Showtime! Roger Smith stands in the Aquanauts booth just prior to the opening of Dive 2010 Oct. 30.
Aquanauts Dive Centre met old friends and many new ones during the just-concluded Dive 2010 show in Birmingham, England that saw more than a half-dozen take their first steps toward becoming PADI instructors and several more leap into technical diving.
Dive 2010 at the NEC, the largest scuba diving exhibition in the United Kingdom, draws divers from around the country looking for their next great dive holiday or change their lives and become a PADI scuba diving instructor. With the U.K. economy slowing down again and job markets wobbling, Aquanauts saw an unprecedented amount of interest in its Diving Instructor Training internship program, with more than 40 people attending Saturday’s 30-minute overview presentation about the Aquanauts program.
Roger Smith with former interns and instructors Meg Smith and Dave Schwiering
Sunday, when attendance at Internship Director Bob James’ seminar typically runs about only 10 people, saw twice as many show up, with two deciding to make the leap and come to Thailand as soon as January. Overall, at least six new friends the Aquanauts team met in the Midlands plan to become new Aquanauts interns over the coming months.
This year marked the fifth annual Dive 20xx show Aquanauts has attended and, as happens every year, it was an opportunity to meet up with former interns now back, usually just temporarily, back in the U.K.
Early Saturday Aquanauts interns Brian Roper and Gary Smith wandered by, followed by Mike Holder, Angie and little Freddy in his stroller. Later, former intern and staff instructor Meg Smith and David Schwiering, just back to the U.K. came by and helped out at the Aquanauts booth for several hours.
Roger Smith poses with former interns Brian Roper, left, and Gary Smith, right.
After several years of doing it, the dive show follows a familiar pattern. But this year the Aquanauts crew got a bit of surprise in the amount of interest in technical diving. This year, the booth placed additional focus on Aquanauts PADI TecRec, TDI and ANDI tech diving courses, which seemed to match the increased interest among divers.
Sunday, in particular, saw many inquires about tech, with Aquanauts getting commitments for Tec Deep 50 and TDI Advanced Wreck courses next month, as well as a Tec Deep Instructor course.
Now just hours away from departing Heathrow for Thailand, the Aquanauts crew is getting a much-needed breather. Organizing the dive show, setting up, staffing and tearing down the booth is hard work. Months of build-up and excitement culminate in a harried two days. But despite the effort it requires, getting out to the U.K. to meet our prospective and former interns face-to-face is always a great journey.
The Party's Over: The Aquanauts booth breaks down into a small pile as another Dive show at the NEC comes to a close.
In case you missed Aquanauts and the special discounts we were offering there, you can still learn more about the program, the center and our technical diving operations online or by contacting us by telephone. Here’s some handy links:
Aquanauts is Pattaya's only British-owned PADI 5-Star Career Development Center. We offer all PADI courses from novice to instructor and run daily diving and snorkeling trips to Pattaya's Near and Far Islands and three shipwrecks.
One only three PADI National Geographic CDCs in all of Thailand, Aquanauts maintains the highest standards, including training all of our instructors ourselves through our renowned
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