Welcome to the Big Squid Newsletter for February and March 2017
Thirsty Squid drinks will on Tuesday the 7th February and 7th March at the Railway pub in Clapham.
We will be there from 7pm onwards. All are welcome to attend.
New Coral Reef Discovered
he first pictures of a huge coral reef system discovered in the Amazon last year have been released by environmental campaigners.The Amazon Reef is a 9,500 sq km (3,600 sq miles) system of corals, sponges and rhodoliths, Greenpeace says.
The reef is almost 1,000 km (620 miles) long, and is located where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Oil drilling could start in the area if companies obtain permits from the Brazilian government, read more
New Big Squid Kit Room
A new Big Squid kit room has been installed in the dive centre. The scaffolding structure now houses all our rental equipment. Lots of second hand kit available.
Big Squid needs you!
Our dive centre has gone from strength to strength, growing steadily over the years and the fact is we now need Instructors and Divemasters more than ever to help us cover our courses! Please contact us if you can help
Amazing Whale Video
Big Squid Trips 2017
We run several scuba diving trips abroad each year. These trips are ideal for qualified divers, and those wishing to extend their diving capabilities. Click on the links for more information
| Location | Date | Price | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marsa Shagra, Egypt | 25 March- 01 April 2017 | £1110 | All Levels |
| Project Shark, Egypt | 13th-20th October 2017 | £1299 | Advanced Open Water |
UK DIVE TRIPS 2017
| Location | Date | Price | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland | 27-28 May 17 | £215 | All levels |
| Porthkerris | 22-23 Jul 17 | £295 | All levels |
| St Abbs | 05-06 Aug 17 | £295 | All levels |
| Portland | 19-20 Aug 17 | £215 | All levels |
| Portland | 23-24 Sep 17 | £215 | All levels |
| Portland | 07-08 Oct 17 | £215 | All levels |
Marsa Shagra, Egypt
25th March-1st April 2017 £1110
The small settlement of Marsa Shagra has its own house reef which offers diving at a range of depths both shallow and deep dive sites. This location is great for those with all levels of experience as it is possible to ease into safe easy dive sites and gradually challenge yourself at the the more advanced sites, its also an ideal place for taking Open Water Qualifying Dives and Advanced courses. There are great night dives to be had here with a good chance of seeing free swimming moray eels.
Project Shark – Egypt
13th October – 20th October 2017 Cost £1299.00
Join Big Squid on this Red Sea Adventure On Board Blue Horizon.
The aim of ‘Project Shark’ is to highlight the global issues facing sharks, with a Red Sea focus, as well as enjoying some of the most spectacular reefs that the Red Sea has to offer.
We have 5 places left on this trip Places need to be secured by the 17th February with a £331 deposit
read more
Porthkerris 22-23 July 2017 £295.00
We will be staying in beachfront accommodation and diving form a hard boat with space for 12 divers. Over 100 ships are known to have been wrecked here, including the “Mohegan” which some divers claim is haunted! Along with the obvious wreck diving, the Manacles offer superb scenic dives at a range of depths on rocky pinnacles such as Raglan Rock, Penwin and Vase Rock. The area is teeming with anemones, crustaceans and fish.
Another nearby dive site is the wreck of the cargo ship “Volnay” which sank, without loss of life, in mid December 1917. This steamer was arriving from Canada with supplies of ammunition for the Western Front – but also coffee, sugar, jam, butter and other luxuries that were scarce during the Great War.
read more
Bare Drysuits
The Bare X mission and HDC Tech Dry as modelled by Big Squid staff Vladimir and Arianna are very much in demand at the moment, The suits are very light, hard wearing and come in a cave cut style.
Big Squid Divemaster Course
Big squid are very fortunate in that we have an amazing team of Divemasters working with us. They all have UK diving experience and are equally at home in 1m or 20m of visibility.
The skills that you will gain whilst regularly diving in the UK mean that when you come to dive overseas the transition is often easy. If you would like to join our team and begin your Divemaster training you can find more information here.
Want to become a diving Instructor?
Have you ever dreamt of becoming a diving instructor? Whether it’s working part time at weekends in this country to changing your life completely and working full-time overseas come along on the 15th Feb and find out how!
Alex Griffin, Gold status PADI Course Director will be talking about London based, professional PADI diving courses and also how to get a government loan to help fund the course as well as receive an OCR Level 3 Diploma in Business Management.
This is a great opportunity to find out about becoming a diving instructor as well as furthering your education as an instructor whether moving on to staff or tec instructor training.
The evening will take place at the Duke of Sussex pub, upstairs in their function room from 7.00 -8.00 pm and then there’ll be an opportunity to go for drinks and a chat afterwards.
The event is informal, completely free and open to anyone with an interest!
Upcoming Courses in February and March
Open Water Referral Courses
Refresher Courses
Discover Scuba
Advanced Open Water Courses
Dry Suit Courses
Enriched Air Nitrox Courses
Emergency First Response Courses
Rescue Diver
Open Water Qualifying Dives
Squid Splash (Club Pool Nights)
Full course information is available here
Wraysbury Fun Dives
The Big Squid van will be at Wraysbury on the the 19th February 19th March. Let us know if you wish to join us diving and we can pair you up with a buddy. We can provide full kit rental or just tanks and weights.