News
Why I became a Technical Diver…
In his debut blog for Scubaverse, Commercial and Technical Diver John Wheeler explains why, for him, recreational diving was never going to be enough…
From age 12 to around 18 I followed the same path as most, from PADI Open Water through to Rescue Diver. But with a child-like sense of adventure, always wanting to see what’s around the next corner, over the next hill or what lies in deeper waters, there was only one direction for me. The last 3+ years of my diving have been a journey, picking up the next stage and diving deeper and longer.
I first came across Technical Diving when in Dahab on holiday. Dive sites like the Canyon and Blue Hole felt like a tease: being able to see the sites below me but being unable to explore with a single cylinder and an all to rapidly approaching no decompression limit. Chatting to instructors and guides out there and hearing about helium and twinsets stuck in my 16 year old mind, and once back in the UK, with Google and YouTube at my finger tips, I began researching what would become an obsession.
One of the biggest questions I get now, from non-divers and new divers alike is “how deep do you go?”. I try my best to avoid the question as its pure ego fuel. I see no point in bounce diving deep just to say you have. Diving for me needs a purpose and having spent the last 4 years living in Plymouth, wreck diving has been my focus.
So how did Technical Diving improve the explorer in me? Technical Diving covers two aspects in my eyes: to dive for longer safely and to dive deeper safely. The first step for me was to add more gas to my shallower dives. More gas = more time and a greater safety margin, starting initially by moving to a twinset and then, in simple terms, adding more stages and different gas from there.
Technical diver training is far more intensive than recreational training; it has to be. With greater associated risk comes greater theory and skills to minimise those risks. But these skills not only benefit your deeper diving, they benefit ALL diving. Greater buoyancy control enables you to take better photos, move without disturbing wildlife and be more comfortable in the water, all making your diving more enjoyable.
The journey into Technical Diving is an ongoing one, the next step for me is jumping onto a rebreather… more on that soon!
Follow John at: www.nextstagediving.com.
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
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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