Scuba Diving in Manchester

Christmas Season has come!! DM Club Annual Xmas Bingo Party was on! We were back to Friendship Inn in Prestwich this year again. It was soooo good last year, so we had to come back for this year. Christmas is the Season of Joy. Having a Club Dinner is a brilliant opportunity to share this happy feeling. We had 39 people joining to this Dinner Party.  We started with pre-meal drinks & chat. Socialising with other divers is always nice. Your next diving gets even more FUN.  For the seating, we shuffled everyone. So, you were not to sit with people who you normally sit together. You get the chance to sit with other divers and make new friends. After all, we all were divers. We have one thing in common; Scuba Diving! And we all love it! Dinner was wonderful. So good! It was 3 meal course. We even had Vegan menu for our Vegan members. And it was very tasty. That is why we have our event there. When we were about to finish the dessert, it was finally the ti...

February Red Sea Trip is our annual DM Club Trip as some of you may already know. Since our last February trip was very successful (in other words, it was great FUN!!), we had more request for Red Sea Trip. Here it goes! We organised another one this year!! This time, itinerary was "Simply the Best", starting at Brothers Island and moving onto the south...and it was the original plan. In the previous week of our trip, there were 2 Shark attack incidents in Brothers Island unfortunately...so our itinerary was quickly changed. Well, after all, safety comes first.  Weather was brilliant for whole week. Water temperature was 26C degree. Yes!! Great!! We were a little anxious about the water temperature, but it was much better than we expected. Although this itinerary requires certain level of experience as a diver, it was the very first "Liveaboard" for some of the members. You know what? They LOVED IT!!  Liveaboard = "Eat, Sleep, Dive, & Repeat"...

Bonfire Night is over. It is now time to start thinking about Christmas! Too early you say? Nahhhh! It is already November! Time flies from now on!  Struggling with Christmas Gift Ideas? How about Scuba Diving? Discover Scuba Diving (Try Dive) can be done in warm heated swimming pool, you see. It may be a good activity during the winter. Also Skill Development & Knowledge Development can be done in warm condition even in UK. Great activity idea for winter season when outside is not so pleasant for outdoor activities.  For kids between the age of 8 and 10, there is a course called "Bubble Maker". They will use the same Scuba Equipment like adults but using much smaller cylinders. I tell you they all LOVE IT!! We, instructors, enjoy Bubble Maker so much as well. :D :D  If you have questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call. We can tell you all about Scuba Diving! Diving is FUN!!!  www.divemanchester.co.uk #DiveMCR #DMclubUK #divingisfun

Hello Divers! Some people say "UK diving is not as good as oversea diving". Well, yes, there are beautiful coral reef divings available overseas; however, UK diving can be amazing eye-opening experience. Seal Diving is one of the example.  Seals are like puppy dogs. As soon as they find you, they accept you as "play mates" and start playing with you! They are AMAZING!! When you are diving, you are basically "visitors" in the water world. You will enjoy watching and visiting beautiful marine creatures. Some of them may show you their interests in you, but there is hardly any interaction with them. Don't go! Play with me!! When it comes to Seals, they are totally different. Farnes Island area is well protected area, so they know that the divers won't harm them. They know that we are coming to visit them. They know that we LOVE to PLAY with them. They will come to nibble your fins, ask for belly scratches, give you High Five, etc. My ...

For Scuba Diving, Safety is very important factor. After all, we don't live under water. (I wish I could!!) The more experienced you are, the more we shall be humble about safety check and all. We shall not forget 'Buddy Check' not only for your buddy's safety but also for your own safety. Buddy Check is a common standard for safety in Scuba Diving, Recreational & Technical Diving. We are not supposed to dive ALONE...unless you are trained for it. Yes. There is a specific training course for Solo Diving. SDI Solo Diver Course is the practice of self reliant scuba diving without 'Dive Buddies.' Solo divers should be skilled in self-sufficiency and willing to take responsibility for their own safety while diving.  It is not for everyone. The Solo Diver Course stresses proper dive planning, personal limitations, and accident prevention, as well as the benefits, hazards, and proper procedures for diving solo. As you can see, diving with Dive Buddies...

Malta is one of the popular destination for scuba divers, not only Recreational Divers but also Tech Divers.  Maybe not so much for Fish Lovers, but cristal clear water and many kinds of wrecks in different depth, that is something other countries cannot offer. DM Club Tech Week in Malta 2018 started on 21st of September. We used the facility and service of DiveSystems Malta. They are one of the best dive centres in the island.  We used to live in Malta, working as Scuba Instructor about 5 years and we know DiveSystems is most capable dive centre there for Recreational and Technical Diving. Our plan was to dive on HMS Stubborn (submarine, about 55m deep), HMS Southwald (ship wreck, about 70m deep), and Le Polynesian (ship wreck, about 60m deep). Unfortunately, half of the plan had to be changed due to the strong wind coming from big storm covering Mediterranean. Alternatively, divers were taken to new dive sites in Gozo. Since their gas mix was already m...

DM Club 2018 Maldives Trip was in June. Maldives is known with beautiful water, wonderful marine life, Big Fish, Small Fish, everything!    Our original itinerary was "Majestic Manta"; however, it had to be changed due to the tide. Well, still, Maldives is Maldives. This beautiful water had so much to offer for all divers. From the start, we saw sharks, sharks, and sharks!! They are so graceful. Beautiful creatures. Are you afraid of Sharks? Don't worry! Stay behind me! They are afraid of Japanese!! 😂😂 In fact, most sharks are not what you think like "Jaws". They don't like divers' bubbles. It is too noisy for them and they always swim away from divers. We saw so many fish!! Turtles, nudibranchs, and more!! Huge surprise in this trip was Whale Sharks. The guides had not seen Whale Sharks for about a month, so they told us the chance was very thin but not zero. Well, when the expectation was set so low, the surprise was even bigger! On the mor...

Spring 2018 has been amazingly beautiful in North England. Blue sky, Sun shine, no rain!! This is the best Spring since 1970's according to TV reporters.  Dive Manchester, DM Club, is taking good advantage of this beautiful season, diving every single weekend!! (Well, even with bad weather, we would be diving though. 😆) On Sunday 15th of July, we had a special event in Capernwray. "Underwater Treasure Hunting" 20 people participated for this Treasure Hunting. Team was selected by drawing names at the start. Every team took the task/question chart and made own diving plan to collect the information hidden everywhere in the quarry. There were certain rules; 2 dives, no buddy separation, no less than 50 bar at the end of the dive, etc. How they make the route/dive plan was all depending on every team. It was brilliant! Most of them were usually diving with the same group. With this event, they got an opportunity to dive with someone else. Meet new divers, di...

Sunday 6th of May, 2018. Such a beautiful Sunday!! Blue sky, air temperature 24C. This sooooo rare for this area. It was too gorgeous to miss diving! We had 4 Open Water Diver Course students. How lucky they are!! When the weather is so good, everything seems so easy. We normally come to Capernwray Diving Quarry for our training diving and some local pleasure divings. This quarry has good facilities; diver friendly cafe, good changing rooms, showers, meeting room, easy entry/exit, training platforms under water, etc.  Visibility can be quite good as well. This Sunday could be more crowded; however, thanks to the Bank Holiday Monday. It was not too bad. We had plenty of rooms in training platform area, so we didn't have to squeeze ourselves too much for skill sessions. When we organise courses, each instructor has maximum 3 students to look after. This Sunday, the instructor & students ration was 1:2, so it was quite good. When teaching in Malta, rather ...

Spring has come! All the sudden, shop became busy with divers coming in to sort out their equipment and cylinders. It seems every diver is awake now.  When addicted to scuba diving like us, season does not matter. We go diving all year around. For most of sensible divers, when the spring weather arrives, that is the sign of Diving Season to start. We had a Club Dive Trip to Eyemouth last weekend. Beautiful Blue Sky. Calm water. Nice day out. Visibility...well...we may not want to talk about it just for now. ;) Anyway, no matter how experienced diver they are, they all start from 1st diving experience. All adventure start from here. We conduct "Discover Scuba Diving" (try dive) every week in local swimming pool. It is one evening experience to see how Scuba Diving is. We start with briefing; basic knowledge of Scuba Diving, how to use equipment, basic skills in water, etc. Then you try Scuba diving in the swimming pool for an hour. If you enjoy, that is the st...

If you are divers, Red Sea Liveaboard must be one of your bucket lists. It is one of the most popular diving trips for all ages and levels for all year round. Dive Manchester like to choose winter season when UK diving is becoming a bit like torture, so we can get away from cold weather and get a bit of sun. " Northern Wreck & Reef " is probably the most popular itinerary; no minimum logged dives required covering major ship wrecks in Red Sea. Our team; however, has done that itinerary. Last year, we also did " Straight of Tiran & North ", covering beautiful reef in Tiran and major ship wrecks in North. When we inquired for the trip for February 2019, originally the boat was booked for "Northern Wrecks and Reef" Thanks to the agent. They have allowed us to take the boat to different route! " North & Brothers "! North, as I've said repeatedly, for the ship wrecks. Brothers, this northernmost part of Egypt's offsh...

When diving in cold water, one of the most important equipment is "Drysuits". In my case, if the water temperature hit 23C degree, I do not want to dive in wetsuits. I will take my drysuits out. For most of divers, probably somewhere about 16-18C degree water temperature is the reference to change their suits. In Wetsuits, as you may already know, you will be "wet"; water gets trapped between the suit and your skin and works as insulation. Drysuits, on the other hand, you do not get wet. You stay dry. The suit traps air or another gas, acting as an insulator. While Wetsuits are made from neoprene, various materials are used to make Drysuits; neoprene, coated fabric, crushed neoprene, trilaminate, etc. Each material has different insulation and flexibility. It will be your choice to make to pick what drysuits you like to use. Let's see how much air it can hold. Now, let me talk about Aqualung Fusion Suits. This suits have been in the market for so...

Scuba Dive in Manchester, DM Club local diving Some of you may have noticed that our DM Club Members are very much addicted to Scuba Diving. We are out for diving every weekend even when snowing! When sensible people are staying home keeping themselves warm and cozy, DM Club Members are torturing themselves by jumping into the deadly cold water, having "ice-cream" headache and nearly having "frostbites" on fingers.  Why? Because there's water available for Scuba Diving! This Sunday was special for our Club Members. Our active member Steve had his 300th dive!! Hooray!! 300th dive!! This is an amazing number! Congratulations, Steve!! We were so happy to share this special dive with Steve. Many times, we dive in the same diving quarry. Some people may think "it's not interesting if always the same place" Well, that is not true. Even if same location, every dive is different. I'm a Tech Diving instructor and Trimix Diver myself. Si...

Going for Scuba Diving in this weather...MAD!!😂 Spring this year seems still sleeping somewhere and making its arrival very late and slow. 1st of April 2017 had wonderful sunny day, brilliant for diving weekend. This year? We had SNOW!!! I could not believe my eyes!! Did it stop us from going for diving? Nahhhh! Nothing could stop us from Scuba Diving. We have serious addiction problem with Scuba Diving. 😂 When diving in cold water, equipping yourself well with thermal items is crucial. As long as you keep yourself warm during the dive, it is, in fact, quite pleasant; crystal clear water, quiet dive site, slow movement of fish (they must feel cold as well!). Of course selecting good thermal inner wear is very important; however, the most important item for me is a HOOD. Body heat escape from your head much more than anything. When having a good hood, you can feel amazingly warm. Dive Manchester - DM Club / Addicted to Scuba Diving When "mild" winter, 5mm H...

Here is the view in the morning. If this view does not stop you going for diving, CONGRATULATIONS. You are officially proved as addicted to Scuba Diving. 😆 Well, we were questioning to ourselves "a bit" on the way. At least, we were sensible enough to call our students who were going to have their Dive 1 & 2 for Open Water Diver Course. After a little chat, we postponed their dives. 😊 First Open Dives are very important I believe. If it is not FUN, divers do not want to continue diving in UK.  We found a student a few weeks back in the dive site. It was one of the coldest week this year. He was walking down the cafe in BARE FEET!!! 😱 In WETSUITS!!!! Unbelievable!!! 😱 That was not right. That was not safe. I saw him with an instructor in a new nice drysuits on table together, having briefing about Open Water Diver Course Dives. I was in SHOCK!!! When I was feeling cold in Drysuits, those basic wetsuits is obviously not enough. Water temperature was 5C degree. In ...

Do you know the difference between "Master Scuba Diver" and "Divemaster"? If you become a diver, you will hear those words sometimes.  "Master Scuba Diver" is a scuba diving recognition level offered by most of scuba diving training agencies, such as SDI, PADI, SSI, NAUI. The requirements are slightly different from each agency; however, what it means is whoever have achieved this level have good level/number of diving experience. If you like to add more knowledge and skills in scuba diving, this is something you would like to go for. "Divemaster" is totally different. It is the first level of Professional Divers with a role in recreational diving including organising & leading recreational divings in a professional capacity with supervisory responsibility for a group of divers. Once you become a Divemaster, people expect you to be as Divemaster whenever and wherever you are diving or even just being at dive sites. While the focus of ...

Hello, Brides & Grooms to be. Congratulations for your wonderful start. You must be very excited to organise for this special event. Wedding ceremony is the biggest concern, I believe. Lots of things to prepare. Then of course,  Honeymoon! Have you thought about starting Scuba Diving together as a couple? Scuba diving is perfect activities for couples. No one dive without buddies. Unlike other sports, Scuba Diving is not competition. It is all about helping each other. Any holiday is special to everyone. With Scuba Diving, you can make them even more Special. Dive Manchester is a partner shop of Blue O Two, travel agent. We offer not only Liveaboard Diving Trips but also land based holiday packages. Why don't you let us help you to organise your special trip? Destinations are all Tropical Heavenly places, such as Maldives, Fiji, Palau, Indonesia, Thailand, French Polynesia, etc.  Beautiful Blue Water, tropical fish, maybe some dolphin...