Useful Links

Evil Phil

Just to start us off

PADI Europe

Irish Underwater Council - these guys have a really good guide to dive sites in Ireland

Suba Dive West

Dalky Scuba Divers

daveg

A list of scubadiving centres in Ireland and facilities availible.

Aquaholics

Scubaduba

Kilkee dive centre

Diving in Florida - some of the best diving in the world

Looe Key dive centre in the Florida Keys. Highly recommended.

Valentia Island dive resort

Cromwelly

Aquaholics - Free carriage anywhere in Ireland, first class service from divers.


National Diving School - Despite the name it's a PADI club based in Malahide.


SportExtreme - Based in Norway I think, very good deals on diving gear, very reasonable carriage costs to Ireland.

I wouldn't recommend buying much in the way of dive gear from any of the shops in Dublin.
Limited range, high prices. Get it cheaper online and spend your money on dives with a good club.

Smiler

Originally posted by Cromwelly


I wouldn't recommend buying much in the way of dive gear from any of the shops in Dublin.
Limited range, high prices. Get it cheaper online and spend your money on dives with a good club.

Yeah its scary how much the Irish shops knock up their prices

I was looking at an Alladin Air Z 02. €696 on scubastore.com
On the Great outdoors wqebsite it's €1260!!!

Crazy money

In the end I went cheaper and for a Suunto, Mosquito. Anyone had any experience of these? As it's on it way now.

Mick L

Dive insurance and dive medicine.
DAN Europe

Some technical courses in Ireland.
IANTD

Peace

Yeah its scary how much the Irish shops knock up their prices

Crazy money man. I buy a lot of my kit from the UK nowadays and have it shipped. Works out a lot cheaper.

Also some gear i dive with isn't available retail in ireland. When i bought my BackPLate and wings (single wing) they came from the US. Then i bought a double wing (OMS) it came from the UK. I got the twinset from firststage diving since if i ever have a problem with the tanks / manifold then i can go straight back to them. The rest of the kit i can sort out myself.

Links:
http://www.diverswarehouse.co.uk
http://www.divingdirectshop.co.uk
http://www.firststagediving.com

Smiler

Check out www.simplyscuba.co.uk
or is it .com

One of em anyway

Peace

www.salutay.com (only liveaboard that operates from ireland...gives tech training also)

www.operationdeadlight.co.uk - i think everyone should read about this. I had never heard of operation deadlight before i read this page. UBoats and lots of them off the irish cast.

http://www.deepimage.co.uk - nice site with sweet pics from the deep wrecks around ireland and the UK.

www.dvdiving.co.uk - TDI/BSAC/PADI facility in Co. Down.

ka

I want to let you know about a new
company set up in Donegal, Ireland called Diveology Ltd www.diveology.com
providing dive charter and marine training.

We hope to bring technical divers out to some of the deeper wrecks off the donegal coast. Also we can cater for all levels of certified divers.

Accomodation is relatively inexpensive at www.corcreggan.com when you mention Diveology.

Have a look at our site and schedule....

Take care & happy diving

Ka:-)

www.diveology.com

Peace

Don't konw what they are like but i found the link so i said i'd post it.

http://www.discoverscuba.net/

Based in Terenure.

AL][EN

http://www.flagshipscuba.com/


for dive gear / training courses (PADI only im afriad)

and alot of dublin divers hang out there so if you sick a message up on the board that your looking for a dive buddie,

i think there's talk of them setting up a dive club tho im not 100% sure

mackjohn

Diver's who were looking for the medical numbers from cft, They are located on the medical form available from the "http://www.scubaireland.com" Here we go.

Dr. Tim O’Neill
The Lodge
Medical Center
Donaghmede
Dublin 13
01-8480033/8470589
Fax 01-8483920

Dr. Peadar O’Kelly
Health Centre,
Wine Street,
Sligo
071 62355


Dr. Patrick Hayes
10 Catherine St,
Waterford,
051-875261 (Surgery)
051 – 851368
051 – 878948 (Fax)


Dr. John Keenan
The Medical Centre,
Comans Park,
Roscommon.
0903-26289


Dr. Kevin Diskin
79 Landsdown Park,
Knocklyon Road,
Templeogue,
Dublin 16
01-4947975
087-2328984

There is also a Medical Diver Doctor in the following Magazine's see
www.divernet.com Diver,
www.e-med.co.uk SportDiver (PADI)

Also has anyone got a list of the landline numbers of The RNLI Stations around Ireland, (Apart from 999), Coastguard, Isle of Man Recompression, Galway etc.
Regards,

Mick L

DiveFitness.com

A site with exercises and stretches for divers. Handy if you suffer from cramps or have trouble reaching valves during a dive.

Peace

I was reading this and thought some of yis might like a look.

Its an expedition that went and dived the Britannica which lies in about 120m in Greece national waters. I've read that recreational divers are no longer allowed to dive her but another expedition went this year ('03) but special legal requirments had to be dealt with and it was only allowed go becuase national geographic + carlton tv were sponsoring it.

Anyway this page deals with the 1998 expedtition which dived the wreck. Theres a dive diary from the team and some facts and figures about the diving.
http://website.lineone.net/%7Ebritannic98/

Cracking read.
"The ship was one the fateful trio of great White Star liners; TITANIC, OLYMPIC and BRITANNIC. "

Also in the Previous Expeditions section they give details about visiting the Lusitania - which for extra bonus points you should already konw that she lies in 93m off the coast of Kinsale.:D

<edit>
I was also ambling about on deepimage.co.uk and found a good article interviewing one of the divers who went on the Britannica project 2003:
http://www.deepimage.co.uk/featured_diver/teresa%20telus/teresa-telus_featureddiver-no5.htm

Peace

Hi,

I was trying to get a bit of study done this afternoon and somehow my web browser found its way onto a red sea liveaboards web page (i swear i couldn't stop it) and it got me thinking about next summer. What about a liveaboard??

Some of you might have seen my post about the Wildcat, well its in the Trip Reports section if you haven't.

I can promise you that a liveaboard is the way-to-go if you want to go for a weeks diving in the red sea. You get a shout in the morning(just about at sunrise which is really cool), you were probably sleeping above deck since its so hot over there is comfortable to sleep under the stunning night sky. No clouds, no light pollution and a freakish amount of shooting stars. You roll into the water and do maybe a 30m wall dive on a reef or maybe the thistlegorm and head up for a nice warming cuppa and a big honkin breakfast!!

The pattern can be repeated as many as 5 dives a day. I seem to recall the doing nearly 22 dives on the last liveaboard run i had in the red sea. Almost every single one of them was outstanding. We even got to swim with a pod of wild dolphins. This wasn't one of those jobs where tourists pay to go swim with dolphins it was just an off chance encounter in the middle of the ocean and the dolphins chose to turn around and swim circles around us!! Awesome experince. Also there was a Hammerhead shark on one of the dives (shark reef) but i didn't get a good look at him.

The cost of a liveaboard might seem a bit steep (varies from boat to boat) but its really really worth it. Plus when you are on the liveaboard everything is already paid for, meals , water , soft drinks . some liveabords include beer but its better deal if you don't and at the end pay for what you drink. I seem to remember bringing something like $150 with me for spending money and i had some left over when i got back to ireland.

Here's a link to a web page that operates a number of liveaboards in hurgada/sharm el sheik
http://www.emperordivers.com

All i can say is that the last time (also the first time) i went on a liveaboard it was by far the best ever holiday i've ever had and went way beyond my expectations.

You don't have to be very qualified at all to go on a liveaboard. My reccomndation would be AOWD but OW is fine as we had an Open Water diver on our liveabord and she immensley ejoyed the week. Also training can e offered onboard usually at extremely competitive rates.

Can ya imagine the craic lads??

AL][EN

I'd be deff interested in this for next summer however im unsure about funds for this event,

put me down for a maybe i'll know by feb2004 what the story is and will i have cash left over to go as im saving for my rescue diver course atm.

Mick L

Sure, why not. Probably not the blue hole on this trip. Wouldn't mind doing the Thistlegorm again

daveg

Boy would I love to do this. Depends on the cash situation tbh. With a family holiday scheduled to be booked for April (flordia) it would be unlikely... but at least I'll get to do some reef diving in the Florida keys again.

Do you have any idea of prices Peace? Do you book a package?

-- Edit - To answer my own question on prices --

http://www.emperordivers.com/liveaboards_schedule.php

Example - Date: 09/05 to 16/05 - Boat - Emp.Theresa - Price €568 -
Price includes:
Shared cabin, diving (min 3 dives/day, last day 2 dives), guide, tanks, weights, fullboard, all softdrinks, tax, local transfers, 6 nights on board, last night on board or hotel, 6 days of diving.

NOT included:
alcohol, diving equipment, flight, visa, Nitrox (FRASER, PEGASUS, FLASH QUEEN, EMPRESS THERESA, GOLDEN ONE).

vibe666

sorry if I'm being niavé, but aren't there a few problems over in that part of the world at the moment?

I know it's supposed to be some of the best diving in the world (and that sounds great, but what about the isreal/palestine thing? I know it's gonna be on a boat well away from all that, but everyone would still have to get to and from the airport.

maybe I'm overreacting because I'm ignorant about a lot of what is going on over there, but I dunno, it sounds like there could be problems.

would be cool though.

Mick L

Well the airport is in Sharm El Sheikh and I guess it was about an hour at most to get to the marina. Could have been less, really can't remember. Anyway, it's not really near Israel/Iraq/Afghanistan. Most of the Sinai pennisula and all of Saudi Arabia is between it and the 'war zones'. I wouldn't worry about that at all.

daveg

The more I think about this the more interested I'm getting. Peace bearing in mind I'll be heading off to the US in April would late August be too late for the trip? Any idea what month next summer you might go? Also would a budget of €1,000 be realistic for flights/liveaboard. How much esxtra would gear be? Do you leave the boat at any stage or is it out on the sea for 7 days?

Peace

Dave,

ould late August be too late for the trip?

August/Early Sept was when i was thinking about anyway so no biggy there. It was the same time as we went previously and believe me its plenty hot over there.

Also would a budget of €1,000 be realistic for flights/liveaboard.

The budget is hard to pin down from the last time we were there. Back then myself and mick were just starting out really and we had lots of equipment purchases to make and training to get done etc etc. If i were to guess i'd so with about 1200-1400 max. I think a reasonable price for a livaboard would be about 800uk per person. So whatever that is exchanged (E1150). that includes flight + transfers, food & softdrinks , and 6 days unlimited diving (realisitcally 4/5 dives per day incliding a night dive)....the 7th day is a dry day to allow for surface interval before the flight home. There are many many livaboards to choose from so prices will vary. Another thing is group discounts apply. So if we got about 10 then maybe a 11th would be free...obviously the price reduction would be pread about and would drop the price by about 70euro.

How much esxtra would gear be?

I don't know how much extra gear would be, to be honest i wouldn't want to rent kit out there. You'd be guaranteed that it hasn't been serviced since 190x. You are always better off with you own kit but if thats not an option then work a deal with a dive centre back here for kit rental. Weights and cyclinders are provided on the boat.

Do you leave the boat at any stage or is it out on the sea for 7 days?

No you don't leave the boat at any stage really.This is one of the best things about the livaboard. They anchor up in sheltered waters shich is sometimes directly above the next mornings dive site. Although they pull into port on the last night and you can go about and do the tourist thing its easier just to get hammered out oif it and celbrate a good weeks diving. We did a trip into the desert which was good fun, but those things can be organised out there on baord the boat.

--edit--
A very good way of seeing whats available and prices is to pick up a copy of Diver magazine...they'll have a whole section for livaboards. Also people would want to put some thought/research into either doing the norther less diver routes or the southern route with all the big names on it.

daveg

You've sold me. If I can afford it (and if it's late August I should be ok) I'll be there. Looks like a need to pick up some gear though. I presume you can hire wetsuits. If I was to invest in a suit it'd be a dry suit (for diving here) and that wouldnt be much good for out there.

Mick L

Good man Dave, that's the spirit.
Phil's been quiet lately...Phil, you up for this?

Peace

Originally posted by daveg
You've sold me. If I can afford it (and if it's late August I should be ok) I'll be there. Looks like a need to pick up some gear though. I presume you can hire wetsuits. If I was to invest in a suit it'd be a dry suit (for diving here) and that wouldnt be much good for out there.

Good to hear mate. Regards the suit both myself and mick bought 5mm full length wet suits for warm waster holidays. You can get em for between 100-120 euro's. I've used mine in Red Sea and Carribean so far. Much better than renting a suit wich has been many times pissed in.....rental wet suits....ewww...flash back of open water dives ... ewww

*I have NEVER pissed in a wet suit and believe i will not in the future.

Evil Phil

Originally posted by Mick L
Good man Dave, that's the spirit.
Phil's been quiet lately...Phil, you up for this?

I'm away in August for a 4 month climbing trip but if its earlier in the year and I can afford it then yeah, why not? I'll be sure to bring plenty of dramamine

Peace

Originally posted by Evil Phil
I'm away in August for a 4 month climbing trip but if its earlier in the year and I can afford it then yeah, why not? I'll be sure to bring plenty of dramamine

You're letting me down a bagfull here phil, a BAGFULL!!

mackjohn

That does sound sound like a very good idea. If someone can post a list of dates that they can make it and the rest agree / disagree to these dates then would love to tag along. Peace since you post it how about you set the dates that will suit you and the rest of us bubble heads fight over which set of dates would be best.

"The Voices in my head have stop talking, now they are singing, and one bastard is out of tune." Mack

AL][EN

After counting the penny's (ahem) cents. It looks like a dive holiday in the red sea it out for me.

I'd love to have done this as ive never had a dive outside of irish waters however there's no way i can make it the cash just isnt there. better that i let you guys know now in advance (unless of course i win the lotto then i'll take you all off to the red sea for a dive my treat )

Peace

Mark Ellyatt has set a new depth record for an open circuit dive with a depth of 311m.

Its up on divernet here....in short a 12mintue descent to 311m and he was back up 6h40m later and had to use a total of 30 cylinders....i believe he carried only 6 at any one given time. The rest were delivered to him by support divers.

Alas, i don't think i'll be dropping to that depth on open circuit anytime soon. If i were doing it i'd be doing it on CCR (rebreather).

<edit>

Mr Ellyatt, a technical instructor at a Phuket dive company

Phuket dive school.....LMAO....Phuket!
</edit>

Peace

the starfish enterprise website.

http://www.starfishenterprise.org/

Has a lot of expedition reports on deep wrecks. Another worthy read.

Peace

www.agir-brokk.com - The kit up here is mainly DIR from what i see. Thats not to say its not good. Some of it looks very like the halcyon (and halcyon make solid gear)!
They are based in Sweden. Shipping takes about a week, once you get past the language barrier and the order is put through (no online ordering facility )
(posted up by Nordicdiver on a different thread)

http://www.deepstop.de/ - Seem to be German. Comprehensive selection of equipment but i haven't scanned the prices. You can almost take it to the bank that they are cheaper than Irish dive operators.
(posted up by Dublinbay on the same different thread)

http://www.aquaholics.org - Free next day delivery to UK AND Ireland. Not to shabby. Had a look at a couple of items and the prices seem fair. They stock OMS and Custom Divers (both solid kit manufacturers) but they don't stock Poseidon (bah).


Carry on.

NordicDiver

www.dirdirect.com Halcyon Products, quick delivery and they have most in stock!

www.irishwrecksonline.net A divers guide to the shipwrecks around Ireland.

NordicDiver

CFT With a new website design and a forum

www.scubaireland.com

Peace

I might rave on about my wrecks but so does this guy... More details on wrecks like Audacious/Empire Heritage/Justicia/Laurentic

http://www.global-exploration.com/northern_ireland.html

Its long, but worth it.

gom

www.irishdivers.com

PADI courses and holidays in Malta

NordicDiver

For us that like wreck

Scubachick

I was in Tenerife in September 04 and dived with these guys:

www.oceandreamsfactory.com


They are a nice crew and will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel. They can also arrange accommodation/ diving packages. Flights from Cork and Dublin.

Borzoi

Just booked for 19th March with these guys:

http://www.blackbeard-cruises.com/

And I can't wait.....

Moanin

www.scubastore.com.

I purchased most of my dive gear from these guys.Very efficient and alot cheaper than Ireland

RogerViking

some great diving to be done here if you like diving on your own on wrecks that are picked clean go to the many dive centers you wont get much wreck diving on the west coast but from malin through to baltimore youl get pleanty on the east of ireland ...these are mostly dived with clubs.

RogerViking

i wouldent use Poseidon dont get me wrong there great regs but ever tried to get a 2mtr hose for one or get them serviced 'properly' here.

il stick to apex :rolleyes:

tof2006

FYI: Friday 6th March 2009, Aughinish Diving Club is hosting a benefit night for the RNLI, in St Mary Immaculate College ( 8pm ): talk about the Marine Species in Ireland by P.Dower.

Admission free. Donation accepted for the RNLI
Poster

Irish Underwater Council

Morning! Continuing the useful link theme - have a look at the new CFT website www.diving.ie

nathan184

I'd like to share some info about websites to buy gear online. I'm new to diving in general but these are the sites that stood out to me over the last few weeks when researching where to buy my gear.

scubastore.com (or "Dive Inn")

• Located in Spain
• Staff are helpful once you get them on the phone but don't rely on the email system on their website.

palanquee.com

• Located in France (website is also in French - but I've been told they are good)

subprof.com/tienda

• Also in Spain
• I don't think their website displays if items are in stock so if you intend to buy from them I recommend contacting them before placing the order to make sure they have it all

apnea.co.uk

• Based on the island of Jersey (UK)
• Focused on freediving/spearfishing
• Not a bad selection of prescription masks/lenses on the website
• They don't seem to have overnight delivery options like the larger websites

tedshredsonfire

Nathan I should have pointed out here as well www.freediveireland.com/shop for freedive or spearfish gear. I dont stock anything really just ordeer from France as I need it but if you are in the sligo area you can try on or look see feel the same gear as I use it for the school. delivery is usually a week or so but you can find out where I live easy enough and hassle me if you have a problem.