Free PADI Advanced Open Water Course

Are you a PADI Open Water Diver looking for your next Scuba adventure. Have you considered the PADI Advanced Open Water course, or are you eager to dip your toes into the realms of PADI Specialty training programs instead.

By completing 5 PADI Specialty courses with Sub-Mission, you will receive the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification completely FREE. This represents a massive saving of £225.

All you need to do to take advantage of this offer is to select one of the PADI Specialty packages listed below and pay a deposit to secure your package booking. Finally select convenient course dates from the 2011 on-line schedule; it's as easy as that.

Once confirmed, call into the dive centre to pick up your training materials for your 1st chosen PADI Specialty & to arrange any equipment requirements.

Once you've completed 5 PADI Specialties, including Deep & Underwater Naviagtion, you'll also receive your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification as well.

Not only is this a fantastic opportunity to save £££'s, you'll also benefit by being able to spread the cost of the package over a period of 6 months.

So if your ready to 'Escape In 2011', this package is the perfect opportunity to combine excitement, adventure & furthering your diving career.

UK Package: - Deep, Underwater Navigation, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Dry Suit, Wreck

Tech Package: - Deep, Underwater Navigation, Enriched Air Nitrox, DPV, Wreck


Liveaboard/Holiday Package: - Deep, Underwater Navigation, Enriched Air Nitrox, Digital Underwater Photography, Wreck

Conservation/Green Package: - Deep, Underwater Navigation, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Underwater Naturalist, Digital Underwater Photography

Underwater Explorer Package: - Deep, Underwater Navigation, Enriched Air Nitrox, Multi-Level, Search & Recovery
Ocean Diver Package: - Deep, Underwater Navigation, Boat, Drift, Peak Performance Buoyancy
If you have any questions or wish to discuss course options, then please don't hesitate to contact Katy at katy@divecourses.co.uk, or call us on 01782 207474.

Massive January Sale!!

Yes, that’s right; we are having a Massive January sale! In preparation for some new and exciting stock that is expected in January, we are clearing the decks and slashing prices.

Starting at 10.00 am on Saturday 1st January, the sale ends at 5pm on Saturday 8th January.

Here are just a few of the exciting offers available:

Beuchat Focea II comfort 5mm Wetsuit – RRP £259, Sale Price £179

Seac Sub Propulsion fins - Half Price

Northern Diver Flectalon Undersuits – RRP £130, Sale Price £65

Seac Sub Syren BCD’s – RRP £345, Sale Price £225

Sale items are only available for current stock and so the offers are limited to certain sizes and colours. When they are gone, we won’t be restocking! Whilst the biggest savings will be on these clearance items, there will be discounts off other brands such as Apeks, Poseidon and many more….

Get 10% off Fourth Element Amphibian boots, Masks discounted to £15 (Great for a spare) and Titanium Knives that were £49.95 will be £30.

We will also be having an extra special daily sale item. These will be advertised on Facebook, our blog and the newsfeed on the front page of our website and will only be available for that given day and may only be purchased in store. Keep an eye out for these deals but hurry into the Dive Centre if you want to take advantage of the superb savings.

Come along to the Dive Centre and see just what we’ve got to shout about!

Paul celebrates PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

Paul is one of the quieter members of Sub-Mission Dive Club but nothing can curb his enthusiasm for the sport, he really has caught the ‘Scuba Bug’. His latest achievement is certainly one to be proud of; he has reached the dizzy heights of PADI Master Scuba Diver.

The PADI Master Scuba Diver rating is the highest non-professional certification that a diver can achieve, often stated as the ‘Black Belt’ of diving. This accreditation demonstrates Pauls experience and expertise in several different areas of specialisation. Paul learnt to dive abroad and took the brave step to don a drysuit and jump into Capernwray in February and since then there has been no looking back. He has specialised in Drysuit diving, Peak Performance Buoyancy (which Paul considers to be one of the most beneficial courses that he’s completed), Wreck diving, Underwater Navigation and Deep Diving. He has also recently completed his Rescue Diver Course where he showed that he can be a great asset in an emergency situation both in his decision making ability and his rescue skills.

Pauls name will soon be added to the Master Scuba Diver Roll of Honour board in the Dive Centre with the other members of this very elite group of divers. Congratulations Paul on your hard work and lets hope that 2011 proves to be an equally active year for you.

Four New Emergency First Response Instructors

Phew! It’s been a busy time for PADI Professional level courses and there are just no signs of it stopping with another four students to congratulate. In order to complete the PADI Instructor Development Course; Barry, Simon, Jo and Paul had to complete the PADI Emergency First Response Instructor Course.

They gave up a couple of days to come and complete the course, which will give them the skills and knowledge to teach the PADI Emergency First Response course to divers or non divers. The ability to teach such a valuable course will hopefully lead to some positive outcomes for any students who have to give CPR or First aid in the future.

With that in mind, each of them learned how to structure the Emergency First Response Course as well as their role in teaching First Aid and CPR skills. They were also tasked and evaluated on motivating students and developing their hands-on skills practice, effective skills presentations and scenario-based learning. They each perfected their infant and child first aid and CPR skills as a portion of this program.

They found it nerve wracking standing up and giving a presentation for the first time but accomplished each assessment with ease and eventually confidence. They will go on to provide valuable training for a subject that is very close to mine and Darren’s hearts. Congratulations Emergency First Response Instructors

Darren and Lyndon complete the PADI Tec Deep Instructor Course

After much practice and study, Darren and Lyndon finally crossed over to the Dark Side and came out as PADI Tec Deep Instructors.

As many of you will know, Lyndon and Darren have a keen interest in technical diving and deeper diving and are chomping at the bit to be able to pass on that knowledge and passion to some of you as future TecRec students. But in order to be able to teach the new structure of PADI TecRec they had to first be examined and scrutinised themselves on their dive skills.

The PADI Tec Deep Instructor course that they completed comprised of classroom presentations, Open Water dives including teaching skills and problem solving, demonstration quality skills including shut downs, stage drills and SMB use as well as decompression theory and dive planning exams. They were certainly put through their paces. They both deserve huge congratulations for the hard work that they had to put in to complete the course as well as their bravery in the cold.

So what now? Well now we are going to trial the TecRec programs, put course schedules together and then get you interested in pushing your limits further. The PADI TecRec Programs that Sub-Mission can currently teach are the PADI Tec 40, Tec 45 and Tec 50. These courses each take you one stage deeper and more involved in decompression considerations, diving with technical equipment and planning deeper dives so that you can explore more, spend longer deeper and essentially escape into a different type of diving.

For more information on PADI TecRec Courses come into the Dive Centre, call on 01782 207474 or email katy@divecourses.co.uk

PADI Assistant Instructor Success

As you may have guessed from several starry eyed and grinning faces, we have 4 new PADI Instructors; Barry, Simon, Jo and Paul. But although I wasn’t quick enough writing the blog about Barry and Simon completing their PADI Assistant Instructor Course I must congratulate them as well as Ian and Tim who worked really hard in order to complete the course.

The PADI Assistant Instructor course is one of the most rewarding PADI programs you can do but with that goes an awful lot of time, effort and preparation during the course. Ian, Tim, Barry and Simon certainly deserve recognition for their success.

The course is made up of several components but essentially each one is based around the ability to now teach students. Classroom presentations must be completed as well as pool presentations, skill practice with ‘problem students’, open water presentations, rescue assessments and further theory exams. Each one of the candidates was scored during the process and certainly there was a significant improvement by the end of the course. Ian must get a special mention as he did a fantastic job of overcoming his anxiety of speaking in public and scored highly for his classroom presentations, we're not sure about his giant stride entry from the top of the cliff though!

Barry and Simon went straight on to complete the PADI Instructor Development Course and although Ian and Tim haven’t yet they too will fly through the Instructor process and make fantastic PADI Instructors but for now, we are looking forward to their involvement with Sub-Mission in their new role as PADI Assistant Instructor. Well Done.

January 16th 2011 - Murrayfield Hyperbaric Chamber Dry Dive

Sunday morning; the perfect day for deep diving! You get up early and it’s really cold outside but you’re not worried as you’ll be warm and dry on your dive. 50 metres is your planned depth and you’re looking forward to enjoying the effects of nitrogen narcosis without the worry of acting foolishly whilst diving. Too good to be true? No, we’re on our way to Murrayfield Hyperbaric Chamber (and not in the back of an ambulance!)

Sub-Mission definitely rates the day trip to the Hyperbaric facility as one of the best days out and on Sunday 16th January 2011 the Sub-Mission Dive Club will be visiting the chamber. The itinerary is a presentation followed by a 50 metre dry dive. The presentation itself is extremely beneficial to all divers as topics covered include the facility itself, the mechanics of decompression sickness, signs and symptoms, treatment and how to stay conservative and avoid decompression sickness.

The actual dive itself is one of the most hilarious experiences available without alcohol. Due to the increased density of the gas the vocal chords begin to vibrate causing everyone to speak like they’ve spent the last hour inhaling helium! Combine this with the narcotic and euphoric effects of nitrogen narcosis and you have mayhem. Its laughter all round as you reach 50m and the odd chorus of “Night Fever” strikes up and one of the group begins to dance in the middle. Cameras and microphones allow everyone outside to cringe as you laugh, cackle and giggle all the way back to the surface and everyone wants to back down again.

Dive computers can be put in the bucket and log books are stamped as proof of the dive. The trip is a must for all divers and we’re planning the next day out on January 16th. Make sure you book early to confirm your place!

The minimum age for this event is 16 with the minimum level of PADI Open Water Diver or equivalent. The experience is great value at only £25 per person and as spaces are limited to 15, be quick to reserve your place. Get in touch with Katy on 01782 207474, katy@divecourses.co.uk or come into the Dive Centre.

2011 Course Dates Now Available On-Line

We know that many of you are already planning your diving calendar for 2011, so we hope that publishing our course dates for the entire year of 2011 would give you a helping hand.

Why not treat yourself for christmas & book that PADI specialty that you have your eye on. Or better still, drop the hints to friends and family and they can sign you up on-line today. A convenient way of getting what your want for christmas.

If you're interested in the PADI Rescue Diver course, simply choose your preferred course date and pick up the training pack to give you something to do over the festive break.

2011 is set to be a fantastic year with Sub-Mission, as we introduce exciting new courses including PADI Tec diving programs & the newly revised PADI Divemaster course.

As one of the UK's leading Project AWARE dive centres, we are really excited about next years planned environmental activities, including 3 beach clean-ups, skate tagging & 'Go Free' weeks. So if you want to make a difference in 2011, get involved.

Following up on the huge success of this years dive club 'Gone Diving' activities, plans are already in place to continue this into 2011 with some exciting & new ideas.

Of course this doesn't detract from our busy dive trip & holiday calendar, with trips to Malta & Egypt in the pipeline.

2011 is set to be the most exciting & action packed year to date. Forget about the winter weather & the doom and gloom of the economy and escap it all with Sub-Mission.

Escape In 2011... Dive Sub-Mission

Huge Congratulations To Sub-Mission's Newest PADI Instructors

2010 has been a fantastic year for Sub-Mission dive centre, with more people choosing to do Scuba courses with us than ever before.So it was always going to be difficult to finish the year on a high, but what better way than the fantastic success of 4 new PADI Instructors.

Jo, Paul, Barry & Simon continued Sub-Mission's 100% PADI Instructor exam pass rate. We would like to congratulate them all, not only for passing the 2 day PADI Examination, but for their fantastic performances that make us proud to say that they are part of the Sub-Mission team.

Over the past few months each of them have been working hard to perfect their instructional skills including dive theory, classroom presentations, swimming pool & open water teaching presentations.

The last 2 days has seen all four of them work as a team during the PADI Instructor exam in Rugby & Stoney Cove. To say that they were anxious is an understatement, but nevertheless, they all performed outstandingly and received high marks in all area's.

We wish them all the best for the future & look forward to working with them.

I would like to thank Clive Albon for once again producing some outstanding candidates, I would also like to thank the entire Sub-Mission dive team in supporting us in our efforts to fully prepare Jo, Paul, Barry & Simon.

2011 is quickly approaching & with it an action packed year of new courses & activities to keep them all busy.

Congratulations



Well, how do you top a fantastic year

Cressi Scuba Diving Equipment Now Available At Sub-Mission

Sub-Mission are pleased to announce the arrival of the popular Scuba diving brand Cressi-Sub to our extensive range of quality diving equipment. Cressi is an established manufacturer within 60 years of experience within the diving industry. They offer a wide range of products including Scuba Diving, Spearfishing, Snorkeling & Swimming equipment.

So if you are you looking for some super duper new fins? A new light weight BCD for travelling with? Or a mask with a silicone skirt that will never discolour? Then why not come along to the Dive Centre and we will show you our exciting new range of Cressi products.

We have had a range of new BCD’s to include the S111R and the Travel Light which is great for taking on holiday with you. We have even had some gorgeous pink fins as well as mask and snorkel sets for those ladies (and gents) who want to be colour co-ordinated.

We’ve also taken stock of the Cressi Eclipse regulators which are not only compact and light weight but also cold water rated for all of your UK diving. If you’re looking for a shorty wet suit for holiday then come in and check out the new designs so that you look super cool whilst you’re away.

We’ve also stocked some of the products from the swimming range including training fins for children and swimming goggles.

If you would like any information on any of the new products please feel free to call in or email me at katy@divecourses.co.uk

Jenny's 'Gone Festive' - December 19th 5.30pm

Jenny's 'Gone Festive'

Christmas is fast approaching and Sub-Mission Dive Club is getting into the festive spirit! For December’s ‘gone diving’ event Jenny has organised a night of scuba fun and games on a Christmas theme, 5.30-7.30pm on Sunday 19th December at Newcastle Community pool.

You can enter the competition in teams of two people. It is free to enter and involves a series of timed fun activities for you to complete. Do you and your buddy think you are up for the challenge? Do you fancy having a laugh and using your scuba skills to see how quickly you can get the scuba presents in the Christmas stockings?

The fastest team to successfully complete the circuit will win, with a small prize for the winning team. An even smaller consolation prize will be available for the slowest team and there will even be a little something for the team with the best name! Supporters are welcome to come and cheer you on from the pool side!

Afterwards everyone is invited back to the Cherry Tree pub (just down the road) to toast the winning team and bask in their reflected glory (or plot your rise to victory for the next challenge, depending on how competitive you are!)

If you want to enter the competition you need to register your team. If you are interested please contact Katy at the Dive Centre by Friday 17th December to confirm team members and register the name of your team. Call us on 01782 207474 or pop in to the dive centre to register.

November’s Gone Diving Day - Syd's Gone Treasure Hunting

Syd’s Gone Treasure Hunting

Syd has the task of organising November’s Gone Diving Day and before the winter sets in he is keen on getting everyone into the water for some treasure hunting fun.

Syd is organising an underwater treasure hunt at Eccleston Delph on Sunday 21st November. It’s not quite Davy Jones’s locker but it’s a brilliant venue for a treasure hunt. Anyone is welcome to enter and take a chance at winning. The idea will be that buddy teams will enter the water and try to collect as much ‘treasure’ as possible over 2 dives. Each buddy team will write their name on the treasure so that it can go into a prize draw. Then for each of the prizes on offer, we will randomly pull out some treasure to reveal the winners.

Entry fee for the competition is £10 each person and will need to be paid in the shop prior to the 21st November. The more people to enter the bigger the prizes!!

Prizes will be Vouchers to spend in the shop on Dive Equipment as well as PADI Dive Courses.

There will also be a mystery prize for a piece of treasure collected.

So, if you’re looking for one last dive before the winter, a day out diving and a really good laugh then come along and get treasure hunting…

Contact Katy at the Dive Centre or email to Katy@divecourses.co.uk

Congratulations to new PADI Divemasters

Sub-Mission would like to congratulate Simon and Barry on their success in obtaining the PADI Divemaster Certification. They have certainly worked hard over the last few months to achieve this prestigious status.

Barry and Simon have completed each element of the PADI Divemaster Course to earn them the first of their professional PADI certifications.

The PADI Divemaster course is one of the most challenging courses that PADI have created and so it is certainly no small achievement. Completing the PADI Divemaster course involves theory exams, practical assessments including rescue skills and demonstration quality skills and assisting with students during their training.

Both of them found different aspects of the course challenging and rewarding but overall they excelled in the Divemaster Program. We are incredibly proud of their hard work and commitment and wish them the very best in their professional career. Next Step Assistant Instructor!

Shark Awareness Evening Success

I would like to thank everyone who came along to the Shark Awareness evening last Monday. I was amazed that we had such a good turnout for something that I had advertised as quite grim watching and slightly depressing. It certainly showed me that our divers are concerned about the environment and passionate about making a difference.


The documentary that we watched showed the grim reality of the shark finning trade and the impact that it will have if it continues in the future.

The discussion afterwards regarding what we can do to get involved was encouraging as some really achievable ideas were presented. Watch this space for future projects…

The evening was concluded with a brilliant presentation by Lucy from the Sea Life Centre at Alton Towers. She was tasked with lightening the mood and did so by showing some of the successful projects that Sea Life Centres are involved in, such as Turtle rescue, sea horse breeding and legislative changes.

It was a really encouraging night and I personally would like to thank everyone for giving up their time as well as the donations that were raised for Project AWARE.

Many Thanks, Katy

Kelly Completes Master Scuba Diver!

Now that her name has finally arrived and has been mounted on the MASTER SCUBA DIVER ROLL of HONOUR Board in the Dive Centre, we would like to congratulate Kelly on her achievement of the prestigious PADI Master Scuba Diver award. This demonstrates her knowledge of Specialist areas of diving such as Enriched Air, Deep diving and Wreck diving as well as dive experience by proving that she has completed more than 50 dives.

The PADI Master Scuba Diver rating also shows that Kelly has completed her PADI Rescue Diver Course and is competent in diver safety and rescue procedures.

This certification is the highest PADI rating for those who have not embarked on the PADI Divemaster and Instructor route and so shows Kelly’s diving ability and experience. We would like to congratulate her on her hard work and success! Well Done Kelly!

Congratulations Sub-Mission Students

PADI Open Water Divers

Congratulations to Ben and Emily who certified as PADI Open Water Divers last weekend. The two teenagers had flown through the pool skills and were really keen to get into the open water and experience diving in a more realistic environment.

They completed their dives at Eccleston Delph, where the visibility was much better than expected. Ben and Emily got to explore underwater, finding many of the interesting features such as the tank, the containers and the playground where they were both keen to get on the see saw!

The two of them were brilliant at the skills and certainly made it very easy students to teach. The buoyancy skills demonstrated by both of them was certainly amongst the best that we have seen this year.

Well done for your hard work and we’re glad to say that you are both now PADI Open Water Divers!

PADI Enriched Air Specialty Divers

Sub-Mission would like to congratulate the PADI Enriched Air Specialty students for their success last week. In preparation for holidays and longer UK dives; Simon, Paul and Paul completed the course to make the most out of their dive time.

Each of the students learnt the theory behind enriched air, the benefits and the disadvantages as well as the procedures to obtain and analyse fills. They also learnt how to plan enriched air dives and calculate maximum depth limits.

The use of enriched air will benefit each of them by increasing the time that they will be able to spend underwater enjoying the coral reefs, wrecks and amazing marine life.

At the request of Simon, they also completed the course using Enriched Air Computers instead of the PADI Enriched Air Tables, giving them less time planning dives and more time in the water.



PADI Wreck Specialty Divers

The new plane at Capernwray is a great feature to learn wreck techniques on and Sub-Mission students had a blast on Saturday getting to grips with mapping, line laying and exploring every nook and cranny of it.

Paul, James, Ant, Giles, Barry, Paul and Tim were great PADI Wreck Specialty students who enthusiastically threw themselves in to each task presented to them. They showed efficient and cohesive team work, especially during the actual penetration of the wreck. There were some moments of entanglement as they began to learn the techniques of reeling along the outside but soon mastered it.

The staff had a great day with the PADI Wreck Specialty students so thanks very much and congratulations.

PADI Advanced Open Water Students

Well done to those students who were busy over the weekend completing the PADI Advanced Open Water Course and Adventure Diver.

Sharon, Kate, Sophie, Lee, Nick and Geoff all completed the core Deep and Navigation Dives and then chose to also try their hand at photography, peak performance buoyancy, drysuit, search & recovery and wreck diving.

There were some cracking photo’s taken over the photography dives with some hopefully making their way onto the flickr account some time soon.

Syd also managed to tie the students up in knots with underwater searching as well as rigging a lift bag and bringing it to the surface.

Again, a great set of students who kept the staff laughing throughout the weekend!

Steve's Gone Night Diving - October 27th

The nights are drawing in but the water temp is still in double figures (just) and Sub-Mission's going Mid Week Diving. For those of you carefully planning how you can get in as many dives as possible before the winter sets in this may be the perfect opportunity for you. With a night dive planned as well it is also an excellent time to try something completely new, adventurous and exciting. All under the watchful eye of Steve who will be organising the day and making sure everything runs smoothly.

We are going to Capernwray on Wednesday 27th October to take advantage of their late night opening with only one more after this date. The plan is to get a couple of orientation dives done in the afternoon, a dive as its going dusk and then a proper UK night dive.

If you just want to join us for afternoon instead of the evening, that’s cool as well; it’s just another opportunity for you to get your fins wet.

Steve has worked out some approx dive times for those who want to join him on the day:

13:15, 15:30, 17:45 and 19:45.

You’ll need to bring along your cameras for the sturgeon spotting as well as torches for the night dive. Any kit hire needs to be booked and picked up from the Dive Centre so please call Katy on 01782 207474.

So to make sure Steve has a buddy on the day, please confirm your attendance with Katy (katy@divecourses.co.uk)

BBC iPlayer - Horizon: 2010-2011: The Death of the Oceans?

BBC iPlayer - Horizon: 2010-2011: The Death of the Oceans?

Last night, whilst sitting at home I was flicking through the channels and heard the infamous voice of David Attenborough. Now anytime I hear his voice I know it's going to be a nature program and so I payed a little more attention. Brilliant, there were images of coral reefs and gorgeous blue seas so I settled in to watch. I soon realised that this wasn't a program that was going to leave me wanting to cuddle the lovely fish; this was going to call me to action to do something about the plight of the oceans.

As David Attenborough said "the oceans are the lungs of the world and we are killing them making it impossible for the world to breathe and exist". He wasn't just talking about fish stocks being depleted but other issues such as increased carbon emissions resulting in acidification of the seas, noise pollution affecting whales and dolphins as well as human pressures causing lasting damage to the marine environment.

However, with all of these 'hard to watch' programs there is always a positive message that we can contribute and have an impact. I urge you to take an hour out to follow this link and watch the Horizon episode. Let me know your thoughts. Darren and I are trying to develop some new ideas for next year to get the dive club more involved in environmental issues. If you have any idea's please don't hesitate to send them to me at katy@divecourses.co.uk

Many Thanks, Katy

Full Range Of Northern Diver Drysuits Now Available

Sub-Mission Dive Centre is pleased to announce the arrival of a much wider range of Drysuits from Northern Diver, the UK's leading supplier of Scuba diving drysuits. Northern Diver suits are supplied to the UK Ministry Of Defence, Elite Special Forces, Fire & Rescue Services, Search & Rescue Services & Commercial Divers. With this prestigious list of clients, you can be assured of a quality product at an affordable price.

We have increased our range of drysuits to encompass the whole range of Northern Divers Recreational Diving suits. The range includes the lightweight breathable Aquarius drysuit through to the newly launched HID Trilaminate drysuit.

Our aim is to offer our customers a choice of drysuit in the size they require at competitive prices. We are confident that we have the largest selection of in stock drysuits in the area, making us your number one choice for drysuits.

The new range of drysuits include:

RBX II Drysuit
Divemaster Drysuit
Vortex Drysuit
Aquarius Drysuit
Voyager Drysuit
HID Drysuit

Each drysuit is supplied with a matching neoprene hood, zipped drysuit storage bag, Valves & Hose & a drysuit maintenance kit. (*excluding suits on special offer)

Whilst most customers will generally fit into a stock sized suit, we may on occassion need to order alterations or made to measure dry suits direct from Northern Diver.

We hope that this step, will enable us to better service our customers needs and enable you to walk away on the day with your choice of drysuit.

Project AWARE International Clean Up day - Sub-Mission's Grand day out.

Thank you to everyone who attended the Project AWARE Beach Clean Up on Saturday. We had a fantastic day with the most amazing weather and gorgeous sunny skies.

 

Katy had planned to clean Bull Bay but upon inspection the beach was incredibly clean, which is testament to the local community’s effort to keep litter off the beach. So, we decided to drive down to Trearddur Bay and clean up the main public beach at the top of Ravenspoint Road. Just as Trefor Beach fooled us into believing it was a clean beach, we actually collected a massive 74kg of rubbish on what looked like a well looked after area. The tide must play some part in washing fresh rubbish ashore everyday as this is a beach that is regularly cleaned.

 

With our team of 48 volunteers, including the group of Cub Scouts who came along to give us a hand, we set to work collecting rubbish from the shoreline and underwater after a briefing from Darren and Katy. The underwater teams found very little litter and again this may be attributed to divers collecting on their dives, although what was found was collated and carefully disposed of.

 

Some of the items found on Saturday include:

 

• 243 Lengths of fishing line
• 232 Food wrappers / containers
• 94 Glass Bottles
• 105 Lengths of rope
• 134 Cigarette stubs
• 1 Firework
• 1 Nappy
• 1 Plastic Bucket

Thanks to Tim, Barry and Jen who were on hand to keep us refreshed and fed all day with drinks and a Barbeque.

 

Thanks to everyone who volunteered their weekend to come along and participate in Project AWARE International Clean Up day. Hopefully you will realise that actually we can make a difference each and every time we visit the coast. Keep up the good work!

 

This will be Sub-Mission's last Beach and Underwater Clean Up this year, but if you would like to get involved, we have plenty of exciting idea's for next year already!

Help for Heroes Discover Scuba Session

Steve, a member of Sub-Mission Dive Club was tasked with organising an event to raise money for ‘Help for Heroes’ as part of a company wide charity initiative. He decided to drag his colleagues along for a PADI Discover Scuba evening with any donations being contributed to a charity that is doing some incredible work for our brave service men and women.

The evening went swimmingly with all of Steve’s colleagues eager and enthusiastic to give Scuba a go. Andy even brought his son along to experience the thrill of breathing underwater. There was plenty of laughter during the session especially when it came to doing acrobatics down at the deep end of the pool! There were some pretty impressive head spins on the bottom as well as somersaults.

Steve got involved by taking plenty of pictures on the night and actually participated in the underwater race and although he came first, we all know he cheated. The real winner of the evening is the ‘Help for Heroes’ Charity as Steve managed to raise over £100. Thanks for organising a great evening Steve and we hope that other organised events are just as successful.

Congratulations to Dawn who has achieved the prestigious status of Master Scuba Diver Trainer!

As I’m sure many of you who have had the pleasure of diving with Dawn will know that she didn’t find UK diving easy to begin with. She decided that she never wanted to get back into the water after her PADI Open Water Diver Course in the depths of a very cold February! But look at her now… there was just no stopping Dawn after the PADI Advanced Open Water Course. She is certainly a great ambassador for hard work and determination overcoming all obstacles.

Dawn became an Instructor last year and has been busy passing on her knowledge to our customers ever since. Otherwise known by the staff as Dawn Von Harsh, our divers know that Dawn is actually the epitome of patience, caring and encouragement that gets many students through the tougher aspects of some of the courses.

Not one for standing still too long, Dawn has been working towards her next step up and has now achieved the qualification of Master Scuba Diver Trainer. This shows her ability to teach a range of PADI scuba courses and also recognises that Dawn can teach at least 5 PADI Specialty Courses, including Deep and Wreck.

We can’t wait for Dawn to get stuck into teaching PADI Specialties and I’m sure that you will all join us in congratulating Dawn on her positive attitude and sometimes sheer determination to keep achieving. Well done Dawn!

Well done to the new PADI Open Water Divers and PADI Drysuit Specialty Divers!

And last, but certainly not least was the huge success of the PADI Open Water Divers and Drysuit Specialty Divers. Steve, Bev, Jennie, Vicky and Darren were all successful in completing the PADI Open Water Diver certification and PADI Drysuit Specialty Diver Course.

We would like to congratulate and acknowledge them all for their hard work and determination to get through the courses. The group certainly didn’t find all of the course structure easy, especially when nerves got the better of some of them. Giant stride entry took an amazing amount of courage for Jennie and Vicky.

Thankfully the visibility at Stoney Cove was good at the weekend and although nervous about what the dives would entail, the group got stuck in and enjoyed their time underwater. The skills that they completed on each dive were done with ease and made the Instructor’s job pretty easy.

After completing the PADI Open Water Diver Course they then went onto complete the PADI Drysuit Specialty along with Charles, to enable them to get the best out of their diving all year round. Considering that Charles has only ever been a warm water diver, he did a very good job at acclimatising to the UK waters. Even though he was feeling a bit green at times, he was determined to complete all of the necessary skills. They all had a great dive and a nice underwater exploration in search of the pike, which was a lovely way to finish off a fantastic weekend.

Well done everyone!

Tim, Patrick and Paul complete their PADI Advanced Open Water Course!

Tim, Paul and Patrick were getting stuck into the PADI Advanced Open Water Course over the weekend at Stoney Cove. They chose to complete a variety of dives including Drysuit, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Photography, Wreck, Navigation and Deep.

The three students completed their skills with ease over the 5 dives and certainly improved their buoyancy, amongst other things during the weekend.

The visibility was pretty fantastic giving Tim plenty of opportunity, light and clarity to get some great photo’s underwater, especially with the huge shoals of roach and perch that were ever present on the training shelf. Considering that Paul had not dived in the UK before we were really impressed with how easy he took to Drysuit diving as well as the less favourable conditions that were on offer.

Sub-Mission staff had a blast teaching the PADI Advanced Open Water Course and Ant said that the Wreck Dive was more like a pleasure dive than a training dive. Well done to the three of you!

Sub-Mission Deep Specialty - Well Done Paul!

Sub-Mission ran a PADI Deep Diver Specialty as well this weekend with Paul, who was keen to be able to learn more about the techniques of deeper diving. He learnt the processes necessary with regard to planning, preparation and conducting deep dives as well as experiencing changing factors such as temperature, light and pressure as you go deeper.

Paul was also given a redundant air source to carry on one of the dives in order to get used to differing equipment considerations and configurations. He was also tasked with breathing from this during an extended safety stop to simulate an emergency scenario.

One of the skills that Paul had to complete was a timed task on the surface and then again underwater to see if he was feeling any effects of nitrogen narcosis. The time it took Paul was exactly the same for both tests however; he did say that he had to concentrate harder at depth.

Well done to Paul for a great weekend’s diving and congratulations PADI Deep Diver!

PADI Rescue Diver Course Success

Another weekend finished, another bunch of happy divers with nice new certifications!

We’d like to congratulate Jenny, Jon, Paul and Mark who completed their PADI Rescue Diver over the weekend. They certainly didn’t have an easy ride and by the end of Saturday were suitably exhausted from all of their hard work.

Syd and Darren put them through their paces ensuring that they completed all of the skills required such as dealing with a panicked diver in the water, reacting to a missing diver situation, bringing an unconscious diver to the surface and rendering assistance to an unconscious diver on the surface, as well as many more.

Working in teams, the PADI Rescue students were not only expected to help with emergency situations but actually to manage the situation and control the scene. It wasn’t all hard work though; they all enjoyed the course immensely and had a good laugh throughout. They all came away with a great sense of achievement and we are sure they’ll go away feeling confident to assist another diver should the need ever arise. Well done!

PADI Coral Reef Conservation Course completed!

Yet again, last night Sub-Mission hosted another successful PADI Coral Reef Conservation Specialty Course. With 13 in attendance it was a great night, full of discussion and some brilliant idea’s presented for ways to help the environment.

Everyone was enthusiastic to learn more about the aquatic realm and enjoyed the presentation, which featured various aspects of coral reefs. From fish to coral and from Mangroves to barrier reefs.

The message was loud and clear though with plenty of emphasis on what we can do to help slow down the degradation of many coral reefs around the world. Everyone went away with plenty to think about and some great idea’s on how they can make a difference. We would like to thank Paul, Denise, Jen, Mark, Tim, Andreea, Bev, Charles, Lee, Nick, Paul, Kate and Sharon for attending the course and hope that you go on to do some good for the environment.

This PADI Specialty will also class as one of the five required for the prestigious MASTER SCUBA DIVER!

If you are interested in the PADI Coral Reef Conservation Specialty Course, the next date is October 25th. Call Katy to book your place!

Sub-Mission’s next PADI Rescue Courses – October 13th or November 17th

If you’ve completed your PADI Advanced Open Water Course and are wondering what to do next, why not consider the PADI Rescue Diver Course?

Ask any seasoned diver which course they enjoyed the most and the majority will quote that the PADI Rescue Diver Course is the most challenging & rewarding PADI course they took. The PADI Rescue Diver program introduces the necessary skills required in the unlikely event of a diving incident.

The PADI Rescue Diver program will build your confidence as a diver, give you valuable experience in emergency management and prevention and heighten your awareness of the surrounding environment.

You will learn the techniques needed to deal with tired, panicked, unresponsive and unconscious divers. This is developed through to worst case scenarios and in water resuscitation techniques.

Let’s face it, with those skills who wouldn’t want to buddy up with you on a dive trip or holiday!


The Next PADI Rescue Course schedules are as follows:

Wednesday 13th October 6.30pm          Dive Centre followed by pool session

Sunday 24th October 3.30pm                 Dive Centre followed by pool session

Saturday 30th October                           Capernwray



OR


Wednesday 17th November 6.30pm          Dive Centre followed by pool session

Sunday 21st November 3.30pm                 Dive Centre followed by pool session

Saturday 27th November                           TBC


The course fee is £249 for the Rescue Diver Course and £324 if you need to do the Emergency First Response Course.

Please contact Katy in the Dive Centre to book your space on this course. Spaces are limited so don’t leave it too late!

PROJECT AWARE Underwater and Beach clean up – Saturday September 25th

Due to the success of the last clean up we have decided to organise another for Project AWARE International Clean up day on Saturday 25th September.

Katy is organising an Underwater and Beach Clean Up at Bull Bay, Anglesey. This will be an effort to clean up the beach and the underwater environment just off the beach. All of the rubbish will be disposed of but more importantly the data collected will be given to Project AWARE.

If last weeks clean up is anything to go by we will have a fantastic day out on the beach, some brilliant diving and a fun club activity.

We know it's not the ideal way to spend your saturday but look at it this way, you get to help the environment, get in the water for a pretty decent dive, have a laugh on the beach and finish up with a BBQ to congratulate all of your hard work!

There is also the option and possibility to camp or stay over on the Friday or Saturday night as we will be organising some diving on the Sunday at either Trearddur Bay or Vivian Quarry. There are several campsites nearby so we’ll confirm where we’re staying shortly before we go.

We'll meet and start at 10.00am on the beach.

Address for Bull Bay:

Bull Bay, Amlwch, Isle of Anglesey, LL68 9SH

So, bring your rubber gloves (or heavy duty gardening gloves), any friends and family that want to get involved and your enthusiasm to do some good for the environment and I'm sure that the Sub-Mission staff will provide plenty of entertainment as usual!

Please contact Katy at the Dive Centre to confirm numbers and also to book any equipment that you may need. Once again we are offering any equipment hire on the saturday at half price with the money going directly to the Project AWARE foundation.

Call Us On 01782 207474 or pay us a visit at the dive centre to register your participation.