News
Meet Our Club: Purple Turtle Diving
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?
Purple Turtle Diving
Where is your club based?
South London
Club affiliations (i.e. BSAC, PADI, SAA, etc.)
Agency agnostic, but we deliver courses through TDI, SDI, PADI and BSAC.
Where and when do you meet?
We meet on the 3rd or 4th Thursday of the month, usually at The Knowles of Norwood in West Norwood. Details are on our Facebook page and on our website.
How do you respond to the challenge of recruiting new members?
We’re really fortunate that we are based in a busy, dive shop and work with a lot of clubs in the area, so people come diving with us (and socialising) from various other clubs. Additionally, some of our instructors teach diving at two local schools, so we have access to lots of non-divers and can tell them all about the underwater world.
What facilities and resources does the club use/have?
We have a classroom we use at Amphibian Sports, a pool night most weeks on a Wednesday night (and occasional weekends) and we also hire equipment (both recreational and technical). Amphibian Sports have a full gas blending station, servicing centre for most brands, as well as a shop.
What sort of diving do you do, and where?
We love all our diving! We’re big fans of UK diving. This year we’re focussing on various UK trips, from the beautiful reefs out of Southwest Cornwall, through to the spectacular wrecks of Scapa Flow in Orkney.
We also love our training (but not on our trips!) and we offer everything from kids’ sessions in the pool, entry level training (from three agencies depending on customer requirements) through to full open circuit trimix training from two experienced technical instructors. We will also be offering SDI Instructor courses imminently. We are hoping to start offering CCR training on the AP Inspiration by the beginning of 2020. All of our instructors and staff are keen divers and do a fair amount of fun diving, which is why we no longer offer training on our trips!
Do you organise any club trips abroad, and if so, where?
We have done in the past (Philippines and Egypt) and will do in the future, however this year we’re focussing our energy on enjoying the UK diving (with the exception of a week to the Azores for one of the schools we support!). Next year we’re looking at a trip to Egypt and perhaps another exotic destination.
Does your club have any special interests such as conservation, special projects, etc?
Two of our instructors (Toni and Colin) are heavily involved with the charity Ghost Fishing UK, where they help raise awareness, assist in surveys and lifting ghost fishing gear. Colin is a GFUK Instructor.
Does your club have any claims to fame or any particularly interesting stories… or members?
We have a famous member – Scubadog Mika! She’s often seen at various sites and loves getting out on boats. One of our instructors assisted in teaching Sir Ranulph Fiennes to dive. Toni was bitten by a shark (another diver’s fault!).
What are the club’s plans for the future?
Continue to dive around the UK and abroad, helping divers progress and learn to dive safely.
Where can people find out more about your club?
Join us at one of our socials, visit our website and our Facebook page.
Finally… if you could sum up your club in just one sentence, what would it be?
From your first underwater breaths to your greatest depths…
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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