Open Water Success and the first course from our new RIB

The weekend of 13/14 September saw our first successfull students complete their open water dives from our new RIB. The 4 students all thought it was brilliant. Using the "dredger" site just outside the breakwater provided us with a 6 - 7 m maximum depth with minimal currents, 4 m of visibility and no hanging around waiting to get on platforms. The white sandy bottom did not get stirred up and the water was far warmer that the inland lakes we have all got used to. It does take 1 1/2 hours to get there, but with Dale putting on accommodation at £12 for the night it was not really an issue. So a definite thumbs up - great diving, better than a 4m pond with a silty bottom and it meets all the requirements for training as well as PADI standards.

August Newsletter - trip reports, new kit and fantastic holidays

For those of you who didn't get it by email, the August Edition of the Newsletter is now available to download in the club area of the website. Click here for a link. It is a 4 page edition with lots of good stuff inside and importantly, the details of the Dahab trip in November and the big holiday for next year - a couple of weeks in Borneo. Yes, Borneo. The big summer trip for next year will be 9 days of diving in Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai. Also in the newsletter; new kit - the latest balanced regulator from Oceanic, and a special deal on the Fourth Element Proteus 5mm Suit for club members. All this as well as the usual banter, reports from trips and the occasional embarrassing photo! Enjoy.

New Speciality Instructors

We ran a very successful Speciality Instructor prep course last weekend. Many congratulations to John, Jason and Stuart who went off with 17 instructor qualifications between them.

New Boat is Up and Running

Our new RIB is up and running and available for club members to use. Based down in Portland (we can get more dives in there and are not quite so affected by the weather), the 7.5m Cobra RIB has plenty of space and its twin 4 stroke engines get you to the dive sites quickly and quietly. As well as running regular trips for club members, the boat is also available at other times to club members - you just need a minimum of 4 people. Cost of the dives is significantly less than other dive charters so yet another reason to be a member of the best dive club in the South.