News
MySSI App – Connecting Divers with Training Centers
The newly updated MySSI App is the strongest, most comprehensive tool for divers in the industry today. This impressive, FREE application is akin to one-stop-shopping for dive enthusiasts, where you can find all things scuba, freediving, extended range, and mermaiding. Access your digital dive log anywhere in the world with advanced logging features, connect with your buddies, search for SSI Centers worldwide, see upcoming events in your area, and so much more! Never be left without your digital materials or c-card with 24/7 access to all of your issued dive programs in digital format and your digital certification card wallet. The MySSI app is also an amazingly useful marketing tool for SSI Centers, connecting them directly to customers by displaying their upcoming Courses, Travel, and Events. The app is available at your iOS or android download center for free. Download it today here.
SSI Centers Gain Marketability and Visual Presence Through the MySSI App
SSI Centers love the MySSI app because it connects them to their customer base 24 hours a day, seven days a week, worldwide. Dealers can use various tools within the app to stay connected to their customer base digitally, entice divers to come into their Training Center, and bring in new customers by being visually present within the global search engine.
Increase your center’s business by utilizing these MySSI app tools:
Center Locator
- Get found on the MySSI app’s Sites & Centers map prominently displayed on the app’s homepage.
Dive Site Affiliation
- Affiliate your center with your local dive sites, making you visible to every diver using the app to visit that site. It also allows your store to show up in SSI’s new MyDiveGuide travel site.
Dive Log Verification
- Dives logged in the MySSI app can only be verified by SSI Pros or Centers. This feature brings divers back into your store after diving to verify their logged dives.
Event Calendar
- Integrates with the MySSI app’s Center Locator to display your current Course and Event offerings.
SSI Center QR Code
- Utilize your center’s unique QR code, allowing customers to scan and get instant access to your center’s important information.
Free Promotional Digital Course Materials
- Draw in new customers with these free promotional course materials: Try Scuba, Try Freediving, Try Mermaid, and Blue Oceans, all available for free when you download the app.
Pathway Posters
- Within the MySSI app, your customers will have access to all the SSI program pathways to success. Pathway posters for scuba, freediving, XR, mermaid, and swim will show customers their next steps to “level-up” in their training.
SSI Instructors Increase Student Acquisition and Continuing Education with the MySSI App
SSI Professionals love the MySSI App because it actively promotes continuing education and local diving, and an active diver is an active customer. The app is an excellent tool for instructors to utilize in keeping connected with students. Don’t let scheduling conflicts get in the way of starting your students on their next certification program. Give them immediate access to digital training materials anytime, anywhere.
Manage your students and increase efficiency by utilizing these MySSI app tools:
Pro QR Code
- Digitally sign your student’s dives by using your personalized QR code.
Training Standards
- No computer or instructor manual out on the boat with you to look up a quick training standard? No problem, the MySSI app has you covered! Get 24/7 access to all of your program training standards.
Online Final Exam
- SSI has stepped up their game by offering more tools to support virtual training. Your students can now access the final exam for all recreational diving, freediving, and ecology programs within their digital training materials, found in the MySSI app.
Pro Rewards
- SSI Pros receive reward points for every certification they issue that can then be applied as real money to their Professional Renewal Fee during the November/December renewal period. Track your Pro Rewards in the MySSI app.
Pathway Posters
- Within the MySSI app, your students will have access to all the SSI program pathways to success. Pathway posters for scuba, freediving, XR, mermaid, and swim will show students their next steps to “level-up” in their training.
SSI Divers Stay Active and Connected with the MySSI App
SSI divers love the MySSI App because they can access all things scuba, freediving, and extended range in one place. Gone are the days of showing up to the dive boat without your certification card, logbook, and necessary training materials; now, it is all safely stored in your MySSI app. Simply download the app, set up your profile, and within minutes you can access a world of diving possibilities.
Stay connected to diving at all times by utilizing these MySSI app tools:
Digital Training Materials
- Instantly access comprehensive, first-rate videos, illustrations, animations, and photos to stimulate learning. Use this first-rate technology to strengthen your learning experience, anytime and anywhere. Add personal notes and bookmarks to discuss questions with your SSI Dive Professional.
Digital Logbook
- This is not your father’s logbook. The MySSI digital logbook lives on your phone and goes with you everywhere. It has a whole host of advanced features to help you remember your dive for years to come like exact dive site GPS coordinates, comprehensive wildlife list, digital buddy list, etc. Plus, dive details are customized depending on the type of dive selected from scuba and extended range to rebreather and freediving.
Universal QR Code Scanner
- Use this unique feature to quickly log your dives by scanning a dive site’s QR code or that of the center you are diving with, and add new buddies to your dive log by scanning their personal QR code.
Certification Cards
- Never lose another certification card! Show proof of your certification right on your smart device and never leave home without it again! Free recognition cards, like Specialty Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, and Master Diver, are automatically issued once you meet the requirements.
Training Center Courses & Events
- Don’t miss out on local dive happenings. Stay up to date with your affiliated SSI Center by viewing their upcoming courses and events.
Industry News & Videos
- Stay connected to diving year-round, even when you have to stay on dry land, with the latest industry news and exciting videos under the Events & More tab.
Tables & Charts
- Dive computer break and no dive tables in sight? The MySSI app has you covered with digital dive tables, EAN dive tables, and more.
Pathways
- Ready to take your diving to the next level? View all SSI pathway posters to see what’s next on your road to becoming a better, more adventurous diver.
Whether you own or manage a Training Center, are a dive professional, or just love diving with friends, the MySSI App has everything you need to drive your business, keep students engaged, and keep track of all your diving adventures. Ready to see what the MySSI app is all about? Start your free access today here.
For more information about SSI visit their website by clicking here.
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
The second day’s diving was a day full of wreck diving at Abu Nuhas, which included the Chrisoula K, Carnatic, and Ghiannis D. The first dive of the day was onto the Chrisoula K, also known as the wreck of tiles. The 98m vessel remains largely intact where she was loaded with tiles which can be seen throughout the hold. The stern sits at 26m and the bow just below the surface. One of the highlights of the wreck is heading inside and seeing the workroom where the machinery used for cutting the tiles are perfectly intact. The bow provided some relaxing scenery as the bright sunlight highlighted the colours of the soft coral reef and the many reef fish.
Following breakfast, we then headed to the next wreck, which was the Carnatic. The Carnatic is an 89.9m sail steamer vessel that was built in Britain back in 1862. She ran aground on the reef back in 1869 and remains at 27m. At the time, she was carrying a range of items, including 40,000 sterling in gold. An impressive wreck where much of the superstructure remains, and the two large masts lay on the seafloor. The wooden ribs of the hull provide structures for lots of soft corals, and into the stern section, the light beams through, bouncing off the large shoals of glass fish that can be found using the structure as shelter from the larger predators that are found outside of the wreck.
The final wreck at Abu Nuhas was the Ghiannis D, originally called ‘Shoyo Maru,’ which was 99.5m long and built in Japan back in 1969 before becoming a Greek-registered cargo ship in 1980. The ship then ran aground on the reef on April 19th, 1983, and now sits at the bottom at a depth of 27m. Heading down the line, the stern of the ship remains in good condition compared to the rest of the hull. The highlight of the wreck, though, is heading into the stern section and down the flights of stairs to enter the engine room, which remains in good condition and is definitely worth exploring. After exploring the interior section of the ship, we then headed over to see the rest of the superstructure, where it’s particularly interesting to see the large table corals that have grown at the bow relatively quickly considering the date the ship sank. After surfacing and enjoying some afternoon snacks, we made sure everything was strapped down and secured as we would be heading north and crossing the Gulf of Suez, where the winds were still creating plenty of chop.
The next morning, it was a short hop to Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve for the next couple of days of diving. The 6am wake-up call came along with the briefing for the first site we would be diving, which was Shark & Yolanda. The low current conditions allowed us to start the dive at Anemone City, where we would drift along the steep, coral-filled wall. These dives involved drifts, as mooring in Ras Mohammed wasn’t allowed to protect the reefs. As a dive site, Shark & Yolanda is well-known and historically had a lot of sharks, but unfortunately not so many in recent years, especially not so early in the season. However, there was always a chance when looking out into the blue.
The gentle drift took us along the steep walls of the site, with plenty of anemone fish to be seen and a huge variety of corals. It wasn’t long into the dive before we were accompanied by a hawksbill turtle, who drifted with us between the two atolls before parting ways. Between the two reefs, the shallow patch with parts of coral heads surrounded by sand provided the chance to see a few blue-spotted stingrays that were mainly resting underneath the corals and are always a pleasure to see. With this being the morning dive, the early sunlight lit up the walls, providing tranquil moments. Looking out into the blue, there was very little to be seen, but a small shoal of batfish shimmering underneath the sunlight was a moment to capture as we watched them swim by as they watched us.
Towards the end of the dive, we stopped at the wreck of the Jolanda where the seafloor was scattered with toilets from the containers it was carrying. This provided a unique site to make a safety stop, which was also accompanied by a large barracuda slowly swimming by, along with a hawksbill turtle calmly swimming over the reef as the sun rays danced in the distance.
For the next dive, we headed north to the Strait of Tiran to explore the reefs situated between Tiran Island and Sharm El Sheik, which were named after the British divers who had found them. We started on Jackson before heading to Gordons Reef, where we also did the night dive. All the atolls at these sites provided stunning, bustling coral reefs close to the surface and steep walls to swim along, which always provided the opportunity to keep an eye out for some of the larger species that can be seen in the blue. Midwater around Jackson Reef was filled with red-toothed triggerfish and shoals of banner fish, which at times were so dense that you couldn’t see into the blue. Moments went by peacefully as we enjoyed the slow drift above the reef, watching these shoals swim around under the mid-afternoon sun.
The night dive at Gordon’s Reef was mainly among the stacks of corals surrounded by sand, which was great to explore under the darkness. After some time circling the corals, we came across what we were really hoping to find, and that was an octopus hunting on the reef. We spent the majority of the dive just watching it crawl among the reef, blending into its changing surroundings through changes in colour and skin texture. It’s always so fascinating and captivating to watch these incredibly intelligent animals, in awe of their ability to carry out these physical changes to perfectly blend into the reef. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the boat to enjoy a well-deserved tasty dinner prepared by the talented chefs onboard.
Check in for the 3rd and final part of this series from Jake tomorrow!
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
The Shark Trust is excited to announce that, for two more days only, all donations, large or small, will be doubled in the Big Give Green Match Fund!
Donate to Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants
The Shark Trust is hoping to raise £10k which will be doubled to £20k. This will go towards Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants. And they need YOUR help to reach they’re goal.
The Shark Trust’s citizen science project is to monitor and assess basking sharks through sightings; encouraging data collection, community engagement, and promoting nature accessibility. This initiative aims to enhance health and wellbeing by fostering a deeper connection with British Sharks.
Campaign Aims
- Increase citizen science reporting of Basking Sharks and other shark sightings to help inform shark and ray conservation.
- Provide educational talks about the diverse range of sharks and rays in British waters and accessible identification guides!
- Create engaging and fun information panels on how to ID the amazing sharks and rays we have on our doorstep! These can be used on coastal paths around the Southwest. With activities and information on how you can make a difference for sharks and rays!
- Promote mental wellbeing through increasing time in nature and discovering the wonders beneath the waves!
Donate, and double your impact. Click Here
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