News
Diving with… Wayne B. Brown, Aggressor Adventures
In this ongoing series, we speak to the people who run dive centres, resorts and liveaboards from around the world about their businesses and the diving they have to offer…
What is your name?
Wayne B. Brown
What is the name of your business?
Aggressor Adventures
What is your role within the business?
CEO, Owner.
How long has the business operated for?
Since 1984, 36 years.
How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?
I started diving in 1999. SSI Instructor Trainer.
What is your favorite type of diving?
Being an underwater photographer and videographer, there is not one type of diving that appeals to me over others. I enjoy every critter, large and small, and reefs covered in both hard and soft corals.
If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?
We have understood from day one that we are in the customer service business. We make sure all our staff does also and we strive every day to deliver the highest level of customer service, along with the most innovative yachts and 5-star chef prepared cuisine.
What is your favorite dive in your location and why?
I do prefer a warm water location but am just as happy diving in my dry suit where we have cooler destinations with prolific marine life.
What types of diving are available in your location?
Having 31 locations around the world, we offer every type of diving that a diver could want!
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
I enjoy hearing back from our guests that we have over delivered on their expectations.
What is your favorite underwater creature?
I am fascinated by nudibranchs. Their slow graceful movements and bright colors are a pleasure to find and observe.
Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?
We are always adding new destinations every year and have three new ones that will be announced before the end of 2020!
As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?
We strive every year to continue to upgrade the yachts and add new amenities to ensure we stay relevant and adding technology to every part of the business from the initial customer interaction all the way through the post charter follow up.
Is your center involved in any environmental work?
We started the Sea of Change Foundation so that we could be sure that 100% of every dollar that is donated is used for meaningful research and conservation projects.
How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?
As more and more of our younger generation understand how fragile our marine environment is and how amazing it is to explore it, more of them will become involved at an earlier age.
What would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?
From a beginner to the most seasoned diver, we have something to offer everyone!
Where can our visitors find out more about your business?
Our website is www.aggressor.com. Every one of our staff has a phone number and email on our website including me!
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.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 1
For a week at the end of February I was invited to sample the diving with Orca Dive Club based at the Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge by courtesy of SOMABAY.
Somabay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds. Somabay caters for scuba diving as well as many other sports, including windsurfing, golf, sailing, go-carting, horse riding and many other activities.
All the activities are of a world-class standard and any or all of these can be booked directly from The Breakers.
I took Easyjet from Bristol (UK) to Hurghada. Easyjet are not by any means my favourite airline but the flight was cheap and direct (except for the surprise extra £48 I was charged at the gate for my carry-on bag).
I was met at Hurghada airport by a driver and car and taken to the Breakers 28 miles (45Kilomaters) south along the coast. Once at the hotel I was too late for an evening meal and so a basic meal was delivered to my room. That and a beer from the fridge and I was fast asleep.
Early the next morning after breakfast I arrived for my rep meeting at the Orca Dive Center for 8.00am. I was immediately made to feel welcome, and after brief introductions I got some dive gear from the store, had a chat with my dive guide Mohamed and got ready to try the house reef situated at the end of a very long wooded pier where all diving gear and divers are taken out by buggies.
Once at the end of the pier, a helping hand from staff makes sure your gear is set and then it’s a short walk to the very end where you can either climb down a ladder of simply jump in the water next to the reef. The house reef extends both north and south giving a very easy and safe dive with plenty to see. At this time of the year the water temperature was a constant 22 degrees Centigrade and there was little or no current, so there were no issues in swimming back to the pier.
Quite a few divers were in dry or semi-dry suits, but being from the UK and used to the cold I found a 3mm wetsuit with a 3mm neoprene vest quite comfortable. Even after 50 years of diving I still find that first dive of a trip slightly nerving until I am actually underwater and then all becomes relaxed and I ease into auto diving mode. There was plenty to see with many of the Red Sea favourites along the way.
After the dive and a buggy ride back to the hotel for a very good buffet lunch I was back in the water, once again on the house reef for an afternoon dive.
Check in for part 2 tomorrow when Jeff gets on a day boat and dives a few of the off-shore reefs.
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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