Category: Diving

Underwater Photographer  Karen Curtis

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During two scuba dives you will experience how to choose the right underwater camera system for you. We follow the PADI SEA (Shoot, Examine, Adjust) system for accurate composition and capturing great images.

Have fun whether with a simple point-and-shoot camera or a highly advanced dSLR that is popular with professionals. We can not know who made the first dive into an ocean millions of years ago, but we know that the need, the hunger and the love to explore the underwater world has never stopped, starting with that first plunge.

 

About Karen

Website: http://www.nereus.fotopic.net/

   Worlwide  Holiday Travel For all your holiday, accommodation and travel needs

Click to enlarge.  This is just a small sample.  Please visit Karen’s website for more underwater photography.

Underwater Photography

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Underwater Photography Tutorials

“This section is devoted to sharing the best photo tutorials, techniques and tips for all types of underwater photography. We cover wide-angle, macro, supermacro, behavior, composition, different shooting conditions, shooting with specific gear and much more. We cover macro, wide-angle, dive destinations, gear reviews, tutorials and techniques, post-processing, marine life, photo essays, dive adventures, dive travel tips and other useful info for underwater photography.”

Excellent site for underwater photography tutorials

 

Underwater Photographers

  • Red Sea FishRed Sea Fish
    Visited by thousands divers a year the Red Sea is home to many of the world's most popular dive sites. Covering jellyfish corals nudibranchs starfish sea urchins fishes and turtles - all common species of underwater life of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden you are likely to see while diving or snorkeling.
  • Underwater Photographer Ian ElwoodUnderwater Photographer Ian Elwood
    Digital Underwater Photographer course is a Level One and Level Two introduction to digital underwater photography. It is centered around contemporary point-and-shoot digital cameras.
  • Underwater Photographer  Alasdair LucasUnderwater Photographer  Alasdair Lucas
    Digital Underwater Photographer course is a Level One and Level Two introduction to digital underwater photography. It is centered around contemporary point-and-shoot digital cameras.
  • Underwater Photographer  Karen CurtisUnderwater Photographer  Karen Curtis
    Digital Underwater Photographer course is a Level One and Level Two introduction to digital underwater photography. It is centered around contemporary point-and-shoot digital cameras.

Karen Curtis

Alasdair Lucas

Ian C Elwood

Diving in the Dominican Republic

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Diving in the Dominican

Diving Holidays at the 5*Iberostar Costa Dorada Dominican Republic The resort includes a CDC PADI Gold Palm Resort Dive Center which offers various diving courses from beginner to instructor levels. There are also nitrox courses local dives and night dives for those who are certified. Equipment rental snorkel tours and courses are also available. For more information please contact www.dresseldivers.com

LET’S DIVE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Tropical islands boasting lagoons that are perfect for snorkeling and scuba diving are the focal point of our Dominican Republic day trips, and our water sports centers will let you explore the sea that brought Columbus to the Dominican Republic. Dressel Divers is your travel gateway to all major snorkeling and diving reefs along the Northern, Eastern and Southern coastlines of this aquatic paradise.

Diving in the Red Sea

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Hubby Dave's first dive in Sharks Bay - photography Ian C ElwoodDiving in Sharm El Sheikh Egypt October

Let me say up front that if you have found this page by searching for diving holidays in the Red Sea look no further.  We had the most fantastic holiday with Aquarius Red Sea Diving Club.  See the underwater photography

Experienced divers might want to skip the next bit and go straight to Cheap Diving Holidays

Because of health issues I was very wary of taking a course on holiday.  I’d come close a few times but the idea of 6 or 8 people all being trained at once plus a potential language barrier really bothered me.  What would happen if the instructor was dealing with some-one else in difficulty when I had a problem?

When I made contact with Chris who runs Aquarius Red Sea Diving for the first time it began to seem a reality.  First they have a lot of English staff so if you have any concerns of language barriers you can forget that straight away.  Next I would say that I actually felt there was a real effort to understand that I may have problems rather than just getting a standard email back with the prices.

We chose a quiet time and the course was tailored to my needs.  Although I didn’t expect to do very much when we booked I felt so confident in their hands I went on to finish my PADI Scuba Diver Certificate.

Hawksbill turtle - Karen Curtis

Hawksbill turtle – Karen Curtis

Karen Curtis was our instructor and we couldn’t have felt in better hands.  (see Karen’s underwater photography).  If you have health or panic concerns you will need to get permission from your GP to dive and of course you should have basic swimming skills and water confidence but often people need reassurance before they get this far.  Do email Aquarius if you feel unsure.  If you don’t have basic skills you might like to consider a residential swimming course in the UK first.

One of the things that worried me most was the tendency of most holiday dive centres to tout for business with a 5 minute swim in the resort pool and follow up bookings with VERY short pool sessions and then straight into the sea.  WOW – if that isn’t enough to frighten of any timid divers I don’t know what is.  and that’s a great shame because just like learning to swim we all need to go at our own pace.

Would you really want to miss something like this Hawksbill Turtle (courtesy of Karen Curtis) just because your first experience was a bad one?  OK so I’m not saying there aren’t plenty of good centres out there – just make a point of seeing if they will talk to you before you get there.  If they can’t be bothered making any effort to get your business what do you think they will be like once they have your money?  More underwater photography

Gay's first dive in Sharks bay - photography Ian C Elwood

Red Sea Diving

If you don’t feel ready for a course you can always try the PADI Discover Scuba which looks great fun.  It much depends on your outlook though.  It was quite hard work doing the Scuba Diver course – we did the theory up to the full Open Water stage and returned in November to complete our open water certification.  Next year we ill think about the advanced dives.

Cheap Diving Holidays

Watch this spot – we’ll be adding more ways to dive on a budget in the red sea.

In the meantime I would suggest that the Coral Sea Resort which is where Aquarius Red Sea Diving are based (see below) is a VERY economical way of doing things especially out of season.  Go just before or after the kids school holidays and you can get 2 weeks all inclusive for as little as £500 each (we went with First Choice).  Book your diving direct via email and get 10% discount on all your dives or PADI Courses.

Diving in the Red Sea Resources

Red Sea Diving  AQUARIUS Diving Club in Hurghada  c/o Marriott Hotel

Tel:+20 65 3446950 Fax:+20 65 3442394

Diving in the UK

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UK Diving Clubs

Featured Diving Club – Ashby Castle Sub Aqua Club

A membership of about 20 people enjoy continued safe diver training as well as numerous diving expeditions and the social events.

Diving in th UK

Several of Ashby Castle Sub Aqua Club members on 2018 Red Sea Trip. Visit their Diving Gallery for more pictures.

If you don’t have basic skills you might like to consider a residential swimming course in the UK first.

UK Diving

One of the things that worried me most was the tendency of most holiday dive centres to tout for business with a 5 minute swim in the resort pool and follow up bookings with VERY short pool sessions and then straight into the sea.  WOW – if that isn’t enough to frighten of any timid divers I don’t know what is.  and that’s a great shame because just like learning to swim we all need to go at our own pace.Hawksbill turtle - Karen CurtisWould you really want to miss something like this Hawksbill Turtle (courtesy of Karen Curtis) just because your first experience was a bad one?  OK so I’m not saying there aren’t plenty of good centres out there – just that it makes more sense to see who you’re dealing with and know their safety record before you book.

Ashby de la Zouch is convenient for Derbyshire Leicestershire Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire.  Why not have a Try Dive with them.  You’ll have your own instructor for an hour with all air and dive equipment on hand and at £12.50 it’s a fantastic way to make sure you have a great first diving experience experience.

To find out more about this small friendly family oriented club

Tel:  Ashby Castle Sub Aqua Club – Secretary Matt Bailey 01530 262455

Main ACSAC Courses:

Ocean Diver is the basic entry level qualification with BSAC. This course provides you with the essential knowledge and skills needed to prepare for open water diving. Learning to dive is all about learning to use your equipment properly and safely. The Ocean Diver training course concentrates on preparing you for this in the safety of a swimming pool or sheltered water and then introducing you to open water in a controlled and safe manner. This also gives you the opportunity to practice safety skills in the company of a qualified instructor or experienced diver. It give you the skills and confidence to dive up to a maximum 20 metres.

Sports Diver builds a sound foundation of open water diving skills and experience through a series of structured practical lessons. Once you have gained this open water experience with a qualified instructor you are ready to take part in dives with other Sports Divers or those of higher grades to a maximum depth of 35 metres.

Referrals: Cross-overs possible from other diving organisations e.g. PADI Advanced Open Water Diver is equivalent to BSAC Ocean Diver and PADI Rescue Diver is equivalent to Sports Diver.

Other BSAC Courses include:

Dive Leader Advanced Diver First Class Diver

UK Diving Clubs


Ashby Castle Sub Aqua Club (ACSAC) was formed in 1997 by Pete & Pauline Billyeald and andy & Lesley Burton to provide high quality Scuba Diver training following the rules laid down by BSAC the largest sub aqua club in the world.

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Sub Aqua Diving  Nottingham’s Octagon Divers  offer diver training at various levels from beginner to advanced. We usually conduct diver training over a number of weeks at weekly training sessions. Training is conducted by qualified instructors and all necessary equipment is supplied.

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Divers underwater. Whether you are a complete beginner or are already partly or fully trained we believe that North Staffs Sub Aqua Club has plenty to offer you. We also know that without a steady inflow of new members the club would become stale so you already have something to offer us.

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The Derby British Sub Aqua Club was established in 1959 and is a friendly sociable club. Diving is an activity where you rely upon your buddy. Derby BSAC is a great place to learn as we have a great group of people who can really be trusted and depended upon.

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Cave DivingThe Cave Diving Group was formed in 1946 by the late Graham Balcombe. Its continuous existence to the present day makes it the oldest surviving diving club in the world.