When in conversation and people ask me what I do, and I tell them that I am a Scuba Diving Instructor, I often get the reply ‘I’m a diver too!’.  Once I start talking to them, I realise they did the PADI Open Water course before they went to the Maldives on...

So an early call on Monday morning, still dark outside and off I go to Gatwick airport, to meet Mark from Oyster Diving, a London based Dive Centre, and then on a flight to Barcelona.  I was lucky enough to be one of a chosen few to be invited to Spain on a...

After only diving for 3 months I feel like it’s a huge part of my life already. I aspire to become a marine biologist someday so I decided to volunteer in Fiji by taking part in a marine conservation project for 7 weeks. This was my first time travelling alone so I...

Following on from our last blog, we’ve had a very busy summer.  With Rhonda now back in the water and Shaun back from Cyprus, we have more options for Open Water training. One of the problems that many dive centres face is the voluntary nature of the staff.  Over the...

As a freshly trained Open Water diver, I haven’t had as much experience as most other divers. Indeed, I’ve never gone diving in the ocean before, so Swanage was always going to be a new experience for me.  However, it never occurred to me that I was not only going to...

Zoe & Celine’s Blog – Red Sea Northern Reefs and Wrecks We have been asked to let you all know about the recent Orca Scuba Diving Academy trip to the Red Sea.  Prior to us leaving the UK we got an update from Scuba Travel that our liveaboard had been...

Sorry for the absence, it has been a very busy time. The season got off to a good start with a 12 man dive team going down to the Undive Fest.  Since 2011 we have supported the Dive Festival down in Pentuin Sands, Cornwall, but unfortunately this year it was cancelled...

Once all of the Easter Eggs have been eaten, the Easter holiday period has worked out to be a very busy one for us.  The last two Tuesday nights have been busy with many young people taking the opportunity to dive, having no school the following day.  This included a...

As Kevin and I are merely Divemaster trainees we have been given the most envious job of letting you all know how the Orca trip went recently.  There were 11 of us in total with 10 diving.  The first part was six days diving in two places; Aliwal Shoal then Protea...

Historically diving was a male dominated activity but more recently more and more women have joined the ranks.  With a staff of over 30 volunteers, and a third of them being women, this shows a big increase from when I started over 20 years ago.  I have often come...