News
Italy Dive Fest: a great success courtesy of organising partners DAN and PADI
320 scuba divers, 4000 dives in the Marine Protected Area, 84 medical visits performed, 36 official partners, 9 diving centres. And then professional workshops, conferences, evenings… Here are the impressive numbers of Italy Dive Fest, an event organized by DAN Europe and PADI EMEA in Ustica, the Black Pearl of the Mediterranean, from August 28th to September 3rd.
The island quay, a meeting point for all divers, hosted the Dive Village, where organisers and technical partners showed the 2017 news, interacting with the public and collaborating with diving centres. Those who dived had the chance to conduct physiological tests performed by DAN Research – 125 monitored dives, with 105 Doppler and 80 echocardiographs – actively contributing to important studies on decompression mechanisms. DAN doctors also conducted numerous free ENT visits, as part of an international campaign to prevent barotrauma.
After diving in the morning, divers could choose between a range of training and leisure activities. These included technical workshops conducted by Beuchat, Coltri, Scubapro, the PADI Business Academy, and even EFR first aid courses and DAN crossover instructor courses. The events were distributed in various locations, thus involving also the Island locals, while special conventions were signed with hotels and restaurants.
This year Italy Dive Fest matched the 58th International Diving Expo (whose logo was sponsored by PADI through a scholarship), with its historical charm, exhibitions, guided hikes and, above all, Golden Trident and the International Academy of Underwater Sciences and Techniques Awards. The ceremony was hosted by the social event offered by PADI and DAN, in the striking coastline behind the lighthouse Punta Cavazzi. And here are the awards: Golden Tridentto Dr. Danilo Cialoni, recognition of the research carried out on the immune pathophysiology; Academy Awards 2017 to DAN, in its 5 world components (America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Japan and South Africa), for the tireless help provided to scuba divers since 1980; special Academy Award to PADI, for its effective action in promoting safety awareness in diving, diving sustainability and in particular for launching an international program (Scuola d’Amare, ndr) targeted to students of primary and secondary schools, to promote knowledge on the ocean and diving among young people.
However, the best show was enjoyed by the divers who dived in the breathtaking waters of the first Marine Protected Area in Italy: the sun, visibility up to 30 meters, barracudas, amberjacks, salemas, dentex, troopers and other marine creatures, in waters teeming with life.
Italy Dive Fest has been the climax of an underwater season full of events and initiatives, featuring the Ustica scene, with its history and tradition, and has reasserted the vitality of the Italian diving world.
“This was a unique event,” commented Massimo Casabianca (DAN Training Manager and PADI Instructor Trainer), “a full and articulated one, where a training agency and an organization devoted to diving safety have involved key players of the diving industry. In so many years of experience, I had never seen anything like it.”
Thanks to those who wanted and organized the event (PADI team, DAN team), to the numerous technical partners, the flagship of the diving industry (Aqualung, Beuchat, Coltri, FInclip, Mares, Nauticam, Scubapro, Suex, Suunto, Y-40 the Deep Joy), to the institutional partners (Soprintendenza del Mare-Regione Sicilia, Comune di Ustica, AMP Isola di Ustica, WWF, Università di Bologna/Sea Sentinel, Reef Check, Clean Sea, Green Bubbles), to the logistics partners (Gesap/Aeroporto di Palermo, Liberty Lines, PMO Travel), to the diving centers (Altamarea, Blue Diving, La Perla Nera, Lustrica, Mare Nostrum, Mister Jump, Orca, Profondo Blu, Ustica Diving) and to Claudio di Manao, who presented his book “Io sono il Mare”, animating an interesting round table on the protection of the marine environment and its future prospects.
Find out more at www.daneurope.org.
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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