Perth Scuba

written by Nathan “Patto” Patterson

Friday afternoon had finally arrived but unfortunately so had the rain, not exactly the best way to start a weekend away. The traffic was hideous actually it was worse than that but the thought of dinner at the Jurien Bay Tavern kept me focused. After the 2 1/2hr drive taking close to 3 1/2hrs I was finally at the tavern in JBay enjoying a steak sandwich and a cold pint with the rest of the crew, except those who took the Tom Tom directions via the scenic route.

We headed back to the Livatopy unit that would be our accommodation for the weekend, it was very nice indeed. Even with 12 of us in this place it was still massive and very well appointed.

It didn’t take long before there was camera chargers and camera gear spread throughout the house, 5 of the crew were taking full advantage of the weekend completing their PADI Digital Underwater Photography Course with Underwater Photo Instructor Joey Pool.

The rain didn’t ease up during the evening but we were all hopeful that when we woke that conditions would have improved.

Saturday morning saw the traditional start to any trip with vegemite toast, coffee and cocoa pops. The drizzle couldn’t dampen the spirits as we piled all of our dive gear into the back of my ute and headed off to the marina to meet up the crew from Jurien Bay Charter ‘n’ Dive. Mick the skipper had the boat looking great, we loaded up all the gear and settled into spot.

The briefing began and all was going great until I decided to climb up on the roof to take a seat, rain + boat hand rail + bare feet = big crash during a very quiet moment in the briefing and a cracked rib…… OUCH!!!

We headed out in not so favorable conditions but hey the Perth Scuba crew are tough, I had dived here before and it is a great spot with lots of overhangs caves and plenty of fish life. I took the non photographers in my group, otherwise known as the special needs group (self named I might add). The surge wasn’t too bad given the weather and there was plenty to see buff bream schools, blue devils, nudibranches, white barred boxfish, eagle rays, and schools of Western Butterfly fish all in and out of the caves.

The highlight of the trip was when we called past Essex Rock to play with the local sealions. They really turned it on, jumping into the air, spiraling around us stopping for kisses no one wanted to get out of the water. This was definitely everyone’s favorite part of the trip.

To check out more images from Nathan & Joey click here.

written by Lindsay Phillips – PADI Dive Master

What a Fantastic weekend of diving, 20 Perth Scuba Club divers travelled down to Albany to dive the Perth, Seal Island and Cheyness lll. The weather was great with visibility between 10-20 meters depending on the dive site. Instructor Mike Doswell was running two dive courses over the weekend, wreck and advanced open water. At the end of the 4 dives a day, he was hanging out for a few drinks and a big meal. There were also 8 fun divers, who had a great two days of diving while the others were doing their courses.

We stayed in two different self-contained guest houses, which had everything you needed with comfortable beds. Saturday night we had a BBQ at one of the houses which was big enough to accommodate 20 people; there was plenty of steak, chops, chicken, salad and bread rolls (and drinks) to be had. After washing up all the plates, knives and forks, there were a few who started playing a drinking card games (they were not all young ones playing) The next day the divers who were on the first  boat dive on Saturday, could have a sleep in as they were on the second boat dive on Sunday. This gave us plenty of time to have a sleep in, then get up and cook bacon & eggs for breakfast which was delicious, while the divers on the first dive boat had a continental breakfast.

All divers did two dives on the HMAS Perth, and one dive each at Seal island and on Cheynnes lll. There were a lot of fish and critters to be seen on the HMAS Perth, with some big 2 meter Samson fish swimming around . At seal island everyone had a great time diving with plenty of friendly seals swimming around, checking out the divers, check out the pictures of them over the next couple of days on Perth`s Scuba Facebook. Cheynnes lll which is an old steel whaling boat, was bigger than l expected, there was lots of coral on the hull and plenty of critters and fish . The visibility was around 15 meters and on Saturday there was a huge blue Groper swimming around which was cool.l took down the new Light& Motion Sola 1200 Photo light, which is a two in one light 1200 lumens in bright light , and 1200 lumens in red light. The red light worked great as it did not scare the fish away like the bright light does, it means you can get up close and take those great pictures. The last dive on Sunday finished at 4.30 so we all packed up and headed for Perth, what a great weekend everybody had, a special thanks to Diver locker Albany for all their professional help on the boat and at the shop.

Thanks to all the Perth Scuba divers and non-divers for heading down to Point Walter Reserve for a night dive & BBQ tonight.

It was a beautiful clear night with a heap of big prawns on the run from our crews prawn nets. Well done to all those on their very first night dive AND the prawns you caught too!!! Well done Cliff for your photos of the near 30 seahorses you found under the jetty. It’s great to see the river is returning to be a great night dive after such a long break after the dredging. To check out some photos from the evening head to our Perth Scuba Facebook Page.

Missed the night dive? Join us on our next night dive at the Rockingham Wreck Trail next Wednesday 2nd May @ 7:30pm. All levels of divers are welcome!

written by Lindsay Phillips – PADI Dive Master

by PADI Course Director Garth Schumann

The concept of teamwork is extremely important to the success of any team. All coaches talk about working as one unit, as a unified team. Teamwork and unselfishness create the backbone of a great team, without them a team cannot realistically compete. You can have a group of superstars, but if they do not work well as one unit, chances are they are not going to be as successful as you would think. The team working as one cohesive unit is going to be the key in their success. As a PADI 5-Star Instructor Development Centre, almost the highest and a most sought after rating within the diving industry Perth Scuba outshines the competition in knowledge, experience and professional standards and have once again proved that as a team all things are possible.

Perth Scuba is a productive dive centre that has divers that share common goals, a common vision and have some level of interdependence. Perth Scuba has come into existence through shared attitudes about a passionate sport. We may have come together for a number of different reasons, but our goals are the same – to achieve peak performance and experience success and have fun in the process. All our dive course goals may differ but the means by which one gets there is the same – teamwork. Every staff member of the team is accountable when it comes to teamwork.

Career opportunities for the PADI professional have never been better, especially in Perth. After a huge increase in diver certifications, recreational diving continues to expand all over the world. Almost anywhere there’s a tropical island, you’ll probably find a dive shop with a PADI Instructor, and this means you can get a job in scuba diving in a lot of cool places.

PADI Instructors have many advantages over instructors from other organizations. These include not only more member support, better communications, new programs and far superior teaching materials in many languages, but also recognition by governments and educational institutes all over the world as having an international standard of quality.

Graduates in our PADI Instructor Development Course enjoy an almost 100% success rate in finding work either here or abroad. Their success is a result of our commitment to high quality courses, as well as our dedication to preparing the candidates for teaching in the real world. Passing the Instructor Examination is not the main objective. Successful employment should be the goal of every newly certified PADI Instructor. Our goal is to get you there. Our program offers many unique advantages over others and it’s highly unlikely you’ll find a more qualified and dedicated team anywhere.

The IDC is your final step in the quest to become a PADI Instructor. The IDC is simply a combination of the Assistant Instructor and the Open Water Scuba Instructor courses. Normally these two courses are run concurrently. During the IDC, You’ll learn to use and adapt the PADI system of diver education to individual student needs. Comprehensive training, supported by a wide variety of PADI educational materials, earns PADI Instructors respect from both students and peers.

If you are you dreaming of hanging up your suit and tie, leaving the office behind and reaching for your wetsuit, suntan lotion and towel and looking for a life in the sun and sea or leaving college eager to leap into the excitement and adventure of the underwater world and planning on diving your way around the world or just fancy working in an industry which allows you to meet people, go places, and see things most people only ever dream of then allow the team at Perth Scuba to make these dreams a reality.

Many people work part time in the dive industry not only do they have their “desk job” but as a PADI instructor they can earn extra money and teach their friends and family. Whatever your reasons for choosing to become a PADI Instructor you will find that it not only allows you to find work almost anywhere in the world… but also that it is an awesome way of life!

I have been a PADI Instructor professionally for 13 years now and have trained and conducted diver education in 25 countries worldwide, converted hard core military divers, instructor trainers from different organisations and commercial divers to the PADI system of training and I am still blown away by the opportunity of seeing:

• Fear changing into courage…
• Faint-hearted converted into accomplishment…
• Timidity transformed into confidence…
• Anticipation turned into passion…

And also as a Scuba Instructor I am privileged to:

• Open mind and hearts to the hidden beauty of nature’s creation and our obligation to protect it…
• Give self esteem to another person…
• Teach the value of character and integrity…
• Transform another human being and change their life for the better and forever…

Perth Scuba is evolving and we encourage you the diver to be part of this awesome transition. We, the staff are continually upgrading our knowledge and development to offer you our valued customer a better experience with superior service. By offering accredited training in Applied First Aid, Certificate IV in Training and assessment to the Diploma of Outdoor Recreation.

Congratulations to Mark van der Poel attaining his rating as a PADI Course Director, Ian Ross assisting me in a complete IDC and on the way to becoming a Master Instructor, Joshua Phillips and “Terrible Terry” attaining their Master Scuba Diver Trainer certifications and to the following IDC candidates for completing their IDC and becoming PADI Instructors: Jamie Kiddle, Tom Bellamy, Glen Outhred and a special word of encouragement to Chris Harrison for an outstanding achievement. Chris walked into Perth Scuba a few Saturdays ago fresh off the plane from London enquiring about becoming an instructor and that morning I found him in my classroom ready to complete the whole program proving that the “dive today” approach to all courses most certainly works.

A huge thank you to Lee and the whole team at Perth Scuba for mapping out an amazing journey, lets enjoy the ride together.

 Just remember T.E.A.M. – Together Everyone Achieves More!

Return to normal trading hours OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK!

Written by Joey Pool

On Thursday 15th March 2012, Joey and 8 of Perth Scuba divers arrived in Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef to start a 5 day adventure diving, sailing and snorkeling this giant marine wonderland. The group consisted of a big range of experience all the way from a newly qualified Open Water Diver, a Marine Biologist with 1000′s of dives under her belt and even a Dive Instructor too – not PADI but we didn’t hold that against Izak!

We were welcomed by Lannie from Sail Ningaloo and shown to our home for the next 4 nights – The Shore Thing – ‘Shore Thing’ is a purpose built and beautifully appointed, live-aboard sailing catamaran, 51 feet in length and 27 feet in width. Being a catamaran she is extremely comfortable and stable, both at sea and at anchor. We jumped aboard and were met by the skipper Luke, Prue our Dive Master and Viccy who was on her first voyage and help Lannie in the galley.

After our safety briefing we were shown to our cabins, which were clean and comfortable, but of course we weren’t going to be spending much time there! So after throwing down our gear we were quickly back on deck to watch as we sailed out of Coral Bay. The waters were a beautiful torquoise although the shore was currently red and stinky *telling it like it is* and this was due to the coral spawning from the night before – this only happens a few nights a year and were told if we were lucky it would happen again tonight. Myself and the crew had never experienced this before so we were looking forward to our first dive on Ningaloo Reef – at night!

We geared up and headed to our mooring just out of Coral Bay for the evening and watched the sun slip towards the horizon… *SPLASH* We hit the water, switched on our torches and descended into the night to see what we could find. Everywhere you shone your torch there was colourful and healthy coral, shrimp hid within its grasp, hermit crabs scurried across the white sand and small fish darted away from our torches. And then there in the distance there was small styrafoam balls floating off the coral… Hang on?!? That’s not styrafoam – that’s coral spawn! It was certainly a strange thing to watch this colourful coral with little white balls being pushed from its depths and floating off into the night. We surfaced after what seemed like too short a time and were greeted with dinner – oh yummo – and there went all intensions of a diet! Lannie’s cooking on board was fantastic and was the perfect end to a dive!

The next day we set sail early and headed north along the coast to find a cleaning station. We geared up and jumped into the water and headed towards a big coral bombie, only to be greeted by a Grey Reef Shark with his mouth WIDE OPEN! No he wasn’t about to attack, he was just getting his teeth cleaned by the wrasse that had made the Cabbage Coral home. This was our new Open Water divers first encounter with a shark and I swear I heard the excited yelling through his regulator! After this exciting dive we explored coral walls teaming with fish life, watched turtles dart away with us and then we hit the big time – 20+ Manta Rays barrel rolling over and over and over again! After a HUGE day of diving we settled down into MORE FOOD – oh dear – diet is definitely OVER!

Next morning after a technical issue with the generator we headed back into Coral Bay to refill the cylinders and continue diving the spectacular Ningaloo Reef. That morning we descended onto another cleaning station for smaller fish where we were circled by a giant Spanish Mackerel, coral trout sat with jaws wide whilst shrimp darted in and out of their teeth, sweetlips sat patiently whilst wrasse cleaned out their gills and thousands of glass fish flashed before our eyes. This was an awesome spot and I would happily dive this same location over and over again… The following two days were a blur of diving, snorkelling and relaxing as we sailed through the torquoise waters surrounding Coral Bay. Evenings were gorgeous with pink and orange sunsets, enjoyed with a cold drink in hand and balmy evenings not dropping below 25°C.

Our final day on the reef we headed to Pelican Point which is a marine sanctuary where only Sail Ningaloo treads… OMG! The reef was just immaculate with fields of Blue Staghorn Coral, giant Plate Corals, crystal clear water and white sand. On this one snorkel we saw so much life including a Nurse shark, blue spotted rays, colourful reef fish, big cow tail rays, juvenile turtles AND a Leopard Shark *squeal* Yes, I was more than a little excited by this one creature!!! The leopard shark patiently sat whilst I flashed away with what Tib’s called “The Oil Rig”… Luckily its not quite that heavy!

That was it for our water play – most of us were flying out the following day so there was no more diving. That evening we enjoyed another beautiful meal prepared by Lannie once again (with Dessert!) and a few drinks whilst the sun set over the water. Next morning we had a leisurely sail back to Coral Bay and said goodbye to the wonderful Sail Ningaloo Crew who had looked after us so well and the vessel which had been our home for the past 5 days…

Final thoughts of the trip… This is my second dive trip to the Ningaloo Reef and I must say, I rate this OVER the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a beautiful part of our state and one not to be missed. The coral and fish diversity is very healthy and not exploited like other parts of the world. With Qantas now flying to Exmouth for as little as $250 return you too could enjoy this scenic part of our state. If you’d like to join Perth Scuba in Ningaloo on our next trip please contact us for further details.

For more photographs taken on the Ningaloo weekender click here.

Video filmed and edited by:   Joseph Bicanic, Perth Scuba PADI Instructor

If you would love your underwater videos to look as good as Joseph’s, Contact Us to book onto one of Joseph’s exciting underwater videography courses!

written by Lee Johnson

There is a little bit to tell you about the on goings at Perth Scuba of late.

Marc van der Poel is currently in Kota Kinabalu completing his PADI Course Director course.

Marc deserves this certification which is the highest you can get in the world of Recreational Diving. He’s been diving a long time and is an excellent Instructor. With the Course Director level and Marc’s massive amount of experience in the Technical Diving world, he will also be at the highest level of PADI Technical Diving – and will be a PADI Tec Rec Technical Diving Instructor trainer too. We wonder how he’s going to be able to carry all of his certification cards in his wallet! Might need 2 Marc!!! Good Luck Marc – We look forward to you coming back and celebrating with us. Anyone who wants to wish Marc good luck can do so by posting on our Perth Scuba Facebook site.

Speaking of certifications of the highest level, I would like to wish our Instructor Candidates for this month all of the best of luck. Glen (you will know him from the store), Tom (also from Perth Scuba ) and Jamie from all the way down amongst the icebergs in Albany, we wish you the best of luck in your upcoming Instructor Development Course, and we’ll be sure to post some piccies of you guys whilst doing your course next week. GOOD LUCK!!! We are sure you guys will pass J

Last but not least we say farewell to Nat.

Nathaniel has been with Perth Scuba for over 5 years and he is moving on to “broaden his horizons”. He hopes to get work in the mines or on the oil rigs so we wish him the best of luck with that.

5 years in one place is a long time for anyone on their first ever job and I can still remember him hanging around at the store after he’d just finished his dive course, asking every question under the sun… little bugger wouldn’t go home until I gave him a job… The rest is history.

Good luck Nat!

Well that’s all from me… Next week I will be doing a product review on the all new Meridian Dive Watch from Scubapro and we’ll be giving one lucky club member a chance to win one and be one of the first in the world to own one!

Keep an eye out on how you could be the lucky one in the next newsletter!!!

Video by Shane Willis a student on our PADI Deep Diver Course on Sunday 4 March 2012.

Thanks Shane!

Ammunition Jetty night dive on Wednesday 29 February 2012

Thank you Shane Willis for your video from the night dive!

Another great turn out today for the Manta dive club… Great to see so many keen divers, both new and experienced. We mustered at the Point Peron site, after our obligatory bacon and egg rolls at Perth Scuba, but we had to engage our alternate plan!!
We headed back up to the Kwinana Grain Terminal (KGT) as Point Peron was a little too rough.
All in all we had a good dive as there was heaps to see at KGT… Octopus, cardinal fish, and schools of yellow tail… Awesome!!

Steadily our pool of Deep Cavern divers is growing, so it’s time to cross to the Nullarbor and head for the Australian capital of cave diving. When I asked: Who wants to come with me to Mt Gambier and learn to lay line in the caves, I nearly got trampled! The response was tremendous, I even got requests from people not qualified (yet). Next trip guys, there will be more!

First in and best dressed were Tech divers Drew Petterson, Ryan Limpus & Joshua Phillips. All have completed the Deep cavern course here in WA, as well as TDI Advanced Nitrox & Decompression Procedures. I have a good friend, who is a CDAA cave Instructor in Melbourne, Rubens Monaco, who organised the course logistics and accommodation.

We left on the 1st of Feb on the red-eye from Perth to Melbourne with a baggage allowance of 23 kg – enough you would think…. We all thought we were well within the allowance. Ryan had a little shock when his bag turned out to be a mere 37 kg. He had packed a weight belt and the kitchen sink (No, just kidding about the weight belt). When we arrived in Melbourne all our bags came around the corner on the carousel, except Ryan’s. His bag was too heavy and had not been loaded! Shock horror, what next, he needed his bag or he was going to be doing a week of snorkeling in Mt Gambier.

Good news, the airline messed up and were flying his bag out that evening and were going to deliver the bag to Kongorong. That was where we were heading! Rubens organised the accommodation – a converted church! It is owned by a cave diver who converted it to accommodate cave divers. It has everything you need; enough beds, a pot belly stove for the cooler evenings, kitchen, 2 bathrooms, washing machine and a BBQ. Oh, and even a drying room for the drysuits at the end of the day! We arrived in Kongorong at about 6pm, had dinner and chilled out for a bit, then an early night – we were in our third time zone for the day.

An early rise the next day with the anticipation of Ryan’s kitchen sink that was due to be delivered. Some breakfast and a start on the theory. The guys were doing the Side-mount course first so that we could all do the cave course in S-M configuration. To Ryan’s relief, his bag was delivered late that morning (the thought of snorkeling for a week didn’t appeal that much!). After a morning of theory and gear setup we headed out to Ewan’s ponds for the first SM dive.

Wow! It is like swimming in gin, the water is crystal clear! We thought this was fun, little did we know that the dives the next day were going to be even better! Piccaninnie Ponds, it was like descending into heaven. How bizarre to see someone suspended in what looks like mid air. After a great day diving we headed back to the church for an afternoon of cave theory, a cold beer and a BBQ. A great start to the week.

Day 2. Land drills to start off with – laying line in the church garden and car park – it sure looked strange to passers by. Then some drills for a lost line and an entanglement exercise. It’s funny to see how ‘buddies’ turn on each other when land drills are done in blindfold.

The first three dives of the cave course weren’t in the same clear water. The objective of these dives is to accomplish skills with line, buoyancy and stress tests, to then progress into a full overhead environment. These dives are reserved for the murkiness of Gouldens Hole, a favorite CDAA training site.

Drew, Ryan and Josh didn’t have much trouble with the tests and progressed comfortably to dive four after another evening of theory.

The early starts meant that we didn’t have to deal with too much of the heat. I must say I was dreading the heat before we left because it was hovering around 40 degrees here in Perth. Imagine putting a drysuit on in those temperatures to brave the water which averaged 17 degrees! I was relieved because the weather held out, we even had some cooling rain during the day and it was cold enough at night to fire up the pot belly!

Day 3 & 4. Allendale: a cave set in the middle of the road. You literally have to gear up, climb the barrier to cross the road and then walk down a drop in the ground. Here you can see the fence around the cave entrance with the road on both sides. Now the fun started proper overhead environment and back to the beautiful clear water. Dark, but crystal clear in the beam of your torch.

The afternoon dive was again an improvement – this time The Pines. A lovely dive, with easy access down a set of steps. Y ou have to be careful on entering the water not to silt it out, but once you descend it opens up to a huge chamber dropping down to about 24 meters from where a tight passage starts. We managed to get four dives in here and I could still go back for more. A fantastic dive site!

The last day held the best dive I think, Engelbrecht East. This is a big hole in the middle of town with two caves – East and West. We did the East channel and to get there you need to walk down quite a few steps just to get to the cave entrance, then another 100 meters to the waters edge. This is quite a hike with all your equipment, but well worth the whole schlep! The waters edge was a little murky and you wonder where you are heading when you first enter and don’t know the caves direction. Soon into the dive, at the secondary tie-off point, the water clears and the chalky walls turn your light turquoise. The water here is cold but crispy clear!! We follow the main channel, then a sharp left and the viz just gets better. The tunnel then starts ascending until you reach an air-chamber. The caves have this deafening silence, ALL sound is absorbed and all you hear is yourself breathing. After a short look around we go back to the main turn and head deeper into the main tunnel. It is quite easy to see why this is addictive. There is something quite serene about this tunnels and the clean chalky white walls. You wonder what might be around the next corner. Unfortunately the rule of thirds was reached, time to head back. We were all a little quiet after this dive, it does leave you with an impression, a pleasantly humbling experience.

That was it for the week, we were now certified cave divers! Happy to have passed the course, and I must say I felt a little sad to leave.

We planned it so that we had the last night in Melbourne before heading back to Perth.

For all of us, it is clear, we need to organise the next trip and dive the sites we didn’t manage to do this time. There are many on our wish list for next time. Piccaninnie Ponds is a must see, but Kilsby’s Sinkhole and The Shaft are on my list for next time.

To get to ‘the Mount’ is an easy day’s travel. The accommodation at the ‘Church’ is cheap, cheerful and more than adequate, actually it is fantastic, I really loved it – what’s more, it is conveniently located as most dive sites are about a 25 minute drive, some a little further.

If you are interested in joining us on our next trip to Mt Gambier you will need a minimum of deep cavern / sinkhole certification. We will be diving cavern and cave sites. For those interested in doing the next level and completing the cave course, there will be the opportunity to do this as well.

If cave diving is not your cup of tea, but you are into ‘rust’ we are running a TDI Advanced Wreck course in May as we are expanding our overhead environment programs.

For any information, or questions about the cavern, cave or advanced wreck courses and trips please feel free to contact us.

Overhead environment courses

- Cavern / Sinkhole course: 4 till 7 of March and 3 – 5 of April

- Advanced Wreck course 16th till 20 May

- Cave course & dive trip: 5 till 8 on June

- Nullarbor Plain Cave dive trip: June (precise dates TBA)

Photographs supplied by Marc van der Poel & Mick Tait.

written by Marc van der Poel

Some comments from the guys on the trip:

Drew Petterson:

Cold water, long days and lots of limestone… that’s the best way to sum up my experience of our trip to Mount Gambier. I loved it! To say the course met my expectations is an understatement. Everything from the instructor, the accommodation, right down to the air fills is a truly unique experience. The true highlight was our dive in Picaninnie Ponds. The clearest water ever, so clear it’s almost like the water isn’t there! It gives the feeling l are you are hovering in nothing! Definitely worth the big trek the whole way to the Mount just to dive Pic’s.

I’ll be going back ASAP!!!

Ryan Limpus:

I had a great trip, learned lots and had a great time. The accommodation was unique , I have never slept in a church. The diving is spectacular with some of the clearest water I have ever seen. Favorite dive… I think Piccaninnie Ponds and Engelbrecht cave.

Thanks Marc for organising a an amazing trip!

Josh Phillips:

It was an awesome trip!!! The highlights were Piccaninnie Ponds and Engelbrecht East Cave were the two most amazing sites. Definitely recommend to anyone thinking about it. Everything from the accommodation to the diving and the company!

What a great Perth Scuba Club dive at Busselton jetty everyone had to-day, the weather was great with a little sea breeze. The 11am dive boat had 19 on board, and the 1.30pm also had 19 divers, the vis under the jetty was around 10 meters. There were plenty of different fish a lots of critters (too many to name) there will be plenty of photo`s on face book over the next few days, as there is 3 prizes for the best pictures. The winners will be announced on Friday, so please put your pictures on the Perth Scuba face book site.

Written by Lee Johnson

What a month!

February has once again proven to be a big month for Perth Scuba and of course our fantastic crew… You!

So far only 3 weeks into the month we have had so much happening. Andy came back from Donut World to rejoin the crew. Welcome back Andy – Great to have you back! Thanks to Mike who looked after the course side of things while Andy was away and did a great job. We have a couple of new Instructors who have come through the ranks and are working already (Andy doesn’t waste any time in cracking the whip on the newbies). Welcome to the crew Rob, Terry and Simon. Courses have been pretty full on for the crew and we are seeing a lot of new divers coming through and I have to say – there have been some really good divers coming out of the courses. There is definitely future Dive Master & Instructors amongst them.

There has been a heap of club dives going on and Lindsay (or awesome guru DM) has been getting good numbers on all of the club dives. Even the night dives are becoming more popular as we now have a schedule of dives and dive sites planned for the upcoming months. Thanks to Lindsay – there are now no reasons at all to miss that dive you always wanted to do – or see a whole lot of new dive sites that the guys have been discovering lately. Our other Guru DM Greg Thomms has found where the Weedy Sea Dragons have been hiding out and for the photographers who want to get the holy grail of sea horses – This is the dive for you! These little guys are great to photograph and quite difficult to find in Perth waters so next time Greg is taking the club dive – mention to him that you would like to see his secret stash of Weedies.

CAVE DIVE TRIP

Marc, Josh, Ryan and Drew are back now from their Cave Diving trip to Mt Gambier where they completed their side mount and level 1 Cave Diver Course. They had a fantastic time and Marc managed to get a whole bunch of photos while they were there. The guys haven’t said a whole lot about the trip yet as they are waiting for Marc’s article in next week’s newsletter. We look forward to reading all about the trip then. If you are interested, Perth Scuba will be running the next Cavern Diver Course in the lead up to our next Mt Gambier Cave Diver Course in March. If you are keen to take your diving to a whole new level and be one of the very few who get to see what lies under the land, contact the store and we’ll put you on track to becoming a Cave / Cavern Diver. You will need this certification to be able to join Marc and the crew on out Nullarbor Desert Cave Diving trip next year. What are you waiting for??

SCUBAPRO SALE (Prices Better than a closing down sale!)

Over the last few months we have been putting some awesome specials out for Scubapro products. We all know that Scubapro is the premium brand of dive gear in the world and that once upon a time – it was out of reach of most budgets. Well with the help of the Aussie Dollar and some work with Scubapro Australia, Perth Scuba has been able to secure some very heavy price reductions. This has allowed us to offer you guys Scubapro dive equipment at pricing never seen in Australia. Not only that – but we are now priced better than internet sites around the world! Our price guarantee on Scubapro is that we will match any price offered online where a supplier will ship to Australia provided that you pay the GST. You will still save on customs processing fees, postage and handling. AND you will still receive your full warranty and free parts for life. But remember – We are offering that because we already know our pricing is better than online.

Some recent price drops to show you how much we have been able to bring down prices are:

Galileo Sol Computer with Transmitter & Heart Rate Monitor Was $2750 Now $1395

Galileo Luna Computer with Transmitter Was $2150 Now $1095

MK 25 A700 Regulators Was $1750 Now $849

MK 25 S600 Regulators Was $1195 Now $749

Aladin Tec 2G 3in 1 Combo Computer Gauges Was $1095 Now $595

Remember all of Scubapro Regulators come with Free Parts for life warranty when purchased at Perth Scuba. We will assemble your equipment to your own specifications to suit your diving and we will look after your equipment as if it was our own.

SO If you have been thinking about buying your own gear – there has never been a better time than right now. Don’t forget too – For the next 2 months, if you purchase a Scuba Unit that is 100% Scubapro/Uwatec, we’ll throw in any Scubapro Mask, Snorkel and Any pair of fins and boots Scubapro makes. Yes that includes the number one seller Sea Wing Nova Fins! FREE (Value up to $500). Packages start at $1395.

BUSSELTON JETTY DIVE

Tomorrow 40 Perth Scuba Clubbies will be heading to Busselton to dive the “Busso Jetty” and check out what has been happening down there over the last year or so. After hearing scary stories of the jetty having a lot of its marine life stripped off the pylons that were recently replaced, we were happy to hear that there are still some areas of the jetty that are in their original state. We havent told the crew yet but there are going to be some cool prizes for the best 3 photos taken on the day. Guru DM Lindsay will be the judge and entries need to be in by Monday night! Any bribes paid to Lindsay will be well appreciated however unfortunately won’t guarantee a prize J

KOKODA TRAIL TRIP INFO NIGHT MARCH 23rd

On March the 22^nd we are very lucky to have Frank Taylor (owner operator) of Kokoda Trek & Tours who will be presenting to Perth Scuba clubbies interested in walking the Kokoda Trail. Naturally we will be putting on a few drinks and nibblies for those who are interested in joining us on one of the most famous challenges known around the world. The great history of this trek is a specialty of Franks and he is sure to make the information night very interesting. Remember to mark this one in your calendar and we will be giving you more information as the evening gets a bit closer. Make sure you write down all of the questions you may have too. Frank will be able to answer them all. Mike will be leading this Trek which is limited to 10 places.

BORNEO TRIP COMING UP FAST!!

Its hard to believe but we are less than 3 months away from Perth Scuba’s biggest ever dive trip… Borneo 2012. We have 44 Perth Scuba Crew heading to Borneo to take over Mabul Island and Sipadan for 10 days! With this being tour leaders Lee & Joey’s 5^th visit to Borneo Divers, they still love the place and rank it in their top 3 dive destinations of the world for diving.

We have some really cool stuff planned for everyone going. This WILL be a trip that everyone will be talking about for years to come. If you are yet to book onto one of our awesome dive trips, come in and see us! With 4 to 5 trips being run every year and trips booked right up to 2013, there’s no reason why you can’t be jet setting around the world with your dive gear to dive the best dive sites in the world!

We do trips to suit any budget. AND even if you can’t join us on one of our trips, Perth Scuba can arrange any dive trip you might want to do. Give us a call!

Galileo is a state-of-the-art computer offering the ultimate in features and technological innovation for an extraordinary underwater experience.

• Galileo is the first and only dive computer to have an integrated heart rate monitor, incorporating the heartbeat into the workload, and then tailoring the decompression calculations to YOUR dive. We are the only dive computer manufacturer in the world that accounts for the effect of increased workload on human physiology during a dive, and Galileo is the first dive computer to integrate a heart rate measurement into the workload calculation. Through this technology a more accurate estimate of workload is possible, and you get the safest no-stop and decompression stop calculations even under the most demanding circumstances.
• Complete navigational system with integrated digital compass and bearing memory, virtually unaffected by tilt. Ease and accuracy, all in one instrument.
• Extra large dot matrix display and a huge memory for unprecedented flexibility: View pictures and charts during the dive. Enjoy detail never before seen on a dive computer. Graphical charts let you review the dive profile at any time, including a complete list of deco stop times. Review the depth, temperature andheart rate profiles after the dive directly on Galileo’s on-board logbook. Galileo stores the most recent 100 hours of dive information in 4-second sampling rate, which you can download to PC via the infrared port.
• Hoseless gas integrated computer: when used with a Smart transmitter you get tank pressure and trueremaining bottom time (RBT) on the computer screen.
• Galileo can be reprogrammed through its infrared interface, meaning you can easily upgrade your computer with new functions and features downloaded from our website.
• Predictive Multi Gas algorithm: allowing you to enjoy the full benefits of high oxygen concentration mixes.
• See what you want, when you want, with Galileo’s extra large dot-matrix, available in 3 pre-configured screen display mode options: The LIGHT displayshows dive time, depth, tank pressure and no-stop information with digits that could not be any bigger. The FULL display maximizes the information shown at once: depth, dive time, deco information, tank pressure, RBT, time of day, stopwatch, active MB (micro-bubble suppression) level, temperature, heart rate, maximum depth, average depth. The CLASSIC display strikes the perfect balance between “clean & clear” and “super complete”. Depth, dive time, deco information, tank pressure, RBT and temperature are always displayed.

So how do you get your hands on the state-of-the-art Galileo Sol computer for as little as $1095? Click here to purchase on line or contact us to purchase in store!

Thank you to all the divers that attended last nights club dive at Palm Beach Jetty… 17 divers in total, a great turn out.
Two great divers, Nathan Potts and Kev Morcomb, provided me with prawns for today’s lunch… Yum!!
We also had a couple of first time night divers who thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Critters observed included seahorses and octopus breeding (with their own species of course)… And apart from the porn show, there were PJ’s spotted, goat fish, puffers and cow fish, just to mention a few… The jetty has some promise for the future…
Thanks to all.

Greg Thomms Perth Scuba Dive Master

Marc van der Poel, Perth Scuba’s technical instructor extraordinaire takes the guys through another exciting Sidemount Course.

Pat, Ken, Chris & Alex put through the paces at the TDI Sidemount course.

Well done guys! I think there are some twins for sale…

Would you like to jump on the next Sidemount Course? Contact us for upcoming course dates.

Perth Scuba will be at the World Sports Expo this Saturday 11th – Sunday 12th February 9am – 5pm.

So get off the couch and come and visit us at the booth! There’s great specials PLUS you could WIN GREAT PRIZES too!

The Water episode 11, featuring Perth Scuba’s Lee Johnson, Joey Pool (underwater photography), Nathan Patterson & Joseph Bicanic (underwater videography).

Special Guest Tim Nicol from the Conservation Council of Western Australia.

Got a question about anything you saw in tonight’s episode? Contact us for more information.

Written by Lee Johnson

ANDY IS BACK!

We are all very excited and happy to announce that Andy “Scuba God” Goddard has finally hung up the donuts, guns and sheriff badge to return to the best dive store in the world to continue his life earning the huge dollars and Scuba Diving Instructor.

Yep you read it right – ANDY IS BACK!

After 12 months training to be a cop and being a cop – he’s finally decided that the diving industry needed him more than the local criminal element.

Andy will be back teaching our students and being a mentor to our Instructional team.

It was hard to say goodbye to Andy when he decided to move on to different pastures but we all understood why and all hoped he’d be back one day.

WELCOME BACK MATE! You were missed! We have already notified the makers of Corona that the beer fines will be on again and they should double their importation quotas for you. We DID however have Puffin Fresh on the phone wanting to know if you still wanted your weekly 2 pallet order of jam donuts delivered to Perth Scuba instead of the Cop Shop… Who was I to turn them away?

TRUK PALAU UPDATE (by Josh “Apprentice” Phillips)

Hey guys Josh (The Apprentice Tour Leader ), here. We have had a great response to our Truk / Palau 2013 trip with all 16 places selling out within just a week! We have been able to secure 4 more places so if you are interested and have been undecided… now is your chance to go on a great trip with me and the Perth Scuba Crew.

The trip includes: 21 nights with a minimum of 32 boat dives (+ unlimited shore dives while in Palau).

We’ll be diving on the World War II wrecks of Truk Lagoon and checking out some of the worlds best wreck dives on offer followed by the most visually spectacular dive location in the world. Palau is a fantastic diver or non diver destination and I can’t wait to get back there.

The normal price if you were to do these trips on their own would be in excess of $7300 but join the Perth Scuba Crew (and me) next year for both trips for only $5995.

If you can’t get the leave and would like to just so one or the other trip, we can even arrange that too. Check out the flyers attached and see what’s included on this great trip.

For any more info, call the store and speak to me, Lee or Joey.

Join me!    Josh.

SIDE MOUNT FUN!

A couple of weeks back I mentioned that we had just completed the TDI Side Mount course.

I said back then that this is to date one of the best courses for learning new stuff I have done in years. The best part about side mount diving is that it doesn’t have to be expensive to get into – most divers have at least 1 regulator and a cylinder – to go side mount you only need 1 more cylinder and 1 more reg set and a BCD that can either be adapted to side mount or a side mount BCD (which can double up to be a normal single tank BCD too.

The advantages of side mount are massive – Firstly and most importantly Weight issues – Forget the heavy twin tanks girls –and even better for those of you who don’t have the flexibility to do manifold drills – No need to worry. Your tank valves are tucked neatly under each arm and you can access them any time. side mount cylinder valves run at opposites so you can have Left and right valves (Perth Scuba hire Left Hand valved cylinders specifically for those of you who want to dive with side mounts. At the same cost of a normal rank hire).

Your gauges sit up in front of you like a heads up dashboard display and the balance of two cylinders under each arm can only be described as perfect buoyancy.

The thing I have found with side mount diving is that it opens up Technical diving for everyone. If you don’t like the idea of carrying a set of cylinders on your back – then side mount is for you.

If you are interested in jumping onto one of our Side Mount courses – We have 2 scheduled for 12/13 of Feb and 18^th/19^th of February with resident tekkie guru Marc Van der Poel. Perth’s most experienced and highly certified technical diving instructor trainer… Why would you want to learn to do it the right way anywhere else? Courses are $300 and includes hire of your side mount BCD and cylinder and reg. (bring your own reg set with you and we’ll show you how easy it is to adapt your gear to make it side mount!

Cave Divers In Mt Gambier – Our own crew doing the hard yards…

Just a quick update for everyone interested in our trip to Mt Gambier to dive the caves and caverns of South Australia…. Our boys left on a red eye flight on Tuesday night to head to the outback farms of South Oz to drop down the sink holes and caves to dive some of natures best kept secrets for divers. Lead by our illustrious Tekkie Guru Instructor Marc Van der Poel, Awesome Josh Phillips, Drew Petterson, and Ryan Limpus were there to complete their TDI Side Mount course and CDAA (Cave Diving Association of Australia) cave diving course. When they return they will no doubt be planning their first trip to the Nullarbor to dive WA’s own caves. We hope to have a bunch of cool photos of our boys when they get back. Hopefully they managed to get one of the Perth Scuba stickers at the back of Cocklebiddy cave J.

For anyone keen in going down the path of Cavern and Cave diving, we have a Cavern course coming up on the 18^th & 19^th of February and the 21^st & 22^nd of February for the final dives.

The Cavern course is a pre requisite to Cave Diver.

The next Cave Diver Course is in March so there is time to do the Cavern course first! – Call us for more details.

No doubt Josh and Marc will be writing up their reviews in the next newsletter so stay tuned!

Video created by Mike Ruffell

PADI Open Water Course at Rottnest Island 31st January – 2nd February 2012

Mike was a student on our PADI Open Water Course and came up with this video while completing his course with his GoPro attached.

Great work Mike – and for your efforts you’ve won a prize!!!

Thank you to all the Perth Scuba Crew for being part of the Big Blue Army last year. It was a big year for marine protection, but to prove its not all hard work we thought we’d kick off 2012 with a bit of serious fun.

Check out our online game, Unprotected Waters and try saving Sandy Seal. How long can you last?

Steer Sandy past plastic bags, trawler nets and stray oil drums into the safety of protected waters. Chase down fish and rebuild your health before darting back out into the dangers of life without a sanctuary.

And after a bit of fun, spread the word about the need to protect our unique marine life by passing the game on to a few friends. You’ll be giving them a welcome distraction from clearing the work inbox clog and helping to grow our Big Blue Army at the same time.

Late last year we convinced the Environment Minister Tony Burke that marine protection was a critical issue. Together we made huge waves. But its not over yet.

So have some fun, and good luck saving Sandy Seal.

written by Joey Pool

“THIS WRECK IS HUGE!!!”

That was my first thought as I descended on the enormous Sanko Harvest wreck in Esperance last Saturday.  February 14, 1991 saw the Sanko Harvest floundering on a reef some 21 nautical miles from the Esperance Port. What was originally seen as an environmental disaster turned out to be a major windfall for we divers. The second largest wreck dive in the world and the largest off the Australian coast this 174 metre long Japanese Bulk Carrier now acts as host to a vast array of marine creatures.The ocean has taken its toll and the wreck has divided into three major sections – plus plenty of smaller debris the size of a large car. The depths vary between 6 and 44 metres of water where the bow lays. Officially declared a marine sanctuary in 1994 the wreck acts as a safe haven for the large blue groper and red snapper that inhabit the twisted remains.

You could spend days exploring the Sanko Harvest wreck and still not see it all. With two dives on the wreck, my buddy and I, managed to explore the bridge, mid-section, ballast tanks and the enormous hole gouged out of the hull by it’s collision with the reef in 1991. I was astounded at the visibility that we enjoyed – more than 30 metres! There were schools of hundreds of fish, be they glass fish or red snapper, plus big blue groper playfully darting away from my camera. We entered one of the ship’s ballast tanks and found 6 well fed Port Jackson shark enjoying a rest in its hold. They weren’t fazed by our lights and sat there as I took a couple of shots. Un-surprisingly at 38 metres it was soon time to return to the surface before our air and decompression limits were met… Next time GADGET!

We enjoyed such a variety of diving in Esperance, rich in marine life and coral colour, and the visibility was fantastic on every dive. Our group stayed on Woody Island about a 30 minute boat trip out from Esperance. The island is set up with permanent tents allowing visitors to stay close to nature and wake up to the birds calling each morning – much to the complaint of some of our late night card players! And we even had penguins on our island – we have photos so they do exist!

The night dive at Woody Island saw a giant bull ray that followed us around below the jetty, plus such a wide variety of marine life, I don’t even know the names of most of them!

Our reef dives were on massive granite outcrops covered with soft corals in all the colours of the rainbow. There were giant swim throughs in amongst the boulders where blue devils and harlequin fish hid. No matter where you swam there were big schools of fish of so many varieties. Everytime we swam around a corner of the reef there was something new to look at (and take its picture!). Some of the crew were even lucky enough to swim with a school of dolphins and play with a sea lion!

After three days of diving what Esperance had to offer it was time to turn around and head home… This trip was over way too soon – we’re going to have to return!!!

To check out more of my photos from Perth Scuba’s dive trip to Esperance click here.

Course Evaluation

By Lee Johnson Perth Scuba Director & PADI Assistant Instructor

On the weekend of 7-8th January Joey and I along with Clive, Conor and Tec Instructor Marc van der Poel, took part in Perth Scuba’s first Sidemount Course.

Sidemount is a way of diving with the same amount of breathing gas (air/nitrox/trimix) as a twin set diver without having to put on all the weight of a twin set on your back. The cylinders are clipped to D-rings on the top left and right of your BCD and the cylinder base is clipped to 2 D-mount brackets at the rear of the BCD – giving you under arm cylinders. Naturally the weight is ultimately the same but by not having them both bolted together cylinders are much easier to manouver and carry. With sidemount you have basically one BCD with two cylinders/reg sets giving you masses of air and redundancy if in the unlikely event, something should go wrong.

The first thing I noticed with sidemount diving was stability. Getting neutrally buoyant and a perfect hover is almost instant. The versatility of sidemount diving is great as you can wreck, cavern and cave dive with more flexibility. Plus from a safety point of view – they are fanastic!

Marc van der Poel will be teaching the next Sidemount Course in February. Contact us for more details on how you can become a Sidemount Diver.

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to  Marc van der Poel or being accepted into PADI’s Course Director program this year.

Marc will be heading over to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia with only 14 other candidates from around the world for this exclusive course. The elite level of Course Director is the top of the recreational diving game and as Marc has already proven with his Tec instructing how good he is as an Instructor at the highest level and if successful (we know he will be!) he will be one of 3 Course Directors at Perth Scuba! (There’s only 5 active Course Directors in WA!)

Making Perth Scuba the ONLY place for Career Development.

GOOD LUCK MARC AND WELL DONE SO FAR!

Some under ice views from beautiful lake Saarijärvi in Vaala, Finland

Divers:
Fisherman: Eelis Rankka
Fisherman’s friend: Tommi Salminen
Boy with the balloon: Jukka Pelttari

Camera and editing: J. Mettälä
Manuscript by J. Mettälä and Eelis Rankka

Music: Stefano Mocini: The end of the doubs

Couple of things about this video:
Camera used was Sony HDR-SR11 with Amphibico HD Elite housing.
The Wheelbarrow was saved from the bottom of the lake and Juuso has used it many times after that.
The rubber duck and the balloon are also home with me.
None of the divers got any permanent damage either.
And yes, they had a lot of fun making this video.

-Juuso

Lee, Joey and a dozen of the true Perth Scuba dive enthusiasts all met up at 8.30am for a Sunday Morning Shore Dive at the Ammunition Jetty, Woodmans Point.

It was a beautiful day and loads of families were already camped out on the multitude of tables and shelters to choose from at the park. Lee set himself up with the esky and barbecue whilst the rest of us kitted up our gear and headed into the blue.

The water was a lovely 23 degrees and visilibility wasn’t too bad either. Most of us had camera’s in hand, including Joey who was trying out a new Nikkor 10-24mm wide angle lens on her D300 dSLR camera.

We saw lots of little baby octupus – so cute! – plus plenty of different types of nudibranch, leather jackets and fast moving yellow tail schools swimming madly between the pilons. Joey stuck to the shallows of the jetty as that’s where the best coral growth and light can be found. Plus you don’t stir up the bottom for your fellow underwater photographers diving with you

As Adam Booth said “It was the best dive of the year!” and it was at the time!!!

We wound up our dive after about an hour and then headed up the BBQ where Lee had started cooking our lunch – what a man! We all enjoyed our sausage & steak and then followed it up with a Krispy Kreme donut kindly donated by Peter Tulk – thanks Peter!

Look forward to seeing you all on the next Sunday Club Dive coming up on 8th January, meeting at Perth Scuba at 8:30am.

Introduce a new diver to Perth Scuba to do their PADI Open Water Dive Course and go in the draw to WIN one of 5 x $1000 Scubapro Vouchers!!!

It’s as simple as bringing in a friend to Perth Scuba during the month of January 2012 and have them signed on to complete their PADI Open Water Course. Then you go into the draw to win one of 5 $1000 Scubapro Vouchers – how good is that?!?

Terms & Conditions:

• Promotion runs from January 1st to January 31st 2012 unless extended.
• Dive Locker reserve the right to extend the promotion at anytime.
• Any diver can introduce as many divers as they like during the promotion. 1 diver introduction = 1 competition entry.
• Divers introduced during January 2012 and introduce another person, may enter.
• Dive Locker staff are not eligible to enter
• Scubapro Staff are not eligible to enter
• The voucher is valid for 3 months from draw
• The voucher must be spent in one session.
• Any value over the retail of $1000 will be paid by the entitled winner
• No refunds are available for remaining balance of voucher
• Voucher can not be transferred or cashed
• Dive Locker reserves the right to cancel this promotion at anytime.
• The prize:
  1. 5 x $1000 DIVE LOCKER Dollars in the form of a voucher.
  2. Total prize pool $5000
  3. Each Voucher is only valid at one of the five Dive Locker stores
  4. 100% Voucher must be used for Scubapro products only.

a)     Dive Locker – Canning Vale

b)    Dive Locker – Rockingham

c)     Dive Locker – Albany

d)    Dive Locker – Fremantle

e)     Dive Locker – Mandurah

• No dispute will be entered into after the draw

Hey everyone!

Well this will be the last blog  for the year and what a cool year it’s been!

I will start off by saying a big thanks to everyone who joined us on the Perth Scuba Christmas party!

We had a great night and I am sure “The Terrace” Bar & Restaurant” will think twice about offering Perth Scuba an Open Bar for 4 hours again!!!  (Thanks Kate for arranging a great night!)

There were a few people driving the porcelain bus on the night – before they even left! Shooters were on tap for “I’m Awesome” Josh and Chad Sucks managed to down enough alcohol for those who forgot to wear their drinking shoes. Once again the Perth Scuba crew did well to show the world that we ARE a bunch of drinkers with a diving problem!

A few mentions from the night which couldn’t be missed…

Andy “Scuba God” Goddard – Sorry we didn’t have any donuts for you mate

Kate “Boss” Pinkham – Josh was truly only kidding when he said you could have your camera housing for free as long as you let him have a round of shots. Honest!!!

Tahnee – I hope you enjoyed the Shark Fins – they are SO OFF THE MENU right now. (Ask Jodie)

Jodie – Yes – Yes – You looked good!!! Oh and Happy Birthday!!!

Ian Ross – Thanks for the photos mate! Just want to know if we can lease the subjects for advertising space??

Chad “sucks” Mews… The boys are still all asking the question… How the hell????

Kenny Kavanagh – Thanks for the triple hit at the end of the night – that was the one that made me ill YOU WIN!

Nat! Were you even there?  You win the Casper award!

The two Naughty Reindeer – We apologise for Josh… we really do!!!

And finally Josh… Mate it’s always a bad career move to give away the bosses stuff for your own personal gain… especially when the gain makes you so drunk you tell the boss what you promised J

A big Thank you to everyone! I know I had a fantastic time and I hope everyone else did too!!

Well that’s it from me this year!

I would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support throughout the year. We are lucky to have such an awesome group of people who dive with us and share their lives with us.

Without you – Perth Scuba would be just another dive shop… Thanks to you all, it just keeps on getting better!

I wish you and your families a very safe and fun Christmas, and On behalf of Myself, Joey, Robert, Nat, Mike, Josh, Trish and the rest of the crew, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!!

We look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Written by Joey Pool

Well it was a beautiful Sunday morning and the Perth Scuba Crew were heading out for their Sunday morning dive. We all met at the dive shop to fill our cylinders, pour a coffee and enjoy Lindsay’s bacon & egg rolls before we listened to his site brief and headed off into the bright sunshine.

Lee & I couldn’t believe our luck that the weather was so gorgeous. It was 27 degrees on our way down to the dive site and I was thankful I’d only brought my 3mm wetsuit – so much easier to get into!

The crew all parked up in the Point Peron car park and started to kit up their gear. Of course, my all important underwater camera was with me aka “The Preying Mantis” and everything else just fell into place – no Lee not literally – I would NEVER drop my dive gear….

Most of the crew followed Lindsay down to the northern beach which is a 150m walk across sand, relatively easy, and they dipped in for their dive. Lee & I and Greg & Jkke Thomms took the even easier option and walked down the limestone steps in front of the car park… All of 15m before we stepped into the water? No one EVER said diving was meant to be hard hehehe.

So, with that lazy stroll behind us we swam a short distance out from the beach and descended to the bottom. The water was a lovely 22 degrees and a little milky – so photographs were going to be a bit green today. Not to worry, Lee & I were just happy to be in the water (in training you know – we have the Galapagos Islands next year!) and swimming about.

If you’ve never dived Point Peron, it’s quite different to most the other dive sites we’ve been to recently. There’s a lot of limestone overhangs and the sand is covered in all sorts of seaweed up to 1.5m long in most places. There were all sorts of shy fish darting away from us and hiding amongst the fronds. My fish ID is not so great so I couldn’t tell you the names, all I know is I haven’t seen most these fish at the Cockburn Sound dive sites I’ve been frequenting this season.

Lee and I spent most our time peering under ledges to see what was hiding there. There were schools of bulleye’s, blue nudibranch’s and blue cleaner wrasse – I’d show you a photo but all I got were bum shots! We could hear the crayfish clicking away at each other but didn’t look too hard for them as we didn’t bother with a loop or catchbag… Sorry Lee, but photos are much more fun than crayfish!

The dive site is quite shallow so don’t expect to get any depths over 6 metres, however, if you head out to the far break water you’ll find a lot of critters. On our way back towards shore we encountered schools of hundreds of blowfish with big smiley faces as they scooted on by – it was pretty cute and I popped off a couple of shots.

So all in all it was a very cruisy dive site, very easy for the beginner and enough to see to keep an experienced diver happy. Next Sunday 18th December our club dive will be later in the day – the Perth Scuba Christmas Party is Saturday night – you can’t expect us to get up early can you??? If you’d like to join us for a dive, meet at Perth Scuba at 2pm this Sunday – everyone is more than welcome!

written by Lee Johnson

With the weather being a bit weird to say the least on Tuesday and the cancellation of our boat – we decided to head out to Ammo Jetty for a night dive the next day.

When we arrived there were ten thousand (slight exaggeration) school kids fishing off the jetty. Watching them with a close eye were 4 Pelicans on the jetty who seemed like they could have each eaten one of the kids rather than the bait that they were feeding them. The problem was – which one?

We kitted up and headed down to the water, which was quite clear and relatively flat. Once under we made out way out towards the end of the jetty. There was as much activity under the water as there was over it. Other than the many herring zipping around the place, there were heaps of Octopuses (very small ones) and some pretty cool little critters. Joey was madly clicking away with strobes flashing all over the place and cruising around with her red Sola light making sure she didn’t scare any of the monsters she was photographing.

We came across a bunch of crab nets and the crabs were pretty happy with what had been dropped down for them. I found a fishing reel that was in pretty good condition and didn’t look to have been there long at all. The guy who pulled that crab net up will be in for a cool surprise. “Hey Dad! I caught a fishing reel in my crab net!” “Stop telling lies Son – where did you really get it from”? Ha his mates will never believe him. Same goes for the other dude who will be pulling up his crab net with a pair of brand new sunnies tucked into his bait bucket… They will all be thinking there’s a Sea Santa. It really is amazing what you find under a jetty. Every item you find – has a story. The 2 deck chairs that were sitting down there side by side ready to be sat in and as if the only thing that needed to be added were the cocktail and book.

During the dive – I thought to myself that if ever diving becomes a chore – I might open up a fishing tackle shop. There is more tackle, sinkers and lures at the bottom of the ocean under that jetty than I have seen anywhere else in Perth. You could quite easily fill a tackle box with all kinds of fancy lures, jigs, floats, burley cages – you name it – it’s there along with a few broken fishing rods… They must have caught a Pylon Fish to do that much damage!

We never made it to the end of the jetty really. There was way too much stuff to see on the way. We headed back – I am sure I was the only one who took a bearing and knew which way the shore was. -  As we got to shallower water we came across a couple of cute baby Port Jackson Sharks. One was about a foot long and the other about half that. The larger one had 2 fish flanking him on each side and he didn’t at all seem impressed. Agitated would be a good word really. Joey chased him around for a while – Poor little guy would have been thinking – “this isn’t my night – first I get these stupid little fish on each side of me going every where I go and then this big fish with a red eye that keeps on trying to X-ray me… What next”?

The star fish down the Ammo Jetty have discovered the world of kinky sex too. They were stacked on top of each other everywhere. Not just 2 at a time though – I found one stack of 6 starfish and most of them were in 3’s and 4’s.

A great dive in all – Joey got some good shots from what I’ve seen so far and the marine life didn’t disappoint. If you haven’t done the Ammo Jetty at night – its well worth a shot and the water temperature was 21 degrees. Next club dive is at Rottnest Island next Wednesday 14^th of December. Make sure you book if you aren’t already on there. It’s a great night out!

Editor’s Note (Joey): If anyone in the crew has an idea what a small yellow spikey fish with green glowing eyes under red LED, please Contact Us – just curious

Hey guys!

Summer is here! Well almost… but the weather is finally getting better.

We had a night dive at Rotto on Wednesday and the water was flat and not a breath of wind made the dive conditions perfect!

Cray season is officially open until the 30^th of June and the word is – they are thick in Mandurah at Timms Thicket so given another week, we will be finding them all around Perth in the shallows. Crystal Palace at Rotto (for those of you who have those floaty things with motors on the back) is a great place for Crays at the moment and outside the sanctuary area of Parker Point along the ridge is bringing out some good sized ones. Remember a lot of Crays will be in berry at the moment so be careful catching them and if they are in berry – make sure you put them back where you found them.

Marc has been busy with Tek Courses – Congrats to everyone who has recently passed their Tec 40 / Tec 45 and Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures courses over the last few weeks. A special mention goes out to Angela Marshal on completing her course. Well Done Angela – you showed them!!! Poor Angela’s twin set was bigger than her but she soldiered on to meet all the requirements and show the boys how it’s done.

Marc has also been busy lining up Cavern Courses and Cave Diving Courses so that we can qualify everyone before the 2013 Mexico Trip. – The Cave Course is great value and has to be done if you are into adventure adrenalin sports!

Mike’s PNG trip is now officially open – Mike did a presentation night and showed us all why PNG is the place to be – Looks great Mike – Wish I could go too! The trip flyer can be found on our website CLICK HERE for more info.

The details of our AWESOME Perth Scuba Christmas party are finally out – We decided not to do a river cruise this year due to the limited numbers we have at our party. Join the Perth Scuba Crew for a night of fun, drinking and Joey Shots – The night is sure to be one to remember – if you can!

Perth Scuba is gearing up for the 2012 Perth Scuba Master Scuba Diver Challenge.

This is going to be the event of the year and anyone can participate. The rewards are fantastic and your diving will become so much more exciting. Details on the Perth Scuba Master Scuba Diver Challenge will be revealed in the next newsletter – You won’t want to miss out on this one!

Go Pro – Goes nuts!

I am sure you’ve all heard of the new craze? Go Pro Cameras – Actually Perth Scuba were the first in Perth to have these great little guys for sale over 12 months ago. It took the rest of Perth and Australia a while to catch on – but now that they have – they are huge! These cameras fit in the palm of your hand and have hundreds of applications. They are a mini Camera which takes stills or Hi Def Video and it comes with a housing which is rated to 50m. It doesn’t stop there though – The cameras have a whole bunch of accessories which make your camera – a bumper cam – if you want to film cruising around the streets, a helmet cam for bike riders, trail / motorbike riders, kayakers, jet skiers, parachuters and of course we love them for diving! There is even a 3D version which incorporates 2 cameras and the software to join the 2 images to make your own 3D movies! Check out the Go Pro Cameras and full range of accessories at Perth Scuba .

Check out the video from Go Prowhere you can see just a few of the applications you can use them.

These are a great Chistmas gift idea for the person who has everything… almost – or the hard to buy for diver – Go Pro –

Perth Scuba, you have helped bring the Government to the brink of creating one of the best networks of marine sanctuaries in the world. But now the fishing industry is fighting back hard and I need your help before they succeed in their plans.

Late last week we learnt that hired corporate lobbyists are in Canberra right now having meeting after meeting with OUR Members of Parliament to prevent the declaration of sanctuaries for our South West marine life.

The industry knows how powerful our efforts have been in calling for marine sanctuaries, so they have brought in hired guns to stop us just one step short of creating an historic legacy for our marine life.

We can’t let them win.

We need you to make just one call today to leave a message for your local MP letting them know you want marine sanctuaries. This will get the message through to the Environment Minister Tony Burke and tip the decision over the line.

Find your MP here and an easy ‘how to’ guide here.

If you wanted to send an even more powerful and convincing message to your MP then deliver your message in person by requesting a meeting when you call.

In 1975, Gough Whitlam created the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and stopped oil drilling on our world famous reef. In 1989, Malcolm Fraser took an iconic step forward in global marine conservation and ended whaling in Australia’s waters.

Environment Minister Tony Burke is one step short of also making history and could put Australia back in first place as a world leader in marine conservation. But not without your phone call to get him there.

A network of marine sanctuaries in the South West would be ground-breaking for WA and would place us on the world stage as leaders in conservation. It would be a more significant decision than protecting Ningaloo.

Our MPs are our elected representatives. Your call will ensure the voice of the community will be louder and clearer than any others and that our precious whales, turtles, fur seals and other marine life are protected for all time.

Yours,

David

David Mackenzie
Save Our Marine Life
www.saveourmarinelife.org.au

Written by Mike Doswell

Could this have been my best dive ever? Wait I’m jumping ahead….. ok so it’s my turn to share with you all a little info on my trip to Papua New Guinea, for those who don’t know me, my name is Mike and I’ve actually been working with Lee and Perth Scuba for just over a year now, my job mainly consists of teaching and coordinating the courses.

I recently returned from PNG after a short and sweet dive trip to see what a lot of the fuss has been about in PNG.  The place we where staying and diving was in a province called New Ireland (thankfully no Irish) its sits in a set of islands north of the mainland of PNG, to get there it takes several flights, Perth-Brisbane-Port Moresby-Kavieng.  Kavieng is the main city in New Ireland.

Upon arrival early on Thursday evening we were promptly met by Kara, Kara along with Dorian her Husband and 2 Year old daughter Victoria run Scuba Ventures in Kavieng and have so for the last 15 years, originally from South Africa they have years of experience in the dive industry and have settled into the nice laid back Islander life style.Kara gave us a short ride to a dock where we were picked up by a small boat, after a 5 min short trip across the water we arrived at Nusa Island Retreat. Nusa Island Retreat was originally set up as a surfers retreat, brother and sister Shaun and Shannon who run Nusa Island Retreat have spent the last decade really turning what was a camp site into a true tropical hide away.

 All the accommodation and buildings are built in true PNG style with woven walls and leaves for roofing all sitting on stilts, their location and sizes range from a small couple sized building to a large 6 person 2 storey house, some are set towards the back of the property while others sit over the blue waters surrounding the Island. The whole place is designed around being eco and local friendly, it uses self composting toilets, filtered rain water for drinking and well water for showers, there are no TV’s, no Internet access and only fans in the rooms, however there is more than enough cold beer or cocktails, hammocks to lay in or water to swim in to be more than comfortable.  It’s fantastic to simplify because it really lets you stop and relax, it gives you a chance to chat with the locals and other patrons staying or interact with the variety of wildlife which now calls the retreat home. The whole place centres around the restaurant and bar, with its huge open air design and large benches, it makes it central for everyone to hang out while deciding which activity to take on.  Nusa has a large range of fun things to do including, fishing, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, surfing, tours, snorkeling and even table tennis. Once we had checked in we headed into the restaurant area for dinner and a cold beer, every evening dinner is served as a buffet, we had delights like tempura crayfish, fish curry, exotic salads, mud crab, satay chicken and more all topped up with a daily home made desert.  Shortly after dinner it was time to hit the hay, it had been a long day and with a pick up at 8.30am the next morning I wanted to be bright and alert, ready for our first Dive in PNG.

After a warm but comfortable sleep under my mosquito net I got to catch a first glimpse of the place in the morning light, it really was my kind of paradise. Walking around in no shoes as everything is on sand I headed to the restaurant for a quick bite to eat of banana pancakes before being picked up by Kara & Dorian and the local boys who help them out.  They have a comfortable sized boat with enough room to move and all kit up at the same time, we speed off and within 5 minutes we were at our 1^st dive site called the Der Yang which is a Taiwanese fishing vessel sunk in the 80’s sitting in 30m of water. We did a quick dive brief before plunging over the side into 31c of warm water and visibility of 30+m.  Immediately I noticed a huge school of Barracuda surrounding me as I descended towards the wreck, not being a huge wreck it didn’t take long to get around it before we made our way onto the reef surrounding, aside from the occasional shark and Spanish Mac cruising past the highlight for me was the fact there was over 7 species of Anemone fish (Nemo’s) on the one dive. So after around 45 minutes we ascended climbed on board and headed across to the Scuba Ventures HQ, we ate fresh fruit and discussed the dive and planned the following dives later that day, our other dives sites we tackled were the blow holes which is a nice easy drift dive with large Moray eels and white tip reef sharks & swim throughs, 2 WW2 Japanese fighter planes (Jakes) with more Lionfish on them than you can poke a stick at and finally a dive at dusk in the Harbour. We watched Mandarin fish come out and play which was a nice way to cap off the day before returning to Nusa Island Retreat, we sank a few cold beers and had another delicious feed of BBQ’d Crayfish and fresh fish, not to long after I was hitting that wall and headed to bed, dreaming of the dives to come the next day.

Another fantastic morning! I had a chance to have a chat with Shaun and Shannon and find out a little more about the locals as well as what life is like living in PNG, by all accounts its sounds quite laid back however with a few new projects coming up including a research centre they have been flat out trying to get materials shipped to them to start construction.  Before we had a chance to get to stuck into more details Kara and Dorian arrived with a few other divers to head out for another day diving in warm tropical waters, the great thing about Kavieng is you have 2 Seas to dive in, the South Pacific and the Bismarck, this gives a little more variety to the types of fish life available as well as options for different weather conditions.  40 minutes boat ride and we are at the Bismarck Sea, even from the boat I could see we were in for a treat as it was crystal clear and looked amazing. The dive site is called Albatross passage and it is one of the premier dive sites of New Ireland, we dropped onto a reef wall at about 30m deep where Kara pointed out things like the hard to find Pygmy sea horse as well as the large pelagic fish cruising by, when we ascend up to around 10m the current picks up and pull you across to the top of the wall, this is where we used reef hooks and clipped in to sit and watch as all the fish swim by, how much more relaxing can u you get? We had a surface interval and popped down for another easy wall dive and then made our way back to Nusa Island retreat for a bite of lunch and siesta. Later that afternoon we were picked up and ferried across to Scuba Ventures HQ where Dorian drove out to what would be the highlight for me on the trip, I was about to tackle my first Cave dive! We drove through the centre of Kavieng picked up some sweets for the local kids and to get permission from the local landowner we arrived at cave called Liga Onui. The cave has a small climb down into where the water entrance is, we had quite a following of all the young locals helping us get the gear down as well as making fun of me trying to put a 3mm wetsuit on.  Liga Onui is actually a source of fresh water for the locals in times of drought so we had to be very careful not to silt up the water and obviously no peeing! The water temp is a mild 28c and crystal clear! The cave itself its not to large with a maximum penetration of around 35m and max depth of 19m, originally a dry cave it has a large section of stalactites which makes this unique because the only form above water levels so at some point the water level had changed, also inside can be found a selection of Japanese rice bowls still with the Naval anchor on the bottom from WW2. The dive only lasted around 20mins but it was 20 minutes of some of the best diving I have ever done! It was so clear that even in some of the photos you could not tell you were underwater; it really was one of the most amazing dives I have ever done.  We then packed up the gear dished out some sweets to the kids for helping us out and headed back to Nusa Island retreat for dinner and drinks.

Our last day in Kavieng boo… well 1 last dive would be all we could fit in as we fly out early the next day. Dorian had chosen his favorite site for us to dive, it’s called the Deep Pete, and it is a small WW2 bi-plane wreck in 40m that Dorian himself had discovered several years ago. It was planned as a 15 minutes bottom time dive so I was going to make every second count with the camera, I was not disappointed being only a small site with nothing else other than the wreck, I encountered Lionfish galore, Batfish and several large Sweetlips.  The wreck itself has ammo, 3 guns, Compass and a radio on it, to bad that 15 minutes was up and time to ascended out of the crystal clear warm blue water. Dorian and Kara were fantastic and being only a small operator it makes it much more enjoyable to be not just another number on a boat.

Once back at Nusa we had the rest of the day to check out the islands and other activites, first on the agenda was lunch followed by a walk around the Island next door Big Nusa. Big Nusa is only a stones throw from the retreat (literally) and only houses a few villagers.  We had one of the local boys take us on a tour to show us the blow holes as well as the Japanese gun emplacements and bomb craters. A little under 2 hours for an easy round trip even stopping to enjoy a fresh coconut or 2. Upon returning to the retreat we were invited out to go see how the boys would go fishing for a few hours, they didn’t have as much success as the night before where they landed a 12kg Spanish mackerel! We did not have a huge last night as we were being picked up 4.30am for our flights back home, alas the end of the road, oh well guess this just means ive got a lot more to look forward to next year when we return for the Perth Scuba trip in July.

For more information on this exciting dive holiday Contact Us and attend our Papau New Guinea Trip Information Evening on Wednesday 16 November 7pm.

written by Belynda Parker

The last weekend in October 2011, the long weekend, our Queen was in town along with the dandy CHOG’s so what better way to escape the debacle that was the city of Perth than to venture south to Albany for a weekend of diving? A quick briefing on the Wednesday night for all the divers to touch base with Perth Scuba, meet our fearless leader Garth Schumann, make sure we all had correct gear, tanks etc.

Having obtained my open water ticket in 1996, and only completing about 5 dives since then (excluding my recent refresher), it was quickly established during the meet and greet that I was the single most inexperienced diver in the room. Despite my excitable nerves, I would like to insert here that the group were an awesome bunch, very welcoming and not at all intimidating. Some were going to Albany just for fun, others were going to be completing their wreck and/or deep diving specialty and I was completing my advanced open water ticket. A diverse bunch we were, singles, couples, Swiss, Pommies, young, old (well not real old but Richard you were estimated to be…49 was it? Only 16 years out. Awkward). The stage was set for an entertaining weekend none the less.

We all made our own way to Albany on the Thursday, to the ‘Cruize-Inn’; neat and tidy accommodation with everything we needed…including a bar that looked like it had been transported from a tropical island of some sort. The group trickled in over the afternoon, a few stragglers who couldn’t get away from work earlier and then there was Garth who chose the scenic route, adding several hours onto his trip as he meandered through the winding forest road – visibility reduced to less than 2m with the pelting rain; let’s just say he was unimpressed, an angst only a beer on arrival could quell.

Day 1; Our boat wasn’t due to depart until lunchtime so we had a leisurely morning, breakfasting, playing around with dive computers, discussing what was required for the various specialties, filling out paperwork and discussing the plan for that day’s dives. Needless to say, by 12pm, everyone was pretty keen to get out on the boat and into our first day of diving – the HMAS Perth.

Located in the King George Sound, the HMAS Perth is a 133 metre decommissioned guided missile destroyer, she was scuttled in 2001, in such a perfect way that the majority of the ship is still intact and most of the equipment and machinery aboard the ship was kept in place. The wreck is suitable for a range of experience from beginners (me) to the most advanced divers, with depths ranging to about 35m.

The first dive was a bit of a fun, reconnaissance dive. We buddied up, into our gear and ALLONS-Y!…The first diver in the water loses his weight belt, a rapid spiral through about 40m of water ending most likely in a burial of mud. Not a great start but this was soon forgotten once we were paddling over toward the mast of the wreck, which sticks several metres out of the water. Guide wires extended from the top of the mast to the bow and stern of the ship; these could be used for descent and then one can journey back up through or around the levels of the wreck. My first dive was with Garth. Given his experience I was quietly stoked, remember it’s been a long time between drinks for me, and it was awesome. Almost the entire wreck had something living on or in it. A plethora of sponges, ascidians, molluscs and a myriad of fish made for a visual feast during the entire dive. The highlight of this dive was the school of large Sambo’s cruising just beneath me on the ascent. The crow’s nest, at a depth of 5m, made for a perfect safety stop, as both a visual depth marker and plenty of marine life to keep us entertained.

Back on the boat, our trusty captain Karl handed out cup-o-soups; gratefully received as the water was a fresh 18 degrees, and I, the fool with no hood or gloves, was feeling the pain! During the surface interval we played with a Tupperware Shape-O; four of us timed how long it took each of us to re-stock the ball with its shapes; then we repeated the task on the deck of the wreck at about 24metres. An interesting lesson illustrating how cognitive thinking and ability to perform tasks is affected at depth. During this time, other members of the group sketched a map of a portion of the wreck on their slates; which they later presented to the rest of the group back at the house. A few budding artists amongst them and humorous seminars.

After the second dive we were all absolutely ravenous; some of us more so than others with the motion of the ocean urging us to burley-up the water, voiding our stomachs of any goodness. So, packed into the troopy (big cheers to skipper Matt ) we ventured into the thriving metropolis that is Albany, and despite the bustling crowds we were squeezed into the upper section of “Nonna’s” – a few lonely souls up there who were holding some sort of (MAL)function as not many of their party had arrived; we ate the plates of food they offered us with gusto as they had largely over catered and our hunger pangs must have been obvious. After a great meal, a few drinks and plenty of discussion on that days dives we headed home and had more drinks and attempted to solve the world’s problems, as one does.

Day 2; Garth cooks us bacon and eggs for breaky and then we return to the HMAS Perth again. Exploring different parts of a now familiar wreck, my dive buddies and I entered the wheel house and took some great shots at the helm; a bit of a look around and effectively silted up the entire room for Garth who entered not long after we left. Amateurs, ah well, can only move forward from here! Our dive continued into other sections of the wreck, including the control room which housed the dinosaur like computers. Brilliant. My last dive of the day was nothing short of a debacle. During my paddle over to the mast a blue bottle decided to entangle itself around my regulator; it’s sticky blue legs, unbeknownst to me, were busy caressing my mouthpiece, so it was a fiery hot surprise for my lips and tongue when I put the reg in my mouth. After a flurry of spluttering and WTF’ing I decided to descend with my group anyway, a fin malfunction at the bottom, slight current and my buddy and I were lost in a sea of milk, no sign of our group or the wreck; back to the top we slunk. Trusty skipper Karl gave me some first aid, which despite suggestion from fearless leader Garth, did not involve urinating on my face.

The evening saw us produce a barbeque of awesomeness, with enough leftovers for lunch the next day. The night ended with more drinking and solving of world’s problems, the undeniable fact that humans are destined for intergalactic travel and did you know dolphins can recognise their own reflection? It’s true, they have been seen practising pouting for their Facebook profile pics.

Our final day was an early start, but we were all frothing for it none the less. Today we were headed to another wreck, the Cheynes III. It was scuttled in 1982, a messy affair apparently involving a bucket load of dynamite which effectively blasted it in half. After entering the water, and heading off in a westerly direction, the Cheynes eventually loomed before us (thank goodness). The visibility was amazing, at least 20m, swimming up the side of the wreck and peering onto the deck was like looking into an aquarium, beautiful fish everywhere, colourful sponges and various corals. Our eyes were peeled for the wonderful leafy sea dragons but no such luck. No sign either of the large wobbegongs who loiter beneath the bow. An awesome dive all the same on this wonderful artificial reef. The second dive was along the rocky wall of the island; after navigating a square as part of my assessment, my buddy (and fearless leader) Garth cruised over the mesmerising fields of seaweed. Again, the water clarity was divine. Plenty of fish about but the ever elusive dragons were not sighted. Back on board and back to shore, we ate the leftovers from our barbeque of awesomeness for lunch and our weekend had come to an end. Well there was still the 4 – 5 odd hour drive back to Perth but that parts not included, and I have a very foggy memory of it anyway to be honest, the fatigue monster had well and truly kicked in.

If anyone reading this hasn’t been on one of Perth Scuba’s dive trips I thoroughly recommend it, I had an absolute blast, and drew so much from the experience of others around me. Being surrounded by people with a similar passion is incredibly rewarding; so, to the awesome group of my new diving buddies, I look forward to more diving adventures with you all in the future! Huge thanks to Garth for all his guidance and advice. This world is so new to me, I have always had an affinity with the ocean, however SCUBA diving was never able to be a great part of it; circumstance and opportunity have steered me onto a new path and I am loving it.

Dive in! Carpe diem. BJP xxx

• What sets a shark apart.
• What is the conservation status of sharks
• What makes them vulnerable, what is threatening them and why
• Their importance to an ecosystem
• Their value to our economies
• What sharks do we have in our local waters and their conservation status
• Misconceptions about sharks

To celebrate sharks and prepare you for the Big Shark Shout Out taking place in October, Perth Scuba is offering the Project AWARE Shark Conservation Diver Distinctive Specialty Course at a special rate. We are extending this offer right through the month of November for only the cost of $150 and the registration fee gets donated in its entirety to Project Aware. Next Course runs on Thursday 17th November from 6pm.

Well it’s been a very interesting last couple of weeks.

With the word shark on pretty much everyone’s mind there has been a big run on Shark Shields. Hopefully those of you who already dive know that there are things you just don’t do at certain times of the year. We have been saying it for years but unfortunately there is always someone who either doesn’t know or chooses not to know. As I mentioned in my blog the other day – certain times of year, weather conditions and other elements affect the likelihood of sharks in a particular area. Scuba Divers do not get attacked by sharks if they are looking and taking photos. Scuba Divers run a much higher risk of being attacked if they spear fish while diving. The message is simple… If you must spear fish while diving – wear a shark shield. And if you must spear fish at all – Don’t do it in October while the whales are migrating and the Snapper are spawning in the Cockburn Sound. As tragic as the incident a few weeks ago was, it could have been prevented. There has NEVER been an attack on a Scuba Diver in WA who wasn’t either spear fishing or commercially fishing for Abalone. Why would that change now? Never the less Perth Scuba has decided to offer Shark Shields to any of our students who would feel safer using one during their courses. This is not at all out of concern but more for peace of mind for the student. We all know that we have nothing to worry about – but we want new divers to feel safe too. If you are interested in Shark Shields and would prefer peace of mind diving all year round, give us a call at the store and we’ll demonstrate how they work for you. More importantly – Don’t give up diving – learn more about sharks!

For more info on the do’s and don’ts, click here to check out my safety tips.

Shark AWARE Specialty Course 17th November 6:30pm

Last week Marc Van Der Poel took some of Perth Scuba’s crew through PADI’s new Shark Aware Specialty course. I learned a lot about sharks and the devastating affect we have on them. Did you know that 70 Million sharks are killed every year – mainly for shark fin soup? Did you know that Australia is not even amongst the top 10 countries in preserving shark numbers? In fact commercial operators in WA don’t even have to report their catch to fisheries or any statistical recording body.

Learn more about sharks and what you can do to protect these amazing creatures by completing the AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Specialty at Perth Scuba.

Check out the article about Perth Scuba written by David Roe from PADI Project AWARE.

Cray Information Night Wednesday 9^th of November 6.30pm

Join me and the crew for our famous Cray Information Night. This once a year event tells you all you need to know about Cray Fish just in time for the opening of our Cray Fish Season (15^th of November). Learn the life cycles of Crayfish, how the “runs” work, find out what a “white” and a “red” is and find out when and where is the best time to find them. Then we will show you how to catch and keep your crayfish dinner. This info night covers all aspects from the rules and regulations (and the penalties that apply if you are naughty) as well as the breeding cycles, how to check the sex and how to see if the cray you have is a “keeper”. Learn migration patterns and habitats they like to live in. Learn the secrets of catching so you never miss and pick up some great specials on the night with the Perth Scuba Cray Catching Kit!

See you at Perth Scuba!

Dive Travel

Joey and I recently headed over to Melbourne for a whirlwind 2 day trip to visit our friends at Allways Dive Travel. Ian, Caroline, Nicko and Abbigail put on a fantastic Micronesia Promotional Night with lots of food and drinks and some great guest speakers there to promote different locations. We came away with some cool new places to visit and we have booked our 2013 Palau & Truk double trip and also a fantastic new Liveaboard trip to Palau on the Siren’ Vessel which is so new – they are still building it!!

We will be having an info night on the new trips soon.

While we were zipping around Melbourne Mike “pants’ed” Doswell was trekking off to Papua New Guinea to check out the accommodation and diving that is on offer for those of you who are planning to join him on his trip next year. By all counts I don’t think anyone is going to be disappointed with what’s on offer. It looks like a great value trip with so much to see! Mike’s trip write up will be in next weeks’ newsletter.

Borneo Dive Tour 2012

Just one week left before we close this trip and you don’t want to miss out on the trip that everyone will be talking about for years… Borneo – Sipadan May 2012.

With 30 Boat dives + Unlimited shore dives, all meals and accommodation included for only $2495 ex Tawau – it’s the best value trip on offer! (flights from Perth to KL to Tawau range from $129 to $400). Don’t miss out! Call the store or fill in a booking form today!

Perth Scuba Photographer of the Month: Gavin Ee

This week we introduce a new section to our newsletter – Underwater Photographer of the Month. On the first week of every month we will be interviewing some great photographers and showing some of their fantastic photos. Any one can submit their photographs and who knows – you could be the next featured photographer. There will be some cool prizes for those who are featured and after we have run the photography interviews and shown you all the great photos, we will let you guys vote for the best Perth Scuba photographer and we will announce them at the first Annual Perth Scuba Manta Club Party night. More on that later…

Scubapro MASSIVE Price Drop Sale!  1 DAY SALE

Next week – whatever you do – make sure you keep Saturday FREE! At 8:30am when the doors open at Perth Scuba – we will be having our Massive Scubapro Price Drop Sale!

Free gifts, lots of prizes and some fantastic specials will be on offer. There will be great prices on ex hire SCUBA Units. New Scubapro Scuba units at prices never seen before in Australia and FREE Scubapro Mask, Snorkel, Fin, Boot packages to the value of $500 with ANY new Scubapro Scuba Unit purchase. Units start from just $1395 (and you still get $500 worth of Scubapro Snorkeling gear for FREE!!)

Join us for a free sausage sizzle, one of our Dive Master Guru’s will be driving the BBQ and there may even be a visit by Fat Cat for the kids! …. OK NO FAT CAT for the kids but you still don’t want to miss out on this fabulous sale! Be early!

Facebook: our link to you

Many of you by now have joined the Perth Scuba Facebook group and it’s a great way for us to let you know what’s happening as it happens, but what you may not know – is that shortly one of the Facebook group sites is going to be shut down due to Facebook’s new operational reasons. This means that if you are on the old facebook group – if you don’t move across – we may lose contact with you via that media.

So how do you stay with us? Its easy – Follow this link and click the Like button. This will then join you to the new site. If you aren’t sure whether you are in or not already – click LIKE anyway. We would love to see everyone come over to the new group soon so we don’t lose you.

There are some exciting new things happening soon on FACE BOOK with some very easy ways to win prizes too. Don’t miss out!! LIKE us today

Two words that send a shiver down your spine and make you think – as a diver – that could have been me.

With the recent events off our coast I thought that I should probably address this as I know a lot of you are now thinking – is it safe to dive or not?

Well I am going to tell you a few things about the way things are and why certain things happen at certain times of the year.

Great White sharks (the species of shark being blamed for the recent spate of attacks) generally move through our waters around October every year following the migratory whales. They often prey on the weak or young whales at the back of the migration group. This whale migration coincides with the movement of the Leeuwin current which at this time of year moves warmer water from the north of the state and pushes down as far south as Albany.

Great White sharks are not known to be a warm water shark and are often forced past Perth with the warmer currents. They also stick around for a little while because of the Snapper spawning in the Cockburn Sound – although this only occurs for a few weeks.

There are a few things we need to do to protect ourselves from any potential harm. These things are not hard to do – you just need to prepare and be aware of the conditions around you.

The first thing I will say – is that a shark attack on a diver is very rare – there is usually a case of mistaken identity with swimmers and surfers as they are on the surface. To a shark – these people look potentially like a Seal. (a good food source for Great Whites), give this the added issue of an overcast day where visibility is reduced and the background looking upward is more “shade” than colour, and you have the perfect recipe for a hit by mistaken identity (which unfortunately with the size of the Great White – it tends to be quite a hit).

The next thing is spear fishing. Unfortunately the recent attack was on someone who was spearing fish. The problem with spear fishing when diving (on scuba), is that unfortunately – most scuba diving spear fishermen tend to carry a catch bag for their catch. Free diving spearos generally have a line (usually 5 or 6 metres + in length) and a float which when threaded through the gill plate of the caught fish – works as a great way for the spear fisher to get a good distance between him and his catch. This way if a shark does come along and goes for the catch – the spear fisherman is not in line of the bite for the fish (which in almost all cases when a spear fisher is attacked by a shark). When fishing – most people use burley to get the fish to the area. Liken a couple of dead (or maybe injured but not dead) fish in a catch bag – then drag that catch bag around the ocean with you. Effectively you are spreading burley in the water, at a level where if there are any sharks in the area – they will pick up on the scent. You are effectively baiting the shark. Without that distance between you and the catch (bait) you are probably more likely to be injured if a shark attacks the catch.

It is VERY unlikely for a shark to attack someone who is not spear fishing while Scuba diving. In fact I don’t know of any that have occurred on a diver who wasn’t either catching abalone (commercially) or spear fishing.

So what should we do to avoid being a potential victim of a shark attack?

1. During the month of October be aware that there is a possibility of sharks in the areas around Perth Waters.
2. Avoid diving at dawn and dusk – traditionally known as the best times for sharks to feed.
3. Avoid diving on very overcast days during the month of October.
4. Avoid spear fishing. But if you must – wear a shark shield *
5. Wear a shark shield – Yes they work and give peace of mind to you and your family.
6. Avoid diving around Seal Colonies at this time of year.
7. Learn about sharks – don’t fear them – find out how they work – Be AWARE

 Following these few simple things will give you more peace of mind and eliminate any potential risks. Remember though that sharks can’t live on land and we are in their playground when we take part in any water sports.

Very rarely do sharks attack humans for a food source – it is almost always a case of mistaken identity.

* Shark Shield state in their warranty that a shark in a feeding frenzy may not be deterred by their product. However these products have been extensively tested and have saved many lives over the years since their introduction to the market.

During the Big Shark Shout Out Perth Scuba and divers around the world rally to protect sharks before it’s too late. Together, we have a powerful, collective voice that can change policies affecting the main threats to sharks – overfishing, bycatch and finning.

Why are we worried about sharks? Nearly one out of five shark species is threatened with extinction. Sharks are irreplaceable – they are vital to the health and balance of our ocean environments. Time is running out for sharks and we need to act now!

Make a difference during the Big Shark Shout Out:

Sign the Shark Petitions

By adding your signature, divers can pressure leaders to close shark finning loopholes and provide greater trade protections for vulnerable shark species. Two important petitions need your voice this October: Shark Alliance’s Unfinished Business and Project AWARE’s Give Sharks a Chance. Please sign them both.

Better yet, run your own signature drive by collecting signatures on Facebook with the Take Action Facebook app or adding the shark petition widget to your website this October.

Take the AWARE Shark Conservation Diver Distinctive Specialty

Become a passionate shark conservation advocate and get the knowledge and tools you’ll need to act for shark protection. Perth Scuba will be teaching the AWARE Shark Conservation Specialty during the month of November. Want to Shout Out to Sharks and learn more about them? Contact Us for course dates during November and you too can become a Shark Conservation Diver!

The PADI Diving Society is the largest dive community of its kind – helping you make the most of your diver certification, and getting you the most out of your aquatic explorations. Whether you’re a dedicated snorkeller or avid diver – beginner or pro – anyone can be a part of this fast growing dive community!

The PADI Diving Society membership is *US$45 per year. Join the Society and you will receive a personalised Society membership card – your passport to get you more out of an exciting aquatic lifestyle.

For enquiries about your new or current Society membership, please email us, or call us on +65 6298 3241.

PADI Diving Society membership is approximately US$45 per year. To view membership rates in the Australian region click here.

Additional Information

Join PADI Diving Society online today to receive a free one-year or two-year subscription (six or twelve issues) to Scuba Diver AustralAsia magazine.

With a free subscription to one of Asia Pacific’s top dive publications, you’ll have your finger on the pulse of the dive industry.

PADI Diving Society Member Handbook and Benefits Directory

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Visit our online benefits directory to preview the special offers you’ll be entitled to as a Society member.

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Written by Lee Johnson

After a grueling week at Parliament house in Canberra, Lee has returned with a very positive outlook on the newly proposed Marine Parks and Sanctuaries for the WA South West. There were meetings at the top level – (Well almost – Julia was busy pushing through her new Carbon Tax). “We were lucky enough to secure meetings with some key decision makers and some of the people who put together the original draft plan” Lee said. “We managed to put our point across that the general public in WA are not at all opposed to Marine Sanctuaries, in fact – most people supported the issue.” This is a stark contrast to the east coast where the marine sanctuaries are being heavily fought against by the local communities. “I put it down to a couple of things – a lack of understanding of the proposals, and a really bad explanation as to what the sanctuaries are all about.”

The South West proposal is the first in a series of run out models across the country and was one of the current Governments election promises. Whilst as a whole

The meetings covered all areas from Tourism to Commercial Fishing License buy backs. There is one thing for sure – The sanctuaries are going to happen and with luck and hopefully the work we put in – they will include some great areas for conservation and allow fish to restock in areas closer to the shore than we have ever had before near Perth.

The final proposal, which was out for public comment for 3 months recently brought 42000 submissions in favour and only 200 against the proposal.

“With areas put aside like this and listed as A Class Marine Reserves we can be assured that the future of the marine species that live within these areas or used to live in these areas will be guaranteed and they can return, rebuild and restock without the interference of both recreational and commercial fishing. 5 and 10 years from now – we will have some of the best shore diving in the country.”

The final decision will be going to parliament sometime before the end of the year. We will keep you posted. If you are interested in the overall meetings and what is proposed, please Contact Us or call into the store.

Written by Lee Johnson

Today was a big day with lots of meetings planned for the day. Our first day at Parliament House.

After arriving and going through security not different to an airport and getting our official unrestricted access passes – we headed up for brekkie and then up to our first meeting of the day, Julie Bishop. To give you all some background – this week is a HUGE week in politics in Canberra. With Parliament sitting this week and 2 massive issues on the agenda – Carbon Tax and Boat People, we were very lucky to have been able to meet with anyone of any importance. The best part is that we have managed to speak to some very important ministers and had some very positive responses and feedback.

Julie Bishop – (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Our first presentation as a group. The meeting went very well. Whilst under the pump to get through the meeting as quickly as possible due to a vote in the Senate which was about to occur, we went through our collective agendas. The dive industry submission for marine sanctuaries was well received and Julie thanked us for keeping her informed of our progress.

The next meeting was with Laurence Coleman, advisor to Stephen Smith (Minister of Defence),

This meeting went exceptionally well with all of our points going over and Laurence (a Perth resident) agreeing with our concepts and ideas. The proposal for an A Class style marine reserve for the diving industry north of Hillarys was presented and was well received.

The decision on the marine park proposal will be decided within just 4 to 5 weeks. I will post a copy of the proposed marine parks tomorrow.

Our next meeting was with Tony Burke – Minister for the Environment. Once again a fairly rushed meeting but with the offer of a later meeting with one of his advisors to take our proposals down was an offer we were more than happy to accept.

The second round was great with plenty of time to go over all of our ideas and proposals as well as discussing the effects of any or all of these proposals which may or may not have an impact on the electorate. The more I work with the professional team we have over here lobbying for support, the more I am realising that even though we all represent different areas and have our own areas of expertise and agendas, every one of us is here to save our marine environment and create Sanctuaries. Even the most unlikely allies in fishing groups are pushing for a united blanket approach to marine parks and Sanctuaries. It’s great to be associated with these guys. It really is an honour to be here with them.

The meeting ended on a positive note and it will remain to be seen how effective our presentations for today were. We are gaining valuable support and the meetings continue tomorrow.

I will keep you posted.

by Nathan “Patto” Patterson

While working at Perth Scuba I have been lucky enough to be involved in some pretty amazing adventures but nothing like the trip that I have just been on to the Pilbara filming a new TV series called ”the Water”.

Darryll, Joey’s Dad, and I returned to Perth last Friday morning after 10 days travelling to Onslow, Mackerel Islands, Karratha and Dampier. The first stop was the town of Onslow, we didn’t hang around long, just long enough to transfer the gear from the cars to the boats before making the 13Nm to Thevenard Island. We stayed at the Mackerel Islands Resort right on the beach, the rooms were very well appointed with everything you need to make  a great family holiday, not that Steve, the producer, gave us much time to look around after all it was a work  trip…….

The Island itself has been used by oil companies to store oil from offshore platforms for years, until recently they have promoted it as a holiday destination. We hit some reef systems around the Mackerel Group called Rosalie Kay and Penguin Bank for Mackerel, Giant Trevally, not only was the fishing great but while I was skippering the boat I marked some spots on the plotter to dive when the tide was right. Finally the tide was right and I didn’t muck around getting in the water. The minute we started our decent there was a school of 20+ Black Tip Reef Sharks schooling around us darting in and out wondering what these strange bubble blowing creatures were, closer to the bottom there was 3 big, really big, Rankin Cod that greeted us. As we made our way around the reef the corals I found were healthier and more brightly coloured than I had expected and so much marine life I was blown away. I guess this just goes to show that industry and the environment can be as one.

Drew the resort manager took us to his favourite dive in the area, Brewers Reef, this place was unreal, as soon as I got my mask in the water I saw a 2m+ Thresher Shark just below us, I later found him and his mate in a cave having an afternoon snooze, Giant Trevally and Mangrove Jack occupied the overhang just at the bottom of the anchor line. Every crevasse of this reef was packed with fish, Glass fish and Scaly Anthias were like flies around a rubbish bin in the middle of summer, Coral Trout, Barramundi Cod, Juvenile Red Emperor, Rankin Cod, Malabar Cod and Baldchin Groper were also seen.

We were also lucky enough to be on the island during Turtle breeding season, we headed to the back beach at sunset to see my favourite creature in the ocean mate in the shallows and crawl up the beach to lay their eggs, it was an amazing experience and to watch it all take place with the setting sun in the back ground was very special, not to mention the perfect photo/filming opportunity.

The next stop was Karratha, I have to say it was very different driving into town, I have worked in this area for a number of years but I have always flown in. I have flown over the islands of the Dampier Archipelago so many times and often wondered what the diving would be like, well this time I got to. Whilst passing Rosemary Island, the most western Island of the group, I jumped in for a look. The only disappointing thing about this dive was the lack of big table fish, I saw 1 size Coral trout in a 23 minute dive, but I did get to swim in and out of some unbelievable ground soft corals were in abundance and schooling fish everywhere. The highlight was a 1m+ Sand Snapper quietly resting under a ledge while bright blue wrasse swam in and out of his gills cleaning him up, I must have hovered for a good 5 minutes watching them.

The plan was to stay in Karratha/Dampier for a couple of days then head to the mecca that is the Montebello Islands, but mother nature had other ideas. After a lot of consideration the group decided that is was not a good idea to make the trip out to the Monties this time round, but we do plan on returning.

The Water is a diving and fishing show different to what you’re used to seeing on TV, it’s due to air 23^rd November on Foxtel’s Lifestyle channel and West TV Channel 44.

The Aussie Fundraiser finale’ – A great success!

It was a case of second time lucky with the weather for the “Aussie Fundraiser” on Sunday and the weather this time around was perfect. The event was a joint effort with Dive Ski & Surf (Dive Locker Fremantle) and Perth Scuba (Dive Locker Canning Vale).

The idea… To do a clean up event for Project AWARE’s Dive against Debris at the same time as raising some money for a couple of very deserving charities.

The clean up crew started arriving from 7am at Fishing Boat Harbour in Fremantle on what was looking like a much better day than forecast. After signing in and going through all of the paperwork formalities as well as being hit up for a few hard earned dollars for the fundraiser raffle – the divers set up their gear and checked out the boardwalk to see what needed to be done. By 9am (the kick off time) there were around 60 divers ready to jump into the water with the now famous giant stride photograph entry. To assist the divers there were 15 surface support ranging from Medics to Log in/out crew and lots of bag collectors and raffle ticket sales people (who were spreading the word about what we were doing) in between.

After a pre dive briefing from Marc Van Der Poel – Perth Scuba’s Tec Diving Guru and a few words from Lee it was time to head to the entry point and make a huge splash!

The groups were split up and areas allocated to clean up and after the big stride entry – the event was officially open. Within just a half an hour the first Ute load of rubbish was on its’ way to the tip and with lots more to come it was only a matter of another hour that it was full again.

Overall in just 3 hours there was over 3 tonnes of rubbish collected and the Harbour was looking better by the minute. The event started to wind up at around 11.30 with a couple of Perth Scuba’s legendary BBQ experts preparing a feast for the divers and support crew at the surface. The hotdogs kindly donated by Bakers Delight and the drinks from Cicerellos & Schweppes went down a treat with lots left over to share with passers by.

The Fundraising part of the event went very well with “sales guru “ Lindsay doing a fantastic job on the day. (If anyone knows who Lindsay sold his family to on the day – please let us know), he did a great job and sold lots of tickets to the raffle.

The prizes for the raffle ranged from Open water Dive courses donated by Perth Scuba and Dive Ski & Surf, Snorkeling package from Tusa, Dive computer from Cressi, Wetsuit from Water Proof, First Aid Book set from DAN, IST Dive Pack to a Surface Marker Buoy from Surface Marker with a first prize of a week in the Philippines diving with full Nitrox and unlimited dives including accommodation valued at over $1100.

A total prize pool of over $4000 was on offer and the winners were drawn at 12 noon on Monday.

Huge congratulations to the winners:

The overall fundraising event netted nearly $2000 with Special Thanks to Joey Pool of Perth Scuba who donated a day’s wages to the fundraiser event and to all of the supporters’ donations and to the sponsors of the event who donated prizes.

Most of all a huge thank you to the crew who donated their time to roll up their sleeves for another fantastic cause. You all did a great job and one of our waterways is now a few tonnes of rubbish cleaner than 2 days ago. The fight against Debris in our oceans has well and truly begun.

Well Done!

Thank you also to the 2 guys who made this all possible – Tommy Soderstrom and Allan Nash. These guys rode their bikes around Australia leading clean up days and fundraising events in every capital city in every state. Their unbeatable stamina showing that anything is possible. We take our hats off to you guys and we appreciate the support.

Unfortunately the conditions on the original day prevented Tommy and Allan from being there on the day – but there is nothing that can’t be done with Photoshop right??

We hope you enjoy looking at the photographs as much as we did. Another fantastic event!

Written by Glenn Storey & Steve Rudge – Tour Leaders

It only seems like yesterday that we were all excitedly meeting at Perth Airport for the big dive trip, watching Jason chasing the taxi (that dropped him off) because he left his back pak in it which had his passport and tickets inside. Fortunately Jason got hold of the taxi company and the cab returned, along with his big smile. The only other hiccup at the start of the trip was Natalie’s dive gear deciding to spend a night in Sri Lanka before joining us, by the end of the trip we did get the feeling that Natalie and Shannon’s dive gear didn’t like being with them as it kept disappearing. Once on the live aboard (MV Amphibiya), we got our check dive done in the afternoon followed by a couple beers, surrounded by beautiful tropical islands and blue water. Our dive trip was truly underway!

Now all Perth Scuba dive trips have their moments, some that happen on a dive trip, stay on a dive trip (unless its Nat) but not all of them and we have spared no one.

Tibbs – Always tuck the video camera leads inside the housing, it tends to flood otherwise. Oh and listen to your wife whilst your under water .

Geraldine – You need to come up with some new hand signals for Tibbs, he can,t hear what your saying under water , or maybe he,s pretending he can’t.

Jake (aka Rex Hunt) – Who had the last laugh with the fishing, well done and thanks for the feed of fish, shame we couldn’t say the same about your water skiing skills !

Natalie – 15 litres of Nitrox can go along way but not all the way around the island, good to see your great dancing has not diminished with the absence of night clubs in Abu Dhabi.

Shannon – Congratulations on finally mastering the art of climbing down stairs!

Malcolm – The whale sharks would of looked a lot smaller with your contacts around the wrong way!

Belinda – Bring your own band aids next time, that way you won’t have to keep “SNOOP’N” around looking for him, I mean them.

Fiona – Buy yourself a stubbie cooler that fits big water bottles, they won’t hurt as much when they fall on your face!

Tom – Buy yourself a bigger slate, you can write more on it, better still, buy a camera and housing, its easier.

Jason – Nearly didn’t make it, what would we have done without you and your lucky shark tooth necklace, make sure your wearing it to the airport next time.

Nat – Stay off the tequila or you’ll end up with splinters in your face!

Josh- Did you and Nat end up seeing that pinnacle on the way to the Seychelles, choose your wingman wisely.

Lindsay – Hope the next group of guests weren’t red wine drinkers!

Glenn – Your really do look like a “Gazza”

Rudgey – “Any one for sheesha”

It’s the people that make a good dive trip and this was certainly the case this time along with lots of tiger beer, night stick dancing, big Cuban cigars, Lithuanian instructors with big lungs, massages and pool bars thrown in for good measure.

Oh, have we mentioned the diving yet! Manta’s, whale sharks, sharks, wreck, night, reef and drift diving along with some great fishing and the island vistits and bbq’s. Tough life but someone had to do it. Unfortunately for us we missed the Karaoke night, not so unfortunate for the other island guests as I don’t think they would of seen to much of the microphone with us there! We all had a great time and our first trip as Tour Leaders was made so much easier because of of the top group of people we travelled with, thanks guys!

Look forward in seeing you all on your next dive trip (o- yeehh)

Rudgey and Gazza (Glenn)

At 2:45pm today our Aussie Fundraiser Buddies – Tommy and Allan rode into town on their Motorbikes after a long trek across the Nullarbor Desert via Adelaide.  After taking in a few of WA’s sights in the South West they arrived at Perth Scuba to meet the crew.

We had a good chat and the guys shared some of their stories and adventures from their trip so far with us over a drink.

After a quick photo opportunity and some GPS programming the guys headed off into the sunset to find their accommodation for the night and to prepare for a big day tomorrow with the Project AWARE, Springboard Foundation Aussie Fundraiser Clean up the Harbour day!

Make sure you come and meet and greet the guys tomorrow at Fishing Boat Harbour and bring your dive gear and lots n lots of gold coins for our fundraising day. Remember the huge raffle with fantastic prizes!

Up for grabs are:

1 Week Stay & Unlimited Nitrox Diving at El Galleon Resort in the Philippines (Value $1100)

2 PADI Open Water Dive Courses (Value $495 each)

1 Cressi Leonardo Wrist Dive Computer  (Value $450)

1 TUSA Mask, Snorkel, Fin Set (Value $450)

1 DAN First Aid Book Set (Value $130)

1 “WATERPROOF” 5mm Wetsuit (Value $450)

PLUS heaps more donated prizes up for grabs!

Tickets will be on sale on the day for $2 each or 3 for $5. You have to be in it to win it so make sure you come down to help out or even just to show your support the good old WA way!

* If you can’t make it but would like to donate or buy tickets for this great cause, call the store on 9455 4448 or visit Perth Scuba during the day on Sunday to purchase your tickets.

We look forward to catching up with you all tomorrow! And YES if it’s raining we’ll still be there! J

Diver Registration 8:45am

BBQ Lunch and wind up at 12 Noon

SEE YOU THERE!!!

Held annually, the 5th Underwater Festival™ 2011 (UF11) will be the biggest one yet. With the tagline ‘The Australasia Challenge’ it incorporated an Australasia-wide simultaneous photo and video shootout competition like no other with nearly U$150,000 in prizes.

UF11 will featured a shootout competition that happens simultaneous all over Australasia – 25 countries spanning both hemispheres – every dive you can imagine will be a shootout locality, every dive centre, liveaboard, resort in the area will facilitate this new kind of shootout. Many chose to dive their local favourite spots, go out with their dive club or shore dive with their buddy.

Many divers became part of this huge event and not unlike an underwater ‘Earth Hour’ helped to highlight the underwater beauty but also the underwater issues of this fantastic bioregion and help to show the world what we’ve got to lose.

We had 10 days to shoot – from the 2nd to the 11th of September 2011.

The Western Australian Underwater Photographic Society, proudly supported by Perth Scuba was one of dozens of Underwater Festival Fringe Events that were planned all over Australasia during the 10-day shootout period. During the festival Perth Scuba was home to WAUPS informative seminars, free underwater photography equipment trials, discounted PADI Digital Underwater Photography courses and of course plenty of diving. Don’t forget to submit your images to the Underwater Festival before 23:55 AEST this Sunday 18 September 2011 – remember to double check the rules before finalising your entries!!!

The top 100 images will be showcased at the new Australian Dive & Travel Expo ODEX in Brisbane on the second weekend in October 2011. A whole hall will be devoted to the Festival and seminars as well as the Underwater Festival Awards will be held during the 3 days of ODEX 2011. Good luck to all the Western Australian entries, we know you’ve had some pretty tough conditions.

Perth Scuba and the Western Australian Underwater Photography Society ran their own Western Australian competition. Everyone was free to enter the local competition with the same rules as the Underwater Festival, but with the added condition the photographs were taken in Western Australian waters. Only we could understand the very difficult conditions encountered in WA for the 10 days of the festival… Weather was perfect the week before and week after the festival – just not for the festival itself! That said, we received some amazing underwater images from our WA crew! Click here to see all the underwater photo entries we received all taken in Western Australia with the winners following.

Thank you once again to WAUPS (especially President Tammy Gibbs) for all the effort gone into organising 10 days of underwater photo & video FUN! Thank you to our inspiring speakers; Shannon Conway, Joseph Bicanic, Peter Nicholas, Patrick Baker, Ian Robertson and Daniel Messom. We appreciate the time donated and the information shared which helped every person who attended. You can still come into the Presentation Theatre at Perth Scuba to check out the WAUPS members underwater photographs – they look great! They’re all for sale so if you’re interested email waupsnews@gmail.com to contact the photographer for purchase.

We’re looking forward to next years Underwater Festival Photography Competition – BRING IT ON!

Aussie Fundraiser for Project Aware & the Springboard Foundation

written by Tommy & Allan

September 13
Today was another great day with the ride starting off from Ceduna and ending at Caiguna 870kl down the road. We left with a cool temperature of 9c and blue shy, it was to be our best weather day were temperature went up to 32c and when we arrived at Caiguna it was a fresh 22c and falling!

Entering and riding along the Nullarbor our second stop for fuel was the Nullarbor road house. Having just past the turn off to “Head of the Great Australian Bight” were the Southern Wright Wales nursed their young in shallow waters. After talking to the locals about the place we decided to head back. The directions were, 12kl back to the turn off, 12kl to the parking area and $12 entrance fee. With those instructions, who was going to get lost. This is a tourist attraction and one that has been done very well. When we arrived we could see an incredible blue sea, in the distance white beaches with huge sand dunes. The path down towards the viewing platform did not show us what an incredible sight awaited us. When we arrived on the platform we counted seven mother Wales plus their calves. The coast line was staggering as it was all cliffs and much of what you would see in the brochures, so to speak, absolutely breathtaking.

Leaving there we road and road and from one horizon to the next the land changed slightly taking us away from the coast and back to the coast where again we stopped and took in the awesome view or the great Australian bight, incredible spectacular. Towards the end of the day we rode down off the ridge along a desert less frontier with the wave of the Nullarbor to the right of us and the ocean to the left, eventually riding back up onto the Nullarbor and ending our days riding with the sun low in the sky, a certain tranquillity of peace and happiness as we arrived at Caiguna.

As the town of Caiguna is one of only 3% of Australia that does not have any internet, we are forced to leave this update to send tomorrow when we hope to have established communications again. I guess there is only one other thing to do in a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere, head for a cold Coopers Ale    

Photo: Glen Cowans

Be in the running to win up to $2000 for your marine life photos!

While we wait for the Government to read the 42,000 submissions sent their way recently in support of our South West marine sanctuaries, we’re running a quick photo competition celebrating our unique marine life.

Photos must capture the Western Australian marine environment and highlight one of the following; marine flora and fauna, underwater scenes, or human interactions with marine life.

Entries close next week on the 23rd September so we are looking for that great shot you’ve been dying to share with the world; it could be from a dive, snorkel or whale watching trip, or your kids finding something amazing in the rock pools or on the beach. It just has to be taken in WA and incorporate our unique marine life.

Your entry goes in the running to win a copy of our flagship publication “Protecting Western Australia’s Big Blue Backyard”, and also free printing and entry into the inaugural Western Australian Environmental Art Awards (WAEAA) where your photo will be on sale and can win you cash prizes up to $2000!

The top ten photos from the two categories (amateur and junior) will be displayed on the Save Our Marine Life (Australia) facebook page and the winners will be the photos with the most ‘likes’ at competition close. Additional winners will also be selected by leading WA underwater photographer Glen Cowans.

For more information and details on how to enter, head to saveourmarinelife.org.au/photocomp or contact Tara, cmc@ccwa.org.au or 9420 7266.

We look forward to seeing your photos!

• Download the entry form
• Download the terms and conditions

For our oceans,

Tara

Tara Jones
Save Our Marine Life
www.saveourmarinelife.org.au

Last weekend of shooting – 2 days to go! – Registration closes this SUNDAY night.

If you are not registered AND paid for your initial shootout credits by the end of the 11th, you will not be able to submit images. However if you have fully registered and purchased entry credits by the end of this Sunday (11th) you will be able to buy additional entries all the way until the end of the submission date which is Sunday the 18th.

The shooutout entry conditions and rules are online and we have added a QUICK version where you can understand the procedure of participating in 30 seconds!

http://underwaterfestival.org/rules-entry-conditions/

Most importantly – if you are signed up up or are still considering – set your cameras to 2017 NOW, so you don’t forget (date and time remains the same)

From last Friday the 2nd for 10 days, 100s of divers from around the world are going down to help to create the 1st Underwater Snapshot of Australasia.

You have 2 days left to capture underwater australasia wherever you are between the 2nd and the 11th of September – the $150,000 prize pool is to our knowledge the biggest ever for any underwater photo competition in the world.

If you haven’t bought your entry credits yet – NOW is a good time, check out the list of prizes

http://underwaterfestival.org/prizes-and-awards/  plus the Perth Scuba competition for all those shooting in Western Australia!

In addition to the very amazing prizes for best photos and videos we also have a huge set of Underwater Snapshot Participation Prizes that will be drawn amongst all entrants irrespective of their shootout entry submissions. This is to encourage wide participation in the Underwater Snapshot without the ‘I won’t enter because I’m not good enough’ fear.

Purchase you entry credits and T-Shirts at:

http://underwaterfestival.org/products/

Once you have your credits, you will see them appear in the ‘My Festival’ tab on the UF11 website. This is where you will upload your images to when the time comes. This will be active from 2 September to 18 September – images and video will have to be shot between the 2nd and the 11th of September

Hope to see your profile and registration soon and please let us know if anything in this process is not working, feels awkward, could be done better etc – your comments are very appreciated.

One week to go! - become part of it.

Most importantly – if you are signed up or are still considering – set your cameras to 2017 NOW, so you don’t forget (date and time remains the same)

From last Friday the 2nd for 10 days, 100s of divers from around the world are going down to help to create the 1st Underwater Snapshot of Australasia.

Perth Scuba and the Western Australian Underwater Photography Society have some fantastic events for the Underwater Festival Fringe Event.

You have 7 days left to capture underwater australasia wherever you are between the 2nd and the 11th of September – the $150,000 prize pool is to our knowledge the biggest ever for any underwater photo competition in the world.

If you haven’t bought your entry credits yet – NOW is a good time. Plus, Perth Scuba and WAUPS are having our very own Photography Competition to coincide with the Underwater Festival. There’s fantastic prizes donated by Allways Dive Expeditions, Scubapro Uwatec, PADI and Perth Scuba; including, 3 x $100 Travel Vouchers, Subgear Bonaire Regulator, PADI beach mat, drink bottles & a pair of Scubapro Seawing Nova fins! If you want to be a part of the competition all you need to do is send your entries to joey@perthscuba.com with the subject Underwater Festival Fringe Event Competition. Email us for full conditions of entry.

In addition to the very amazing prizes for best photos and videos we also have a huge set of Underwater Snapshot Participation Prizes that will be drawn amongst all entrants irrespective of their shootout entry submissions. This is to encourage wide participation in the Underwater Snapshot without the ‘I won’t enter because I’m not good enough’ fear.

The shooutout entry conditions and rules are now online and we have added a QUICK version where you can understand the procedure of participating in 30 seconds!

http://underwaterfestival.org/rules-entry-conditions/

Purchase you entry credits and T-Shirts at:

http://underwaterfestival.org/products/

Once you have your credits, you will see them appear in the ‘My Festival’ tab on the UF11 website. This is where you will upload your images to when the time comes. This will be active from 2 September to 18 September – images and video will have to be shot between the 2nd and the 11th of September

Hope to see your profile and registration soon and please let us know if anything in this process is not working, feels awkward, could be done better etc – your comments are very appreciated.

Perth Scuba and the Western Australian Underwater Photography Society last night launched the Underwater Festival Fringe Event!

Shooting has started! – become part of it.

It was a fantastic evening with Special Guest Underwater Photographer Shannon Conway showing us some inspiring images and giving us some great tips to take that winning shot! Tammy Gibbs, President of the Western Australian Underwater Photography Society (WAUPS) explained the rules and how to sign up, closing with Lee Johnson, Manager of Perth Scuba giving us a run down of the exciting speakers & specials we’ll be having over the course of the Underwater Festival. Plus there’s a fantastic array of underwater images shot by the members of the WAUPS in the Perth Scuba Presentation Theatre. The images will remain for the whole Underwater Festival so come on down and check them out!

Most importantly – if you are signed up or are still considering – set your cameras to 2017 NOW, so you don’t forget (date and time remains the same). From Friday the 2nd for 10 days, 100s of divers from around the world will submerge to help to create the 1st Underwater Snapshot of Australasia. 

You have 10 days to capture underwater australasia wherever you are between the 2nd and the 11th of September – the $150,000 prize pool is to our knowledge the biggest ever for any underwater photo competition in the world. If you haven’t bought your entry credits yet – NOW is a good time, check out the list of prizes http://underwaterfestival.org/prizes-and-awards/

In addition to the very amazing prizes for best photos and videos we also have a huge set of  Underwater Snapshot Participation Prizes  that will be drawn amongst all entrants irrespective of their shootout entry submissions. This is to encourage wide participation in the Underwater Snapshot without the ‘I won’t enter because I’m not good enough’ fear.

Plus Perth Scuba and the Western Australian Underwater Photography Society will be having our own competition with heaps of cool prizes, including; Subgear Bonaire Regulator, Scubapro Sea Wing Nova Fins, Scubapro Nova Dive Torch, Allways Dive Travel Vouchers, loads of PADI goodies, Scubapro T-Shirts, Enriched Air Nitrox Course plus Nitrox fill card AND an IST Sojourn BCD!!! We’d like to thank our Prize Sponsors for their kind donations: Allways Dive Expeditions, PADI and Scubapro Uwatec. How do you enter the Perth Scuba & WAUPS competition? Well, it’s FREE to enter, all you need do is send your entries to joey@perthscuba.com before Sunday 11th September 6pm. Your entries will be judged on the final night of the Underwater Festival at our closing event to be held at Perth Scuba’s Presentation Theatre Sunday 11 Sept 6pm.

For more information on the Perth Scuba and Western Australian Underwater Photography Society events being held click here.

The 2011 Underwater Festival is on NOW! 2nd to 11th September – $150,000 in prizes – shoot anywhere!

Registration closes 11 September – Register now at underwaterfestival.org!

100s of marine enthusiasts from across the world will descend beneath the surface of the waters of the whole of Australasia to help create an underwater snapshot of our amazing bioregion, and show the world what we have to lose.

The 5th Underwater Festival – The Australasian Challenge aims to create a movement which not unlike an ‘Underwater Earth Hour’ alerts the world not just about the issues, but also about the beauty of the underwater world around us.

25 countries spanning both hemispheres – every dive site you can imagine will be a shootout locality, every dive centre, liveaboard, dive resort in the area will facilitate this new kind of shootout. You can dive your local favourite spots, go out with your dive club or shore dive with your buddy – or travel and join in one of the many Underwater Festival Fringe Events that will be happening all over Australasia.

Supported and sponsored by many big brands in the in the dive and travel industry, nearly $150,000 in prizes can be won by participating in this unique event. Photos and video have to be captured between the 2nd and the 11th of September and uploaded to the Underwater Festival website by the 18th of September – there are 15 unique photography categories and 5 video categories. Judging happens online by an international panel of award winning underwater photographers and prizes will be announced at the inaugural Oceania Dive & Ecotourism Expo at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane from the 7th to the 9th of October where a whole hall will be dedicated to showcase the best entries of this massive event.

$25,000 in prizes will be drawn amongst all entrants, independent of their entry quality to encourage broad participation without the fear of ‘not being good enough’ to win.

So, where will YOU dive?

Join us at Perth Scuba on Friday 2nd September @ 7pm for the UNDERWATER FESTIVAL FRINGE EVENT LAUNCH 2011! Come and be inspired by our Guest Speaker; Shannon Conway plus Tammy Gibbs will explain how the competition works.

Wednesday the 24^th of August was the official release of our 2012 / 2013 Dive Travel calendar and Perth Scuba held a launch evening with drinks and nibblies for the 40+ people who attended. The night was to present all of the new trips coming up and for everyone to ask any questions they may have about the trips.

With another 8 new trips to showcase – there was something for everyone.

2012 / 13 trips include; Komodo, Galapagos, Wakatobi, Papua New Guinea, Borneo, Cave Diving in Mexico, Walking the Kokoda Trail and more.

“We’ve got something for everyone this time and the great thing about these trips… even non divers can go and have a great time too!” Lee announced. And it appeared that he might be right with the Komodo trip selling out within a few minutes of the presentation and 18 bookings made on the night. Popular trips were the old favourite Borneo, Komodo, Galapagos and PNG. The teckies are very excited about their own dedicated trip to dive the worlds’ best caves and caverns in Mexico too.

Thanks to everyone who came along on the evening and for those who showed their interest and couldn’t make it.

If you are interested in joining us on one of our upcoming trips, you can call into the store or email Lee for a travel brochure by Contacting Us.

There are 4 new potential Instructors waiting in the wings for next weekends PADI Instructor Examination.

Josh Phillips, Belinda Conklin, Joseph Bicanic & Pete Holland have just completed their Instructor Development Course with Perth Scuba’s new Course Director Garth Schumann.

The Instructor candidates had a fun and informative week of learning how to become one of the elite Perth Scuba Immortals.

Garth’s teaching style is very relaxed yet thorough and instantly the crew were at ease with the tasks ahead. We are looking forward to a great weekend next weekend and hopefully all going well – we’ll be there at the local pub to celebrate their new Instructor status on Sunday afternoon.

Good luck guys and well done to Garth on an excellent job in preparing them for their IE.

Our crew are the only 4 candidates for WA so we hope they all get through and they can share the workload of a busy upcoming dive season

If you are interested in becoming a PADI Pro and missed our Pro Night this week, please contact Lee at the store to arrange a one on one interview to discuss the options available. If you would like to speak to one of Perth Scuba’s Course Directors, please let us know and we’ll tee up a meeting with them too.

GO PRO! We need you!

Aussie Fundraiser

Two dive professionals are taking to the dusty track on two-wheelers all around Australia from August to October, 2011 for charity. Allan Nash and Tommy Soderstrom, both PADI Instructors and owners of El Galleon Dive Resort and Asia Divers in the Philippines, have hatched an action-packed fund-raising scheme supported by PADI, Project Aware and the Springboard Foundation.

This ride was designed to give Australian Dive Centres the opportunity to participate in a fundraising event to raise money for Project AWARE in a fight to stop Ocean Debris and to raise money for street children in the Philippines through the Springboard
Foundation.

The ride circumnavigating Australia on BMW 1200GS over 50 days – starting and ending in Sydney, will include up to eight stopovers and scuba dives, plus beach cleanups in each capital city (except Darwin) followed by a BBQ charity fundraiser. In each of these fundraisers, raffle tickets will be sold, bronze dollars donated for food and beverage, and prizes won from leading equipment manufacturers.

At every event the prizes will include at least one of all the following items:

• Leonardo Cresssi Dive computers
• W2 Waterproof Wetsuit  
• 5mm Waterproof wetsuits
• Tusa mask snorkel and fins set
• DAN set of books
• 1 week stay at El Galleon resort with unlimited diving with Nitrox worth A$1,100

Where you can get involved

The Perth Beach and Underwater Cleanup is re-scheduled for October 2nd, 2011

Venue: Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour, Mews Road

Time:  Starting at 9am with a BBQ to follow.

For details contact: Joey Pool at Perth Scuba

Email:  joey@perthscuba.com

Phone: (08) 9455 4448

Website: www.perthscuba.com 

Written by Joey Pool

Myself, Greg, Nathan, Jo & a heap of the Perth Scuba Crew headed down to the Rockingham Wreck Trail to gear up for a night dive. We’d heard rumours that the viz was looking exceedingly good for the trail and we wanted to check out if the whispers were true.

We met in the car park at 7pm on the dot… Well, most of us – Hi Jo! And then kitted up our gear, cameras (including Greg’s awesome Nauticam D90) and even prawn nets. Everyone was rugged up with as much neoprene as possible, and luckily I was in my Everdry drysuit, soooooooo warm! I got a few comments “wimp”, “lame”, and then others I can’t mention on a PG rated site But, I think I can take a bit of name calling knowing that my tootsies were going to keep their feeling on this dive!

After throwing on our gear we headed down to the water and – OMG! – as we waded in I could see the ripples on the sand bed under the water. Yippee! The guys were right, the water was clear! We waded out to the marker bouy that identifies the first wreck and dropped down quickly to check out what we could see. We were soon upon the first wreck and we could see so much. My torch picked up the colours of the soft corals and I could even make out the far end of the wreck (miraculous for the Wreck Trail!). The wreck was covered in decorator crabs, leather jackets and even a friendly box fish. After exploring this first wreck for the first 20 minutes we headed off down the ropes to the next.

Along the way I must of seen a dozen sea horses, all very friendly and not turning away from our red spot lights. Their little eyes are sensitive and if trying to take their portrait they’ll turn away from white light. When Greg and I used our Sola’s on their red LED setting the little guys & girls just stared straight at us. Brilliant for some great shots of the seahorses.

After playing with the seahorses and other curious critters we found along the way, including another fat friendly box fish, we reached the first of the planes. The plane was covered in lots of life. There was a sleepy Sargeant Baker hiding in the coral on top, a big Cobbler perched inside the plane, a little old wife milling about, and lots of bait fish skittering around at the edges of our torch light.

Greg made the signal that it was turn around time (gees, Greg you forgot to fill you cylinder???) and we headed back along the lines waving to all the seahorses along the way. When we reached the first wreck again there was a juvenile batfish milling around and Greg took good advantage of his wide angle lens and fired off a couple of shots.

We all re-grouped in the carpark and marvelled at the things we all saw. Those that had gone further than we photographers came across octopus, lionfish, and even Port Jackson sharks! All in all it was a great night and we’re looking forward to the next night dive. Fingers crossed the viz holds out!

Perth Scuba is looking for new Instructors and Dive Masters!

PADI GO PRO NIGHT TONIGHT Wednesday 17^th August 7.00pm

Ever wanted to dive and earn money doing it? Ever wanted to take your diving to the next level? Ever thought about a change in career or even an extended holiday around the world diving for a living?

Tonight is the night you can find out how to do it. Becoming a PADI dive professional is a rewarding and fun thing to do and it isn’t difficult to do! The PADI system of diver training with all of the available training aids, makes the PADI Dive Master course no more difficult than your open water course. But being a PADI Pro not only takes you to the elite level with your own dive training, but it gives you options… LOTS of options.

Find out how you can have a change of career or even a back up “part time” job with Perth Scuba. We are now the busiest dive centre in WA and we need you!

Tonight’s topics will cover:

How to become a Pro – What the Dive Master course is all about – “Can anyone do it?”

Taking it to the next level – From Dive Master to Instructor – “What happens on an Instructor course?” How long does it take and what does it cost?

But I’m only an Open water Diver… What do I do? And how long will it take?

(Even if you are only new into diving but would like the information on how to go further – this is all about you!)

There will be a bunch of specials for anyone wanting to sign up for their Padi Pro courses tonight and some cool gifts just for coming along!

Drinks and Nibblies provided – Hope to see you at 7.00pm. Can’t make it but still keen to jump into a PADI Diving Career? Contact us for a one-on-one appointment to discuss your career opportunities and training.

** Don’t forget next Wednesday Night (24^th of August) – We will be showcasing Perth Scuba’s next 2 years of travel. Learn about our trips to Borneo, Komodo, Galapagos, Walking the Kokoda Trail and diving in PNG and for the Tekkies – a trip to Mexico to dive in the caves and caverns in some of the best caves in the world! Maybe even an add on to Cancun while we are there!

Patrick Baker, Photographic and Video Services,
Department of Marine Archaeology, WA Maritime Museum

September 10, 2011 at 2:00pm

Presentation Theatre, Perth Scuba, Unit 4, 180 Bannister Road Canning Vale

With the growth of scuba diving after World War II, pioneer underwater photographers thought the underwater world was an ideal medium to be recorded and shared in 3-D.  Taking their inspiration from aerial map-makers, underwater archaeologists began to record their shipwreck sites in 3-D.

When Patrick Baker began his career over 40 years ago, stereoscopic photography seemed to him an obvious way of shipwreck recording.  His 3-D photographs continue to allow the viewer to experience a virtual revisit of wreck sites long after these sites were exposed to excavation and study.  The viewer can, today and into the future, “see” what the archaeological diver saw “yesterday”.

Patrick Baker will shares with us the underwater Batavia, HMS Pandora, HMAS Sydney, and other shipwrecks, all in fabulous 3-D.

This is an Underwater Festival 2011 special presentation by the WA Underwater Photographic Society and Perth Scuba.

written by Nat Correia, photos by Marc Van der Poel

It is rather fortunate I’m relatively fond of tradition, but after seeing the Y generations take on “what goes on tour, stays on tour” turn to “what goes on tour, goes on Facebook – and you will be tagged” and not only would it be very inappropriate, but wouldn’t make for a good read. It all started with a Deep Diver Course, a TDI Advanced Nitrox/ Deco Procedures Course, 2 Instructors, 9 Students, a DMT (Dive Master Trainee) and “Pam”.

Friday night set the mood for the whole trip. We all made it down to Albany, hoping & praying that the rain we were driving through was heading up to Perth, and wouldn’t be hanging around for the weekend. After some phone calls, the rendezvous was decided, and we all made it down there for some team bonding, a few rounds of pool, one or two alcoholic beverages, mingling with the locals, and Drew’s special (and might I add inffective (much to our disgust) cocktail for Ben. We called it quits early in the night, and after some helpful advice and directions from the local Albany police, made it home.

Saturday started off rather cool, but still sunny, and we headed out for our first dives on the HMAS Perth. It was a little choppy on the way out, but after a quick briefing jupmed in the water, for Dive 1. Water temperature was a refreshing 17 degrees, a lot warmer than the river at the moment, I was definitely glad to have my Probe neofleece rashy (the plug had to come in somewhere right..?). Dive 1 gave Drew and Alex some time to really explore how pressure affects objects, and how much gas you really can chew through trying to inflate objects at 30m, while Ben kept every one safe on his DM conducted program… there is even video footage… after our 1 hour surface interval saw most of us return to the water, and get to play with some pressure affected objects… Mainly a few different thicknesses of neoprene and an egg After returning to the jetty for a boat and baby swap, we headed back to our accommodation for some well needed rest and a few games of poker.

written by Drew: Perth Scuba student

We were loaded up and preparing to leave the Perth Scuba, looking skywards, we were all anxious about the possible eventualities of the forth coming weekend. Although the weather wasn’t in our favour we ended up having a weekend to remember!

After a slow and careful drive through the weather we were soon comfortably chilling in front of a blazing fire. A short discussion and we were out sampling the local beer at the White Star Brewery. Before long, a little worse for wear and some great dancing moves from Ben, we were all waking up at the break of dawn. Although tired, we were all keen to get wet.

Despite rough surface conditions both our dives were blessed with great viz. With an abundance of marine life and plenty of holes ot penetrate into, everyone had a successful time exploring the wreck. Except for my buddy and I who chose to spend our time on the deck attaching inflatable toys to the cannon (Editors Note: Where’s the photos Drew!). Our surface interval was a interrupted by whales breaching the surface only 200m from the boat!

During our Saturday night barbeque we were notified that the dive was cancelled for Sunday due to the forecast conditions. A local that Tom had become friendly with the night before informed us that the Potbelleez were playing in town later in the night. Once again we put our party hats on and headed out. A great show was put on by the Potbelleez, and an even better performance on the dance floor by Tom.

Despite Sunday’s dives being cancelled, and shenanigans with a new found friend named Pam who’s ego was somewhat inflated. We all had a great time and are looking forward to completing our training dives in Dunsborough in the coming week.

Held annually, the 5th Underwater Festival™ 2011 (UF11) will be the biggest one yet. With the tagline ‘The Australasia Challenge’ it will incorporate an Australasia-wide simultaneous photo and video shootout competition like no other with nearly U$150,000 in prizes.

UF11 will feature a shootout competition that happens simultaneous all over Australasia – 25 countries spanning both hemispheres – every dive you can imagine will be a shootout locality, every dive centre, liveaboard, resort in the area will facilitate this new kind of shootout. You can dive your local favourite spots, go out with your dive club or shore dive with your buddy

Become part of this huge event and not unlike an underwater ‘Earth Hour’ help to highlight the underwater beauty but also the underwater issues of this fantastic bioregion and help to show the world what we’ve got to lose.

Mark these days in your calendar – you have 10 days to shoot – from the 2nd to the 11th of September 2011.

The Western Australian Underwater Photographic Society, proudly supported by Perth Scuba will be one of dozens of Underwater Festival Fringe Events that are planned all over Australasia during the 10-day shootout period. During the festival Perth Scuba will be home to WAUPS informative seminars, free underwater photography equipment trials, discounted PADI Digital Underwater Photography courses and of course plenty of diving.

The top 100 images will be showcased at the new Australian Dive & Tavel Expo ODEX in Brisbane on the second weekend in October 2011. A whole hall will be devoted to the Festival and seminars as well as the Underwater Festival Awards will be held during the 3 days of ODEX 2011.

Want to be a part? All you need to do is Register for the Shootout and stay tuned to the Perth Scuba website for further details in the lead up to the Underwater Festival!

by Tim Nicol     Conservation Council of WA

The future of marine protection in Australia is at a cross roads, starting here in our South West.  The Federal Government’s plan for marine sanctuaries fails the whales and our marine life.

But there is still time to act.

The marine park plan is out for a three month public comment period ending on the 8^th August.  Every submission made will count towards turning the tide and ensuring the Government acts to save our marine life.

Please join Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Save Our Marine Life from 7.30pm to 9pm on Tuesday the 2^nd August at the Fly-By-Night club for a drink, and presentations on the whale and marine life hotspot of South West Australia, and how you can help save it.

Where:  Fly-By-Night Club, 1 Holdsworth Street, Fremantle

When: 7.15 for 7.30pm start, to 9pm, Tuesday 2^nd August

RSVP appreciated, email joey@perthscuba.com or call the Conservation Council of WA on 9420 7266.  Attendance is free, donations always appreciated!

We’d like to acknowledge the generous sponsorship of the Fremantle Herald Newspaper and the Fly-By-Night club.

PS. Don’t forget you can make a submission online at www.saveourmarinelife.org.au/map-out-our-marine-lifes-future OR www.seashepherd.org.au/marinesanctuaries

Please note, even if you have done a previous online action with Save Our Marine Life, it is still important to do this one as it will now be counted as an official submission on the draft marine parks plan.

Tim Nicol received this letter from 87 year old Martin Flynn and wanted you to see it.

Dear Tim,

I have lived my whole life by the sea and I want to tell you about the changes I’ve seen.

My name is Martin. I was born in 1924 and have lived in Bunbury, WA, since I was three. Growing up, my brothers and I would spend many a day swimming and fishing around town. We would pack our lunch in a sugar bag and cycle off for the day.

When I think back, I remember the sense of freedom and the certainty we all felt that wherever we chose to stop, a wonderful array of healthy fish would be swimming past. There were all types of fish: tailor, dhufish, snapper, amongst others, and they were all big, healthy fish.

We would also ride over to the Skeleton Bridge – where Koombana Bay meets the Leschenault Inlet – and as the water flowed under the bridge we would see large numbers of healthy, big fish swimming by.

Another favourite pastime was crabbing, and all we would need was the ability to scoop up the crabs as the estuary was teeming with them.

I am now 87 years old. I have always loved the ocean and would swim and walk the beach most days throughout my life until my ability to walk too far got the better of me.

I have watched with great sadness over the years the demise of the healthy stocks of fish I remember from the childhood, and feel hopeful that this idea for marine sanctuaries along the coast may be one way where we can restore the balance.

I have a great respect for the ocean and the estuaries, and I have some wonderful memories of swimming, fishing and crabbing here in Bunbury throughout my life.

It would make my day to know that the diversity of marine life that I remember from my childhood has a chance to restore itself through the implementation of marine sanctuaries.

Yours Sincerely,

Martin Flynn
Bunbury, WA

You can ensure future generations have the chance to enjoy our oceans and marine life as Martin has, but there’s less than three weeks to

Please and Martin’s story with your friends and family, to show them how important it is that marine life is protected in sanctuaries.

Best regards,

Tim Nicol
Save Our Marine Life
www.saveourmarinelife.org.au

PS – Have you had your say about the government’s sanctuaries plan? Don’t forget to, and please ask 3 friends to do it also.

TWO DIVE PROFESSIONALS TO MOTORBIKE AROUND AUSTRALIA FOR A GOOD CAUSE

The 50+-day journey will connect Allan Nash and Tommy Soderstrom with dive industry and divers around Australia in support of street children and marine conservation.

Puerto Gallera, Philippines. Two dive professionals and bike enthusiasts will ride all around Australia on two wheels starting from August 2011 to raise funds for charity. Allan Nash and Tommy Soderstrom, both PADI instructors and owners of Asia Divers and El Galleon Dive Resort in the Philippines, have hatched an action-packed fund-raising scheme supported by PADI, Project Aware and the Springboard Foundation.

Aussie Fundraiser is being organised to raise money for Project Aware and Springboard Foundation in a bid to stop marine environmental crises such as ocean debris and provide street children with renewed hope.

“For years we have been a supporter of the Springboard foundation that helps real people in need. Some of the homeless children have been abandoned from the age of two, others disabled, with no place to go, no hope, lost and lonely,” said Allan Nash.  “Such kids look for every opportunity in life and given half a chance will take whatever they can get, sometimes with devastating consequences. Springboard and its supporters gives them viable choices, helps them become respectable people,” he added.

The ride circumnavigating Australia on BMW 1200GS will start and end at Sydney, with stopovers at these cities for meaningful interaction with dive communities: Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Exmouth, Caines and Brisbane. On Sunday 9^th of October 2011, the duo will make a special appearance at ODEX in Brisbane by riding to the hall, giving a talk and conducting a raffles draw.

Perth Scuba will host the biker duo during the ‘Dive Day’ stopover in Perth on Sunday 18th September with a beach cleanup, leisure dives followed by a BBQ where a bronze dollar donation will be collected from all participants with F&B purchase. There will be attractive prizes to be won from top brands such as Waterproof, Cressi, DAN, and a week’s stay with unlimited dives at El Galleon Dive Resort and Asia Divers in the Philippines.

Well-wishers can donate a lump sum or a specific amount (e.g. five or ten cents) for each leg of the distance covered (see sector chart) if not the entire 14,000 km of the journey.

Aussie Fundraisers seeks the support of dive centres, dive equipment manufacturers and scuba divers by way of donations and sponsorships. Dive centers can pledge their support in exchange for logo acknowledgement starting with $50 while manufacturers can sponsor cash towards the cause and/or in kinds for prize giveaways during the BBQ raffles draw. Confirmed sponsors are PADI, Cressi Sub, Waterproof, Asia Divers and El Galleon Dive Resort.

“No money raised will go towards subsidizing the cost of this ride,” said Allan Nash.  “All money raised will be donated to Project Aware and Springboard Foundation. Both act for the betterment of people and the environment, so please help by showing your support.” The cost of the ride and logistics is estimated to be around $22,000, which will be borne entirely by Asia Divers and El Galleon.

The duo will blog their experiences on Aussie Fundraiser web (http://aussiefundraiser.org), Facebook page in addition to publicity support from PADI and Project Aware.

Notes

The Springboard Foundation supports street children. http://www.springboard-foundation.org/

Project Aware is PADI’s dedicated organization on education and action for the conservation of marine environment. http://www.projectaware.org/

El Galleon Dive Resort & Asia Divers are based in Puerto Galera, Philippines. Asia Divers is a PADI 5 Star Career Development Center (CDC) founded in 1987. http://www.asiadivers.com

by Lee Johnson

As I sit in Guam airport waiting for the arrival of our Continental airlines flight back to cairns, I can look back on this trip as one of the best I have been lucky enough to have been a tour leader for. The 16 other divers on this trip were fantastic…

As I sit in Guam airport waiting for the arrival of our Continental airlines flight back to cairns, I can look back on this trip as one of the best I have been lucky enough to have been a tour leader for. The 16 other divers on this trip were fantastic! Such a great mix of ages and personalities. We had our trip Jokers, thanks Ken “one fen” (kiwi accent) Hales and Stephen “technical announcement” Groen who kept the funnies flying the whole trip long. We had our “apprentice tour leader” Marc Van der Poel who did a great job and enjoyed every minute if the tough life we have to endure in our duties as tour leaders… True bro! – (for Ken)

Marc took on the task of running the dive profiles for our twin tank divers and assisted in the dive plans with the ‘tekkies’ – a great effort and no near misses.

Josh “I’m awesome” Phillips… You inspire us all… Anyone who can work so hard without results and still keep smiling (and trying) deserves a medal. Thanks for providing the excitement on the trip and for making me miss out on the shark dive by spilling a litre of blood in the rain Forrest of Eten Island and making us carry you out through the mud… Next time mate… Wear thongs will ya? Oh and btw… The steam roller was on its side and the anchor was on the deck… Which San Francisco Maru were you diving? Narcosis man!! Stacey and Erica – for the short few days we had with you both – you were a buzz of energy to all of us. Not sure exactly how many more questions could have been asked about those dive computers guys but if nothing else it kept up my sales teck knowledge on the Tec 2 G’s!!!!

I will really miss the deliberations and in-depth discussions about what might be a good lunch time selection and what might not… You guys are great value! I would love to have you both on every trip. Mike “that’s what you call a holiday” Doswell… Mate we are ALL green with envy that your trip continues on to Palau. You won the not so envious honour of being the first person i have ever ‘pantsed’ in Pool. Who would have thought??? Thanks Mike for introducing the coconut into everyone’s new found island diet. The groundsmen at the Blue Lagoon will be happy to see the back of you and Michelle. (who by the way will also

be remembered on the trip for hogging the Dive Master ‘Mackenzie’ – thought you had something to worry about for a second Mike but all was good when we found out she only wanted him for his dive leading abilities – just kidding Michelle – when you are onto a good thing, stick to it hey?!

Neil…. Mate I didn’t know a lot about you before the trip but it was great to get the chance to do talk and see you dive. You are a great buddy and I know our ‘tek god’ Marc is well impressed with your diving…. Now we just have to keep you from wondering back to the dark side – great to have you on the trip mate – I hope we can get you to join us again. Promise next time I’ll give you the double dose… Trish! Have to say it was also great to have your constant smile and party mode on this trip. You are inspirational and I am so glad you took the big dive to make sure you head back to Perth with us without regrets. Looking forward to Borneo 2012!!! You rock! John – mate I am so sorry that the sabotage did not end back in 1942 at Eten Island! Josh really put a quick ending to your planned trip of the island battleship – sorry for that mate. Great that you solved a long term mystery with the headaches and I hope from here on – your diving is much more enjoyable. You have inspired Joey and I to spread the word that you can’t hold everything you are taught in the early stages of diving as gospel and we need to tell the world, there IS flexibility. A new message that will be shared through future generations of Perth Scuba divers!

Thanks for the feedback and for being honest. Kyle… Scammer! How do you manage to get away with the stuff you do? As quiet as you were for the first few days of the trip – it was great to see you open up to the group. Your ‘Mopet’ WAS the slowest but I think you still managed to win the kick start champion award! You did leave the numberplate on that “goon rooter’ didn’t you? Sharrin and Greg, I would like to say it was a pleasure to have you both on this trip – even though as I write this you are packing your dive gear up to join Mike and Michelle on the next stage of your trip – onward to Palau!!! Not at all envious can you tell? You were both great to dive with and made the “A” team complete. You

guys are great fun to travel with and I really look forward to Borneo 2012 and Galapagos and beyond. Can’t wait to get to know you guys better!

Tiff!!! The youngest on the trip AND a dive trip virgin! Lots of memorable moments on this trip but I still think that the keys were the funniest thing on the trip! I mean seriously – the keys are meant to open the door from the outside – they don’t work when you leave them on the bed. Dufuss! Thanks a lot for supplying the towel that we used as a tourniquet that stopped the ‘bleeder’ from losing another of blood! I’m not sure how to claim that one on travel insurance.

And last but not least my very own Joey! Thanks babe for another great successful trip. You are the best… Anyone who can flood a camera twice in 2 dives and not lose it deserves a medal! Lessons learned and as they say – there are two types of people in the world… Those who have flooded a dive camera and those who are about to… Well I guess you covered that base well! Seriously though – I love travelling with you – the work going into the trips is so worth it!

A few milestones were met on this trip and I would like to acknowledge some… Congratulations to Stephen Groen – 100 dives and what a way to bring up 100!! On the deck of the San Francisco Maru! Way to go buddy! Thanks for NOT sticking with tradition on that dive mate – not sure how narcosis would have affected the vision if a ‘naturalist’ dive. Also to Erica for completion of her 50th dive in the same style as Stephen! Well done! Ummm you know what Stacey – I’m not sure if that makes her twice as good a diver as Stephen… See – a question I COULDN’T answer!!!

Sharrin Boothey. Bringing up your 200th dive on a night dive on the Fujikawa is the right way to do it! Let’s see if we can make it 250 at Barracuda Point – Sipadan!

Everyone who achieved their deepest dive on this trip. Congrats! And also for everyone that did decompression diving for the first time…. Well done. Most of all – thank you all for making this a safe and fun trip!!! Here’s to the Truk reunion tour in a couple of years!

Well gotta go – third and final boarding call. Looking forward to the plane briefing… ‘first we go to 25ooo meters – den – we go to 30ooo

meters – we look at da cargo in first hold – den 20ooo meters we look at da wings – da propellers and den we come up – we stay at deco and den we land when all ok. Dis is da flight profile – chuukese style!

See you all back in Perth!!!

Written by Glenn Storey

Our night dive south ari atoll night 3.

I remember when I was packing my bags in Australia, getting ready for my Maldives trip and I was thinking – “do i really need my dark buster or should I go with the smaller torch”. The dark buster weighs a tonne (excess baggage = $$$) but on the third night at the Maldives sitting in the dhoni boat, ready for a night dive, I was relieved I had brought it with me (even though my luggage was over the weight limits).

The night was pitch black, everybody was excited but nobody was speaking so that they could hear the young dive master. He was bent over the bow of the dhoni with his torch in hand, looking for the right spot, soon he was shouting at the skipper, “here we are”. Suddenly the boat was illuminated as all the dive lights, including my darkbuster, were turned on at the same time.

Everybody eagerly jumped into the inky water & down we went to a nice, shallow depth of about 10-15 metres. The visibility was excellent as we followed the coral ledge along. If you can imagine, the scene looked like the blitz in the London Second World War, only we were lighting the ocean up to look for marine life. There were sleeping turtles galore; metre long painted crays, running away from our lights; sea-snakes dancing in front of me; big groper fish bullying the little fish; large stingrays laying on the dark sandy edges; sharks hiding, just out of range of most lights trying to catch the fish we were illuminating with our torches.

I love night dives, and have done about 200 dives but I have to say that this 50 minute dive in the Maldives was by far the best night dive I have ever done.

by Steve Rudge

Everybody was up and about fairly early on the first morning, even thou we had all been up late sipping our coconut cocktails that we received as we arrived on board the MV Amphibiya the night before. We had not seen the Maldives during day light until now having arrived at 9.30pm, at an airport that sat on top of a tropical island of its own. There’s no standard taxi rank here, everyone has to get on  a boat to transfer to their location.

As I looked out from our new home it was just as you see in the postcards, beautiful tropical islands in every direction, the weather is 29c all day and night and the water is the same temperature as well. What a nice change from the cold winter back in Perth and I was sure looking forward to getting into the water without a 5mm and a hood. After a big tasty breakfast provided by the ever smiling  and laughing local chef who’s nickname was strangely “Boris” (the owners of the yacht are Russian?) we got ready for the first dive of our trip.

It was a beautiful tropical reef called “Banana Reef” that was only  a 5min boat ride from where the yacht was moored, right on our door step. After some morning tea we sat down to listen to our local divemaster “Arti’s” brief for dive 2 and with one word he definitely got everyone’s attention “MANTA’S”. This dive site was one of the many in the Maldives that had the name Manta Point as there are nearly two thousand islands here. The one we were diving on was close to Paradise Island in the North Male atoll and was only 15min from the yacht, after receiving some good advice from Arti about keeping low and as still as possible when the Manta’s arrive, we set off extremely excited. The dive site itself was only 15m deep and there was no current to speak of, the visibility was a crappy 30m and we only had to wait about five minutes before they turned up, yes, they!

One after another we had six huge manta rays circling around us,  Arti our divemaster had made sure that we were positioned  right amongst the cleaning stations, that the manta rays hover over to let all the little tropical fish nibble on their skin. For the next 30 mins we watched, photographed and video’ed these amazing fish that were so close you could almost reach out and touch them. I had one particular Manta that swam around me for nearly six minutes within a couple of meters, I just left the video recorder on the whole time as it felt like it new what was happening and wanted to be on YouTube.

We left the water with all the manta’s still there, excitedly talking about this wonderful experience when I noticed Arti ( our divemaster) looking  a little bit annoyed. He was, he was upset and disappointed by the small amount of manta’s that showed up??, apparently when he dived this site the week before there were over 60 hovering around. Can you imagine diving with 60 manta’s, we all thought how fortunate we were to dive with six, who knows, maybe we will be lucky enough to experience many more than six next time? By the way that’s in September when the water here is still 16C.

To join Steve on his trip to the Maldives departing 30th August 2011 contact info@perthscuba.com or call 9455 4448.

ATTENTION DIVE MASTERS AND ASSISTANT INSTRUCTORS!

Perth Scuba are looking for new PADI Instructors for the 2011 / 2012 Summer season.

If you are a PADI Pro (Dive Master or Assistant Instructor), we need you! Our next Instructor Development Course (IDC) commences on the 11^th of August. Our Course Director Garth Schumann is a very experienced trainer and is ready to take your diving to the next level.

The PADI Instructor level certification is a much sought after level with employment opportunities all over the world. For those of you who work full time – it’s a great way to get an extra income while you do what you love the most… Diving!

If you would like to join Garth and the Perth Scuba crew on our next IDC – simply call the store on 9455 4448 and speak to Lee who will send you out the PADI PRO IDC Crew Pack which will answer all of your questions. Don’t miss out as we WILL be employing the successful candidates from this intake of new Instructors.

On top of the IDC – Garth will be teaching the Emergency First Response Instructor course for all Dive Masters and Assistant Instructors who would like to be able to independently teach EFR Courses. Garth is a registered RTO too so you can even discuss the options of the Workplace Accredited First Aid course training so you can teach your work mates!

• IDC Dates – 11^th August – 17^th of August
• EFR Instructor Course – 18^th  / 19^th  August
• Master Scuba Diver Trainer Preparation Course – 22^nd – 24^th August
• PADI Instructor Exam 26^th – 28^th August

Here is a chance to earn your Perth Scuba stripes and become one of the elite team at Perth Scuba – Australias’ largest dive store!

by Glenn Storey – Maldives Tour Leader

It was our first day on our luxury, live aboard yacht Amphibiya. I was lying on my double bed bunk, wishing I had never eaten so much at lunch (yum yum) and checking my photos on my laptop from the two previous dives we had done earlier in the day (which were fantastic, manta rays galore!!!). I will tell you about those dives in next week’s newsletter.

As I laid there I heard one of my fellow divers saying aloud as he walked past my cabin, “ding ding, round three”. I quickly hurried up to the middle deck to hear the dive brief, wondering what on earth could match the last two dives. I was thinking a nice, relaxing, low adrenalin dive to finish the day off would be fine; WRONG! As I quickly found out, from Arti our Maldivian dive master, our last dive for the day was going to be a wreck & pinnacle dive!

For some silly reason I never thought of the Maldives as having any wreck dives. In fact there are a number of wrecks. This particular one was known as The Kudu Geri Wreck, located at South Male’ atoll, about 1.5 km from Dhigufinolhu. According to Arti, the wreck is a “small” 25-30 metre long fishing trawler that was scuttled 10 years ago. The fishing trawler was sunk to form an artificial reef, which has proven to be a success. It is now covered by stony, stag horn and table corals, and colourful red, orange and yellow sponges that live amongst the coral.

The Kuda Giri wreck sits upright on the sea floor, and can be explored from its bow at 18 metres (which points towards the giri, or pinnacle) all the way down to its stern at 31 metres.

After the dive brief we quickly got ready & hopped into our dhoni (small boat) which holds approx 32 people. Fifteen minutes later and we were at the site, the time was approx thirty minutes before sunset, which set an eerie mood & made for a very interesting dive. We followed the pinnacle down & swam around the reef & then suddenly there she was – The Kuda Giri. I remember looking up at the bow of the wreck, and using a wide angle lens with no flash, I took a photo of the Kuda looking back down on me with it’s blue eyes (I’m sure it winked at me)

Just then I heard my dive buddies’ mumbled shouts for me to hurry up. I followed him through the cargo hold all the way down to the bottom of the hull, we swam under a bulkhead & discovered something which I have never seen or heard of in Australia – at 25 metres deep – a huge air pocket! I knew being toxic air that you shouldn’t breathe it, but there is nothing stopping you from taking a picture and shouting through your reg at your dive buddy something like I did, “mind your boof head Rudgee!”. J After our brief, muffled discussion in the air pocket we made our way slowly through all the corridors to the stern. Just as we were exiting through the machine room I thought I saw one of the walls moving, when in actual fact it was a huge Hump Head Wrasse or Napoleon Wrasse at about 2.5 metres long! The wreck & the machine room in particular obviously had become a very cosy home for the Wrasse, even though it had to swim through the narrow doorways sideways!

After our surprise meeting with the Wrasse I stopped to catch my breath & slow my heart rate, then we slowly made our way back up to the reef/pinnacle. At our safety stop which was directly above the reef, we were by now nearly in total darkness and were using our dive lights to watch all the marine life trying to find a place to hide for the night.

Back at the Amphibiya, dinner was waiting, and after beers were drunk the story of the encounter with the Napoleon Wrasse got bigger & bigger. If only I was fast enough to take a picture to prove it, I swear that fish was over 200kg in size!  

AND this was only our first day!

For more information on our exciting Maldives Holiday click here!

by Steve Rudge – Maldives Tour Leader

On the 4^th day of the Maldives Trip we all woke to a beautiful morning as usual sailing up and down the West side of the North Ari atoll. This was the day we had all been waiting for as it was the day we were going to dive with the whale sharks. Arti our Maldivian Divemaster assured us all that at some time between 1pm and 3pm everyday, a Whale shark would show up. So we filled the rest of the day with 2 other dives between breakfast and lunch and laying on the sun lounges watching the beautiful islands of the Maldives drift by. At around 2.30pm excitement saturated our yacht as word came out that a whale shark has been spotted not far from our location. We all hastily got into our snorkeling gear and grabbed our cameras as our yacht made its way over to the whale sharks position. As we neared the spot the Whale shark started to dive, so our expert local Divemaster  Arti quickly told us to get into our Scuba Gear! I have never seen a group of divers get into their gear and do their buddy checks so fast, if only my students  could do that haha. Our yacht quickly made its way about 1km in front of the Whale sharks last known location and we all made a quick entry into the water and on to the pristine coral reef that surrounded one of the many beautiful tropical islands in the area. We spent the first ten minutes filming and photographing this wonderful reef and marine life when  I heard an array of underwater audible alarms going off as well as muffled shouts into regulators. I was sitting at around 15m when i looked up, about 5m right above me, majestically making its way along the wall was a baby 8m whale shark. What a awesome sight and for a moment I forgot I had a video camera in my hands that wasn’t recording. I quickly  hit the record button and moved up and behind this wonderful creature, after following it for several minutes it started to dive and I had a quick decision to make. Do I wave bye bye or go after it? Confidently knowing that I had the best fins  and reg in the business on my feet and in my mouth (Novas and A700) there was only ever one answer. As I yelled at the back of the shark “Not today” I propelled myself into action. For what appears to be a slow moving creature they sure motor along but I eventually managed to get alongside and start filming. When my computer started beaming 35m at me i knew that one of the best diving experiences of my life would have to come to an end, this time that is. Because I knew I was coming back to once again dive with the whale sharks of the Maldives. Will I see the baby Whale shark again next time only a little bit bigger or would mum or dad turn up. Why don’t you come along with me and we can all find out! 

For more information on our exciting Maldives Holiday click here!

Prize Details

Do you love the underwater world? Would you like to see it better protected?

Put your conservation into action and you could be the $5,000 USD grand prize winner, plus PADI will donate an additional $5,000 USD on your behalf to Project AWARE Foundation.

Simply grab your video camera and upload a short clip about what sea life you love and what you’re doing to make a difference. Every little action counts. By sharing what you’re doing, you may inspire others to take action. Be part of the change and help ignite a viral conservation effort. Submit a video. Vote on your favorite videos and send to your friends.

Contest Instructions

Yes, cash is nice and the public will vote for a grand prize winner. But, every video submitted spurs people to help our beloved aquatic life. That’s why you are permitted to upload as many video entries as you want. A beautiful ocean for generations to come is WAY better than cash, right? So, take a few minutes to submit a quick video—it doesn’t have to be a polished, professional looking clip. You’ll feel better knowing you did your part to help. Plus, you might see your video featured on the PADI blog at www.padi.com/blog where interesting conservation messages are shared often.

Contest Ends

December 15, 2011 @ 11:59 pm (PST)

Need more Details?

Read the Official Rules

by Lindsay Phillips

After a scrumptious  BBQ breakfast of bacon and eggs at Perth Scuba, we headed down to the grain terminal at Kwinana. When we arrived  there was a small swell and the wind was starting to pick up. After completing our  safety checks with our buddies when all headed in water. Belinda, John,  myself  were dreading going in the  water (Spoiled diving in Palau ) but to our surprise  it was not cold and it was enjoying . The visibility was great around 8meters, plenty of marine life was seen including some big sea horses.  After about 45 minutes we started heading back to shore, the closer we got to shore the bigger the swell got. On surfacing the  wind had picked up, and the waves were around a metre ,that was when the  fun started. There was a couple of ladies who tried walking out with their fins on, and  were washed over buy the waves .They were laughing that much could not get up, thanks to Belinda who came to their rescue, help them up and also having a good laugh. Everybody had a great diver, and 6 divers had not dive there before really enjoyed it.

It’s been a month or two since I last wrote an article for the newsletter so I though I’d better keep everyone updated in the Perth Scuba goings on…

ANDY GODDARD

For those of you who have been asking – Andy is going well in his new job as a Police officer. His training has been intense but he is now able to eat 9 sugar coated donuts in one sitting… Just one more to go Andy and you will be up for a promotion for sure! Seriously though – He is going well after a few pretty tough weeks of studying Law and doing the physical training and he seems to be enjoying his new challenge, good luck with that Andy.

PROMOTION

Perth Scuba Instructor Jodie “Happy Birthday” Bond has just been awarded her Master Instructor status with PADI. This is a very big achievement and one which she really deserves. Jodie is a great instructor with great ideas and teaching skills. For anyone who has had Jodie as an instructor – I am sure you will agree with me when I say she is one of the best. Congrats Jodie!

CONGRATULATIONS!

A huge Congratulations to our new PADI Professionals who have been certified as Dive Masters in the last few weeks. You guys are going great guns and I look forward to seeing you work with our students and hopefully to see some of you take your diving to the next level – Instructor.

DIVE TRAVEL

Joey has been working hard on our new dive trip roster for upcoming international dive trips and there are some awesome trips coming up. We will be holding another dive trip info night once we have the final confirmations and have booked in the accommodation and dive operators. I can tell you though that we are heading back to Borneo, doing a live aboard in Komodo and a cool little spot in South East Sulawesi called Wakatobi.

Our Galapagos trip is now just about full – with only 2 places left and the Maldives is still open for another 2 weeks. Glenn and Steve Rudge are looking forward to taking a group of Perth Scuba crew for that one.

We head to Truk Lagoon in July with 16 wreck divers to check out the awesome wrecks and some of the group are even going on to dive Palau straight after… what a trip!

DIVE COURSES

This month we commence our new mid week full time courses. For the fly in – fly outers or those who work in the hospitality industry and just can’t get nights and weekends off – We now have the course for you. The Mid week Full Time courses run from Tuesday to Thursday inclusive. These course have been well received and hopefully – we will be able to add Advanced and Rescue courses into the same format in the near future.

TEK TALK

Cavern Courses, Cave Diving Courses and Deep courses are all on the agenda at the moment. Marc Van der Poel is busy working on the new rebreather courses too. We hope to be releasing some pretty cool information soon on an exclusive Perth Scuba product which will have all the heads turning. If you are interested in a rebreather that does it all – and is fully computerized to give you the ultimate control and monitoring ability at a price way below it’s competitors, then look no further… All will be revealed soon!

Marc Van der Poel is the only active Instructor Trainer in WA in the TDI Tek diving training institute and he is able to take Technical Divers through to the Instructor level in Tek Diving – Why wouldn’t you want to get involved? Speak to Marc now about a career in teaching Tek.

GUE FUNDAMENTALS COURSE – AUGUST 5^th

Bookings are now available for the most talked about and most respected Tec course in the world! The GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) “fundamentals” course is a focus on you as a diver. Your buoyancy is paramount in all types of diving but none more than cave, cavern and wreck diving. The GUE Fundamentals course will have you trimming and controlling your buoyancy like you never thought you could. This must do course is normally not run in WA but we are bringing Liam Allen over from the east coast to run this course for us. The course is strictly limited to 4 participants and costs $995.

F you are interested in becoming a master of your own buoyancy – whether a technical diver or not, give us a call at the store and put down a deposit – this course will fill FAST!

DRY SUIT TRY DIVES  JUNE 5^th

On Sunday the 5^th of June Perth Scuba will be conducting a FREE Dry suit try dive day!

We will have a bunch of dry suits to try out for those of you who are already starting to feel the cold. Diving dry is a fantastic way to go and it doesn’t need to be expensive either. We will have some great specials on the day and Joey and I will be on hand to help you get into and out of your dry suits. Make sure you let us know in advance at the shop so we make sure we have your size J

For those of you who have never done a dry suit dive – the experience is great! And the best part… It’s free to try!!!

OCEAN’S MOVIE TICKET COMPETITION

Congratulations to our Perth Scuba “Oceans” Movie Competition Winners. These people have won a double pass to the awesome new movie which opens at all Paradiso Movie Theatres on the 26^th of May.

WINNERS: Becky Giles, Ben Lowther, Robert Mabbott, John Sharp, Jo Powell, Michelle Richardson, Jason Ng, Mark Bench, Kristen Lee and Jamie Whyte.

For more details, a movie preview and showing times click on the link below.

Locator / Session Times;  http://www.yourmovies.com.au/profile/?state=WA

Trailer; http://www.yourmovies.com.au/video/?uuid=833B7E70-6686-4AA7-94AB-0CA9124540E3

Well that’s all from me for now – Congratulations to the winners of the Oceans competition – Well done guys and girls!

See you in the water soon!!!

You can make a difference…

Blue Army Update

We are now into our campaign to show the government reason to increase the amount of ocean areas earmarked for marine reserve “sanctuaries” in WA and Australia.

With the Big Blue Army now heading towards 40,000 supporters, the message is strong to the Government that the people care and are the ones who are now raising their hands and being counted.

On May the 5^th the Government delivered some bitter sweet announcements which leaves us in a much better position than previous, on marine reserves, but still leaves us plenty of work to gain more ground. With still nearly 3 months to go – we believe we can make the difference and peg back more of the areas committed to commercial sectors or being left of the protection register.

Here is a very brief outline of the points from the announcement:

• The iconic hotspots we know and love on the West Coast – the Abrolhos Islands, Rottnest Shelf, Perth Canyon and Geographe Bay – remain completely unprotected. 
• All of these areas have substantial marine parks where commercial fishing has been somewhat restricted – but no marine sanctuaries. 
• As expected the Government has done a better job in the deep waters off the South West Corner. Here they are proposing what the Government claims will be the world’s third largest marine sanctuary.

(This is something we can be proud of and to give us hope that we can raise the bar in other near shore areas that have been left unprotected).

 This will protect deep ocean environments like the Diamantina Fracture Zone and parts of the Naturaliste Plateau, with a couple of sanctuaries nearer to shore off from Margaret River and the South Coast.

• Further East, there are new sanctuaries at the Abrohlos and further into South although these areas are yet to be advised.
•  The oil and gas industry has unfortunately had a big win.  The Margaret River oil lease (Mentelle Basin) and Perth Canyon are still open for business, leaving important marine life habitat and our beautiful beaches at risk of oil spills.

Tim Nicol of the Conservation Council of WA who is doing a fantastic job leading and supporting the Marine Conservation Group “The Big Blue Army” said, “I spoke to the (environmental) Minister after the briefing and I am positive that if we get the message to him that a mosaic of sanctuaries are required in these unprotected West Coast marine parks – then we will be able to get a better result.  This is a sensible and balanced way forward, just look at the success of Ningaloo Marine Park for conservation, tourism and fishing with one third of the park in sanctuaries – and compare with these unprotected parks.”

If you would like to join the Big Blue Army and support this campaign – we only have 3 months to make changes which will last well into the next decades. You can do so by clicking here… Every supporter makes a difference.

If you would like more information on the proposals and see for yourself the Marine Bioregional Plan – Click here to download your own copy of the brochure  (It is a safe download)

We need your help to protect what we all love so much. You can help by supporting us and telling people who are less likely to understand what we see every day. That our oceans and reefs are suffering an immense amount of pressure from both recreational and commercial activities and we need to give them a chance to re populate and re grow. Perth Scuba are expecting our stickers and information flyers to arrive in store next week. Please call by the store and grab your car bumper sticker and show that you care.

by Lee Johnson

Since opening Perth Scuba, we have put a lot of emphasis into the dive travel side of things. The main reason – because can you think of anything better than drifting around the ocean in 30 degree water when it’s been raining non stop for weeks in Perth in the middle of Winter? I certainly can’t. For those of you who haven’t been around the Perth Scuba traps for long, I can tell you we have had some fantastic trips. We have been to just about everywhere you could want to go and if we havent been there yet, trust me – it’s on the calendar!

2011 has a busy dive trip timetable with Palau, Solomon Islands, Truk Lagoon and Maldives. Not to mention a couple of school groups heading over to Vanuatu for a fantastic dive trip. Gees when I was at school we went to Peters Ice cream factory…

Working in our industry you sure hear about a lot of cool places and you do get to go to some of them. My list of “must do’s” is long and financially exhaustive but like they say – you can’t take it with you. I have been lucky enough to have seen the wrecks of World War II in The Pacific Ocean in Truk Lagoon, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. I plan to take a Perth Scuba crew to Bikini Atoll which is where the Aircraft Carrier US Saratoga lies in 60m and is undived since 2007. (Very hard to get to). I have seen some amazing things, I have dived walls that go to over a kilometre deep,  drifted at 8 knots around an island with barely enough time to take a photo. I’ve seen sharks by the hundreds and I’ve even dived with Great Whites… 3 times! I have dived on reef that has been untouched and have been lucky enough to have been there when a new airplane wreck was found with the cockpit still in tact and the pilot’s parachute still tangled around the tail. But there is still so much to do and see and I would love for you to be a part of that. Palau this week – is a first time for me. I have wanted to go but only this year came the opportunity to do so. The best part… I get to do it with 23 other Perth Scuba customers! The only thing better than having a great diving experience in a new diving destination, is doing it with great people who can share the moment.  I guess this is why I enjoy my job so much. Tour leading is fun – but it is hard work – honest!

If you have been on one of our trips to date, you will know that you start the trip with unknown people and lots of expectations from stories you have heard before. By the time the trip ends you have made friends and dive buddies for life. I have made so many great friends through diving and the best friendships have been forged on these trips.

If you have thought about coming along but feel like you may not fit in, please give it a try. Our trips usually have around 20 – 30 people on them and there are people from all ages and all areas of the globe. We sometimes have people join us from other states, we often have repeat dive trippers as you will notice if you check out the backs of the trip shirts! We give a star next to everyone’s name who has been on a Perth Scuba trip before. Some of the trippers have as many as 7 stars now! That’s dedication! Whatever the case though – you are sure to meet some great people and share unforgettable experiences with them.

It’s never too late to join one of our great trips either – well maybe for Palau since we fly in less than 18 hours – but you can join any trip any time, just come into the store and have a chat to us to find out where is the best place to find what you are looking for. If you dive but your partner doesn’t – we have destinations perfect for you. If we can’t get them diving before we go that is . If you want a getaway that’s not all about diving, then we have the destinations for you. If you only want to dive day and night – “John Sharp” style – Then there too are destinations ideal for that too. We have regular dive trip information nights where you can find out about a specific trip you may be interested in joining us on or if you don’t know where you want to go and want some ideas, these are the nights to come along to. We will be holding our 2011/12 Showcase night soon – We’ll let you know when! but to give you a bit of a preview to 2012. In October we are heading to the amazingly unknown destination of WAKATOBI in South Sulawesi (north of Bali). You will fall in love with this place before you even see the diving and then… This is a trip like nothing we have done before and is limited to only 10 places. The trip is a 10 day – 5 day Live aboard and 5 day on land trip. You will be awestruck by this trip. Then of course there is our Galapagos trip in August and Bali in June and Borneo in April. The Galapagos Islands trip is one I have been planning to do since I started diving and sits up there with Antarctica in must do’s before I hang up my fins. To dive with 3000+ Schooling Hammer Head sharks, Mantas, Whale Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, White Tip and Black Tip Reef Sharks, Mobula, Eagle Rays, Massive Tuna, Barracuda, Dolphins, Turtles and so much more will be mind blowing and it’s not a case of – might see – it’s a case of WILL see. Then there is the on land component! A massively divers nature trip which will take you back in time. Nowhere else in the world is there a place like the Galapagos Islands. Borneo – always a favourite with the Perth Scuba crew – where else can you go and have 36 boat dives + Unlimited shore dives, accommodation and meals for around $3000? and where are we diving? SIPADAN!!! The 8th wonder of the world! Just ask anyone who’s been before – they’ll tell you they are going again! And of course an old favourite – Bali. Gary Brennand is leading this trip to a place he’s very familiar with. Its his second home and a great diving and shopping and partying and… destination! Not too hard on the budget either! Occasionally we throw out some cool deals too – Like our trip to the Maldives – We’ve decided that if we fill the trip (16 people), that – on the last night of the trip – we will draw out a name out of all the trippers and the winner will have their trip refunded in full!!! That’s a one in 14 chance of a free trip to the Maldives!! (Tour leaders can’t enter) Those are the best odds you are ever likely to get for a trip like the Maldives! Bring your partner and you have a 1 in 7 chance of winning your trip for free!!!! It’s just something we like to do to show that we really appreciate your support. Don’t forget also – everyone who goes on a Perth Scuba trip gets a custom designed and made Polo shirt with the Perth Scuba dive crew on the trip printed on the back – the more trips you do – the more stars you get. See if you can collect 10 stars and see what happens then!!! We have a few people close now.

One last thing about Dive Travel. We don’t only do group trips… If you would like to go anywhere any time with your partner, friends or just a trip to get away from it all, we can set you on your way for a great price – try us out – Because we do so much travel, our dive trip suppliers give us the best possible prices. And the best part… They all dive too so they know where they are sending you.

So next time you think dive travel or even just travel in general, think Perth Scuba – Your Dive Destination Experts! We do it because we love it!

Beach & Underwater Cleanup at Point Walter

Thank you to all the wonderful Perth Scuba divers, snorkelers and shore support who joined us at Point Walter on Sunday 17th April for our Dive for Earth Day Underwater & Beach Cleanup. It was a great morning where the rain held off and the sun actually made an appearance – so much for believing the weather report! Nearly 50 volunteers either jumped in the water to bring up rubbish, or cleaned up the foreshore & helped cart it to the bins. The majority of rubbish found in the morning was carelessly discarded aluminium cans and glass bottles, but never fear our crew brought them up, emptied them of any “locals” and then but them in the bin! Good work guys and girls!

A couple of special mentions for the day:

• Stewart & Jake – For bringing up the most rubbish including a giant concrete block from the base of a temporary fence. How it got in the river one can only begin to imagine!
• John & Howard – For bringing up a huge pile of rubbish including a paddle. There must be a canoer on the river who had a hard time getting home…
• Dawn & Craig – For all the effort they put in dragging rubbish from the jetty all the way to the foreshore & separating it into the bins (although, Craig does a great impression of a council worker!)
• Monique – For doing a great job at cleaning up the beach and foreshore area.
• Siobhan – For staking out our claim at the BBQ area and cooking up a feed for all the hard working volunteers.
• Jodie & Lindsay – For directing all the divers & shore support and making it run smoothly.

But don’t forget, it was a team effort and every single one of our volunteers did a fantastic job of cleaning up the Point Walter Reserve, both above and below the water. THANK YOU ALL!!!

A little about Dive for Earth Day: During the week of April 22^nd, scuba divers worldwide give the ocean a voice with Project AWARE Dive For Earth Day events around the globe. Perth Scuba showed our appreciation for our ocean planet with our Cleanup of Point Walter Reserve, Bicton on Sunday 17^th April. Since 1999, the Project AWARE Foundation and AWARE divers worldwide have put ocean protection on April’s Earth Day agenda with global Dive For Earth Day events to make sure underwater conservation is not overlooked.

Dive for Earth Day is an extraordinary opportunity to take action and help address the underwater issues that concern you most. Perth Scuba’s divers, snorkelers, their families and friends all helped make a difference by volunteering their time to our Underwater & Beach Cleanup.

80 percent of the world’s biodiversity lives in the sea. Most people appreciate the beauty of the underwater world, but awareness of aquatic biodiversity, how seriously it is threatened, and the implications for human well being, is alarmingly low. “As work towards solutions grows, divers are becoming uniquely positioned and critical voices to affect change. No other group has the complete view of the issues affecting our ocean planet, as well as the motivation, skills and training to do something about it” comments Jenny Miller Garmendia, Project AWARE Foundation Director.

Project AWARE Foundation is a nonprofit organisation working with divers to conserve underwater environments through education, advocacy and action. If you missed our Dive for Earth Day event, click here for photos from Sunday and a list of the wonderful people that helped on the day.

Joey & Lee sit this one out….

Written by Greg Thomms (Dive Master Trainee & Underwater Photographer)

After a rainy night, the first thing I did as I arose from my wonderful slumber was to check the weather – ‘Seabreeze’, a diver’s friend; even though it was originally designed for those intrepid wind surfer dudes.

Well, the tell tales were evident in my back yard, ‘builders plastic everywhere’. Gusty N/NE winds, with sea state 2-3 and 1-2m swell. All in all not that bad, but there would be limited spots to go diving.

Never deterred, I headed to Perth Scuba for my breakfast; cooked by me? *Scratching my head*- I didn’t plan that too well. Thankfully, I had some help from a trusted dive buddy, Nathan, who offered to watch the sizzling sausages whilst I ducked into the shop and arrange my air fill. Well, Nathan may be a great dive buddy with awesome buoyancy control, but he can’t cook on a BBQ to save his life. Flames and smoke everywhere; we decided the best thing to do was to move the BBQ away from the melting Perth Scuba signage before someone called the fire brigade. Alas there were a couple of melted snags left over – Hungry anyone?

After another look at Seabreeze, Lee made the call. The dive site would be Point Peron. On the way to the dive site we drove down past the Rockingham Wreck Trail (RWT) investigating possible alternative sites. Very messy!!

But have no fear, Lee (Illustrious Weather Man) had chosen well again. Point Peron was a ‘Mill Pond’, protected from the off–shore N/NE winds.  Time to gear up and get wet! All divers were keen, except Joey and Lee… some girlie excuse about diving Palau… SOFT!

There were a number of divers that had not dived Point Peron before so in assistance to our trainee Dive Master Sonya, I provided a quick dive brief as we entered the water.

I called out, “Do you see that big limestone out crop?”

“Take a reciprocal bearing off that and swim to it. That is where you will find great swim throughs.” I said, pointing and fumbling as I put my fins on.

So off we went, dragging the obligatory dive flag with us. It was then that I noticed the ‘Dolphin Boat’. I believe my famous last words before descending were, “you might even see dolphins today.” As a few of us made a shallow descent and started our dive navigation to the rock, I heard the squeaks and chirps from distant dolphins… ‘I am a SONAR specialist after all, and apparently I get paid for my hearing (Navy doesn’t know I’m Deaf)’.

All excited I prepared my “Serious Image Collecting Underwater Battleship”- my NAUTICAM housed Nikon D90, for the possible collection of Dolphin Pic’s. I set the  ISO  to 200, aperture at 5 and shutter speed to 120… Test shots – yes good water colour and the strobe is working well. Now all I have to do is aim and shoot.

After navigating to the limestone reefs, we proceeded to look for ‘swim-throughs’ and explore the area for unusual creatures of the deep… still no flipper!! It was then that I felt unusual tugging on my fins… perhaps flipper was here to play… alas not, it was just ‘Diver Tim’ with his cylinder in the new side mount position… Oh no!!  I don’t think it is meant to be like that!! Slinging the “Serious Image Collecting Underwater Battleship” (SICUB) over my shoulder, I rushed off to the rescue. With great support by cool dive buddies, Pottsy, Terry and Cherry, we managed to subdue Tim and drag him to the sandy bottom where we could replace and strap his Tank!! Here is the Photo showing the great rescue team in action:

Phew, after that it was time to get back to the business of exploring the great depths of Point Peron (5.8m Abyss). STILL NO FLIPPER!! Luckily the visibility was good and there were all these cool divers to take photos of. Hmmmm, no marine life hanging around… obviously they were scared off by the dolphins. We found some cool swim throughs and even some crays on ledges… wonder if the great cray hunters on the day found any? There was one that I know of!

It has turned out to be a great dive, “I thought to myself “, as we navigated back toward the dive flag. The SICUB got a work out with some cool diver pic’s but still NO FLIPPER!

On return to the carpark I was greated by Mia. “Did you see the dolphins? How cool were they!” She exclaimed.

She continued to tell me how three of them buzzed by her, looping and conducting barrel rolls, before darting off into the distance. SWEET!!

What a sweet dive!! I bet Lee and Joey regret not diving now… Hey Lee, imagine, Crays on the BBQ.  Perhaps next time!!

For more of Greg’s photo from the Point Peron club dive click here.

Just 2 weeks until WE have our say in the forming of Marine Sanctuaries in our South West. We’ll keep you posted on the progress both in our Newsletters and on our website.

Here’s what David Mackenzie – Save our marine Life Says…

A Big Blue Army is coming

When draft marine sanctuary maps hit the ground in 3 weeks the public will then have 12 weeks to comment on the new marine protection proposed. While science is critical in underpinning the design of these sanctuaries, this is the phase of the campaign when it’s all about public opinion.

It’s our last and most important chance to make sure that the South West gets the sanctuaries it needs. Just as importantly, it’s this standard of protection which will set the benchmark for protection right around Australia when sanctuaries in other regions are decided upon later this year.

Save Our Marine Life have launched a new force in marine conservation designed to have the massive impact we need – but it won’t succeed without you. Please stay tuned and keep an eye out for the Big Blue Army. We need you to be part of it.

David Mackenzie
Online Communities
Save Our Marine Life

Everyone can be a part of saving the precious underwater environment – just click here so you can join the rest of Perth Scuba in the BIG BLUE ARMY!!!

I was lucky enough to be invited by Allways Dive Travel to check out the diving and accommodation at Munda and Uepi in the Solomon Islands. And even more lucky that my wonderful, understanding, and fantastic fiance said I could go!

Day 1 of our trip we flew out of Brisbane at 7am – not too bad for an international flight. We arrived at Honiara airport at lunchtime and then jumped on our domestic flight that would take us to Munda. The second flight only took about an hour, even though we landed at Seghi airport on the way.

So after half a day of travelling, we finally arrived at Munda Airport. A tiny little airport where our luggage was off loaded by hand and then wheeled down to the Agnes Lodge (our accommodation for the next 4 days) only 500 metres away. Munda is a tiny little town boasting a police station… and not much else really. Agnes Lodge isn’t much to look at from the outside, but once you enter… Very nice! The property has a large deck over the water to sit and watch the sun set. The bar has plenty of cold “Sol Beer” the local beverage, and there’s plenty of spirits to keep me happy (just don’t tell Lee!).

The temperature in the Solomon’s is pretty much the same as Perth, only more humid. There’s two ceiling fans in every room and this is plenty to keep you cool at night. I’m typing this from my laptop in my room overlooking the palm trees… It’s very hard to take

So far our diving has been quite diverse. We’ve done a cave dive that began with a short treck through the jungle. You then jump into the crystal clear water and descend into a dark cave reaching about 30m at the bottom. It takes about 8 minutes to get through the cave part and then you’re greated with blue water ahead – the cave opens out into the ocean. Out here the water is crystal clear with plenty of huge gorgonian fans and turtles that head in the other direction when they see you (they’re hunted here so they do not trust divers).

Next dive was out to a point to find Hammerheads – no hammerheads I’m afraid, but plenty of corals and fish to keep us occupied. We then moved onto a small bomber at 14 metres which had loads of fish life all over it. Beautiful site, although a little murky.

The following days diving (today) we went to a Corsair wreck just off the back of one of the islands. It’s in 52 metres and at the base of a sloping reef. The visibility was fantastic! Following my guide down I could see the full wreck at 10 metres depth. Just gorgeous and there was plenty of small fish life and coral on this wreck too.

We then headed up the slope and were greeted with gorgeous corals, reef fish and continued great visibility. After the wreck we headed to a tropical island, with white sandy beaches to eat our lunch… I must say, this is very hard work  – but willing to put in the effort for the boss!

Well, that’s all for now everyone. I’m off to the bar to watch the sunset and enjoy a couple of drinks. Stay tuned for more photos over the next few days!!!

By Lee Johnson

Visiting OZ Tek for the first time, we didn’t know what to expect. We had been told that previous years it was quite small and that there wasn’t a lot there. I guess that when it all comes down to it – it really depends what you are there for.  OZ Tek is a dive show – similar to a boat show (only without the dive stores trying to sell 500 pairs of bright pink size 15 fins). It happens every 2 years and is more of a way for like minded divers to get to see what’s new and meet up with people who have at some point influenced the way their diving has gone and what the future in diving holds for them. I went over with Joey (Like she’d let me loose in a place like that alone!) and our first thought when we walked into the place… TOYS!!!

We made our way into the show wearing our Gold Pass Bands which were very kindly provided by Steve Wannell the General Manager for Scubapro  (Thanks Steve!). These passes allowed us to go into any of the exhibitions and see any of the many presentations on offer. There were divers and industry professionals from all over the world speaking and there were some great presentations. Joey and I made our way around the first area and found that within 5 minutes of our arrival – we were being dragged from one exhibitor’s stand to another. It was great to catch up with everyone who we knew there.  It was also great to hear from many of the people at the show – that they had all heard about Perth Scuba Tek and we were told that stores in the east coast were glad we were in the west. It was good to know that we had made an impact in such an important area for us. Our Dive Log advert (showing photos of the new store) had been the discussion point at many booths and being introduced as being from Perth Scuba – was really cool… Celebrity status… From good old “Backwater Perth” We moved around the exhibition stopping to talk to our friends from Allways Dive Travel, Scubapro, Halcyon, PADI, TDI / SDI, Pro Diving Services, Sea & Sea,  Dive Centre Bondi and heaps more. The day went extremely quick and it was soon time to head back to the room for a couple of hours sleep before getting ready for a dinner date with Steve & Mick from Scubapro with their lovely partners Hazel & Emma. What an awesome night! great dinner, great company and great location… sipping cocktails while looking across the harbour at the Sydney Opera House was awesome!! The next day we were back into it with more people to see. This was the business part of the trip and we were on a mission to find new toys for the Perth Scuba. We weren’t disappointed. The first thing we were looking for was a new Helium Blending Panel. The guys at Pro Diving services were very quick to come up with the goods and we will be THE place to get Trimix once we get our new addition set up. The fully automated system will produce the most accurate of blends with just the push of a couple of buttons. The system slots straight into our existing Membrane Nitrox Compressor and will bring the price of Trimix fills into an area where you won’t have to sell the car to go for a dive!

The next thing on the agenda was to secure a deal with a major rebreather supplier. The ranges of rebreathers on show were huge and there were a few very expensive toys to be had. We wanted something which we could sell exclusively in WA and we managed to land the best unit at the show! The range (which I will keep quiet for now) is awesome and has a few different levels of rebreathers from learner – intermediate to top level (very deep and very capable). We are very excited about being able to bring this range to WA and Marc – our NEWLY QUALIFIED TDI Instructor Trainer (Congrats Marc!) & is all set to fly out to New Zealand for the training on how to use and instruct the use of these fantastic units.  We can’t wait to get our hands on these new toys!! The next job on our list was to align ourselves with the GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) guys at Dive Centre Bondi. Liam – of DC Bondi is a very experienced Technical diver and comes with a resume’ most would only dream about. Liam has agreed to come over to Perth to teach a couple of GUE Fundamentals courses. Anyone who knows anything about technical diving knows and agrees that the Fundamentals course is THE best way to master buoyancy and movement control. We look forward to having such a highly regarded and accomplished Instructor work in our store for a week to assist our divers in becoming the best they can be in regards to control. More on that later… Our next and final mission was to find any new toys that we could bring in to Perth Scuba to enhance our range. We came up with a few great lines and have managed to secure another couple of exclusives for WA. The next few months are going to be very exciting for us all. So Oz Tek 2011 was an amazing experience, I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in diving in general should go to this show. Despite it’s name – it’s not all about Technical Diving – there were exhibitors for Photography, Travel, Clothing, Scuba Gear, Scooters, Jewellery, Collectors, Dive Shops, Wet & Dry Suits, Brand Suppliers such as Scubapro – Halcyon – TUSA – Aquanaut – Dive Rite – Oceanic and heaps more. If you get a chance to go in 2013 – do it. You won’t be disappointed.The show was followed by a Gala Evening /dinner and presentation of the Technical Diver of the Year as well as recognizing some of the industry greats who have done so much for Diving in Australia. It was a very sobering experience to be in a room with so many people with so much experience. Every single one of them had a million stories to share and everyone shared the same passion – the love of diving. We were lucky enough to have been invited onto the Scubapro table (Once again Steve & Mick – THANK YOU!), We sat with David Rhea- who you all know is the amazing guy who came over to Perth Scuba to present to our Dive Club on the March Public holiday. His stories and experience is an inspiration to us all. He has even promised top join us on our Nullarbor Trip in 2012 to dive the caves. I’m not sure who is more excited about that either!! The night went way too fast but it was an experience I will never forget.

OZ Tek 2011 was a great success and a credit to the organizers. Congratulations to the exhibitors who put on a great show and to everyone who helped make it the show it was. You have won us over… Now… About 2013… We were thinking… Have you ever thought about running one in Perth???

with Gary Brennand

With Brendan, Brian, Jason, Joslyn and Matt signed on to do their Instructor course (IDC) we started the 10 day course on Friday evening where paperwork and introductions were done and I explained how the course was going to run. With Brian already doing some of the theory online the course was rearranged a little to allow him to have the weekend off while the others were in the classroom going over what he had already completed.

The first classroom presentation given by the guys saw a lot of nerves displayed, but they all did a great job and soon calmed down and settled in. The pool presentation was the next moment of truth as I tired to hand out some tricky problems for them to try and fix, they all did well here and we then had some fun playing games and having a good time. The first Ocean presentation was done at Woodman’s Point with the wind and fisherman hampering things a little, we moved away from the jetty and conducted our presentations and rescue practice out of range of fishing lines and with a bit of wind protection from the jetty.

After a tiring 10 days all had received their Assistant Instructor rating and with a few days still to go until their Instructor Exam (IE), Brendon, Jason and Matt decided to do some specialty training to fill in the time. Before long we were at the Metro Hotel on Canning Hwy getting ready to enter the IE, here Alex Boulton, the PADI examiner sent over from Sydney, introduced himself, did all the paperwork and advised the guys how the weekend was going to run. First up was the pool presentation then followed by the Theory exams before getting a restful sleep and showing up at the Rockingham Wreck Trail the next morning to do their Open Water presentations and Rescue demonstration. A short break for lunch was had before heading back to the Metro Hotel to do their Classroom presentation.

The result was 3 happy Instructors, Brendon, Jason and Matt. Joslyn had been unable to sit the IE at this time as she was unable to get the time off work, so it will be off to Bali at the end of March (yes, I’ll be there to help her through it, what better excuse to go to Bali) to sit her IE over there. Brian is still trying to find a time when work allows him to sit his IE.

It was a big effort by Brendan and Matt as they had only just finished their Dive Master course (literally the day before) and had decided to go straight through to Instructor. All the guys did a really great job, well done!

Our next full time IDC will start on the 30th April and go through to the 10th May with the IE on the weekend of the 14th & 15th May. Or if you want to go on a holiday and become an Instructor at the same time, we are running an Instructor course starting the 20th May 2011 and doing all the theory after hours and on weekends so as not to eat into your valuable holiday leave. The heading over to the warm waters of Bali for a week to do all the water work and sit the IE, just ask for details at the store.

by Marc van der Poel

With the feeling of Christmas & New year already so far behind us, the beautiful weather on a roll and the school holidays coming to an end, it seemed like a great time to have a short break. The announcement of the Dunsborough weekender was the perfect opportunity to escape the city, and quickly filled up with keen divers.

Takers for all options and levels of diving made the trip – a large group opted for the Advanced Open Water course run by Instructors extraordinaire Glenn Storey & Steven Rudge. The Forjaz family were seeking rust and silt on the wreck course with me. Last but certainly not least we had a great group of fun divers, who were keen to explore and do their own thing on the HMAS Swan.

We arrived on the Friday afternoon at Woody’s surf shack (the name does the place no justice…. it’s certainly no shack!).  Glenn, Steve Carol and I set up shop and got the house sorted.   Soon after the crew of divers started to arrive. There were two hot topics, how keen everybody was to get into the water and see the wreck, and the news that a cyclone was coming our way!  I have been in Perth for a number of years now, and have seen some storms pass through, the most talked about was the hail storm last year.  But a cyclone, a cyclone in Perth and Dunsborough?

It was hard to imagine, especially when you walked outside looked at the deep blue sky, 40 degree heat and not a sign of wind.  Perhaps this was the lull before the storm?

Only one thing to do, and that was enjoy the weekend!   The students all got stuck into knowledge reviews and a pub meal, and then all to bed at a reasonable hour, before getting up in the morning and see what nature had in store.

It was a beautiful morning, and as we approached Meelup beach to catch  the boat, we were met by the skipper with a big smile.  This was a good sign!

From Meelup it is really only a short ride out to the Swan wreck.  It was a little choppy, but no more than the week before. Literally 10 minutes later were at the Swan, and 20 minutes later descending into great conditions – no current, lovely visibility and no other divers in the water.

Wreck diver students Paulo & Miguel had fun exploring and practicing laying line. The Advanced group did for their deep (and guess what!) wreck dive, all filmed under the watchful eye of Steve.

Still there was talk of Cyclone Bianca, but the sky was still blue and it was even hotter than the day before!  All boats were seeking safety from what was to come the following day, so it meant the diving was off for Sunday.

After living in the tropics for many years, this could mean only one thing: a cyclone party!

Back at the shack, everybody was satisfied & chilled after a lovely day of diving – time for a cold beer, some tall stories, game of pool and BIG Aussie BBQ.

We had a vote to see who was going to do the cooking on the BBQ, Steve drew the short straw. Now we just had to find Steve to let him know he had lost!

So many people pitched in that it didn’t take long to have dinner ready for 16 people, salads, garlic bread, copious amounts of meat and even a crumble for dessert.

The ‘shack’ is really well set up for a crowd like this, lots of space, indoor / outdoor seating, BBQ area, pool table, music, tv, and all in all, a great place to relax and have fun with a large group.

Since the diving was cancelled for the Sunday, we had a great big Full Monty cook-up for breakfast. It was just what the doctor ordered.

After packing up, a few of us went to beach to see what the ocean was like. In Geograph Bay it was blowing hard, but on the Yallingup side it was beautiful!  Offshore wind and big swell (see the pic).  It is as the old saying goes; better safe than (really) sorry.  The course dives will be finished at a later stage.

On behalf of Glenn, Steve and myself, I would like to thank you all for coming on the weekend with us and making it such a fun event. Next time we will not invite Bianca!

I really enjoyed the weekend and the dives that we managed to get in.

Cheers

Marc

Forth time lucky!

After having to cancel the Rottnest Night Dive 3 times in 3 weeks due to bad weather, on Monday we were finally able to get out for a dive. What a great night. The wind was a nice 7 knot Easterly and the swell was only 1 metre so as far as conditions went, you couldn’t ask for nicer.

35 of Perth Scuba’s Manta Clubbies boarded the boat and waited for Nat… who had the Coronas… so we waited, (lucky for you Nat – otherwise we would have been long gone!), After kitting up and having a briefing by Simon (Our over qualified Deckie / Dive master) we headed out to Grouper Caves.

A nice 45 minute trip across gave everyone time to mingle and munch on lollies and prepare themselves for the dive. When we arrived another short briefing and it was time to go. We all jumped in and noticed how warm the water was – we didn’t even need to pee in our wetsuits either…

The water was clear and the dive site was excellent. John had dropped us straight on top of an awesome group of caves and swim throughs. The marine life here was great too. I was naturally diving with Joey and the Praying Mantis which of course was like a disco as soon as it hit the water. Joey firing at every little critter she could find. She was using the new Sola 600 Focus light which I thought was really cool! She didn’t need a torch – it was brighter than most of the torches there anyway and when she found a critter to shoot, she switched over to an equally as bright RED filter type light. This allowed her to get right up to the critters without the light freaking them out (apparently they can’t see it), to take her photos. We started off chasing a squid around, then an Octopus about the size of your thumb, Cardinal fish (which this time of year have a mouth full of eggs if you are lucky enough to get a photo of them) – we weren’t this time.

The colours on the reef around this site were amazing. The photos would be great I am sure! Then we came across a baby Shark in a hole. It was watching everyone swim by, completely unfazed by it all. We also found a very big Cray Fish which was quite happy to come out and have a good look at what we were doing. While it was out of it’s cave it picked up a large shell with it’s front legs and started poking at the little crab inside it. (Joey got a photo of that, and the Crayfish got his feed… poor little crab.

As we left the crayfish… it was hard to do – on a day dive – I would be nursing a 4 kg Cray by now. Still, it lives for another day… We swam away from the Cray and over a ledge just in time to see a baby turtle swim by. It was really cute – and really fast. Joey took chase (She does that) – with the Praying Mantis, flashing madly, the lens she had on the camera was geared up for Macro so it was never going to be a great result… but I think the photo was more for proof that we saw him than anything. He was a faster swimmer than Jo and eventually she gave up and came back to me. In the mean time I had found a bunch of new critters for her to photograph. After the hour, I signaled that we had better go up and meet up with the boat. As we ascended we came across a Spanish Dancer feeding in the light of the boat near the ascent / descent line. Joey started to take more photos only this time, the Spanish Dancer started trying to mate with Joey’s focus light… We both like the focus light… but not as much as the Spanish Dancer did. Joey managed to get some photos VERY Close photos – I’m sure she’ll share them with you in this blog.

We came up from the dive to lots of smiles and happy divers. All had seen so much and had an awesome time. On the way back we all had a drink and talked about the dive and everything we had seen.

It was one of the best night dives at Rottnest and everyone agreed that we’d have to do it again soon. Keep posted on that one – we will be doing another one in a couple of weeks.

If you missed out this time and would like to be notified when the next one is running, Please let me know by email at lee@perthscuba.com and I will make sure you are advised of the date and time.

Let’s hope the weather is spot on FIRST time around this time.

with Lee & Joey

Sunday morning was ALMOST perfect! The weather was clear and sunny,  the Bacon & Eggs were sizzling on the Store BBQ and there was a bunch of really keen divers ready to go! The wind had made us choose a dive site a little more protected so we had to go to the less adventurous dive site – Ammo Jetty. I haven’t dived there for quite a while and I recall the last time I was at a club dive when we went – it was about 10 degrees and raining hard on one of our club night dives… oh the joys of Winter! Still this time was different. 27 divers all headed out to see what they could find. The beach was already full of people as we came over the sand dunes to the jetty. They looked like they had been there quite a while already… why wouldn’t you? Beaching it all day sounded like a great idea to me. We came across the Perth Scuba Rescue Diver course which when we got there was in full swing. Stressed and drowning divers were yelling out for help and newbie rescue divers racing out to save their lives with some pretty quick actions. The group looked really confident and it’s great to see that these guys are the ones normally on the club dives too – It kinda makes you feel a bit safer really.

We descend to find visibility around 3 metres. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much more than that as there had been some pretty blowy conditions of late and it usually gets messed up there pretty quick.

As usual, my buddies are Joey and the Praying Mantis. We head down along to the jetty pylons to see what we can find. Apart from other divers to start with – there isn’t that much. But I get a really cool zap from one of our guys’ shark shields. That was nice… I feel like I’ve been hit with a defribulator from the rescue course.… my fillings are even tingling! Oh well he didn’t mean to do it and after all – it is only a safety thing right? We swim further along and come across Sea Chicken! yep you got it …a whole bunch of chicken pieces. I always thought that chicken pieces came from farms… nope – dead set – they grow in the ocean. There are heaps of them – Wing portions, legs, all sitting on the bottom. (I guess they can’t swim really can they?) Some bits are being eaten by crabs, some by blowfish and there are even some that nobody wants…they must be the ones that Colonel John West Rejected. You know the Shinook version of the Sea Chicken – You know… the… Anyway – it’s kept me amused for a minute or two. I figure that sooner or later I’ll find an Octopus who might like Sea Chicken so I pick up a piece and swim with it. By now the Xray machine has started and the Praying Mantis was doing its’ job. Joey is a happy camper shooting everything – including some really cool Nudibranchs (They are really fat down here today) … (It’s all of the hormones in those Sea Chicken Pieces you know), baby crabs, Box Fish and other cool critters. Soon I find an Octopus…I offer him my gift… He changes colour and takes off. – Ok so he must have just eaten… I decide to keep it to give to the next Occy I find, which doesn’t take long… He too changes colour and leaves! I have to be careful cos if the Praying Mantis Lady sees me scaring off her potential master pieces, I might end up like the Sea Chicken… *make note – must remove Joey’s dive knife from her BCD before scaring critters in future. “Surely there must be a hungry Occy somewhere under here”  NOPE! Either this Sea Chicken is really bad or they just aren’t interested. I am sure as hell not about to take off my mask to have a sniff to see if it is off either… So I do what every caring Project AWARE Diver would do with a Sea Chicken piece that no one wants… I hang it on a jetty pylon for the crabs… surely THEY will eat it. I take off to find my buddy who is easy to find with all of the flashing strobes going. On the way I find a T’shirt which makes me giggle. It says on the front – “Will buy Alcohol For Sex” Someone would have been devastated to lose this shirt  – surely this was the owners last futile attempt to get lucky – so bad an attempt that it will soon end up as Crab poo on the ocean floor – that’s if the crabs don’t go for my Sea Chicken of course. Could have been worse I guess, He could have got lucky and still ended up with the crabs!!! Hehe Oh dear… I’ve gone off the story… Anyway there are some really amazing things you can find under the jetty. Hooks and sinkers are common, A New Mountain Bike, (someone’s mum is gonna be p!$$#d)!! , bottles… the choice of drink while fishing is clearly Jacks and Cola with a ratio of about 8 : 1 to any other drink bottle down there… (see who says I’m not smart enough to do Marine Research?), Soon I come across another cool thing… a Dora Hat!! Yep this is what I’m talking about! It even fits! So I decide to go and show Joey my new acquisition. She isn’t impressed really – which is disappointing… Maybe I should have offered her a piece of Sea Chicken… *The Knife Lee – Remember the Knife!* …  It is just then that I see a massive White Flash and feel like someone has hit me on the head with a hammer! Is this the end? Is it the Praying Mantis striking at it’s pray? – Me… No! It’s my friend with the Shark Shield again! Cool! I’m safe… At least I won’t get eaten by a shark now …I might die from electrocution though… At least the Crabs and Occys won’t eat me – they have Sea Chicken Pieces to eat. Hmmm decisions decisions… take the risk of another zap to grab the cord and make an electronic version of a Sea Popsicle or just swim away… Ok that’s a bit extreme – hehe but my fillings are still tingling!!

Ok, so back down to the dive… We are nearly at the end of the jetty now. There is a heap of debris. Some really cool stuff and lots more Jacks and Cola bottles. Ooooo a fisherman’s line is right in front of me… how tempting is this? I could grab a piece of Sea Chicken and hook it on and give it a yank. Hehe imagine his face when he pulls that one up!!! He’s bound to drop his bottle of Jacks and Coke! Funny. I could always give him my Dora Hat…

I think I might leave the hat here now and go find my buddy… It must surely be time to head back to shore. The trip back with Joey and the Praying Mantis always takes ages cos we have to stop and photograph everything we see on the way back just in case we can get a better shot than the 30,000 taken before on this dive. Yep I was right… there’s that Nudibranch we saw earlier, and the box fish, and the occy… oooo there’s my Chicken piece on the Pylon… hehe still no crabs on it… I might show Joey… She looks at me like I’m an alien and shakes her head at me… some people have no sense of adventure… I want a photo to put in my blog! Oh well… time to call it quits now I guess so I signal to Joey to the surface. She agrees and pulls in the strobes on the Praying Mantis

We head up to one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen… There is Geoff standing there in full Scuba gear wearing MY Dora Hat! Joey DID get a photo of that!!!  What a great dive! It shows that even the most basic of dive sites and less than perfect visibility can still be fun! Now where is the closest Dentist, I have this weird tingling feeling in my fillings!!!

Well the weather hasn’t really been ideal for diving lately. Great hot days but probably one of the worst summers I can recall in regards to swell and wind. Still – we have been able to get a few dives in even if we cant seem to get the right mix for our Rotto night dive. I think we’ve had to reschedule 3 times now and I do apologise to those who have been called and told it’s off again. Fingers crossed for next week.

Things around the shop have been busy. Andy and the boys and girls have been pretty full on since the start of the season and I’m sure everyone who has done a course recently would agree. Gary has just started an Instructor Development Course with 5 new candidates ready to take on the world of immortality. We wish you all the best of luck and look forward to having celebratory drinks with you in a couple of weeks.

Our Dunsborough weekender went well (apart from the cyclone – which prompted the skipper and crew to cancel the second days dives). Still better safe than sorry and I am sure the guys will enjoy their dives at Rottnest Island instead.

The next weekender is in Albany so if you ever wanted to dive with Seals, or dive a wreck a third bigger than the HMAS Swan – then this trip is for you! For only $400 for club members – including 4 boat dives, accommodation and meals, the Albany weekenders always fill fast so while the weather is warm and the water temperature is as warm as it gets in Albany – now is the time to book. We will be running a Deep diver specialty course and possibly an advanced course. If anyone would like to try out one of our hire Twin Sets, please let us know. Double the range is a great way to go!

Komodo Adventure episode V is now out. Just click on the link to watch the latest antics of the crew who went last year. We will be running a trip to Komodo in 2012 for those who are interested. The show gives you a good idea of what you can expect to see there… truly amazing!!!

Joey has been busy finalizing the new photography section at Perth Scuba. For those who are yet to come and see the range and check out the image library, come on in. We are working on some really cool stuff for everyone at the moment. The coffee machine is almost here so those lazy afternoons can now be spent kicking back at the shop in our cool buddy lounge. (No not you Nat!).

Marc van der Poel has just recently completed another group of very enthusiastic Technical Divers – We had a full crew again and the guys looked to have a great time.

We are having a Tech Diving Info Night soon. Alex Boulton from PADI will be coming to do a presentation and to answer any questions you may have about technical diving.

Alex designed the PADI Rec Tec courses as they are today. The courses are designed to make the transition from recreational diving to Technical diving with ease. Don’t be scared of Technical Diving because it sounds hard – It’s great fun and the PADI tec 40 and 45 are a great way to start without pushing your diving to the limits. The courses are fun and very rewarding.

Still on Tek diving, Oz Tek is on the weekend of the 13^th and 14^th of March this year in Sydney. Joey and I will be taking up Scubapro’s generous invitation to join them and we look forward to meeting some great people and hopefully some new suppliers while we are there who can fill in any gaps in our current range. If you are interested in joining us for the weekend, drop us a line or call the shop.

Well – that’s it from me for this week. I hope you all get a dive in soon! Joey and I have been taking the club dives of late and there has been an excellent turn out for the dives. Fingers crossed this week we will be aiming to check out Point Peron.

Take Care, Keep Diving and Dive Safe.

Lee

with Lee & Joey

Lee and I once again headed to the shop to take the club dive – this was our second Sunday in a row of getting up early – I’m pretty sure this is a new record!! And of course as we’d be taking the dive, we got to pick what was for breakfast and this morning it was bacon & egg rolls – yummy!

We arrived early to get a our gear from out the back, very kindly washed by “squid” on Saturday – thanks Kai! I dragged up the BBQ and then was offered by one of our DMT’s Matt that he was going to be cooking the BBQ – what a man!!! So whilst Matt got the BBQ going, I went hunting for a map of the dive site we were heading to… Robb’s Jetty.

We picked this dive site as the conditions were going to be a bit blowy, with a pretty average swell and this was a reasonably protected dive site. Plus Gary and his Underwater Photography students were there the day before and had seen plenty of cool stuff – so we thought we’d give it a go too.

Whilst we ate our bacon and egg brekkie, Lee gave us the site briefing, including what to watch out for (Gary saw a blue ring octopus on Saturday!), the 150m walk up the dune and down the beach (where can I get me a sherpa!) and making sure you don’t leave any valuables in your car (there’s some unsavoury sorts down there!). Lee even managed to keep the briefing fairly short  (after his really LONG briefing on the last night dive) while we munched away. We had over 30 people there to go diving – lucky I got so many eggs!!!

After we were stuffed silly full of food we piled in the cars and headed to the dive site. Everyone was given a map and told to park in the carpark with the BBQ’s and toilets – it’s a little further from the dive site but it’s an easier walk.

Everyone was buddied up before heading into the water, set a max dive time of 60 minutes, and once we got our bearing we dropped down onto the dive site… Well we would of IF Lee and I had got our bearing RIGHT! My navigator (LEE) who can guide me through ZERO visibility in the river and find every single wreck and seahorse there is to find at night – couldn’t even get me to the 250m long jetty pilons that you can see from the waters edge… Yes, I know how to use my compass, yes – I can navigate, but I’m squarely placing the blame with my buddy because he volunteered to navigate. You know that type of volunteering where your partner says “you’re navigating”… Okay, so we didn’t immediately find Robb’s Jetty but we did find lots of cool things on the way, including a baby Port Jackson shark, a pipefish I’ve never seen before, a Cardinal fish with eggs in it’s mouth and lots of other cool stuff on the sand.

After a couple of trips to the surface to regain our bearings – and maybe just a little bit of abuse – Lee and I found Robbs Jetty 48 minutes into the dive. Remembering that we’d set a max. dive time of 60 minutes – umm maybe not – we stayed there until Lee told me to come up at 95 minutes – OOPS!

Well, I was having fun, and found lots of cool things, and it was a shallow dive, and Lee was my navigator and… Okay I really have no valid excuse… But I’ll still blame Lee hehehe. We humped it back onto the beach and were met by another of our DMT’s “Fireman Graeme”, who had come down to check we were okay – awww thanks Graeme Plus thanks Matt, Karl and Andy for helping out on the dive and leading some of the crew to some cool spots.

Once again, it was a good day to get in the water. The viz could’ve been better (and had been the day before) but I was stoked at all the weird and wonderful creatures we’d found and I’d got a photo of. If you’d like to join us on next Sunday’s dive just meet at the shop at 8:30am for your cooked brekkie and then we’ll head off to the best spot of the day.

with Marc van der Poel

Sunday morning Matt, Andrew and Diego, turned up  with high expectations of what was to come, however we were missing someone. Had the Saturday been too much for Holly? No, all was well she had only missed the alarm clock and turned up fashionably timed.

After a review of the previous day exercises, we got some practice surfacing an unconscious diver. Things were getting pretty serious now, and all four really got stuck in to the job at hand. With so many DMT’s the rescue course can really pick up pace, and I am really grateful for their assistance, input and fantastic ability to act injured and enjoy the ride of being dragged up the beach.

With all the exercises out of the way, we started the scenario’s and Brad was keen to be the victim so while he went off to ‘hide’, we sat down and set the scene.

This is where you put all that you have learnt, into practice  in a continuous exercise from finding a missing diver, surfacing them, getting them to shore whilst providing rescue breaths, removing equipment, placing them in the beach re-commencing rescue breaths and possibly CPR, maintaining crowd control and seeking medical assistance. Not bad Hey? In the first scenario, Matt was in fine form, taking charge, delegating roles and out for the search, followed by Diego. They quickly found and surfaced Brad, established positive buoyancy and called for help. As Matt and Diego started work on Brad, Andrew was close, assisting with equipment. The shore line is approaching this is where you need to do some real hard yakka. Through good communication and joint effort they got Brad above the water line and commenced CPR. It was a really good effort.

They all needed a breather after this, these exercises are fun and intended to be life-like to give students a realistic experience as possible.

The fun part of rescue courses is that unlike some other of the PADI programs the participants or DM’s always bring something to the party. What I mean is they might be doctors, nurses or have a family member with a particular condition which when they add their experiences we all learn something new. On this course we had a fireman, a surf life saver, a Canadian who has spent months on a remote  Australian cattle station, so as you can imagine there was loads of colour.

Once again I had lots of fun, whilst refreshing my own skills, because the only way to keep these skills honed is by practice!

I would like to congratulate Holly, Matt, Diego and Andrew on your efforts in passing the Rescue course! Secondly a huge thank you to Michael, Brad and Graeme for your support and input, you were not only a great help to me but add to the fun and learning of the students.

We will be running a rescue refresher soon. So all you who have done your rescue course, when was the last time you gave those skills a work-out?

Look out for the rescue refresher, which is aimed at all who have done the course but have not had recent practice.

If you are interested in the rescue course and would like to know more, drop in for a chat.

Wish you all safe diving!

Marc

with Lee & Joey

With the anticipation of an awesome Night dive at Rotto on Wednesday, I packed up my dive gear (and Joeys of course – it’s what us guys do for our other halves right?), and charged up the torches for what was going to be our first night dive at Rottnest Island for the season. I went through the check list, Dive Gear, Smirnoff Reds, Torches, Beam & Cokes, Camera (or in Joey’s case the Praying Mantis) and finally and most importantly the Canadian Club and Dry. With all of the important dive and post dive stuff organized for the troops it was time to sit back and wait for the dive. What a fantastic day… it must have been at least 35 degrees and not a breath of wind… The forecast (what would Sea Breeze know?) was for 25 knot Southerly winds and a 2.5m swell yeah right! 15 minutes later… there’s the call… the most unexpected call… The dive is off!!!! After shaking off the disappointment, I was told by our Skipper John that Sea Breeze had in fact got it right and that it was already blowing a gail at Rottnest Island. I took one of the JBs out of the esky and sat down to ponder what we would do now…

I thought about what could possibly be the next best thing to diving Rotto at night on a full moon… the Coombe!! Ok that certainly wasn’t the first thing but it came in a close 157^th place. So that was it – The Coombe – a river dive like no other! I advised the guys at the shop to let everyone know that we’d be there instead and we’d meet them there.

By 7pm – the arranged T.O.D (time of dive), there were 9 of us, not bad really considering the comparison of dive sites and what was on offer. The crew were still quite excited and as most of them had never dived the Coombe, there was the anticipation of a cool new dive site to play with for them. We threw out the flag and kitted up. Torches flicking on and off everywhere and the sound of purging regulators meant that we were ready to go. After a short dive briefing (ok well maybe not that short but at least we knew where we were going – and as you’ll read in a minute – that’s not a bad thing), we headed out into the water. This time of year is very good in the river, with water temperatures of 26 degrees common and tonight was no exception. We waded into the water and eagerly put our faces under to see what the visibility was like. I can’t put into this blog what we all thought initially but let’s just say – it wasn’t that good at this stage. I watched as everyone did a double take, pulled their masks off cleaned them again and stuck their faces back in… almost as if they expected the water to immediately become crystal clear… it didn’t. Still we were here, and we were now wet also so what the hell, so off we went. I can honestly say that I have never experienced visibility as bad as this. No such thing as 1 metre visibility – this was 15cm at best. Still… we were here and we were wet… (so I thought.. again!), we descended as surely the water would be clear at the bottom and once we got away from our entry point. It wasn’t. I hit the bottom after a feet first descent and looked up to see if I could see my buddy or her torch. Nope. She was there though because all of a sudden I was X rayed by the 2 strobes on the Praying Mantis. So I signalled towards where the white light came from that I was ok… blinded but ok… we headed out to 12m where the plan was to turn left and swim straight towards the wreck. After contending with jelly fish hitting my mask before I saw them and the occasional cluster of even more silt as I disturbed an angry crab or two, I suddenly felt my head compress into my shoulders as I hit front on, a mooring engine mounting block which funny enough didn’t flinch anywhere as much as I did. – after the dive Joey said she saw me stop suddenly and then back up. Funny that – the backing up part was me pulling my head back out from my A@@! We continued as at least now I could see something albeit the stars pinging around my head.

Soon enough though, all was forgotten as we came across the wreck. Instantly a Sea Horse came into view… then another… then another… Joey is going to be very happy I thought – so there she was snapping away for a few minutes then she signalled to me that things were not quite working out… funny signals she uses when things aren’t working out… I’ve seen those signals before… sometimes even when she’s driving. I signalled to her to go up and she agreed… now completely against everything I’d said in the briefing, we decided to go up there and then… without even heading to the shallower water. We surfaced not too far from our entry point and had a bit of a giggle as we looked over to see a couple of our guys already on the beach. Well, that had to be the shortest dive I have ever done. But as they say, We went (why we just don’t know), We Saw (not much) and We Conquered (my head felt like a conker – if you are an Aussie you might want to look that one up), and thankfully I can log that one as the dive I’d like to forget. Hang on… PADI won’t even let me log that dive either… Too short a dive… We waited for the others to come to the surface and watched eagerly, their smiles as they surfaced… THAT part was funny, and we still had one buddy team who dived for the full hour we had planned assuring us that the visibility doubled as they got around the point… WOW to 30cm?? That’s gotta be a record! We think the real reason they did the hour was because they’d paid for a baby sitter for the night and wanted to get their money’s worth… well guys, next time you decide to dive the Coombe – I’ll baby sit for you.

A special thanks goes out to the wonderful people who continue to dredge our harbours and make Pea Soup look good to dive in and to the crew who stuck by us and came along for the night dive to remember (or forget), Here’s to next Thursday night – I’m going to pack the JB’s, Canadian Clubs and Smirnoff Reds… might even take the dive gear.

See you there… (at least I can say that for Rotto). I mentioned earlier that the others had never dived the Coombe…& I think they are unlikely to dive it ever again now…Oh what a night!

with Lee & Joey

Lee and I had decided that we’d spent way too much time in the shop and not in the water so we volunteered to lead the club dive on Sunday. We got up in the morning and checked Seabreeze for what they “estimated” the weather was going to be this morning. It was forecast as 1.5m swell and SE winds at about 10-15 knots… Not too bad but the swell coming in that direction limited the selection of dive sites. We’ve been to the BHP Jetty and Ammo Jetty of late, so it was time for something different. I checked my dive site list and we decided that South Mole would have the best conditions of the day and we hadn’t been there in AGES!

First things first we arrived at Perth Scuba early to pack up ourdive gear and drag out the BBQ for breakfast. When we arrived just after 8am there was already a crowd gathered at the door waiting patiently. Lee cranked up the BBQ and then immediately disappeared – I took this as a hint that he wanted me to cook the sausages! Lucky for everyone else I did cook the sausages otherwise Lee would have made them with EXTRA charcoal

We all had our cooked brekkie and then the crew headed down the dive site. Lucky not everyone ate because I only had 24 sausages and there was over 30 divers there to enjoy a dive with us! Lee and I were a bit late as we organised some gar for Simon back at the shop and then we headed down to South Mole. When we arrived the crew were already in the water and had made it to the end of the mole. I must say, I picked the best dive site of the day, the water was super flat and warm and it was so easy to get in at the beach.

Lee, Simon, Sandy and I all put our gear together, threw on the wetsuits (3mm for Lee & I) and headed down to the water. I had my camera in hand as usual with the wide angle on as I was hoping to get some pics of my buddy and the rest of the crew. We surface swam about 100metres out from the beach along the rock wall and then dropped down. South Mole is a very shallow site (3-8metres) and an easy dive to get a good long time under water. The viz today wasn’t brilliant, we could see roughly 5-10 metres at any given time, but there was a lot of sand in the water. 

Typically, almost everything we saw was tiny, so my wide angle lens wasn’t the best choice for this dive. However, I did get lots of shots of my buddy running amuck! I saw squid, a tiny cuttlefish, lots of different types of nudibranchs, those big shells that you can’t touch or they’ll shoot venom into you (can anyone help me with a name?) an eagle ray shooting off into the distance – wasn’t quick enough, plus lots of schools of little fish. All up we were diving for nearly 100 minutes, so the legs got quite a workout. 

When we decided to go back, it was my turn to bring in the flag and we sat in the shallows enjoying the warm water until the rest of our group returned. Afterwards we found out that some of the crew had been buzzed by a seal AND they got photos to prove it – VERY COOL! It was a lovely day out in the water and I’m hoping that next Sunday’s dive is just as good, if not better. Not sure where we’ll head, but I’m thinking North of the river is the go  

If you’d like to join the Perth Scuba crew on one of our free club dives, just meet at the shop on Sunday morning at 8:30am and we’ll feed you brekkie and then we’ll head off to the best dive site of the day. 

with Gary Brennand – Course Director

With four students booked onto the rescue course it was the perfect number of students, and then chuck in another 3 DMT’s to help out and be victims and I just knew it was going to be a good weekend.

The course started off with the students arriving at 8am to go through the theory side of the course and to be shown how to use an Oxygen kit, after which I drew a map of how to get to the dive site on the board (most gave up trying to decipher my artistry and just used their phones GPS instead) , we picked up lunch on the way and arrived at the dive site all ready to go, only to find out some (yes you know who you are) had made a delayed stopover at their lunch stop. Once everyone had arrived we went through a number of items on the beach before hoping in the water. The course started off with some basic skills before moving on to the more technical side of removing your dive gear while giving mouth to mouth to someone.

Our first effort started poorly with our gear handler dropping a mask and a number of the group using their navigation skills to go and search for it. After a short search the mask was located and the course continued only to find that we now had to go find….. wait for it……. A full kitted BCD………it belonged to one of our DMT’s who had put in extra weights in case a student needed some and took it off to help with a skill, unfortunately he didn’t inflate it enough to compensate the extra weights and it sunk to the bottom, so off we went for another search (we were getting good at it by this time). This all just added to the fun and honed some valuable search pattern techniques. Graeme Green (our diving Fireman) provided some great examples of leadership giving advice on some good carrying and rescue techniques, thanks Graeme. We ended the day with the students not knowing what was ahead of them on day two…

Stay tuned for Marc van der Poel’s comments from Day 2 next week!