Summer

We have had a fantastic summer, lots of things have happened, Tom our resident photographer has decided to join the teaching team, doing his IDC this October and we wish him all the best, Phil our intern divemaster has done well, growing with confidence as the season has gone on, Beccie our young lady instructor has continued her growth within the company and is doing really well and Mark has gain lots more instructor ratings in Equipment specialist and Night Diver, gaing more over the next few months with Semi Closed Rebreather, Trimix Blending Instructor,Multi Level diver instructor to name just a few.
Our plans to grow are coming along nicely with Mark applying for his Course Director and hoping to achieve it early next year, fingers crossed

Dive schools

Have you been diving for long? yes then you have definately seen the decline in Dive Centres in the UK, Most of us know of a Dive Centre closing down and usually they are missed by all of us. Why did they close? they didn't make enough money to pay the bills thats why.

So what...
I hear a lot of people say. Dive Centres and Clubs are what keeps the buzz going and the industry ticking, getting divers together and spreading the word to aquire new divers to join us in our underwater world.

Dive shows...
A definate decline over the years of the number of companies displaying their wares and even the regulars have down sized their stands. I remember when the Dive Show in Birmingham spread across several halls

FREE AIR! wow I wish....
In most Dive Centres air is a loss leader meaning it actually costs the operation more than you pay to have your cylinder filled. Compressor Servicing/maintenance is an expensive game. With 5L oil costing £100+, filter stacks, Valves, lines, bank cylinders, flow panels, air purity tests and to top it off the extortionate insurance costs to cover anything that does go wrong. If you think its expensive to maintain your personal gear just think how much it takes to keep the Dive Centre equipment in servicable condition and meet HSE guidelines and BS/ISO standard

So what if another dive centre closes down...
If you want to try equipment before you buy where do you go? If you want a reputable air fill where do you go? If you want to plan a trip on a liveaboard who can arrange it for you? If you need your regulators serviced by a fully insured technician where do you go?, If you need your cylinder testing where do you go? Where can you go to meet up with like minded people and have a good time or just pop in for a cuppa? Yes... your local Dive Centre.

Experience....
Experience is something you can't buy, it comes with time so everyone has a time in their lives where inexperience in diving is a problem. You can get help from friends and family if they are divers. but what was good for them may not be the best thing for you as not all people want the same thing or built the same shape, a mask for instance is probably your most important purchase as a leaky, ill fitting mask can destroy an otherwise good dive because you feel uncomfortable throughout the whole time underwater.
A good Dive Centre will show you a range of masks, the pro's & con's, the price ranges and most of all how to correctly try it on for size to ensure it is as good a fit as possible.
This goes for not just masks but for a whole range of diving equipment and courses to get you that all important experience for yourself.

So What Can You Do?....
Pop in to your local dive centre or club and get your name down on their contact list to inform you when they are going diving next or having their next social evening (It's not all about getting wet), Although tempting remember not all things on Ebay are a bargain, when you look at the delivery charge and getting it into serviceable condition, thats even if it is serviceable. You may have paid good money for a item thats not fit for purpose and only worth its weight in scrap. Something to maybe think about, as it's a lot more difficult to return a faulty item to an Ebay seller.

Please support your dive local Dive Centre, They are there to support the industry and YOU — at Wavecrest Scuba.

Course director

Today I finally passed the required exams for my Course Director, need to sort out my business plan next, send in my application then do the interview and that's it apart from the week in the Dominica republic for the course..... As well as my good news, we have a new baby instructor, our Divemaster Becci passed her Instructors Exams today, we couldn't have had a better weekend really, it's a huge boost to the start of our winter season, time for getting paperwork sorted, getting the shop in order and get everything ready for the club nights

IE

A fantastic result for our newest instructor candidate, Becci, she has scored 4.8 on her knowledge development presentation, 4.8 on her confined open water presentations, 24 out of 25 on her skills demonstratation and passed her exams, only the rescue demonstration and open water presentation to do tomorrow, I passed all but one exam today with average of 100% just a retake of physics tomorrow and that's mine done......

IDC

Out second IDC is well underway, we have just passed through our third day and everyone is doing really well, great scores in the pool and brilliant scores in the classroom, let's see how we get on tomorrow...... Exams and open water presentations tomorrow.......

Season

We have had a fantastic season this year but it's not over yet!! Still got an IDC, Tec Sidemount, Open Water and a few Advanced courses to go!!
We have been really busy with splash dives this year at Hendra with our biggest session ever 36 in 3 hours, so glad I have had Becci and Trish help this year I couldn't have done it without you, Becci has done amazingly this year, from a shy Divemaster to getting ready for her instructor I'm really pleased to be part of the next stage in her diving career development...... Trish is well on her way to Master Scuba Diver Trainer and I'm looking forward to working with them both again soon

Wavecrest

I have just noticed that on the 10th of September 2014 Wavecrest will have been registered as a PADI dive resort for 5 years, although I have been trading as Wavecrest Scuba for nearly 9 years now, we have taught hundreds of people to dive, have had lots of fantastic experiances with Discover Scuba and helped lots of people further their diving enjoyment and promoted safe enjoyable diving, we have also had our share in teaching the next generation of instructors and we are very proud of what they have achieved already.......

August

Well it started off as a very quiet August but it has turned out to be mental, already we have taught 3 Open Water courses, 4 Discover Scuba, loads of Scuba Try dives and lots of guided dives, I want to say a huge thank you to my team, Becci and Trish I couldn't do it without you, we are looking forward to a busy September, we have our Second IDC running on the 24th of September so looking forward to working with Dale again

600

Wow!! 600 courses taught today!! I'm so proud of where I have got to after all these years, nearly 10 years as an instructor I still love getting into the water everyday and seeing the look on people's faces.
I have progressed from Open Water Scuba Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Trainer, IDC Staff Instructor and now Master Instructor heading my way hopefully to Course Director in the ne,t year or so.......
I can't get over how many people I have taught, how much training I have put into my own personal development and how proud I am of being the owner/founder and Senior Instructor of the ONLY 5 Star IDC Resort in the Southwest of England......
My friends have been great support as well as my family and I now have the most incredible team of Divemaster, Assistant Instructor and Instructors working with me, we all work really well together and it's nice to have them

Instructor

Well Wavecrest is pleased to announce we will be starting our Second Instructor Development Course (IDC) in September, starting on the 24th with the Instructors Exam (IE) on the 4th and 5th of October..... Start your new career this year!!! Take a look at our website www.wavecrestscuba.com and order your IDC crewpack today, it's never to late to give back what you've learned

PADI IE

Wavecrest are so pleased to be able to say we helped to set up and host Cornwall's first Instructor Exam in years, Erika Hoffman and 6 candidates from around the country came to Cornwall and working with us were able to use Carb Brea leisure center and Tor Down Quarry for their Open Water site, great result al round and congratulations to everyone involved