know it” 74

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new in ladies first line SUMMER UNDERSUIT

As I geared up to enter the water, I noticed things were getting easier. This was my fourth time dressed up in my drysuit, and squeezing into all the seals and getting all the large zippers zipped seemed less of a chore. Entering the water I found the same thing; in a small way, I felt as though I was learning to dive all over again. It all seems overwhelming in theory, but when it comes to application, it becomes second nature before you know it. Ensuring to inflate my drysuit only to avoid suit-squeeze, and using my BCD to control buoyancy as usual, I found myself much more comfortable and had few issues.

Martin gave us a guided tour, and again I was amazed at the rich variation of colours in the seaweed adorning the rocky seabed. At a depth of 8-9m, this gave way to a gloopy mud-like terrain, and tested my finning skills to avoid stirring up the bottom. It was worth heading out into this moon-like expanse, however, as Martin pointed out delicate sea pens, and then on our way back over the seaweed, we encountered two dogfish, as well as several crabs and prawns.

My third and fourth drysuit dives took place in Vivian Quarry, in Llanberis, North Wales. With an expected 8 degrees C bottom temperature, I was desperately thinking warm thoughts before and during the dive, but my toasty Flex360 undersuit helped stave off most of the chill, and it was only towards the end that the cold took its toll on my fingers.

While descending down a line on my first Vivian dive, straight to 18m, I could really feel the drysuit in action, far more than when we were pootling around in the shallows.

Taking note of how much air I needed to put into the suit simply to remove the squeeze, I recognised how important it was to use your BCD for buoyancy. Before, like many others, I wondered if using just one device would make it easier, but really, remembering there are two things to empty and fill is not very complicated.

These were my first-ever quarry dives, and to be honest, it wasn’t something I was particularly relishing, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the dives. The water was filled with things to see - sunken cars, boats, old buildings from its working mine days - but even without these manmade distractions, the dive would have been amazing. Above the surface, the quarry is surrounded with huge sheer cliffs, which is appealing to many climbers, and these continue to be an attraction underwater as well. Though most people think that the main attraction to scuba diving is the ocean waters, this just proved to me that you don’t know what you may enjoy until you try it.

Warming up with a chocolate bar and a cup of tea

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Heading into the water at Ravenspoint

In the Vivian ‘blast hut’

CONCLUSION The differences in drysuit diving do not lie solely in the temperatures of the water, and the marine life. I believe a huge part of what makes diving so wondrous, and I think others would agree, is the feeling it creates, and the abilities it provides. The opportunity to feel weightless, and explore a world that feels completely foreign to our own. To completely let go of our attachments and forget about our day-to-day concerns. Although the style of diving is completely different, all of the things that drew me to diving in the first place were still prominent, and I even found some new things which will motivate me to continue cold-water diving in the future.

I found the overall focus to be very different than dives in warm water. Rather than having ample mobility and freedom, you feel a little more restricted, which harmonises well with the low visibility commonly associated with cold water. Rather than constantly looking off into the distance, you learn to move less, focus on what is right in front of you, and find satisfaction in the small wonders. Once I let go and accepted this different style of diving, I was able to find a whole new appreciation, and passion, for the sport and exploration of our world’s waters. I can’t wait to check out my home waters around Vancouver Island now! n

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B-SECURUS automatically switches the compressor unit off when the cartridge reaches saturation point.

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Q: What first ignited your passion in the underwater world, and when did you first start diving?

A: Like many kids my age, I was inspired by watching Jacques Cousteau on television. It was also the Apollo Missions, too. Watching men drive around on the surface of the moon influenced me to explore.

Q: You are perhaps best known as a cave diver. What is it about caves that capture your interest, and how did you initially get into cave diving?

A: I suppose it is a bit of a primal drive. Caves are like the veins of Mother Earth and I am attracted to go into the body of the planet in a spiritual sense. But I was also drawn toward the opportunity of being able to document places that nobody has ever seen before. Sharing images from remote, unexplored territory is a great privilege in an age when most of humanity believes that the age of exploration has already passed them by.

Q: You were the first person to dive in the ice caves of Antarctica?

What was this momentous series of dives like?

A: That National Geographic project was perhaps the most-dangerous undertaking I have ever been involved in. It felt like the closest thing to going to another planet. Every moment was wild and unscripted. I had to be at my very best at every moment for the entire 60 days in the Ross Sea. The caves inside the icebergs were stunningly beautiful in their own right, and the garden of life we found beneath the great ice masses was colourful and abundant.

Q: You have been given many high-profile awards, including being a Fellow of the Explorers Club and Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and as well as being inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame. Which are you most proud of?

A: Representing the Royal Canadian Geographical Society as Canada’s chief explorer is perhaps the greatest honour of all.

In my role, I spend a lot of time with the next generation of young explorers. That feels like my most-important mission to date.

JILL

HEINERTH

www.narkedat90.com

In her element in a cave

Canadian Jill Heinerth is a world-renowned cave diver, photographer and film-maker. Scuba Diver talked to her about how she first became interested in diving, what drives her need for exploration, and what the future holds in store for her PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF JILL HEINERTH

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Q: You are well known in the technical diving world for your ground-breaking explorations. Which endeavours mean the most to you, and have left you with the most indelible memories?

A: My work at Wakulla Springs with the US Deep Caving Team feels like a stepping-stone for almost everything else I have done in my career. We began that mission over 20 years ago and yet those dives still stand as some of the most-ambitious dives ever conducted in technical and scientific diving. More importantly, it set the stage for my understanding of our water resources and my efforts as a water advocate.

Since that time, I have continued to work with Dr Bill Stone on numerous efforts. The mapper we first deployed at Wakulla is now an artificially intelligent robot that will head to space.

Q: Technical diving is quite a male-dominated discipline.

Did you find being female a disadvantage, or were you accepted with open arms because of your impressive diving credentials.

A: It hasn’t always been easy working within maledominated endeavours like cave diving and even underwater cinematography. There are time when I was flat out turned away as a woman. There are times when I got a job but got paid less than a male colleague. Believe it or not, I still face challenges as a woman in the sport today. We have a long way to go to reach full gender and racial parity in diving.

Not all discriminatory behaviours are intentional. Many are a reflection of long-practiced societal norms. One day I hope that I won’t be celebrated as a pioneering woman in diving.

I hope I will just be celebrated as a diver who did some cool work. I hope we won’t need a Women Divers Hall of Fame or scholarships to lift women into career mentoring and scholarships. I hope we will just be diverse figures in diving, working collaboratively to do great work.

Fantastical formations deep underground

Q: You adopted closed-circuit rebreathers quite early on. What are the advantages of CCRs for the type of diving you are doing?

A: I jumped into rebreathers in the mid-1990s as a tool to increase my range in exploration. Used properly with adequate open circuit bailout and dedication to safety procedures, I believe they can offer increased safety for deep and technical dives. They have offered me a chance to get closer to wildlife, do scientific work that leaves the water column undisturbed and do longer decompressions with a little less bulk.

Q: You have worked with James Cameron. What was it like consulting with a massive Hollywood director, albeit one with a love of the underwater world?

A: Numerous people warned me that James Cameron might be tough to work with. I absolutely loved working with him.

He is indeed a taskmaster, but is right alongside working the long hours too. He is passionate about underwater exploration and technology and that can be infectious. I recall a moment when we surfaced after several hours of filming in a cave. We were really hungry and rather than getting out of the water, he and I shared a pizza at the surface before heading down again.

Jill enjoys inspiring the next generation of divers

Jill has explored caves inside icebergs

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Q: In all the amazing dives you have conducted, what is your most-memorable experience?

A: That is actually a really tough question. I am so fortunate to have had many incredible and diverse experiences. A pod of a hundred humpbacks off Newfoundland, getting pulled to the surface by a stellar sea lion tugging on my drysuit hood, leaving an iceberg cave after being trapped for almost two hours, entering an unexplored room of the most-delicate crystalline speleothems in Mexico, returning to The Pit to shoot a photo that stuck in my head for 20 years, or diving into the Monte Corona volcano… how can I choose? Most days I simply pinch myself and plan for the next!

Q: On the flipside, what is the worst experience you have had while diving?

A: Well, I would say the ‘most-memorable’ and ‘the worst’ are often intertwined. I have come home from some scary moments in diving. I have been trapped inside an iceberg cave from current that pinned me down. I have been stuck behind a scientist who got stuck in a tiny cave not much taller than my helmet. I have been bitten by a water moccasin, a fresh water eel and gotten bent deep in the jungle a long way from help.

I have also had to write my fair share of eulogies for friends who died in caves.

Those were horrible experiences but they all built the diver I am today. At times I was lucky, at other times smart. But today I carry all those experiences and friends with me as lessons on how to do things better and safer.

Jill thrives in arduous conditions

Jill exploring with her trusty camera

An iceberg underwater

Q: So, what does the future hold in store for you, and what projects have you got coming up?

A: This week I head to the Arctic. In a few days, I will be camping 800km north of the Arctic Circle and beginning a summer of filming a documentary on climate change.

I feel like this is urgent work. The north is changing so rapidly and I feel a great need to communicate that to the world.

I’ll be filming narwhal, bowhead, walrus, and skinny polar bears while documenting how the changes in sea ice are changing their territory and further affecting the people of the north. n

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What’s New

AKONA STEALTH MESH DUFFLE (SRP: £39)

ATOMIC AQUATICS B2 COLOUR KITS (SRP: £49)

Stealth mesh, we hear you say? Privacy is something we all value, so why is it that when we use a mesh bag, we must sacrifice all privacy? That is no longer the case. The Akona Stealth Mesh Duffle provides all the benefits of mesh - breathability and lightweight - but with a unique feature... you can’t see inside of it!

It measures a spacious 75cm by 37.5cm and can hold 86.8-litres. www.fathomdiving.com

ATOMIC AQUATICS BC1 (SRP: £1,099.95) Atomic Aquatics are well known for highend, top-performing regulators, and now they have expanded the range to include a traditional jacket-style BCD. However, true to form for Atomic Aquatics, it is no run-of-the-mill BCD. Instead, like their regs, it is crafted utilising high-end materials and techniques. The mattefinish double-laminated polyurethane-coated fabric is very durable and actually sheds water, while the racheting CAM-LOK tank band works much like a snowboard binding.

As well as EZ-LOK integrated weight pouches, the BC1 also features custom 316 stainless steel D-rings with a titanium PVD coating, sand-resistant pocket zippers, low-friction 316 stainless steel ‘dry glide’ exhaust pull dumps, and patent pending anti-floating pull knobs.

It comes in all-black, or a stylish red-and-black combo.

So that’s the BCD. You then have the option of fitting either an AI Titanium Inflator (£174.95), or an AI Stainless Steel inflator (£134.95). www.atomicaquatics.co.uk 84

Atomic Aquatics have released a series of colour kits for their B2 regulator, which include a front cover, mouthpiece, exhaust cover and knob. Users can now coordinate their kit in a range of colours including blue, pink, purple and red. www.atomicaquatics.co.uk

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MARES RASH GUARDS (SRP: £23-£81)

FANTASEA WIDE-ANGLE CONVERSION LENS Fantasea UWL-400F (SRP: £425) This quality ‘wet’ 120 degree wideangle conversion lens, which has a 52mm thread, is designed for compact cameras featuring a 24mm lens. It has a magnification of 0.50X and is depth rated to 100m.

Mares have launched a huge range of rashguards for boys and girls, men and women, which offer UPF protection of 30+, 50+ and even a stonking 80+. The range comprises long and short sleeve tops, in both tight and loose fit variants, along with shorts, shorties, and even full-length suits in the form of the Trilastic steamer. The rash guards can be used as stand-alone products to protect users from the elements in the tropics, or as a base-layer under wetsuits for another level of warmth. www.mares.com

Fantasea UWL-04F (SRP: £425) This ‘wet’ 160 degree super-wide-angle conversion lens is designed for compact cameras with a 28mm lens. It has a 52mm thread and a magnification of 0.42X. It is depth rated to 60m. www.nautilusdiving.co.uk

FOURTH ELEMENT OCEAN POSITIVE LINDEN AND SYLVIA SWIMWEAR (SRP: £34.95-£74.90) The new Fourth Element Ocean Positive swimwear collection celebrates some of the women pioneers of our sport with practical designs for watersports made from 78 percent recycled nylon.

Sylvia Earle, ‘Her Deepness’, inspires the Sylvia swimsuit (£54.90) – an elegant design perfectly suited to the lido or under a wetsuit.

Sylvia was the first female chief scientist of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and has been an explorer in residence at National Geographic since 1998. Her life and work are the subject of the Netflixmovie Mission Blue, and she has been immortalised by the Lego company in one of its play-sets.

Linden Wolbert is a freediver, freediving judge and professional mermaid. Her successful YouTube channel introduces thousands of children to marine life and the need to protect it, through her series ‘Mermaid Minute’. She is a passionate ocean advocate and tireless supporter of the Make A Wish foundation, appearing as a mermaid to brighten the lives of chronic and terminally ill children, from Scotland to Australia. She inspired the Linden bikini (£39.95 and £34.95) and swimsuit (£74.90) with contemporary, hydrodynamic styling and made as, is the case with the whole OceanPositive swimwear line, from recycled Ghost Fishing nets. www.fourthelement.com/oceanpositive WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

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Test Extra

SANTI DIVING E.MOTION+ LADIES FIRST | SRP: £1,859

Samara Ironside: Polish brand Santi Diving is becoming world-renowned for producing some of the most-durable, stylish and best-fitting drysuits on the market. The E.Lite and E.Motion – and the ‘+’ variants – have all benefitted from the optimal combination of lightness, flexibility and durability, and now, with the E.Motion+ Ladies First, women can get in on the act with a bespoke, fitted suit designed from the outset for the female form.

Available in unique and elegant colours, with black, steel grey and silver with fuchsia, lime or grey detailing, it certainly is very eye-catching, but it is not all looks.

The special cut of the suit, which is made from Ripstop nylon, butylene and Polyester, was designed to emphasize the diver’s figure, while also ensuring the highest degree of flexibility and comfort. It comes as standard with the innovative Santi Smart Seals – soft rings which allow you to easily and quickly replace your wrist seal- and yet it still only tips the scales at 3.2kg.

The latex neck seal is insulated by a 3mm neoprene collar, and it features a tried-and-tested Apeks inlet valve and high-profile Apeks outlet valve, as well as durable Kevlar kneepads. The twin cargo pockets on the thighs are spacious, and equipped with bungee strings, while the right pocket also has a partition for wet notes, and a useful additional zippered pocket.

Inside, it is equipped with internal braces, and on the front there is a handy pocket which lines up perfectly with the main Aquaseal flexible plastic zipper – if you need to get your car keys, you don’t have to complete de-kit, you can just pull up the outer protective zipper and the main zipper 30-40cm and you can easily reach into this internal zippered pocket. Very well designed, and definitely thought of by a diver!

The flexisole boots have a neat webbing strap that tightens around the ankles, helping to reduce any unnecessary air migration into the feet, but to be honest, the soft and

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supple booties fit my feet like a glove, and with a thick, warm pair of socks on underneath, there was not a lot of room for any air in the first place.

The Santi Diving E.Motion+ Ladies First drysuit fit me absolutely beautifully – it was obviously very worthwhile sending the extensive list of measurements to Santi, as it couldn’t have been a better fit if they had measured me up in their factory.

The cut and layout is perfect for the typical female body, and completely destroyed my pre-conceived ideas that drysuits were big, loose-fitting ‘bags’. Mobility is a given, with the stretchy materials used in its construction, and this suit screams quality down to its seams.

In the water, it maintains its comfort and flexibility. The shoulder-mounted release valve is easy to open and close, as well as having push-release in case of emergencies, which was very welcome for a new drysuit diver like myself.

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The thigh pockets are very large and easy to access, with large Velcro and zipper sections. Getting in and out of the suit is easy as can be with the telescopic torso and front-entry zipper – even for a drysuit newbie like me, I was getting in and out with ease after a couple of dives. All in all, this drysuit is a great option for any lady looking for a high-end suit that is comfortable, stylish, durable, and will last.

It also comes with a water-repellent Ladies First travel bag, a 75cm hose, and a Ladies First after-dive beanie for warming up your head after a long, cold-water dive. www.santidiving.com

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SANTI DIVING FLEX360 LADIES FIRST | SRP: £490 Samara Ironside: The Santi E.Motion+ Ladies First was teamed up with a Flex360 Ladies First twopart undersuit, and to say I was blown away by this product is an understatement. Like the drysuit itself, it has been designed with a woman’s figure in mind, and is warm without being bulky. It utilizes PrimaLoft Gold Insulation, which is one of the highest-performing synthetic insulations available, which amazingly maintains 98 percent of warmth even when it is wet. It comprises three layers, with breathable insulation fibres and polyester soft coating, which is also wind-resistant, but it also uses an embossed Polar fleece and 3D mesh spacer pads in the chest area for additional warmth.

As I said, it comes in two parts. The upper part of the undersuit looks like a fashionable jacket that can be worn as a stand-alone product, and with two side pockets, two inner pockets, one double chest zippered pocket, and soft elastic cuffs with built-in hand warmers, it certainly ticks all the boxes when it comes to ‘features’. It is also breathable, fast-drying and also wind and water resistant. It also has Velcro tabs at the back to connect it to the longjohn part of the undersuit, which prevents it riding up.

The long-john section has Flex360 fabric on the legs, embossed Polar fleece on the back and Flex180 filled with 3D mesh spacers on the

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front. These spacers are designed to create an air chamber that isolates the body from the lowest – and the coldest – point when diving in a nice trim position, and I have to say, they really worked.

The long-john features two side pockets, two back pockets and a twoway front zipper, with elastic ankle straps.

After living in Panama for several months, I was really feeling the cold here in the UK, and I virtually lived in the undersuit, or at least the jacket, for much of my visit, and enjoyed all the attention the suit garnered. It looked more like biker-garb than a drysuit undersuit! www.santidiving.com

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Test Extra

MARES KAILA SLS BCD | SRP: £454

Samara Ironside: The Kaila SLS is a part of their womenspecific She Dives range, and is the female-cut version of the Dragon SLS BCD. It incorporates the Fusion Bladder, which combines features of the backmounted and classic bladder, and gives a high lift capacity while also offering unrestricted movement, and has aircell slides on the shoulders for increased comfort when inflated.

The position of the corrugated hose retaining epaulette can be adjusted, as can the cummerbund. It has highcapacity cargo pockets with stretch panels, and 50mm swivel buckles. It features the SLS weight system with visual confirmation of proper pouch insertion, as well as personalisable labels on the weight pockets.

This robust and durable BCD was a dream to dive with. It has ample space for weights, both in the SLS pockets and in non-dumpable trim pockets hidden away at the back.

There is a knack to locking home the integrated weight pockets, but it is reassuring to hear a definite ‘click’ when it goes home properly, and I liked seeing the ‘green’ symbol to show it was in-situ.

It fit me very comfortably, and retained its comfort both underwater and on land – sore shoulders is not a concern with this BCD. I also found the adjustable cummerbund very convenient – you would be able to attain a perfect fit in both a wetsuit and a drysuit.

It is quite a chunky BCD, so perhaps not for those looking for a lightweight travel BCD, but if you are in the market for a solid, robustly constructed jacket with some neat and practical features, you couldn’t go wrong with a Kaila. I also liked the white trim – users are very distinguishable (and fashionable) in and out of the water. www.mares.com

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Complex made easy.

Aqua Lung’s intuitive line of dive instruments.

NEW!

i200

Transmitter

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Test Extra

AQUA LUNG PHAZER | SRP: £86

Samara Ironside: Aqua Lung have always been at the forefront of innovation in the diving market, and the trimaterial Phazer fins continue this tradition. While at first glance they appear to be yet another sturdy paddle fin, they have a few features that makes them stand out from the crowd. Foremost is the so-called Wave Rib Technology, which refers to the side ribs of the Phazer. Here, that cool-looking ‘wavy’ design actually does something – the elastomeric rubber sections of the ribs work together with the wave-shaped structures, accumulating the energy of every kick, which is then released during the kick cycle, for maximum efficiency.

The Hydro Power Channel, the hole in front of the foot pocket, allows the water to flow through the blade, further enhancing power and stability, and the blade has a soft TPR membrane to better canalise water during the primary and recovery portions of the kick cycle.

I think the Phazers are a very good option for anyone looking for a fin with efficient power use, that features new technological advancements, offers a strong and sturdy feel, and a variety of vivid colour options – this pink pair really ‘popped’ in photographs both underwater and topside. They are a dream for donning and doffing, and

perform well in the water with a range of fin kicks, though personally I found them a little on the heavy side, and quite a long fin. The long blade is a dream when needing power, but makes it a little more difficult to manoeuvre in tight situations. When purchasing fins, consider your typical diving environment - if you are someone who is often in open water with lots of space to move, these fins are a great option; for someone who is often in confined spaces, such as wrecks and caves, a more compact fin (such as the Apeks RK3s) may be a better fit. www.aqualung.com/uk

AQUALUNG REVEAL X1 AND X2 | SRP: £46 Samara Ironside: The Aqua Lung Reveal X1 and X2 masks (the X1 is a single-lens mask, and the X2 is – you guessed it – a twin-lens version) fit very securely to the face, as both utilize a new grade of crystal-clear silicone for the skirt, and are combined with Aqua Lung’s Advanced Fit Technology. Both have Quick Fit Buckles, which have a one-touch button release for easy adjustment of the strap, even while wearing thick neoprene gloves. They also feature high-grip sections on the nose-piece to ease equalisation.

Both masks fit me exceptionally well, and when diving I hardly noticed either mask was there. I found the overall visibility in the single-lens X1 a little better than its twin-lens partner, but this was down to personal preference. There is little to choose between the two in terms of looks, with only subtle differences between the two, and both come in a wide range of colours, including this striking pink (which colour-coordinates nicely with the Phazer fins). www.aqualung.com/uk

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DIVE IN THE FAST LANE

Venom Frameless Eye Candy just took on a new meaning.

XJ14 £3,695 RRP 120m run time – 200m depth – NiMh battery

XJ37 £5,395 RRP 270min run time – 200 depth – Li-Ion Battery

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• “Gummi Bear UltraSoft” silicone creates an incredibly soft yet reliable face seal • Rigid silicone skirt that is soft but won’t collapse, distort or fold

XK1 £6,695 RRP 330min run time – 200m depth – Li-Ion Battery

• Schott Superwite® UltraClear lens allows up to 96% of available light to reach your eyes • Exclusive Atomic “Wicked” styling makes a striking design statement.

Co-Molded Silicone Two different hardness silicone materials are co-molded together to form the mask skirt which is bonded directly to the glass, eliminating the need for a frame and providing maximum viewing area.

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Long Term Test SHEARWATER RESEARCH TERIC Mark Evans: Shearwater Research NEW ARRIVAL are renowned for their dive computers, and now they have targeted the wristwatch-style market. In short, the Teric has all the features divers have come to love in the company’s computers - and more. It has four buttons rather than the usual two, but Shearwater have applied situationally adaptable logic to their menus and buttons, making it easy to figure out.

It also comes with a wirelessly rechargeable INFORMATION Arrival date: July 2018 battery, and it has tech, OC Suggested retail price: £975 tech, CCR and freediving Number of dives: 0 modes.

Time in water: 0 hrs 0 mins www.shearwater.com

MARES QUAD AIR

Mark Evans: The Quad Air headed off to the wilds of Murcia in Spain, with Publishing Director Ross Arnold taking it for a spin on a series of dives throughout the week. He liked the large screen and very clear display, and the easy-tonavigate menus. For a fairly large computer, he noted how lightweight it is, thanks to its plastic construction. He also liked the chunky strap, which was easy to get tight INFORMATION Arrival date: May 2018 around a thick wetsuit so Suggested retail price: £318 it didn’t move around or Number of dives: 11 become loose at depth.

Time in water: 10 hrs 30 mins www.mares.com 94

APEKS RK3 HD Mark Evans: Hurrah, the Apeks RK3 fins have finally arrived - and a nice surprise, I discovered that the muchin-demand orange version are HD-only (black can be normal or HD, grey are HD-only, while yellow and white are normal-only - very confusing). I have only ever dived the ‘normal’ variant, so looking forward to seeing the difference between the two, and reckon the stiffer compound HD will suit my style of diving.

I am a big fan of the chunky thumb-tab and metal spring heel strap, which makes putting them on and taking INFORMATION Arrival date: April 2018 them off a simple matter, even wearing thick neoprene Suggested retail price: £120 Number of dives: 0 gloves, or drygloves.

Time in water: 0 hrs 0 mins www.apeksdiving.com/uk

AQUASKETCH MINNO 1

Mark Evans: One of the cool things about the Aquasketch is that you can fit specific pre-printed ‘rolls’ into the unit, such as this dive safety checklist, which includes things like emergency contact information, pre-dive prep, gear set-up, common diver signals and more. It is a simple matter to fit and remove different sheets, and adds INFORMATION Arrival date: February 2018 another dimension to Suggested retail price: £35 the Minno 1 as a tool in a Number of dives: 12 diver’s armoury.

Time in water: 11 hrs 20 mins www.aquasketch.co.uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

MOMENTUM DEEP 6 Mark Evans: The Momentum Deep 6 dive watch is now adorning my wrist, and an eye-catching bit of dive bling it is. In this orange/silver/ black colour combination, it does stand out from the crowd, and I can see why it is classed as ‘over-sized’. It is a big unit, but it is still relatively lightweight - compared with my usual Suunto DX, feels like I have nothing on my wrist!

Cool way to say ‘I am a INFORMATION diver’ to others in the diving Arrival date: June 2018 Suggested retail price: £195 fraternity but in a fairly Number of dives: 0 subtle fashion.

Time in water: 0 hrs 0 mins www.nautilusdiving.co.uk

AQUA LUNG OUTLAW Mark Evans: The Outlaw might be able to handle cold-water conditions - though the slightly larger Rogue with nondumpable trim pockets as well as integrated weights is a better option - but it is truly at home in warmer conditions. It headed out to Murcia in Spain and also to Fiji, and its stripped back nature comes into its own. You just don’t feel cumbersome or bulky at all, you have nothing around the front of you, and even the integrated weights are tucked away behind you, though they fall easily to hand when you need to dump them.The low-profile pull dump is also efficient, and rapidly gets rid of any air in INFORMATION the bladder when you are in Arrival date: February 2017 Suggested retail price: £338 a trim position or heading Number of dives: 27 downwards.

Time in water: 26 hrs 15 mins www.aqualung.com/uk WWW.SCUBADIVERMAG.COM

SUUNTO EON CORE

Mark Evans: I am not really one to log my dives anymore, but I do like dive computers that allow you to really get some detail when you go into the logbook. Several computers do offer more information than just your basic dive times, depth and temperature, but I particularly like how clear and concise the graph of your dives appear on the colour screen of the EON Core. It include all the information you could want, and lets you review how neat and tidy INFORMATION Arrival date: March 2018 your dive profile was when Suggested retail price: £599 you are doing the post-dive Number of dives: 15 de-brief in the pub.

Time in water: 14 hrs 30 mins www.suunto.com

SANTI DIVING FLEX 360 Mark Evans: I do plenty of drysuit diving, both testing equipment or just heading out for dives off our coastline or at some inland dive site. I want to be warm and comfortable, but not too bulky, and the Santi Diving Flex 360 certainly ticks all the right boxes on that front. The two-piece system has been well thought out and has some neat features, including pockets easily accessible through the front zipper of the drysuit, built-in hand-warmers, and a fancy mesh to maintain an airspace in front of your chest when you are in a nice trim position. Even better, you can look cool while staying warm, as the Flex 360 can be worn apres-dive without you looking like you are in an adult babygrow. www.santidiving.com

END OF TERM

INFORMATION Arrival date: January 2018 Suggested retail price: £419 Number of dives: 22 Time in water: 19 hrs 50 mins 95

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THE COMMERCIAL DIVER Warren ‘Sal’ Salliss is a Director of Commercial Diver Training Ltd, based in Cornwall, and here he offers an insight into the commercial diving arena, and how the company aims to ensure that all students leave equipped with the necessary skills to take on this competitive environment. www.commercialdivertraining.co.uk

LEARNING THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE Warren ‘Sal’ Salliss takes a closer look at some of the most-common pieces of kit used by commercial divers, including the awesome BROCO cutting tool PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF COMMERCIAL DIVER TRAINING

H

ave you ever been doing some job or other and just can’t undo or remove that one last item?

You know the type of thing I’m talking about, it’s slowing you down and if only I had some sort of magic piece of kit that would destroy this thing! I need some sort of Jedi lightabre… I need BROCO! BROCO is an amazing piece of kit available to commercial divers, but let’s have a look at all the common tools used by the commercial diver: HAND TOOLS - Ruler, measuring tapes, vernier gauges, hand scraper, hammer, spanners, marlin spikes, digital camera.

RIGGING TOOLS - Lever hoist, chain hoist, TIRFOR (a type of portable cable winch), rigging strops.

PNEUMATIC (AIR) TOOLS - Airlift (underwater hoover), air lance, Rock Breaker (similar to what you see road workers use), air chisel, underwater chainsaw (frightening in low vis!).

HYDRAULIC TOOLS - Grinder (magnetic and non-magnetic), disc cutter, drill, chain cutter, WELDING - Arc welding equipment.

CUTTING/UNDERWATER THERMIC LANCE - BROCO. At CDT during the initial shallow phase, we conduct at least two weeks of basic tools training and logged experience once the rescues have been completed, this phase culminates in BROCO training and is a highlight of the course… the kids love fire!

So how does it work? Its concept is quite simple, lots of power to make a spark, fuel to burn, oxygen to feed it combustion triangle! We use a welding generator such as a MOSA that can provide up to 150 amps at the ‘gun’ end via standard ARC welding cables (back to that in a minute).

In parallel to this we run an O2 feed to the ‘gun’ with the pressure adjusted for the depth from a surface high-flow regulator to prevent ‘freeze up’, nominally a G600. As well as this there is another cable for the ‘Earth Clamp’. Interestingly here is the confusing bit (and lots of divers get it wrong and have unintended results), the gun is connected via a ‘Knife switch’ (for supervisor control) to the NEGATIVE, and the earth clamp to the POSITIVE, It’s the opposite to welding.

The ‘Gun’ has the main power cable and the O2 feeding up into the handle, on which there is a trigger that enables the diver to feed in the O2 when desired. In the end of the gun the diver inserts a ‘Rod’ (an insulated copper tube lined with mild steel and sometimes magnesium rods that allows O2 to flow out at the tip), the gun is now ready to use once the earth

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clamp has been fixed to the ‘job’ and the diver has prepared his cut. In order to work, all connections must be clean to ensure good continuity, this includes where the earth clamp is connected to the job and where the cut is to be made.

The diver uses a protective visor to prevent ‘arc eye’, and rubber gloves to aid with insulation.

Once the diver is in position and is sure he’s about ready to cut the right bit he requests the tool ‘HOT’ and he strikes up, feeds the O2 in and he’s burning metal at 10,000 degrees F at the tip of the rod! It will burn through everything - steel, wood, concrete, plastic, and even divers! Once the cut is complete, he requests it be made ‘COLD’ and the power is turned off.

With practice divers can become very skilled with BROCO, but the art is knowing what to adjust if the cut is not going well, that’s what we endeavour to teach.

There is a story about a diver who was getting ready to do a cut when his tender gave him some ‘handy’ hints... He told the diver to lie on the structure with his feet on the earth clamp and cut at the opposite end... for comfort. The diver was now perfectly placed within the electrical field - once the tool was ‘HOT’, so was the diver! Unbeknown to the tender, the diver had quite a few ‘unusual’ piercings in ‘unusual’ places, these piercings were made of metal and did touch, they then welded together and got rather hot! The diver started screaming, exited the water quite fast and immediately dekitted and to the surprise of the surface team, stripped down to his now steaming underwear to reveal his predicament!

If you want to see BROCO in action, watch the upcoming ‘DRAIN THE OCEANS’ about the gold on HMS Edinburgh coming to TV soon - you’ll see our staff in action. n

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