The annual Birmingham Dive Show is Britain’s biggest event for divers, and this year’s show will boast an exceptional range of features, including:

• Top diving speakers
• New dive gear – on display and to buy
• Unrivalled choice of dive holidays and training courses
• Free sessions in the Scuba Pursuits Try-Dive pool and the Rebreather pool
• BSAC Branch Pods, PADI Village and SSI Zone
• FREE prize draw to win an £8000 dive holiday in the Philippines courtesy of Worldwide Dive and Sail
• No-Tanx breath-hold demos in the pool and free workshops to help you improve your flexibility and oxygen efficiency
• Caribbean Village and Asia Pacific Showcase
• British Isles Experience with free draw to win one of three SUUNTO computers each day
• Expanded PhotoZone with presentations taking place on the new Centre Stage (see below)

Tickets cost as little as £8.50 if booked in advance. And once you have purchased your ticket all the above activities are free to enjoy.

Stellar Speakers

Visitors to DIVE 2013 will have the chance to interact with a stellar line-up of speakers – on the main DIVER Stage, where the accent is on adventure; on the new Centre Stage; and, with a rolling programme of seminars, in the two Ocean Theatres.

Andy Torbet, Monty Halls and Alex Mustard will be among the top divers making presentations on both days of the show. Andy’s subject will be Extreme Diving Adventures; Monty will be focussing on his new Dive Mysteries TV series; and Alex will be joined by fellow photo guru Martin Edge to tell you ‘What to Shoot and What to Ignore’.

And British cave-diver Chris Jewell, who recently led an expedition to Mexico’s Huautla system that established the cave as the deepest in the Western hemisphere, will be treating the DIVE 2013 audience to descriptions of this incredible seven-week adventure.

Among the many other speakers taking the stage at DIVE 2013 will be the inimitable Paul Rose, and TDI/SDI Instructor Trainer Mark Powell, who plans to address some of the most widely believed myths about diving – some of them still commonly taught by many training agencies.

Latest speaker news here

Appearing on the Centre Stage

The New Centre Stage is conveniently located close to the PhotoZone, and it’s where you’ll find a rolling programme of image-based presentations designed to entertain, inform and, we hope, add to the armoury of all you underwater photographers and videographers out there.

Timings have yet to be announced, but speakers already lined up include Michael AW, Paul Duxfield,Fergus Kennedy, Gavin Parsons, Saeed Rashid and Nick Robertson-Brown.

The PhotoZone is, of course, the part of the show that offers something for all levels of underwater photo enthusiast. In addition to the sensational BSoUP/DIVER Magazine Prints Competition, you’ll also be able to inspect, discuss and buy cameras and accessories to your heart’s content on the many specialist exhibitor stands.

New Dive Gear

Check out the new products Showcase when you enter the DIVE 2013 hall to get an idea of items you might want to examine more closely on suppliers’ stands (see full exhibitor A-Z here). Here is just some of the new gear that exhibitors will be showing.

• Drysuits, Wetsuits and Undersuits from exhibitors including SEAC, Waterproof (whose silver and black W4 suits are pictured), Northern Diver, Scubapro and Santi.

• Lights from Northern Diver, Metalsub, Intova, Sola and UW Fotopartner.

• Regulators including the XTX range from Apeks and Scubapro’s latest version of its G260 second stage. And don’t miss the chance to walk through the Scubapro Regulator Museum – with more than 200 models to see! (Stand 1320)

• Masks and fins from Oceanpro and Tusa (whose Solla fins are pictured)

• BCs from SEAC, and specialist items galore including camera and video housings from Underwater Visions/Nauticam, a sidemount BC and two dive computers from Scubapro, Suex underwater propulsion vehicles, and a complete range of gear for free divers from Subgear.

Read more …

Recreational and Rebreather Try-Dives

Has the Year of the Rebreather been the success the suppliers of the new wave  of closed-circuit equipment hoped for? You can ask them at the show – and can also take the latest in the ever-growing array of CE-marked CCRs in the Rebreather Pool to find out what all the fuss is about.

Non-divers of any age are invited to join in the fun as well, by enjoying a taste of diving under close supervision in the Scuba Pursuits Try-Dive Pool.

Read more …

Get Your Picture on the Wall

There’s still time to get your entries in for the prestigious annual Print Competition, run by the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP) and DIVER Magazine, the deadline for which is 15 September. An exhibition of finalists (as pictured here at the 2012 event) and judging of winners will take place in the DIVE 2013 PhotoZone. There are four categories in the Print Competition: British and Irish (images taken in UK and Irish waters); Overseas; Advanced British and Irish; and Advanced Overseas.

See details of how to enter here

For more information on DIVE 2013, click here