Fantastic weekend for the PADI Advanced Open Water Divers

We couldn’t have asked for better weather this weekend at Capernwray. The sun was shining for the whole weekend in perfect reflection of our happiness to be diving. The cool water was welcome for the PADI Advanced Open Water students after the warmth of kitting up.

It was also a great weekend for the Photography Adventure dive as the sun gave the students plenty of natural light for their shots. As ever the fish were more than obliging to have their photo’s taken to help the students pass the course.

The Wreck dive was by far the favourite dive for all of the students and as the last dive of the weekend their buoyancy, trim and positioning in the water was pretty much spot on.

Sub-Mission Dive Centre would like to congratulate all of the students for their hard work this weekend; it was great to see their development over the five dives. Well done PADI Advanced Open Water Divers. We look forward to you progressing to PADI Rescue Diver

To see more of the photo's please visit flickr

St Abbs - The Perfect Dive Club Trip, May 2010

Sub-Mission dive club has just returned from an amazing weekend away in St Abbs, full of action and adventure and some rather sunburnt faces! We were away from Friday to Monday, diving on Saturday and Sunday around the coast of St Abbs.

On Friday afternoon we made the 5 hour drive up to Berwickshire where we had arranged for group to stay in 2 enormous self catering houses, with sea views and only 15 minutes to the diving. We arrived to find some of the group already settled into the farmhouses and Phil and Ian had started a roaring open fire. We all mucked in with the cooking with Friday night being curry night for Phil in the one house and Spaghetti Bolognese for Steve in the other. Then the night was ours to set the diving kit up ready for the next day and then just relax.

Saturday morning, Darren and Katy were up early to cook breakfast for one of the houses and then we left for the boat, before anyone had time to feel ill from the badly cooked (cremated) sausages.

St Abbs is a tiny harbour populated by only a few cafes, several B&B’s, an air bar and a lifeboat station. When we arrived at 8.00am on Saturday, the two car parks were buzzing with excitement and anticipation from divers in various stages of kitting up. Due to the popularity of this trip we had booked Paul Crowe’s hard boat ‘Topline’ for the entire weekend, running two groups of divers on a shuttle service. This gave the 2nd group a chance of a lie-in to recuperate from the journey North, with a chilled out starting time of 11am.

The water temperature was 9 degrees which was a tad chilly but the sunshine warmed us up between dives. The boat skipper, Paul said that Ian W, Steve, Eddie and Chris were the first divers of the year in St Abbs to wear semi drysuits. So well done you four for making our dive club look like a group of hardcore divers! Our dives on Saturday were the first UK boat dives for many of the group but they coped brilliantly and enjoyed the scenic diving that St Abbs boasts with marine life including, large old lobsters, nudibranchs, edible crabs, velvet swimming crabs as well as walls encrusted with jewel anemones, dead mans fingers and plumrose anemones and kelp gardens to explore.

The very rock and roll dive club partied hard on Saturday evening with more great food, thanks to Jenny, Sarah and Eddie, followed by trivial pursuits and an early night!

Sundays diving was even better, with the infamous Cathedral Rock being the first dive. Shaun was excited to dive this site after watching this featured on an episode of Coast and it met his high expectations. Scorpion Fish, flat fish, Pollock were in abundance but for most divers the highlight of the dive was the incredibly friendly wrasse who were just as curious about us as we were about them. Phil and Shep were lucky enough to spend time with an inquisitive seal pup at the surface, which was happy enough to show off and play with their fins as they waited for the boat pick up.

During the surface interval it became apparent that someone (let’s not mention names Darren) had taken the van keys on an exciting adventure to Cathedral Rock where they remain as part of the underwater vista. The reward was set, a free PADI Search & Recovery Specialty Course for the safe return of the keys. Chris did manage to find a set of keys but unfortunately not for the van, so if anyone has lost a set of VW keys contact the Harbour Master at St Abbs.

After the days diving was over, Paul who it turned out wasn’t only a skipper but an expert at breaking into vans managed to open the door so that we could get the spare set out of the van, panic over,

Our final dive of the weekend was a short journey out of the harbour to a site with varied and interesting topography with swim throughs, caves and gullies. Darren & Katy spotted a formidably ugly wolf fish during the dive, making it a pretty spectacular dive to end the weekend on, and yes they do have photos to prove it.

Half of the group left on Sunday afternoon to be back for work on Monday, which meant that Martin was left to cook an amazing Sunday roast for the remaining group, which was very much appreciated. It was then back to the rock and roll lifestyle of a UK diver with murder mystery and giant jenga!

Thank you everyone for a brilliant weekend, with a fantastic group of people and awesome diving. We can’t wait for the next trip…9th July!

Syd's 'Gone Skiing' Report

Sub-Mission continued the Dive Club activities for May with Syd’s 'Gone Skiing', last night at Kidsgrove Ski centre. A group of dive club members turned up to participate in the skiing lesson as well as several seasoned skiers and spectators. Those of us who were having the lessons began with basic movement in skis and soon took to the slopes for some fun falling over.

We progressed to snow ploughs and more falling over followed by increased height up the slope and more falling over. It was brilliant to watch some of the staff consistently landing on their backsides as they were now in the position of ‘learner’ rather than instructor.

We had an hour and a half’s lesson; in which time we all progressed onto the ski lift (some more gracefully than others). Darren managed a spectacular tumble, which Eddie the Eagle would have been proud of, leaving him sprawled across the cones.

It was a great night out, a fantastic activity and we were laughing all the way through. Thanks Syd for a brilliant ‘Gone Diving’ activity. Check out all of the photo's on flickr

Success for the latest group of PADI Open Water Divers!

Another group of fantastic students have completed their PADI Open Water Diver and PADI Drysuit Specialty this weekend. Sam, Paul, Alan and Mel met all of the performance requirements to certify as PADI Open Water Students and then enjoyed a fantastic dive to complete the PADI Drysuit Specialty. Some of the students claim to have seen the Sturgeon, but until there is photographic evidence we’re not too sure it’s true.

Well done also to Janet, who despite her fear gave the dives a really good go. We know that you will be a certified diver in no time, we'll make sure of it!

They were great students and had a positive attitude at all times, so well done.

At the same time, Sub-Mission staff were busy teaching Dave, John and John the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty. The students were getting to grips with rigging a weight system, positioning and trim as well as hovering practice, breath control and descent techniques. The trio did fantastically and we hope that they will do plenty of practice on upcoming dives.

Check out all of the photo's on flickr

Great Bank Holiday Monday for PADI SMB, Multilevel and Enriched Air Specialties!

The sun was shining and a later start meant more time in bed so everyone was that little bit more awake by the time we got to Capernwray on Bank Holiday Monday. John, Sarah, Duncan and Shaun were completing their SMB dives as part of the PADI SMB Specialty. After the pool practice sessions they were all confident in launching SMB’s by various methods so the Open Water dives came easy. Shaun especially was buzzing after the dives, stating that hanging at 5m over the cliff felt like flying.

Katy was busy teaching John and John, the two elder members of the ‘naughty club’, who were completing the PADI Enriched Air dives and also the PADI Multilevel Specialty. They enjoyed two brilliant dives around Capernwray and it must be said that their buoyancy improved in leaps and bounds, as did their ability to use their computers during the dive.

Sub-Mission Buoyancy Workshops - Sun 23rd May / Wednesday 9th June

Due to the high demand for buoyancy workshops and practice sessions Sub-Mission have introduced the Buoyancy clinic as a way to lead into your PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty.

The Buoyancy clinic is a pool session aimed at those divers who dive infrequently, who struggle to perfect their buoyancy or who have recently qualified and want a little more help. A member of Sub-Mission’s staff will work with you to perfect those buoyancy imperfections and to help with basic weighting, streamlining and technique to make you more comfortable. Not only will this help you get the most out of your holiday diving but it will also decrease your effort in the water and therefore improve your air consumption.

This pool session will cost £10 each and include kit hire for the evening.

As most people will want to continue this tuition into open water, we will then use the techniques practised in the pool, at Capernwray for the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty. If you decide to sign up for this Specialty, the buoyancy clinic pool session will be free. We’ll test your ability to hover at 5metres for a safety stop as well as getting close to the bottom without touching it so that you can make the most of your diving on coral reefs!

So why not come along to Newcastle Community High School on Sunday 23rd May at 5.30pm or Blythe Bridge High School on Wednesday 9th June at 8.30pm


The dates for the Peak Performance Buoyancy in Open Water are Sunday 13th June or Sunday 27th June at Capernwray.

Please call Katy or email her at katy@divecourses.co.uk to reserve your place on one of these sessions!

More PADI Open Water Students success

Yet another weekend at Capernwray and yet more superb PADI Open Water Diver students. We would like to congratulate them for all of their hard work over the past few weeks and over this weekend. Gareth, Jason, Dawn, Ian, Steve, Luke, Antonia and Matt have all completed their PADI Open Water Diver Course. They certainly didn’t find it to be an easy hobby to take up but with sheer determination they got through. Dawn did a magnificent job of overcoming her fear of filling her mask with water. Matt must also be mentioned for his concentration and positive attitude throughout the course. Jason and Gareth also enjoyed a further dive and completed the PADI Drysuit Specialty. The group has been a joy to teach and certainly the Open Water weekend was a real laugh for the Instructor’s.


Well done everyone! Check out all of the photos on flickr

Yet another PADI Coral Reef Specialty!

As most of you are aware, here at Sub-Mission we are passionate about the environment. So much so that we are continuing the FREE PADI Coral Reef Conservation Specialty to all of Sub-Mission’s students in 2010.


On Monday, 13 students took us up on the offer and attended the PADI Coral Reef Conservation Specialty.

Sub-Mission’s Instructor, Richard presented to students the importance and biodiversity of the Coral Reef. As well as the danger of human impact and degradation of the environment, Richard also emphasized the efforts that we can make in everyday life to help save the seas, oceans and coral reefs.

Thank you to all of those that attended; Julie, Lance, Colin, Rob, Janet, Alan, Paul E, Andy, Sam, Dave, Paul O, Tony and James.

Now, go out and do your bit...