News
Get ready for The Great Northern Dive Show 2017
Following the success of the event’s inaugural outing last April, The Great Northern Dive Show is back for 2017, and promises to be bigger and better in its second year.
Taking place on the weekend of the 8th – 9th April at Event City in Manchester, the show will once again combine diving and marine conservation-themed exhibitors, speakers and activities with out-of-this-world characters from the streets of Gotham to a Galaxy Far, Far Away.
The event will be kicked off in style with an opening ceremony featuring songs from Anne Hurcomble, and will include speakers from the world of diving including Mark Powell, Gary Dallas, John Kendall, Chantelle Taylor-Newman, Scubaverse.com’s very own underwater photography editors Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown, and many more.
Once again, the World’s largest portable swimming pool will be on hand where technical divers will be showing off their skills while their colleagues explain to the crowd what they’re doing. And if you’re lucky, you might see the odd mermaid or two in there as well…..
The Great Northern Dive Show is the only dive show in Europe to feature an actual beach! This year though, if children want to play in the sand they have to do a ‘beach clean’ first, as lots of plastic debris has been washed up or just left there as litter. Once the plastic has been cleared, the kids can embark on a Treasure Hunt to look for shark teeth.
In addition to the great speakers, activities and demonstrations that will be on offer, manufacturers, suppliers, tour operators, training agencies, conservation charities, dive centres and clubs will be exhibiting at The Great Northern Dive Show too – so if you’re looking for a new piece of kit, your next dive holiday, or to continue your dive education, all of your needs will be catered for.
There will also be a fashion show taking place on both days featuring all the latest divewear, and on the Sunday you will get the chance to practise your life saving skills with a bit of rope throwing. You can even get a commemorative mug made at the show to remind you of the brilliant weekend you’ve had hanging out with all your diving buddies.
There’s plenty for the non-diving members of your family to enjoy too, especially the kids: Comic Con characters, mini ponies, stilt-walking crabs and octopus, dinosaurs, steam punk characters, and even Imperial stormtroopers will all be present (and who knows… even a certain Dark Lord of the Sith might put in an appearance….).
Tickets are £8 in advance if bought online (either at www.theticketfactory.com or www.eventbrite.co.uk) or £10 on the door for adults or just £5 for kids. Parking for visitors is free.
More information about the show can be found at www.thegreatnortherndiveshow.com.
Photo of Mermaid: Frogfish Photography
All other photos: Dave Alexander
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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