News
Down Shifting in Sharm el Sheikh
With 2019 now thoroughly upon us, perhaps you are planning to re-evaluate your options and make a fresh start. Perhaps you want to get out of the rat race and down shift to become a dive professional somewhere like Sharm el Sheikh?
But is it all that it is cracked up to be?
Being based here at Camel Dive Club & Hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, I am surrounded by individuals that decided to take the giant stride and become a dive instructor, to live their dream of daily diving and being paid for it!
One such individual is Julia from Russia who currently works as an Instructor with us at Camel Dive Club & Hotel.
Julia was a manager of a bookstore in St Petersburg, Russia and an avid diver. Consistently using her holidays to try to escape on as many dive trips as she possibly could. As a side-line, Julia was also studying foreign languages including English and French. Julia went on to complete her PADI Divemaster course and inspired by her Instructor, decided to take the leap to a full time dive instructor abroad. Her instructor told her that she would easily find a job in Asia, as at that time (2011) there were many Russian-speaking travellers to that area. Sure enough, Julia advertised herself on the PADI employment board and within a matter of hours had secured her dream job in the sunshine.
Over the many years that Julia has been diving around the world with her dive career (including Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Emirates, the Maldives, Qatar and Egypt), she told me she, “doesn’t regret one minute!”
Julia’s favourite memory of becoming a professional diver is of diving with two whalesharks in one day in the Maldives where the local guides advised her that it was an extremely unusual occurrence.
Is it all diving with Sharks and sunbathing on the boat, as most of our families and friends believe?
In a word no!
It can be a sometimes physically tiring and gruelling job, when it comes to tank lifting and the like. As well as having to be constantly happy, even if you have had an argument with your boyfriend the night before.
However, even the tough bits have a plus side. The tank lifting keeps you fit and trim. In addition, sometimes, when you have to put a smile on, it even makes you feel happy. Honestly, I don’t really find any negative aspects of following your diving dream.
When I asked Julia if she had any advice for anyone thinking of forsaking his or her business suit for a wetsuit, she replied, “DO IT!”
For more information about Camel Dive Club visit their website by clicking here.
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.
-
News3 months agoHone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News3 months agoCapturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs3 months agoCreature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs2 months agoMurex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Blogs2 months agoDiver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 weeks agoGEAR REVIEW – Revolutionising Diving Comfort: The Sharkskin T2 Chillproof Suit
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months agoSave the Manatee Club launches brand new webcams at Silver Springs State Park, Florida
-
Gear Reviews3 months agoGear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone