News
Meet Our Club: iDive
Want to join a dive club? In this series, we take a look at grassroots diving and find out what’s happening on the club scene in the UK and around the world…
What is the name of your club?
iDive
Where is your club based?
We are based in Ipswich, Suffolk.
Club affiliations (i.e. BSAC, PADI, SAA, etc.)
BSAC
Where and when do you meet?
We meet at the Public Swimming Pool, Fore Street, Ipswich IP4 1JZ every Thursday evening from 7.30pm to 9.00pm and after that we can be found in the neighbouring Lord Nelson pub.
How do you respond to the challenge of recruiting new members?
We run regular try-dives for those that want to have a go at scuba and use the notice board at the pool, some local PR, Facebook and our website to publicise the club’s activities. This has brought a steady stream of new members, both novices and already qualified individuals returning to the sport or crossing over from other organisations.
What facilities and resources does the club use/have?
iDive has two RIBs that can take 6 divers each and a small inflatable boat that is used for dive cover on shore dives. The boats are kitted out with navigation electronics and all the safety equipment you would expect to find on a dive boat such as O2, first aid kit and AED. We try to make as much use as possible of the club boats with some regular weeks and long weekends away around the UK, particularly the south coast, throughout the diving season.
The club has a broad range of experience and is lucky to have three 1st Class divers and a national instructor along with a good mix of novices through to advanced and technical divers. We have a wide selection of equipment for student divers to use in their early stages of training including 10 full sets of regs, cylinders and BCDs.
What sort of diving do you do, and where?
There is a very wide range of diving undertaken by the club. There are technical members diving on mixed gasses and rebreathers pushing to greater depths and then the full range from inland sites, shallow shore dives to club boat dives around the UK and charter boat dives. We dive off the Suffolk and Norfolk coast when conditions allow and reasonable visibility is possible.
There are a lot of shipwrecks off this coast to explore. We run annual week-long trips to Cornwall and Dorset taking the club RIBs and organise charter boat diving in mixed locations including places such as Scotland, The Farne Isles, Swanage, the North Sea off the Dutch coast and The Channel amongst others.
Do you organise any club trips abroad, and if so, where?
We do organise diving trips abroad; recent destinations have included the Red Sea, Spain, Malta, Lanzarote, Sardinia and Mexico.
Does your club have any special interests such as conservation, special projects, etc?
We have a wide range of interests within the club. There are keen photographers, a number of members with an interest in marine archaeology and maritime history, along with those who like to monitor and appreciate marine wildlife.
Does your club have any claims to fame or any particularly interesting stories… or members?
We are a long established BSAC club having been running for 62 years now. With such a long history there have been several characters over the years and some of the earlier members have some hair-raising stories of homebuilt kit and practices that we wouldn’t dream of these days. Although the club branch 0032 is 62 years old we are unusual in having merged with another local club just 5 years ago.
We try to get involved in local actions to keep our environment clean with beach cleans and clearing rivers in areas with particular issues of dumping rubbish of all sorts. More recently we supported our council run pool celebrating 120 year since it was built by running free mini try dives over a weekend where anyone could just turn up and have a go with sub-aqua equipment in the pool.
What are the club’s plans for the future?
Like most clubs, new members are the lifeblood of the club’s future but there is also a need for a good mix of experience. Without the right mix novices can’t progress and instructors have too much to do so getting the mix right is our focus in the short term. We are developing experience so there are enough instructors and assistant instructors to take on training from older members. Ideally, we’d like to get our membership up to around 100 but of course the other key aim is to have as many of these members as active as possible whatever their experience and dive preferences.
Where can people find out more about your club?
More details about the club can be found on our website www.idive.org.uk and on our Facebook pages, search for iDive – Ipswich Dive Club or email info@idive.org.uk
Finally… if you could sum up your club in just one sentence, what would it be?
A friendly club that welcomes members whatever type of diving they enjoy.
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
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.
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.
-
News3 months agoHone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News2 months agoCapturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs2 months agoCreature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs1 month agoMurex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Gear News3 months agoBare X-Mission Drysuit: Ideal for Both Technical and Recreational Divers
-
Blogs2 months agoDiver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 months agoGear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone
-
Blogs3 months agoThe Thrilling Encounter with Tiger Sharks at Beqa Lagoon’s ‘The Colosseum’ with Coral Coast Divers