divEr 50 diveshows.co.uk
SHOW PREVIEW
“I’d often have anxiety attacks at night but
now I sleep like a baby.” Learn more elsewhere
in this issue – and in person at the Show.
The Straits of Gibraltar are a highway for
loggerhead turtles, fin, sperm, blue and lost
humpback whales, bluefin tuna and other
pelagics. Clive Crispof the Rock’s
Environment & Climate Change department
formed a diving unit to monitor and enforce
its marine protected areas but, as he’ll explain,
it hasn’t been an easy ride.PhotoZone
This section of the Show will be chokka with
underwater photo- and videographers keen to
share their expertise and help boost your skills
and find you the equipment and accessories
you need.
Enjoy the displayed images and help to
judge the finalists in the British Society of
Underwater Photographers’ 2019
Prints Competition,
then dip into the rolling
programme of instructive
presentations curated by
star exponent Saeed
Rashid, who will also be
giving his own talk.
We’re pleased to
welcome Adam Hanlon, owner of popular
underwater imaging community website
Wetpixel. He has been taking pictures under
water for more than 30 years, both to reflect
his fascination with the life of the oceans, and
to highlight the challenges they face.
Also preparing their Powerpoint playlists
are competitive underwater photographer
Nick More, who concentrates on marine-life
portraiture and is known for images that
incorporate motion blur, and photo-journalist
Will Appleyard, a regular
contributor to divErand
author of two UK diving
books. When he's not under
water he's either climbing a
mountain or paragliding
over one.
Paul ‘Duxy’ Duxfield is
also on hand to help – he started as a Red Sea
dive-guide, moved into photo retail and
journalism and now hosts workshop trips.Youth Stream
A constant stream of enthusiastic new recruits
is agreed to be all-important in keeping the
world of scuba vibrant and thriving, and
a thread running through DIVE 2019 will be
that of scuba appeal for younger divers.
That term covers a broad spectrum of ages
and preferences, of course, so there willbe elements designed to appeal to everyone,
and a host of dedicated speakers.
Early to the party is teenage freediver Freya
Greatwood(above), who has already seen
more of the underwater world than most of us
and is able to travel enviably light to do so.
She and her club NoTanxcould well be
accompanied by a number of Mer-Folk and,
we hope, the Eco-Maze, which went down so
well with younger visitors last year.
More names next month, but watch out
for young image-makers, citizen-scientists,
conservationists and Rolex Scholars among
others. And one perennial Show feature that
has always attracted a younger crowd is the
TryDive Pool, where beginners can sample
scuba in safety with highly qualified
instructors to guide them.
How many of today’s divers had their first
taste of the sport at a past DIVE Show? And
don’t forget, anyone under 14 with an adult
can enjoy the entire Show for free.TekDeck / TekPool
Highly regarded technical-diving instructor
Mark Powell, author of several popular books
on the subject and always
guaranteed to make us see
things in a different light in
his own much-anticipatedpresentations, is also the organiser of this
section of the Show.
He is inviting some of the best technical
divers in the business to give a rolling series of
talks on many different aspects, from kit
configurations to CCRs.
Linked to the TekDeckis the TekPool, the
place to get wet and sample some of the dive-
gear on show, particularly rebreathers.If you missed the cinema release of
Sharkwater Extinctionearlier this year,
DIVE 2019 brings you the chance to watch
the third and last film made by ocean activist
Rob Stewart– and, again, admission is free.
The late documentary-maker and his team
travel through the USA, West Africa, Spain,
Panama, Costa Rica and France, exposing the
often violent underworld of the pirate fishing
trade and the political corruption behind it. It’s
powerful, inspiring and well worth seeing.The divErAwards
The 2019 accolades to the diving trade, as
voted for by divers, will be presented on the
divErStage on the Saturday. Like everything
else at the Show, it’s all about quality...BOOK NOW!
Save 34% by booking
ahead online – admission
costs £9.50 (plus £1 admin
fee) or £8.50 if booking for
a group of six or more.
Entrance is free for under-
14s with an adult. Buy
tickets and catch up on
the Show attractions at
diveshows.co.ukSharkwater
Extinction
2019