New Year -New Diving Centre

Happy New Year to all our scuba friends and diving family from around the world.

2016 is finally here and to welcome in the New Year and another year of fun and frolics, we are making some changes in the Dive Centre.

Don't get worried, we will still be offering the same high quality diving for you all but we are making a few changes to the building.

For those that visited us in 2015, you will know that we took on a second shop for storage of our wetsuits, BCDs and DiveLime. Well, we are going one step further and making use of all that extra space.

It's a work in progress...

Step 1- Dive Centre Reception and Shop.

This will be the new reception for our Dive Centre where you will be greeted by our smiling faces and fill out the necessary paperwork for your diving.

You will also find a selection of Diving Equipment for sale including; wetsuits, Miflex Diving Hoses, Shearwater Diving Computers, Regulators, Clips and accessories.

Step 2- Dive Equipment Servicing Workshop

Purely for servicing, this Workshop has put a smile on my face.

I now have plenty of room for my tools and for all your diving equipment that needs that bit of tender loving care.

Space for Regulator Servicing, Cylinder Testing and Computer Battery Changes, this is my own piece of heaven.

Step 3- Cylinder Filling Room

Purely for the Cylinder filling and Gas Mixing, we now have plenty of space for all the tanks in their own room.

Divers that have been to us over the past 6 years will know that this room previously held everything! I kid you not, this little room used to hold all our suits, BCDs, Rebreathers, Cylinders, Lime etc and it was also the Servicing Workshop.

We wonder how everything fit into this room but somehow we managed. Oh, to have a bit of space!

Now, this is a room that will be reserved for Oxygen and Helium, Air and Cylinders... and let's not forget our Haskel Booster that will always be welcome in our Diving Centre.

Step 4- Kit Room

Just behind the new shop, we will store our Rental Diving Equipment with extra space for your diving equipment when you come to visit us.

This room is still under construction but we are hoping to have some nice benches built just around the corner where you see the regulators, where divers will be able to try on their wetsuits and boots in comfort and Luxury.

Plus, we will have a charging station where you will be able to charge phones, tablets, torches and cameras ready for the day of diving ahead!

Step 5- Dedicated Classroom

Upstairs from the new Dive Centre Reception and Kit Room, you will find our new dedicated classroom. This is still under construction at the moment but should be up and running by the end of February.

Some Items are already in place, such as our new classroom table,  but imagine the work surfaces cleared and shelves put up for the educational materials. The White board will be installed plus a monitor for watching the DVDs and running power points etc.

So, it is all very exciting here at Scuba Tech Diving Centre and I hope we will see you later in 2016.

Dive Presents for Scuba Divers

When it comes to Christmas presents, we aren't hard to buy for, we the Scuba Divers of this world.

Anything that helps us get wet, stay warm and dry whilst getting wet, lights up dark murky holes, is shiny or can be classified under the terms gadgets and toys will surely be a winner wherever a Diver is concerned.

So, here is a Christmas offer from Halcyon Dive Systems to make you feel Festive this winter. This is the Double Down Christmas 2014 Bonanza.

The offer looks something like this...

Buy a Halcyon Infinity Single Tank Wing System for €895 (£715) and get an Evolve Twinset Wing for just €100 (£80).

The Halcyon Infinity System is the ultimate in luxury for the special diver in your life (or even if you want to treat yourself!). It has all the durability and reliability that divers worldwide have come to expect from Halcyon products and incorporates the opulence of the Deluxe Comfort pads for back and shoulders all combined with the Halcyon Cinch system for easy fit adjustments.

Of course, the system has the basics; wing, aluminium or steel backplate, harness and Single tank adaptor.

Use the Backplate with the Single tank wing or the Twinset wing and you are all set up for any kind of diving you want to do... all for less than €1,000.

For more information, just get in touch with us at Scuba Tech Diving Centre

Diver Training? 5 tips to get the most out of it

Well, we have had a bit of a break from blogging over the past couple weeks, as things have been hectic over here in Cyprus with dive training courses and safari diving,  Now, however, the winter season is upon us and things are starting to settle down a bit.

Conducting all these dive courses over the past weeks has brought, once again, to the forefront of our minds the problems that divers often have with training courses, regardless of level. From a Try Dive, PADI Open Water to TDI Advanced Nitrox and even Trimix courses, how can you get the most out of your Dive Training?

1. BE INTERESTED!

To get the most out of any kind of training, you simply have to be interested in the subject matter.

Before beginning any Open Water Course, we advise the student to take part in a try dive session to make sure they enjoy Scuba Diving before investing in the manuals and possibly equipment. There is nothing worse than spending a whole lot of money to realise that this isn't the sport for you, even if those people are few and far between.

Equally, although it is nice to have a common sport in families and partnerships, if your husband, daughter, friend etc. really isn't interested in Scuba Diving, they won't get out of the courses what you want them to. 

Everyone should try it! Most people love it! But don't force it.

Technical Diving and Sidemount Diving are another aspect of the same thing. We have seen a number of divers coming to Cyprus who just want to scuba dive but because Tech diving and Sidemounting have taken off in such a big way, they are worried about being left behind.

This Diving is NOT for every Diver and if it isn't something that really interests you, then leave it alone. There are plenty of dive sites for recreational diving, and plenty of training courses you can take to maintain your interest and keep learning, so stick with what you enjoy.

2. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR INSTRUCTOR

When we teach Scuba Diving, an instructor will usually brief the dives and the skills on land before getting in the water. Once in the water, we will demonstrate the skills for you so you see how they should be done before you try them yourself.

Listen to the briefings and try to visualise yourself doing what the instructor says. Even mimic the action on land before getting in the water to start building that muscle memory from the beginning. The instructor will also be able to give you tips drawing on his experience of where other students go wrong and paying attention to this will hopefully, prevent you from doing the same thing.

3. RELAX

Dive Students, of all levels, often try and race through new skills in an attempt to get them over and done with.

The problem is that when you rush through a new skill, you do not give yourself enough time to consider what the next action should be and it tends to go a  bit wrong.

When you relax and take your time over completing a new skill, you give your brain time to process what comes next and you are more likely to get it right. And, if the skill is an emergency drill that needs to be completed as fast as possible, such as shut-downs on a twinset, don't worry. As you practice the drill and it becomes muscle memory for you, the speed will come but get the steps correct to begin with.

4. DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP

If you are learning something new and just don't feel like you are "getting it", it can be very frustrating and it is very easy to start to feel like you cannot do it!

The reason we take a course is to learn. If we could already do it, why would we need to pay someone to train us and of course, learning something new will inevitably mean doing something until you can do it right.

People also learn at different paces and in different ways, so a good diving instructor will be able to help you grasp those diving concepts regardless of the kind of learner you are and how long it takes you.

5. ASK QUESTIONS

Again, this comes down to learning something new and the old adage that "there are no stupid questions".

You are paying your instructor to teach you something and so if there is something that you don't understand or you do not know, ask them and they will happily answer any questions you have.

We extend that for our student divers and everyone who leaves Scuba Tech knows that if they ever need information about equipment, training or scuba diving in general, we are always at the end of an email or the telephone.