Underwater Centre ~ Dive Seychelles

Congratulations to all our PADI students for August, September and October

2011-10-31T08:15:00.002-07:00

Time has flown past and already it is the 31st October!!! Time to say the biggest THANK YOU to all our students who have certified with PADI during the last 3 months .

May you continue to enjoy SCUBA diving and ocassionally sent us a post card of your adventures .

Thank you and '' Bon Plongee'' from all the staff

Congratulations to our July students

2011-07-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

End of July is coming and we have been quite quiet for the month but we still say ''THANK YOU '' to all our students.

Jr OPEN WATER ; Catarina Holst, Rebecca Whant,

OPEN WATER ; John van Zyl, Damon Anderson, Christiane Anderson, Jake Fonseka, Anna Hutton, Ian Hutton

Jr ADVENTURE DIVER; Luzan Robinson, Amalia Herrera

RESCUE DIVER: Christian Beyer, Jens Hammer, Dorry Price, Melissa Sharwood

EFR & 1st AID; Jens Hammer,

ENRICHED AIR -NITROX: Victoria Collins,

PEAK PERFORMANCE BOUYANCY; Luzan Robinson, Amalia Herrera,

BOAT DIVER: Luzan Robinson, Amalia Herrera,

AWARE FISH ID: Luzan Robinson, Amalia Herrera

25 years of service to PADI

2011-07-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Master Instructors, Glynis Sanders, MI 22110 and David Rowat, MI 22109 became PADI Instructors 25 years ago this May and have been listed in the Spring 2011 issue of the PADI Underwater Journal to mark their epic occassion ! .


Glynis & David ,PADI Master Instructors, Owners of Underwater Centre

After their arrival in Seychelles in1985 , the Underwater Centre changed annually till it became a PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre , an Eco Conservation Dive Centre and a Centre of Seychelles excellence awarded several times by the Seychelles Tourism Board . Now based at the BERJAYA Beau Vallon Bay Resort , Glynis continues to be Operations Manager at the Dive Centre whilst David has taken his PhD in Whale Shark Reasearch , is Chairman of Marine Conservation Sociey Seychelles and heads the annual research program into Whale Shark population and migration in Seychelles waters every September and October.

Views of the Dive Centre, Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay

2011-07-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

We have been painting and changing the Dive Centre since last year ........... you can look back on old blogs showing hard working Divemaster trianees painting and doing carpentry work!! So this is what we look like now !!


always looking towards the beach for easy boat access and loading

Happy Birthday to all our Divemaster Trainees and Staff

2011-07-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well that '' was the week that was'' for birthdays . It was amazing that so many staff would have birthdays so close together!!

It started with IDC Staff Instructor Tony, then moved rapidly to Divemaster Trainee Lucie's 21st, followed by Yanick 's 18th, Shelby's 21st, Julia's 22nd and Veroniques 23rd .

Happy Birthday - cake , sweet biscuits , balloons and streamers

Best dive of the week

2011-07-09T05:11:00.000-07:00

During the SE wind season when visibility goes down we get to look closer at all the small stuff.........yes, its oh so cool to see big sharks and rays etc but sometimes the small stuff is so colourful, delicate and amazing .. just take a look at what we have on our reefs:.

Porceline crabs are found on the underside of the anemonies so be very careful if trying to get a photo of these. Remember that the anemonie stings!

The leaf fish is very difficult to find but seems to be territorial so once the Divemasters have found one they can usually find it again. We get several different colours and have seen the purple ,( as shown ) white ( which is most common) , black, yellow and pink Only a few cms long you really have to look closely .

The ghost pipe fish is usually mistaken for floating sea grass so it pays to move slowley and to look very closely at subjects that appear not to be fish...............you never know they actually may be a fish!! This delicate subject was found floating across a coral head. At only 4 cms long it could easily be missed

Lastly was found a coral head with 2
different kinds of lionfish . The black and white juvenile common Indian lionfish is the most common of the species found in the Indian Ocean . Next to it is the orange coloured Zebra dwarf lionfish . Always be careful of the toxic spines found along the length of the spine.A sting from these is a big mistake so keep your hands to yourself and dont touch .

So next time the SE winds are blowing and visability goes down dont every think that there is nothing to see........ its all there .You just have to look!

Dive & Accomodation Packages available

2011-07-04T04:07:00.000-07:00

Underwater Centre is happy to assist with booking packages into large hotels, small hotels, family run guest houses and self catering apartments of which an example is shown below.

* meet at the airport
* return airport transfers in an air conditioned coach
* 6 nights sharing a standard double room on B&B
* 2 x 10 boat dives on tank and weights within the NW Bay of Mahe
* upgrades to longer distance dive sites as avilable

* upgrades to night dives as available
* FREE equipment storage within the Dive Centre
* FREE pre dive collection as required
* all taxes, GST and service charges for above package.

Costs are from a minimum of euro 1090 or euro 545 per person staying in self catering

This is just a sample so please email to a get a personalised quote

1st Whale Shark seem at Grouper Point

2011-07-04T03:57:00.000-07:00

During the months of June , July and August the SE monsoon winds blow causing off shore winds of various strengths . This in turn causes the up welling current of the ocean and cooler waters to appear . With the cooler waters come the plankton and although the visability is reduced during this period the '' up side'' is the arrival of the whale sharks.

surface swimming whale shark and ramora fish

So last week the first shark was seem in the south of Mahe and a few days later our divers at Grouper Point in the north of Mahe had their first sighting . Yesterday a small 3 meter shark was seen in the middle of Beau Vallon Bay . The annual migrations seems to have begun early but always welcome ! The Research Programe into the abundance and migratory patterns of Whale Sharks takes place in September and October. During this period the winds have fallen away allowing the '' spotter'' microlite plane to fly daily , the seas are calmer , clearer, warmer making snorkelling much more confortable for all and the sharks are in greater numbers

Here's hoping that 2011 will be a great season with lots of snorkelling encounters each afternoon!!

Congratulations to all our June students

2011-07-04T03:40:00.000-07:00

The end of June has come and its time to say a big ''THANK YOU'' to all our students

SCUBA DIVER; Khatil Muhannad, Lina Abd El Hai, Wouter Jansen van Vuuren,

OPENWATER DIVER; Justine Cheula, Justin Austin, Simon Cottu, Arik Beiman, Lui Jing Xing, Lanqui Qi, Eric Roby, Narney Roby,Tarjei Nevestveit, nicola Ledsham

ADVANCED OPENWATER DIVER; Georgia French ,

RESCUE DIVER; Julia Rushton, Dani Goldberg, Carley Giosio, Veronique Theriault, Nicola Murray, Shelby Flemming, Harry Clarke, Meaghan McDonald, Rachel Reilly, William Leigh, Zoe Collins, CameronBailey, Amelia Saxby,Lucie Turcotte, Jenny Clendining, Andrew Laboudallon,

DIVEMASTER; Susie Lilly, Stephanie Seltmen, Samantha West, Corinne Alber Chase, David Marcus

ENRICHED AIR (NITROX) : Susie Lilly,

DEEP DIVER; Lynette Ferreira, Susie Lilly, Stephanie Seltmen, Samantha West, Isaac Lengerich

DIVER PROPULSION VEHICLE; Lynette Ferreira,

WRECK DIVER; Stephanie Seltman, Susie Lilly, Corinne Alber Chase, Isaac Lengerich,

New Divemaster trainees get wet !

2011-06-22T00:09:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday afternoon we have a collection of young school children doing various courses form Jr Adventure Diver , Jr Openwater Diver and snorkelling activities.

School Dive Club enjoy Tuesday afternoons

By July 15th all with be certified so only a few more Tuesday afternoons to go

Snorkelling is easy and fun

Jr Openwater class

Visiting Navy during June

2011-06-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

During the first 2 weeks of June we have had 2 visiting Navy ships: the VASCO DA GAMA from Portugal and the HMS Monmouth for UK .

Portuguese Navy

HMS Monmouth

During these visits we select a mixture of wreck sites that are now good artificial reefs , Seychelles granitic rocks and Marine Park protected areas . This visit HMS Monmouth were interested in helping out with any underwater conservation work so we put our heads together with MCSS and came up with a search and recovery for 3 of the VR2 tracking / listening stations . This new project has already shown some vast movements of tagged species around our waters . After diving to 30 meters it was followed with a ''Thank You '' dive at Grouper point.......with white tip sharks and rays seen !!

HMS Monmouth, MCSS and Underwater Centre staff

HELLO to our new Divemaster Interns

2011-06-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

Our Divemaster training course and extended Internship is now very popular. June's intake has 4 trainees signed in for 3 months and 1 local Seychellois who will train for a month or more

Meaghan, Julia, Shelby, Lucie, Veronique

The course always starts with theory and the group are paying attention to the PADI Divemaster DVD! It is now possible to do Divemaster theory via PADI e- learning .......David did this last phase and found it excellent. You can always consider this alternative option for theory for almost all PADI courses .

Watch this blog as we take you on the Divemaster course !!

Our popular 3 Island dive / snorkel day out with beach BBQ

2011-06-10T05:46:00.000-07:00

Another great day out with good dives , great snorkel activities and the most fantastic beaches to visit plus a tasty Creole BBQ

Tony preparing the lunch table

Dives are done on the granitic rocks of Grouper Point on the NW of Mahe Island and south point of Conception Island . Lunch was spent on the beach of Therese Island with fantastic views over to the hills of Mahe

Creole Fish Kebabs

BBQ fish and chicken Creole style is prepared by Tony and crew and there is always more than everyone can eat

After lunch there is time to wander around the islands beaches, snorkel off the shallow reefs or just play water games with the staff as they relaxe for an hour or two before taking the boat back to Beau Vallon Beach

View from Therese Island beach over to Mahe

Divemaster Corrine and Harry relaxe in the water

Bye Bye to leaving Divemaster Interns

2011-06-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Our latest Divemaster Interns from Australia, Great Britain ,and America are packing their bags and will be leaving us over the next few days .

Corrine, Samantha, David, Susie , Stephanie , Dagmar

Joined during their training by David from South Africa and assisted by our German Divemaster Dagmar everyone had a great time helping many students and divers from around the world over the last three months.We wish them safe travels during their ongoing trips to sight see through South Africa or traveling home.

Returning as Whale Shark Research assistants for 2011 season of September and October will be our Divemasters Vanessa, Samantha and Susie so we will see you all again very soon.

Vanessa

Susie

Samantha

Jean Michel Cousteau comes diving with us!

2011-06-10T05:06:00.000-07:00

It was a very happy day to once again welcome world famous conservationist and pioneer diver Jean Michel Cousteau and his wife on a flying visit to Seychelles.....and on a quick dive with Divemasters Jessica and Joshua

We have been fortunate to show them Seychelles granitic sites such as L'Ilot Island and Requin Bank were they have made positive comments about our coral growth and abundant fish life . It was also fortunate that Dr David Rowat , Chairman of Marine Conservation Society Seychelles was at the Dive Centre asthis time and was able to present a copy of his new book on SEYCHELLES WHALE SHARK

Congratulations to all our April & May students

2011-05-26T23:56:00.000-07:00

Its the end of the month and time to catch up on saying a big ''THANK YOU'' to all out PADI students who have done so well during April and May, 2011

SCUBA DIVER; Marie-Josee Roy, Philippe Bouchard, Iris Lienhard,

JR. OPENWATER DIVER; Sofia Smeigh,

OPENWATER DIVER; VeroniqueTheriault, Rachel Reilly, Zoe Collins,Noor Jan-Mohamed, Meaghan McDonald, Emma Wilson, Rick Carbone, Colin Wheeler, Lucie Harter-Turcotte, Jan Hammer, Michela Gualtieri, Lyndsay Rae, Daniela Kramer, Yuliana Angelova, Terry Laporte, Nikolas Socratous, David Burchelle, Furat Al-Murani, Muthuraja Shunmugavel, Iva Angelova,

ADVANCED OPENWATER DIVER; David Smeigh, Grant Parry, Heather Wigley, Montell Kurz, Vasiliki Malakasi, Lucie Harter-Turcotte, Adrian Muszynski

EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONDER (CPR): Andrew Laboudallon, David Marcus, Lucie harter- Turcotte,

RESCUE DIVER; David Marcus,

ENRICHED AIR ( NITROX): Brian Kneafsey, Mark Boll,

Sharkbanks- beautiful!

2011-05-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love the Seychelles.

Recently I spent two weeks diving around Mahe the main island of Seychelles, and was fortunate to find the BEST diveshop on island.

With friendly staff, big boats and calm seas, it was time to spend some bubble time.

First dive of the day, Sharkbanks, with a name like that you expect something special, and it didn't disappoint. A 30 mt dive, and warm waters, we were met at the bottom by a couple of very large marble rays, neither seemed too concerned with us, and just cruised on by, and of course a very large Nurse Shark, just doing her thing.

The yellow striped snapper hung off the top of the rocks schooling, and just above was a big school of Barracuda. The odd thing with Barracuda, is you never really see them move, but they are always there just out of site, I especially liked the one who had a huge hook still lodged in his mouth.

We spent a lot of time poking around looking under the rocks, so much to see, I found a beautiful turtle having a wee sleep, and the biggest lobster.

The corals here are really special, and very colourful, with lots of reef fish shilling out, though everything seems a little bigger at this depth.

At the end of the dive, during our safety stop, a huge school of Jacks came through, there were so many they seemed to go on for ever. Thank you Tony, a wonderful dive!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR MARCH GRADUATES

2011-04-03T04:54:00.000-07:00

March started slowly but we are pleased to congratulate all those who have received PADI certification this month .

JR OPENWATER DIVER; Amalia Herrera, Luzan Robinson.

OPENWATER DIVER; Charles Germain, Georgina French, Adrien Froidure, Charlotte Saint-Paul, Gabor Gyulai, Casey Turner, Grant Pary, Heather Wigley,

ADVANCED OPENWATER DIVER; Agnieska Brooks, Patrick McMahon,

RESCUE DIVER; Stephanie Seltman, Lorinne Chase

ENRICHED AIR NITROX; David Paddis, Vanessa Scott, Mark Bol, Hanna Kowalizyk

DIGITAL UNDERWATER PHOTO; Ryan Morse

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR FEBRUARY STUDENTS

2011-03-05T00:19:00.000-08:00

Well February has come and gone and we have a few students that we wish to congratulate :

SCUBA DIVER : Benjamin Seibert,

OPEN WATER DIVER: Peter Dobinson, Andrew Overbye, William Weniger, Patrick McMahon, Alix Jackson, Robin Sink, Tousef Mhammedi, Deon Van Heerden, Helen Burrow, Bernhard Vogt, Alexandr Ivashchenko, Marie Nickell,

ADVANCED OPENWATER DIVER: Barbara Koeberle-Jandl, Corina Spitzer, Stefan Palmer, Kerry Feely, Juan Pantoja,

EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONDER: Fransesca Beresford,

RESCUE DIVER: Phillip MacEachron, Ashleigh Felice, Emily Shelton, Willem Costigan-Jones, Andrew Overbye,

DIVEMASTER : Hanna Kowalizyk, Vanessa Scott, Tristan Wambold, Mark Bol, Leon Flowerdrew, Brian Kneafsey

ENRICHED AIR NITROX : Bernd Froese,

UNDERWATER NAVIGATOR: Lynette Ferreira,

All the Staff and Divemasters wish you Happy ansd Safe diving .

Best Dive of the Week

2011-03-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

There are always dives that are memorable and BRISSAIRE ROCKS is one of those!!

A selection of White Tip and Black Tip sharks with both Sting Rays and Eagle rays is always amazing !!

Then add Turtle and Napolean Wrass and Dreams do come true!!!

Long Distance dive sites outside of Beau Vallon Bay that are Seychelles Granite Rocks attract lots of pelagic fish as they pass between the islands of Praslin and Mahe so every dive is full of expectaton. Max 18 meters so enjoyable by everyone

Next door is the deeper site of Dragons Teeth that can range from 27 meters up to the surface and when no current is present both make fantastic snorkel sites as well.

Three Island Day trips with beach BBQ very popular

2011-02-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

We have been very lucky with spells of great weather allowing us to vist three islands in one day for diving / snorkelling and beach BBQ

First dive / snorkel is at Grouper Point on Mahe Island followed by a trip across the gap to Conception Island. Diving / snorkelling the south point of this Island is always rewarding and visability has been the best ever for January!! Then its off to Therese Island for the beach BBQ with a Creole twist.......lots of fish , chicken and local style salads

On days when taking the boats out of the West of Mahe has not been so good we have taken trips to St Anne's Marine National Park.

Here, during the day we can visit Cerf Island, snorkel around St Anne's and Moyenne Islands and have lunch on Round Island . Traveling from the East coast is an easy departure from Marine Charter and only about 25 minutes by boat . It seems to be a favourite for the new Divemaster trainees with regular requests to be on board every Friday !!

Good-bye to Louise

2011-02-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

Louise has been with us for 6 months and has trained from Advanced Openwater Diver to Divemaster and Divemaster DSD leadership

. During her time with us she has assisted with many course , beach BBQ's, snorkelling trips , childrens training classes and enviromental dives and snorkel trip .

She returns back to the UK with the intent of starting her PhD in Phsycology.......we all wish her well with her endevours and studies in 2011. Hopefully we will see her back again some time soon.......... she promised to show her Dad the beautiful Seychelles islands and he never managed a visit this time round . Such a good excuse Louise!
Dont get too cold in 10.C England.

Congratulations to all our January Students

2011-02-21T06:52:00.000-08:00

Well done to all our January student:

Jr Openwater Diver: Emil Kraus

Openwater Diver: Andrew Bruce,Dan Chernett, DagAndre Leireng, Trude Johnsen, Michael Mason,

Advanced Openwater Diver: Andrew Laboudallon,

Underwater Navigator: Lynette Ferreira

Divemaster DSD leadership : Joshua Mathias, Robert Howard, Dave Wilson, Louise Jenkins

Happy New Year to all our Divemaster Interns

2011-02-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

Our current PADI Divemaster trainees come from all over the wolrd including Mark from Australia, Vanessa and Trsitran from USA

Brain from UK , Leon from Ireland and Hanna from Sweden . They bring with then a variety of life experiences ranging from medical care, tree surgery, architecture , engineering and so much more!! Langauges are also varied and mulitiple from English, German, Swedish and Dutch. ..absolutely fantastic.

Training is progressing well and soon they will be fully fledges DM's

Merry Christmas 2010 and Happy New Year 2011

2011-02-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

All the Staff at Underwater Centre plus all our new PADI DiveMaster Interns wish all our divers, snorkellers , students and regular visitors a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year of 2011.

It is the ONLY time that Underwater Centre will be closed ..........December 25th and Janauary 1st!

We trust everyone had a great party just like us!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR DECEMBER STUDENTS

2011-01-21T02:37:00.000-08:00

Well done to all our December PADI students :

Jr OPENWATER DIVER: Alexander Wassermann,

ADVANCED OPENWATER DIVER: Eric Chen,

PEAK PERFORMANCE BUOYANCY: Charlotte Pryor,

DEEP DIVER: Steven Roseline,

SEARCH & RECOVERY DIVER: Dave Wilson,Steven Roseline, Brandon Michaels

DIVER PROPULSION VEHICLE: Charlotte Pryor,

UNDERWATER NAVIGATOR: Steven Roseline,

WRECK DIVER: Steven Roseline, Branden Michaels,

ENRICHED AIR - NITROX: Ryan Richards

Congratulations to all November students

2011-01-21T02:26:00.000-08:00

Well done to all our November students :

OPEN WATER DIVER: Guillaume Lecole, Lloyd Cantillon, Stuart Hale,Juan Pantoja, Richard Graham, Sean France, Nick Womack, Dianora Corsini, Mathew Robbens, Justin Daugherty,

ADVANCED OPENWATER DIVER: Souhila Berkat, Amanda Peddles, Gareth Netherwood, Scott L:ynd

RESCUE DIVER: Sarah Leadbeater, Hanna Kowalczyk, Tristran Wambold, Leon Flowerdew, Mark Bol, Tino Koster, Katie Angus, darragh O'Flaherty,Monika Raschle, Brian Kneafsey, Vanessa Scott, Yannick Vidot, Steven Roseline,

DIVEMASTER: Fabrice Bonnal, Robert Howard, Dave Wilson, Josh Mathias, Louise Jenkins, Hernan Borja,

DEEP DIVER: Brandon Michaels,

DIGITAL U/W PHOTO: Steven Roseline,

ENRICHED AIR-NITROX: Dave Wilson, Robert Howard,

Congratulations to all our October students

2010-11-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to all our October students :

SCUBA Diver: Natalie Parry, Llyod Cantillon, Sean France,

Openwater Diver: Jason Hopp, Colette Delavenn, Nico Hendygk, Teariki Denis, Nicolas Kostrzewa, Anthony Bridgett, Christian Keay, Jonathan Keay, Gerry Keay, Richard Keay, Justin Daugherty,

Advanced Openwater Diver: Carlos Figueroa, Sarah Timmermans, Branden Michaels, Nicolas Kostrzewa, Romain Deteve,

Emergency First Responder:Tarry Dicks, Steven Roseline, Yannich vidot Gilles Haudrechy, Vanesia Beaudouin,

Whale Shark Specialty: Stephan Popp, Jurgen , Jacqeline Talbot,

Naturalist Diver: Michael Wolinsky,

Deep Diver Steven Washington,

Congratulations to all our September students

2010-10-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

Bon Plonge and well done to all our September graduates :

Scuba Diver: Buddy Kuzen,

Open Water Diver: Klaus Fritzsche,Isaac Lengerich, Andrew Whitehead, Borger Oestby, Per Spigseth, Andrew Wolinsky, Mark Bol, Vanessa Scott, Robert Heiderer, Rosanna Gawthrop, Monica Raschle.

Advanced Openwater Diver : Ryan Morse, Leonie Becker, Issac Lengerich, Michael Wolinsky,

Emergency First Responder: Louise Jenkins ,

Rescue Diver: Louise Jenkins, David, Priddis,

Deep Diver : Robert Vening,

Enriched Air NITROX: Robert Vening, Isaac Lengerich,

Drift Diver: Patrick Schmoll, Katharina Tataruch,

Delayed SMB: Partick Schmoll, Katharina Tataruch

BEST DIVE OF THE WEEK

2010-09-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

We will be posting what we think is the best dive of the week..............it may be due to great fish activity , good corals or intertesting and rare sightings!!. It has beed an exceptionally long SE monsoon with water tempersture staying below 26.C and water remaining heavy with plankton causing lower visbility . This means looking towards the macro side of SCUBA. This week we had a superb shoal of Barbel eels on Dredger Wreck all tightly packed together and a rare Indian Ocean Walkman on the Aquarium

Indian Ocean Walkman, Scorpian Fish


Distinctive orange flash on the side fins

GOOD BYE to our 3 Divemasters

2010-09-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

The end of the three month Divemaster Course with Internship is here and we must say '' good- bye '' to Jarron as he heads back to Australia. ....... but not after a great beach Bar B Q with bonfire night!!

Jarron, Alex and Lee

Jarron has arrived safely back home in Australia and is very much aware of the drop in temperature . Lee will be joining GVI on Mahe as the latest STAFF member and Alex is off to Aplhonse Island to check out the bone fishing that the island is famous for ........ we wish them all well in their future careers and hope our paths will cross again.

Maintenance at the Dive Centre continues

2010-09-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

How many Divemasters does it take to rebind a dive boat ladder?? If you are not sure just take a look below!!

The last of our 4 boats in the REEF DIVER fleet will soon be out of the ship yard after new engines , new canopy, painting and antifouling so the boys are busy with the final touches to prepare her for service in a day or two.

Our other Divemasters are still busy painting but and end is in sight !! Carpenters are putting in the last of the nails and after a good paint job we should be ready to move in this weekend!!! We cant wait!

New T Shirt design is launched !

2010-09-08T04:39:00.000-07:00

The latest T shirt design has been cleverly completed by Instructor Sabrina

''BETTER A BAD DAY IN THE WATER THAN A GOOD DAY IN THE OFFICE'' is certainly true for all the staff of Underwater Centre. From left to right meet:
Nigel ( Skipper), Michael ( Divemaster / Skipper) , Yannick ( work attachment from Maritime college), Mervin ( Skipper), Sabrina ( Master SCUBA Diver Trainer), Tony IDC Staff Instructor and our new arival, Jessica ( Divemaster)

Congratulations to all our Students for August 2010

2010-09-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Congratulations are due once again to al the following students:

Junior Openwater Diver : Sue Ellen Cheedle,

Openwater Divers: Laura Lockher , Benjamin Thurston, Jennifer Cook, Caroline Cheedle, Alex Murray, Jenny Murray, Ryan Morse, Andrew Laboudallon, Emma Forman, Maria Van Geldorp, Laura Vitier, Brandon Michaels .

Advanced Openwater : Benjamin Thurston, Richard Abbott, Ryan Richards, Kelsey Rush, Jennifer Cook, Adham Khoury, Louise Jenkins

Emergenct First Responder : Laura Sennett , Christian Lesperance, Margaret Mothe,

Rescue Diver : Dave Wilson, Katarzyna Zdaniewicz, Monica Sykopetritis, Joshua Mathias, Jacqui Lane, Katharina Tontsch, Nicky Williams, Sylvie Berthelot, Robert Howard, Silvia Bachmann, Samantha Vareltzis,

Enriched Air ( NITROX) : Christopher Gummo, Kelsey Rush, Andrew Rush, Richard Abbott, Brandon Michaels,

Wreck Diver: Richard Abbott,

Deep Diver : Richard Abbott,

Peak Performance Buoyancy : Richard Abbott,

Whale Shark season begins !!

2010-08-31T09:08:00.000-07:00

Every year Team members form MCSS and Underwater Centre have a start of season Bar B Q. to help get to know each other and make friends.So this year went with a big bang as Dr Rowat cooked up the first of several season big Bar B Q's

MCSS Team members this year stretch from East to West including America, Australia , England, Holland, South Africa. ....7 girls and 5 boys .

Underwater Staff decides to let their hair down......Senior Staff Tony , Sabrina and '' CORAL HEAD'' Michael getting in the mood..

Eventually the evening came to a close and it was time to go home '' Seychelles style ''..............just how many can you get into 4 x 4 pick up?

Pilots have successfully done two flights with both days encounters registering 10 - 13 whale shark encounters of fish over 8 meters in length ...............it looks as if 2010 will be a good season.

Rescue Diver Weekend

2010-08-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

IDC Staff Instructor Tony loves doing Rescue Courses and enjoys talking lots of photos of the whole weekend training .............and this weekend was no exception .

Divemaster Alex is this victim and is being towed back to shore

Follow the course from Outdoor Classroom , taking Exams, pre dive preperation and course excersise........its serious fun but a great course!

Divemaster Jarron assists with in water ventilation practice

Divemaster Lee is assisting with the course and managed to have problems on multiple occassions. It seems Monica exjoyed the CPR excercises!

Finally everyone had individually rescued or assisted in a rescue of at least two victims. We need to congratulate all candidates on a great job well done and to all the Divemasters for assisting so well and in having so many repeated priblems!!! Well done Divemasters

New Book on WHALE SHARKS of Seychelles arrives!

2010-08-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

At last the boxes have arrived from the UK with the newest book on Whale Sharks .............written by Dr David Rowat, Chairman of MCSS.

The book has fantastic photos of sharks and snorkelling encounters as well as up to date information on research into these magnificent creatures.

Recommended retail price is Seychelles Rupees 800 with an introductory '' SPECIAL'' offer of the first 50 copies sold before end of October at SR700 ....copies are already moving so dont wait. Want to order by e mail. No problem!! Just get in touch

New member of Staff for Underwater Centre

2010-08-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

A new Divemaster for Underwater Centre is Jessica Fonseka . Jessica has spent much of her time between UK and Seychelles and has now opted to live full time on Mahe. .

She started her diving career with Underwater Centre who trained her as an Openwater Diver several years ago and started her on the path to professional SCUBA diving certifications. Jessica has already put her name forward for the next IDC in February 2011 so we will all be working hard towards a successfull IDC / IE . Welcome to the Dive Team, Jessica

Dive Centre maintenance...can be a laugh!

2010-08-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Dive Centres get quiet......... not as hectic and just a few divers and courses so lots of oppertunity to do maintenance and repairs.

Sounds a bit boring but actaually every event can be a laugh! Washing the bus '' Mervin style'' is the first time the roof of the bus has been so clean!! ......... thank goodness he is of very slight build although very strong

Maritime Training Students , Andrew ( aka RAMBO) and newest trainee Yannick attack the concrete bench with hammer and jissel.......... bits fly about and dust everywere but the end job is perfect. Well done to them both.

Professional carpenters are employed to completely change the Retail display area of the shop................lots of cupboards, shelves and hanging spaces to display all kinds of sales items. ..... wetsuits, lycra suits, masks, snorkels, fins, boots, clips, cameras, fish ID books as well as the new Whale Shark book from MCSS. Watch this space for the final and finnished interior design of Underwater Centre

We cant leave out the Dive Masters who are very busy changing old lockers into new '' DAY LOCKERS'' for boat divers.............never know were to put your towel, beach shoes , dry clothes????.......well now you do.

Changes are going on continuously ......... many of them small but all make a big difference to the Dive Centre image. We hope you will enjoy when next you visit.

Jeff revisits Underwater Centre as aka J Bond 007

2010-08-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Jeff has visited us for over 15 years and we just fell in love with his new wetsuit!! James Bond 007 was in town ..... and what fun we all had both above and below water . maybe it was the fancy dress wet suit that did it but Jeff's first dive was also the first WHALE SHARK encounter of the season with all the divers managing a 10 minute swim with the giant of the sea. Since then there has been 2 whale sharks and 2 manta rays seen so we are hoping for a great season

Whale sharks must be in season all around as HMS Northumberland had an encounter out in deep water and actually managed to do a short swim along side the ship!!

Seychelles Maretine Training work attachment student gets certified

2010-08-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

Andrew Laboudallon has been on work attatchment from the MTC college for several months and has assisted with all kinds of jobs around the Dive Centre and on the Dive boats so finally the day came for him to graduate as a PADI Openwater Diver.

Hopefully he will continue with this SCUBA training in the next student year of 2011.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JULY STUDENTS

2010-08-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO JULY STUDENTS.....well done and happy diving

MASTER SEAL TEAM: Amalia Gru,

SCUBA DIVER: Antoine Geron, Gordon Cockburn,

JR OPEN WATER DIVER: William Robins, Ole Reyer, Calandra Tapp, Samuel Tapp, Lizzie Cole

OPEN WATER DIVER: Fazila Talati, James McGill, Keiran James, Carl McGowan, Anthony Carr, Philip Mayo, Andrew Hill, Andrew Peasegood, Jacqui Lane,Jurien Didon, Steven Washington, Carl Spalin,
Sarah Flury, Max Reyer, Anne Reyer, Adham Khoury, Ulf Reyer,

ADVANCED OPEN WATER: Christopher Gummo, Steven Washington, Jason Smith,

EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONDER; George Cole,

RESCUE DIVER: Lynette Ferreira, George Cole, Allison Herman,

ENRICHED AIR DIVER (NITROX): Jared Beck, Hernan Borja, Martin Whiteley, Victoria Cole, Lee cassidy, Alex Filous, Jarron Cole,

NIGHT DIVER; Philip Hanton, Martin Whiteley, Hernan Borja, Will Jackson,

WRECK DIVER; Hernan Borja,

UNDERWATER NAVIGATOR; Hernon Borja,

DIGITAL U/W PHOTOGRAPHER ; Steven Washington, Richard Abbott, Jason Smith

MASTER SCUBA DIVER : Thomas Conely,

DIVEMASTER; Jarron Cole, Lee Cassidy, Alex filous.

DIVEMASTERS doing a great job

2010-08-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

Our newest Divemaster Trainees have been doing a great deal of study and have managed to pass all exams with flying colours.

They then went on to practical training going diving with certified divers and assisting Instructors with all kinds of PADI courses and before long were fully qualified DIVEMASTERS.

Training now continues with INTERSHIP till mid September before they leave us for employment withing the diving industry.

RFA DILIGENCE revisits SEYCHELLES

2010-08-12T07:53:00.001-07:00

It was with great pleasure that Underwater Centre welcomed crew of RFA DILIGENCE on a repeat visit to Seychelles

Old friends dives regularly and completed the NIGHT DIVER SPECIALTY course with new crew members doing the PADI Openwater Diver course and several happy divers just going diving

The weather was good , the divers enjoying all the dives and many happy faces were seen after graduation.

We wish everyone on board safe sailing and hope to see you all again very soon

Congratulations to all our students for June 2010

2010-07-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Congratulationa to all out students.............well done!!!!

Open Water Diver: Richard Abbott, Mark Sharples, Laurence Poulton, David Coppock, Jamie Bowden, Steven Washington

Advanced Open Water Diver: Sylvain Oliveira, Shaun Cubitt

Rescue Diver : Hernan Borja, Thomas Conley, Jan Moser, Jared Beck

Peak Performance Buoyancy : Hernan Borja,

Digital UW Photographer : Edward Bridge, Charlotte Pryor, Thomas Conely,

Search & Recovery Diver: Thomas Conley,

Enriched Air NITROX : Thomas Conely,

Deep Diver: Hernan Borja,

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Welcome to HMS NORTHUMBERLAND

2010-07-02T08:02:00.001-07:00

Mid June saw the arrival of the HMS NORTHUMBERLAND and we were pleased to help with diving for certified divers and courses for beginners.

2 very important people ........the Captain and the Chef

Several of our dive sites were visited , including SHARK BANK, GROUPER and BAY TERNAY MARINE PARK

Group photo of divers, students and Underwater Centre staff

The WHITE ENSIGEN flag was proudly dispalyed at the Dive Centre and then taken underwater for a group photo of all assembled ships divers

Since leaving Seychelles the ship reports that they have seen several WHALE SHARKS in a large group that counted over 30 ! This is great news as these sharks will soon be arriving in Seychelles waters for the September and October Marine Conservation Society research program

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Good Bye to Charlotte and Edward and Hello to Alex, Jarron and Lee

2010-07-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

June was the change over month of our Divemaster trainees. We said goodbye to Charlotte and Edward .......to be missed greatly ...........and said hello to Alex , Jarron and Lee who will be with us for 3 months doing their full training and internship program.

New Divemaster Trainees Lee, Alex and Jarron

What a mix of students..........Lee is from the UK, Jarron from Australia and Alex from the USA and already they are a great hit with the staff and clients!!

Congratulations to all out students for May 2010

2010-05-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

It is the end of the month and time to congratulate all of our students who have all worked so hard !!

Scuba Diver: Gustavo Manso, Kevin Franks, Susanne Boretsky,

Openwater Diver: Christopher Gummo, Benjamin Nelson II, Suzanne Krauss, Paul Prokopovich, Mylene Gallaud, Daniel Holzinger, Kevin Franks, Gustavo Manso

Advanced Openwater Diver: Tracy Young, Thomas Conley, Marjorie Odier,

Emergency First Responder: Hernan Borja, Thomas Conley, Jared Beck,

Rescue Diver: Elizabeth Harris, Michael Muller, Tai Higgo, Alex Filous, Iona McDonald, Lee Cassidy Jarron Cole

Enriched Air Nitrox Pedro M Pires da Cruz, Christina Sundelin, Charlotte Pryor, Norbert Purcell,

Deep Diver: Edward Bridge, Christina Sundelin,Seppo Nurmi, Thomas Conley

Wreck Diver Thomas Conley, Edward Bridge, Peter Clark, Christina Sundelin, Seppo Nurmi

PADI Project Aware: Christina Sundelin,

Boat Diver: Christina Sundelin,

Digital Underwater Photographer : Christina Sundelin,

Master Scuba Diver : Christina Sundelin, Seppo Nurmi

Divemaster Discover Scuba Diver Leadership : Charlotte Pryor

Master Scuba Diver Trainer: Sabrina Didon

End of Divemaster Internship is coming soon!

2010-05-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

Our 3 Divemasters, Charlotte, Edward and Christina are leaving us soon and its been a busy time for all 3!!

Congratulations to Charlotte for completing her Divemaster Leadership program and she is now able to teach DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING courses . She has been doing very well with lots of compliments coming from satisfied clients.

Before she leaves , Charlotte will also have completed several specialty courses to include Nitrox and Diver Propulsion Vehicle . .... so no surprise she is smilling . Instructors Tony and Sabrina are very happy as well as they are in demand for all the 14 specialties that they can now teach

Congratulations to Edward who seems to have found a neich in assisting with childrens courses as seen by the big smiles of our latest PADI SEAL Team student Amalia . He is also underway with several specialty courses that have included the deeper wreck of the Aldaberan at 40 meters

Congratulations to Stina who has left Seychelles as a Divemaster and Master SCUBA Diver with her 6 specialties . As a parting surprise we have a visit from the Swedish Navy so dive briefings were all in Swedish for these special boat dives. Stinas leaving party was a simple but fun affair...........a Seychelles Turtle farewell ''card'', balloons and lots of cake!!. Bye Bye, Stina and safe diving .

Stina and Dive Centre team &.Swedish Navy dive group

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SHARK BANK.............always a great dive!!

2010-05-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

SHARK BANK.............always a great dive!! even though you rarely see sharks .

What is often seen are eagle rays , large sting rays that allow you to get up close and personal . Photos of eyes and breathing holes are so detailed .Unusual sightsings of mixed species of rays really makes for fantastic photos. Some of the eagle rays shoals can have over 20 rays. some of the large sting rays are estimated to be over 3 meters across.........absolutely huge!!

Just look at some of the photos of our Rays . Enjoy.

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Congratulations to our new DIVEMASTERS

2010-05-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our new DIVEMASTERS Charlotte Pryor and Edward Bridge . Both joined us on 19th March, 2010 and have worked hard at passing all theory exams with total scores over 90%.

Practical application of this theory is done in several different areas giving Divemaster Trainees experience in both Confined and Openwater with students plus continuing education courses that include Advanced Openwater Diver, Rescue Diver or Specialty dives as well as guiding certified divers on our boat dives

Instructor Sabrina Dodin is the educational mentor for both Charlotte and Edward

The third section to training is Watermanship and Stamina that includes swimming, snorkelling, floating, 20 dive skills, Rescue evaluations to include assembling Emergency Action Plans and completing inwater stress tests , mapmaking, delivering quality pre Dive Briefs and Boat Safety Briefs..................and of course having as much fun and laughter as possible along the way!

So well done guys................now enjoy the Internship and gain as much practical experince as possible !!

Divemasters Edward and Christina with boat skipper Mervin

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Special wedding day couple Melita & Goran

2010-05-05T06:04:00.000-07:00

Special wedding day couple Melita & Goran decided to do the morning twin tank dive from 09.30 till 13.30 on 4th May , 2010 ..the same day they had planned their wedding !! Seychelles is very popular for couples wishing to have a tropical wedding but I dont think we have ever had such a relaxed couple !!!. The dive boats left for Grouper Point and Bay Ternay Marine Park and true to schedule did not return till 13.30

With only 2 hours left before the ceremony at 15.30 they certainly did a fast change from wet suit , mask and fins to white outfits and flowers.
All the staff at Underwater Centre wish them a very long life full of joy , happiness and lots of great dives in the future .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STINA !!! 04-05-10

2010-05-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

The 4th of May was a big day for Stina!! As a Divemaster intern she has been getting lots of practice both assisting PADI Instructors teaching PADI courses and escorting dives for certified divers. But the 4th May , 2010 was a big day for her in more ways than one!

Happy Birthday Christina from all at Underwater Centre ...........but special day or not there is always lots of work to do and time to experiment with '' how many tanks can I carry in one go??''

So dont try this at home , folks!!! its not as easy as she makes out!! We estimate Stina carried 40Kgs on this trip and still she smiled.................... hopefully the boat skipper won' t think of any more special birthday activities to be done .

Congratulations for April 2010

2010-05-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all our students ..............well done!!!

PADI Seal & Master Seal Team: Marco Garcia

Scuba Diver: Christophe Cousin, Fraser Downer,

Junior Openwater: Aaron Mohnes
Openwater Divers: Peter Clark,Nathan Tuke,Morgan Lonergan,Benjamin Stitt, Mathew Steed, Mary Steed,Erick Chen, Xiao Song Zhang, Sam Mullane, Josh Scanlon, Andrew White, Robin Cleave, Nathan Street, Thomas Wilson, Michael Hudson, Stephen Britton, Scott Baker, Mark Dungey, Andrew Stewart, Paul Thomas, Phillip Mountstephens,

Advanced Diver: John Ellis- Martin, Dan Bartlett , Benjamin Jackson-Buttle, Peter Clark,

EFR Primary & Secondary Care:Natacha Ardouin, Randolphe Dupont, Helmut Von Michaelis ,Claire Knight

EFR Care for Children: Basil Larue

Rescue Diver: Simon Brooks, Melanie Scott, Bo Gonggryp, Nicholas Baechtiger, Molly Gorman,

Search & Recovery: Nicholas Heywood

Peak Performance Buoyancy: Claire Knight

Aldabaran wreck chosen as best dive for Qatar Dive Club

2010-04-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

Divers from the Qatar Dive Club arrived to sample lots of Seychelles Dive sites and chose Aldabaran Wreck, Shark Bank and Brissaire as their favourite three. In one week Brain did 20 dives , followed closely by Stewart and Mark with 16 and 14 dives each . We do offer three dives a day with 2 each morning and 1 each afternoon and with a night dive included the numbers soon mounted up.

The Aldabaran Wreck is an artificial reef sunk only 14 months ago but the marine life and coral crowth is now quite wonderful.
                                                                    This wreck is certainly our deepest dive site with the tops of the mast at 28 meters and the sandy bottom at 41 meters so it is for experienced divers only who have good air consumption and use dive computers.

We like to use this site as the deepest dive of the PADI deep diver specialty as it is close to shore , often without current and an ideally focused site .

We can also extend bottom times by running a 28% NITROX mix keeping us within     our 1.4 oxygen limits.

Shoals of bat fish, fusiliers   and many small grey peppered morey ells can be seen immediately you reach the wreck.

White Gorgonian fan coral has taken over the mast and rails and as an artificial dive site it is doing extremely well!

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LUNCH BREAK FOR DIVEMASTER INTERNS

2010-04-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

Divemaster trainees , Charlotte Pryor and Edward Bridge have been buisy completing all required theory and practical application exercises towards their DIVEMASTER certification. They have been part of the large Openwater Diver training classes over the last few days and have been part of the '' GIVE A HUG TO YOUR DIVE INSTRUCTOR '' photos ..............a bit like give an apple to your teacher !!

Getting time off duty from a visiting war ship is never easy and so classes are often split over several days with students coming and going at different intervals. Hats off to the staff who managed to remember who everyone was and even everyones names!! Photos are taken prior to the confined water training sessions were all dive skills have to be learned before completing the 4 sea dives needed for certification

But it's not all hard work and along with Divemaster intern Christina Sundelin and Instructor Sabrina Dodin they have enjoyed a heavenly lunch break on SECRET BEACH during a full day trip

Dive Boats leave BERJAYA Beau Vallon Bay Resort in the morning for 2 dives and arrive in Anse Duree around 1pm for a selection from the cold buffet with various juices and soft drinks .

Afternoons are spent either sleeping, playing water games , snorkelling or doing a third dive of the day!

Its a great time for staff to relax as well ..........warm , clear water can be so inviting!

Return to the Dive Centre is around 4pm so dives and snorkel trips for the next day can be booked.

Weather conditions during March and April have been superb with a few days of cloud and rain but long days of sun and warm water have allowed us to do 4 day trips over the last 10 days .

HMS CHATHAM arrives in PORT VICTORIA

2010-04-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

HMS CHATHAM has visited Seychelles several times in the past and this visit was exceptional

View of HMS Chatham in Port Victoria taken from the hill of Bel Air

Dives included a visit to SHARK BANK, BRISSAIRE ROCKS, L'ILOT Island, Grouper Point, and the ENNERDALE wreck, a Royal Auxulliary Fleet tanker that hit uncharted rocks in1970 .

The boys could not resist flying the WHITE Ensign flag on this dive!!!!. Several crew members completed PADI OPENWATER and ADVANCED OPENWATER courses during a very short visit by using the new PADI e- learning system. This on-line course allows each student to complete all course theory and exams using their ''home'' computer so only requiring time to learn all water skills and complete 4 certification dives whilst in the Seychelles.We wish them safe and enjoyable diving at future destinations as they petrol the Indian Ocean.

From 19th to 23rd April 2 full day excursions were done with picnic lunch stops taken on ''SECRET BEACH'' of Anse Duree. This ideal spot offers a beautiful sandy beach, very welcome shaded areas and a fresh water stream and small pond. Although many elected to snooze on the beach for most of the afternoon some also went for a third dive of the day.

14 students completed Openwater diver certification with Instructor Sabrina Dodin and 3 completed their Advanced Openwater training with IDC Staff Instructor Tony Marie- Jeanne

Dive group before descending 30 meters to the Ennerdale wreck

A Safety Stop at 5 meters for 3 minutes is required after a deep dive

A safe return to the Dive Centre at BERJAYA BEAU VALLON BAY RESORT

Bon Voyage and Bon Plongee

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HELLAS DIVERS visit from FG LIMNOS

2010-04-07T07:50:00.000-07:00

Underwater Centre- Dive Seychelles is pleased to welcome our third visiting Greek warship into Port Victoria and to take divers from the HELLAS DIVERS group of Navy trained Divers

Hellas Divers on Easter Monday with only a 2 day stop in Port Victoria

We visited L'Ilot Island to show the granitic rock formations that are typical of Seychelles Mahe Island . At this site the rocks are surrounderd by shoals of snapper, bream, big eye, pygmi batfish, fusselier, stripped seargeant major 's and more. Corals encrust onto the rocks and in possible current areas there is a garden of soft tree and fan corals. At a depth of 18 meters max it is a good site for all certified divers

HAPPY EASTER from all at UNDERWATER CENTRE

2010-04-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

Easter weekend as fantastic............. perfect weather with blue skies, calm warm seas and great visibility so we did as many longer distance boat dive sites as possible!!.......almost all of the top 10 dive sites.

Our top 10 include Brissaire Rocks and the neighbouring rocks of Dragons Teeth. Always several shoals of fish and passing pelagics to keep everyone interested including the '' must see a shark'' boys and girls.

The wreck of the ENNERDALE , a British Royal Auxilliary Fleet tanker sunk in 1970 after hitting an uncharter rock is always a highlight . Lying on its starbourd side , 30 meters to the sandy bottom and 18 meters on the top............. this is a huge wreck!! Visited by large grouper, shark, rays and shoals of fish it is an advanced divers dive due to depth and probable current.

Also visited was Shark Bank..........which should be renamed as Rays Mount as it is almost always possible to guarantee Eagle Rays overhead and large blue Marble rays on the ground. With a given maximun depth of 30 meters , an average of 25 meters and a shallow top of 22 meters this is a good computer guided dive over granitic rocks in the middle of the sea half way between Mahe Island and Shillouette Island . Always a favourite long distance boat dive site .

Easter Sunday afternoon divers going to Bay Ternay Marine Park for diving and snorkelling

Glad to say we had lots of divers, chocolate and EASTER bunnies . Trust everyone had as good a weekend as us

APRIL FOOLS DAY or POISSON D'AVRIL

2010-04-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

April 1st once again saw many divers at the Underwater Centre .   All were sent out on a search for the very rare fish of Seychelles... Heniochus cubicus or Diamond bannerfish

The Dive went to GROUPER POINT which is a Seychelles granitic rock site with encrusting corals and lots of shade loving fish. Larger pelagic fish are often seen on the NW point as the coast changes direction and head south .   So an ideal dive site to look for and hopefully find very rare fish . The second dive of the morning two tank dive trip was Bay Ternay Marine National Park. As a protected reef site this would have been ideal territory for any kind of unusual or rare fish !!

Needless to say no Diamond Bannerfish were seen and all divers were so surprised to find out that an APRILS FOOL had been played on them by the dive team.

The group photo was a laugh with Divemaster's Michael   and Christina , Skipper Mervin and several

divers from all across the world ..............America, Canada, Germany, England, Finland, South Africa.

Certifications for March 2010

2010-03-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all our students ...............

PADI Seal Team : Paulo Garcia

MASTER Seal Team : Paulo Garcia

Jr Openwater Diver : Rhutresh Moodley, David Viljaen

Openwater Diver : David le Poder, Philip Morgan, Inka Bauermeister, Daniel Bifuk, Felixs Jaskiewicz, Glen Whittekiend, Nasangga Siregar, Claire Knight, Elizabeth Harris, Janet McKnight.

Jr Adventure Diver : Anthony Hayman

Emergency First Responder CPR & First Aid : Simon Brooks

Rescue Diver : Charlotte Pryor

Specialty Courses:

Boat Diver : Anthony Hayman

Coral Reef Conservation : Anthony Hayman

Naturalist : Anthony Hayman

Peak Performance Buoyancy : Anthony Hayman

Digital Underwater Photographer : Claire Knight

Enriched Air NITROX : Justin Niland, Tony Marie - Jeanne

Well done to all of our students..........keep up the good work!!

USS FARRAGUT ( DDG 99) visits Seychelles

2010-03-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

We have had several days of fun dives and snorkel trips for service men of the USS Farragut during their 4 day visit to the island .

Port Victoria, Mahe with visiting war ship enjoying a few days R & R

Two hard working sailors also managed to complete their PADI Openwater certification following the PADI e- learning on line training program in just 2 days. The on line training allows students to complete ALL theory training on their personal computer and has a lifetimes access to a virtual manual of their course . So far PADI have Openwater , Advanced Openwater and Enriched Air NITROX availabe on line . To select this training option just open our web site and click on the PADI e- learning link ......its so easy to learn!!

Healthy coral with Green Cromis and Blue Damsel fish

All who visited with us had never been to Seychelles before but it seems all are keen to return...................so we look forward to the next visit!

Stina's first day of her 2 month Divemaster Internship

2010-03-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Christina has joined us from Finland for 2 months to get lots of Dive Resort experience as a Divemaster .
This was her first views from the UNDERWATER CENTRE beach fronted resort at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Hotel.

She was very impressed with the long white sandy beach of Beau Vallon Bay , the blue seas and sky and the easy acces to the dive boats and Dive Resort . Lots of photos already taken for friends and family !! . Standing on the beach and looking to the right one can see it is only a few minutes walk to the Augerine Guest House and the Coral Strand Hotel

Looking to the left it is only a short walk to the Le Meridien Fisherman's Cove Hotel.

The weather at the end of March is beautiful...........calm , clear seas, blue skys and magnificent views. We even had a Seychelles traditional fishing perogue go by ..............a boat and fishing techniques mostly unchanged since the first settelers to Seychelles

Local PRE School get a class on underwater ''HABITAT''

2010-03-26T02:23:00.000-07:00

We just love being asked to give talks and photo presentations to young kids and today had us talking to a group of 3 to 6 year old youngsters from a local pre school .

'' HABITAT '............................ noun meaning the natural home of an animal or plant

Two GOBY fish on a whip coral

We had over 30 photos to look at and underwater creatures to name....... just see how intensly the kids are paying attention. But it's not all work and there was lots of fun taking the group photo plus playing with the toys and, of course, sweets that followed.

group photo with PADI Instructor TONY

Bay Ternay Marine National Park..........such a great dive and snorkel destination!

2010-03-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

A 20 minute boat ride along the coastal waterway from the Underwater Centre will bring you to this large protected bay surrounded by granitic rocks and palm trees. The water is calm and current free and is ideal for snorkelling and diving excursions .

Passangers onboard ''Reef Diver ''

The reef is edged with white sand and student divers can safely stay in the shallow sloping coral section of 6 to 10 meters before dropping down the ''wall '' of coral to 18 meters were they may meet the other certified divers There is always lots to see as soon as you get into the water ....you are surrounded immediately by sargeant majors and pygmy batfish soon to be followed by the large batfish !! This is a Marine Park protected area and home to several hawksbill and green turtles . How do you tell the difference.......??? just look at the shape of the beak. Long and very pointed is the Hawksbill ( just like the parrot) round and smooth edged is the Green.

Trips here are scheduled on a regular basis so just ask at the Dive Centre reception desk when you come to visit us

Healthy corals are seen everywere with small green chromis darting in and out , bat fish follow you around for most of the dive and you have to look twice at the needle fish which are always there. Its such a great dive you have to come see it for yourself!

Easter School Break starts this weekend!

2010-03-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Underwater Centre Snorkel Guide NIGEL and students

The kids at the International School have been working hard and all have now completed courses for DISCOVER SNORKELING ( 8 - 10 year olds) and JR OPENWATER DIVER ( 10-11 year olds) .

Rutresh, David , Instructor Lilian and Andears

Paulo has also completed his PADI SEAL TEAM and MASTER SEAL TEAM certifications.

We wish everyone a happy 3 week holiday and next term we start the new classes..........JR ADVENTURE DIVER !!!

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PADI Certifications for February 2010

2010-03-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

We would like to congratulate all our students for a job well done !!

SCUBA DIVER :
Manuel Vazquey, Ivan Gomez

OPENWATER DIVER:
Romain Deteve, Philip Morgan, Huy Phan, Matt Mazzarese, Carolyn Collins, Rebecca Lyal, Diana Mandeer, Susanna Neubacher, Benoit Pauget, Emmanuel Regent, Milton Reichart

EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONDER :
Justin Niland

RESCUE DIVER :
Edward Bridge, Nels Carlson, Neils Prinssen, Justin Niland

DIVEMASTER:
Adrian Kuehn, Justin Niland

ENRICHED AIR SPECIALTY :
Annika Mikkelsen, Ross Collins, Kayla Riley, Gary Johnson, Adrian Kuehn,
Sally Conyers, Jonathan Richards, Tony Marie- Jeanne, Justin Niland.

OPENWATER SCUBA INSTRUCTORS & EFR + CHILD CARE INSTRUCTORS
Annika Mikkelsen, Ross Collins, Kayla Riley, Gary Johnson, Adrian Kuehn, Jonathan Richards, Kirsten Gilray, Ara Aslanian, Sheldon Hoarou, Simona Esposito,

MASTER SCUBA DIVER TRAINERS for Digital Underwater Photo, Deep, Night, Wreck, Enriched Air Specialty Courses.
Annika Mikkelsen, Ross Collins, Kayla Riley, Gary Johnson, Adrian Kuehn, Jonathan Richards, Ara Aslanian

INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT STAFF INSTRUCTOR
Tony Marie-Jeanne

A fantastic job and we are proud of you all!!!!!!

St David's Day.............National Day of Wales, March 1st.

2010-03-06T04:15:00.000-08:00

Owner and managing director of Underwater Centre, Dr David Rowat is Welsh born so when we also get a Divemaster from Wales we just had to show the flag!!

Sally was presented with the national vegetable '' the leek'' which took her by surprise as this is tropical Seychelles. Sally leaves us this week so its Bon Voyage and Bon Plongee.

PADI RESCUE DIVER COURSE ..... a lot of serious fun

2010-03-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

Exitig the water with diver . Equipment handler to the side

Happy to say that the weekend saw 3 more PADI Rescue Divers qualify with flying colours! To start the course you need to be a PADI Advanced Openwater Diver with EFR certification or equivalent other agency ratings. Then its 2 or 3 days of search and recovery techniques , dealing with distressed and paniced divers and exiting with unresponsive divers to the beach or boat

Placing diver into recovery position

Once you have this certification there are many options to take next..........you can move on to proffessional level DIVEMASTER training, .....take Specialty courses and become a MASTER SCUBA DIVER. There is so much to see and do!!

Immediate certification from Instructor Sabrina Dodin

So , check in and see what courses are available for you next weekend.!

MASTER SCUBA DIVER TRAINER course starts today

2010-03-01T02:05:00.000-08:00

Its another hard day at the office.......7 new Instrictors taking Specialty training courses and they are starting with presenting NITROX , DEEP, WRECK and NIGHT

Good luck guys as off you go to 40 meters using Nitrox 28% on the Seychelles latest wreck ALBADRAN .

16 CANDIDATES ALL PASS PADI IE !

2010-03-01T01:53:00.000-08:00

The 27th and 28th February were two very intense days of examinations from PADI Examiner Richard Somerset. He took them through all theory exams , classroom presentations, confined water presentations, openwater diver skills and Rescue Diver performances.....and all 16 passed. Spirits were high and celebrations began immediately.

We were pleases to be joined by 6 candidates form the different islands of Praslin and Silhouette and to have all Course Directors, IDC Staff Instructor and examiner group together for the final photo .

7 OPENWATER INSTRUCTORS start specialty trainig tomorrow !

INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT COURSE and EMERGENCY FIRST RESPONCE INSTRUCTOR COURSE

2010-02-24T03:05:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce that the first of our PADI Instructor Development Courses for 2010 started on 15th February. This intensive course will take qualified Divemasters or Assistant Instructors through the teaching methods for theory presentations, confined water skills training and Openwater skills evaluation . All candidates must be certified to dive for 6 months , hold a current CPR and First Aid certification and have a minimum of 100 logged dives.

Going PRO is a serious affair but its not to say that fun cannot be had during training as some photos will show. Now on day 4 the candidates are starting their Openwater Evaluation training and the fun continues.

Final exams are scheduled for the end of the month and we wish everyone the very best of success.

The One Day PADI Enriched Air Course

2010-02-22T02:01:00.000-08:00

7 students took part in the PADI Enriched Air course often called NITROX by most divers.

The day was spent covering the various principles relating to the use of SCUBA tanks filled with enriched oxygen and dive table calculations for EANX 32% and EANX 34% .

Happy to announce that everyone passed with flying colours and that 6 of these divers have joined the INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPEMENT COURSE for later this month

DIVEMASTER CLASS 01-2010 GRADUATION CEREMONY

2010-02-22T01:55:00.000-08:00

Our group of Divemasters completed their training course on New Year's Eve 2009 and have spent the last 6 weeks gaining experience in the INTERNSHIP SECTION of the program. Finally Graduation Day came on February 14th and there were happy faces all round.

Our 2 competitions were won by Garry Johnson for OUTSTANDING CANDIDATE and Annika Mikkelsen for BEST ACADEMIC CANDIDATE and certificates were presented by the course mentor,PADI Instructor Sabrina Dodin .

Every one will be leaving in March to selected places such as Mexico, Cosumel, Thialand and everyone at the UNDERWATER CENTRE wishes them lots of joy and we hope to hear from them often as they travel the world.

St Valentines Day '' DIVERS in RED''

2010-02-22T01:44:00.000-08:00

Every year UNDERWATER CENTRE celebrates February 14th with a RED event asking divers to wear and dive in as many items as they can find in the colour RED ........this year was great!!! Items were far ranging with our Divemaster Kayla now been nicknamed as Miss FIFI .....but she forgot to bring the black stockings!!!

Valentine Ted made an appearance but declined to dive that day . There were hearts everywere , balloons and lots of fun .

All the staff at UNDERWATER CENTRE would like to wish everyone lots of love and happiness for the remaining year .

Congratulations to our new PADI Advanced Openwater Divers

2010-02-01T01:07:00.000-08:00

It's all about furthering your diving education here at the Underwater Centre. We have had a number of new PADI Advanced Openwater Divers complete their next step in scuba diving.

Andrew Hoyland, Thalia Lewis, Gemma Britten Practicing their navigation skills, in preparation for the navigation dive.

We would also like to congratulate Fredrick Shane, Julian Pierrat, and Ivana Germanovic, all now qualified to dive to 30 metres, and very keen to continue with their diver education... next step PADI Rescue.

Congratulations to our new PADI Open Water Divers

2010-02-01T00:44:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy few weeks here at the Underwater Centre, with cold Europeans wanting to experience something new and exciting.... and of course warm sunny weather.

We would like to congratulate: Danielle Puchalski, Andrew Hoyland, Ingo Kreuyburg, Konstantin Kemppainen,Adam Clough, Dane De Nobriga, Wills Collie, Charly Mesli, Friedrick Shane and congratulations Yvonne... All new PADI Open Water Scuba Divers.

Yvonne Habble with Instructor Tony receiving her PADI Open Water Certificate

Yvonne was in Seychelles for a couple of weeks holiday, and decided to learn to scuba dive. Her fabulous instructor Tony, said she was "fantastic" in the water, mastering all the necessary skills like she had been diving for ever!

So congratulations to everyone, we look forward to hearing of your future scuba diving adventures... the fun is only just beginning.

Seychelles Goes International

2010-02-01T00:10:00.000-08:00

Seychelles is fast becoming a popular stop over for many of the world's Navy's. Currently in port is the ETNA, a member of the European Fleet.

Navy ship- ETNA along side- Victoria Port, Mahe, Seychelles

This ship is very international, with a crew representing most of the European Union. With us this weekend we had navy divers from France, Greece, UK, and Italy.

Annika (Divemaster), Micheal, Micheal, Peter, Kayla (Divemaster), and Dimitriou

It was a fabulous day diving, stunning corals, and fish, visibility to die for... you could see forever.... and we all had a huge amount of fun, thanks guys, safe travels and we look forward to seeing you all back here soon... safely.

Diving is for Everyone!

2010-01-31T22:52:00.000-08:00

Meet Paulo

PADI Seal Team Scuba Diver

Paulo and his family are currently living in Seychelles aboard their yacht, as they slowly cruise the world. Whilst here his Mum thought it important for the kids to learn to dive, what a life! and such an amazing life changing experience.

Paulo is the most excited new diver I have ever met! this boy shows no fear, and loves being underwater. He has learnt all his hand signals, and is able to complete his underwater exercises with confidence, it was a case of keeping up with Paulo.

Diving is a sport for all, and the level of confidence young people gain for this experience is second to none, at Paulo's age he learns to dive in the pool.

The dive course Paulo is completing is called "PADI Seal Team", and is specifically design for children, it's core goal is to introduce Scuba Diving in a safe confined water environment, with very closely supervised instruction.

The course covers all the PADI requirements of Scuba diving, introducing the kids to the underwater environment, focusing on safety first. With in this course we cover,Basic Scuba Diving Skills, underwater fun and games.

Paulo wants to learn everything he can, so we will also cover- Underwater Photography, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Navigation, Creature ID, Environmental Specialist, Inner Space Specialist, Navigation, Night , Safety, Search and Recovery, Skin Diver, and Wreck Specialist.

On completion Paulo will be a PADI Master Seal.

If you want more information regarding PADI Seal Team, for kids or any other PADI diving courses please don't hesitate to contact us.

Glynis Sanders
Underwater Centre
Email_ divesey@seychelles.net
Ph: 00248 345 445

It's week 3- 2010 already!!!!!! Time is just flying by.

2010-01-27T00:38:00.000-08:00

It's all about the diving, and this week the Underwater Centre is excited to introduce our two new Divemaster candidates

Justin- US Air Force, Adrian- newly arrived from Germany

These two guys just can't get enough diving, and both have now completed their PADI Advanced Open Water, EFR- Emergency First Responder, and PADI Rescue courses with us here at the Underwater Centre, and are now taking the next step in their diver training as PADI Divemasters in Training.

Seychelles has a lot of Military personnel based here, and quite a few of them are taking this once in a lifetime oppertunity to learn and further their diver education in the beautiful Seychelles- what a place to learn, it's warm, and the fish and coral life is just spectacular!

Norbert Percell- US Navy

Norbert has become a regular here at the Underwater Centre, and has fallen in love with diving. In the shortest amount of time possible has gone from a non diver, to completing PADI Open Water, PADI Advanced Open Water, and PADI Rescue Diver.

Norbert in all his new gear

It's so satisfying for us seasoned divers to have new and really excited divers around the centre, Norbert is a great example of that infectious enthusiam, he has even purchased all his own equipment- an important step towards becoming the PADI professional diver he's aspiring to be.

Diving in your own personal gear makes such a difference, you know how everything works, and where everything is in times of need/emergency, and it makes your diving that much more comfortable and enjoyable, no more hiring gear, and the cost of dives is reduced.

Here at the Underwater Centre we can assist with advice in the purchase of equipment, and of course provide gear packages to personally suit your dive requirements.

New PADI Open Water Divers

2010-01-24T23:16:00.000-08:00

It's been another very busy week here at the Underwater Centre. It's amazing to see all these very cold Europeans heading to the Seychelles for a little R &R... and of course lovely warm sunny days that you can only dream of back home!

There are so many small almost private beaches dotted all round Mahe

And it's great to see so many of you trying diving for the first time. This week it was Open Water students Phil and Andrew who stepped up to the challenge.

Instructor Tony teaching Dive Equipment setup and operation

Phil and Andrew have spent the last few days completing their theory work and the exams.

PADI Open Water Exams

Final Open Water Exam

If you are interested in learning to Dive please don't hesitate to contact us. We are able to design our Open Water courses to suit your needs and time constraints.

There are two main options:

Option One: E-Learning- 270 Euro if pre-paid.

You complete the theory exercises, and knowledge reviews and on line exams prior to arriving in Seychelles. This is a fantastic way to speed up the process and really focus on the practical diving. E-Learning is an online PADI learning option, where you gain the benefit of getting most of the theory out of the way before you get here, and save some money in the process.

You just need to complete a 20 question quiz to re-enforce the theory already covered, and of course we go over any of the learning you are unsure of, you then can focus on the four dives, generally spaced over two days.

Option Two: Traditional Learning- 360 Euro if pre-paid

All theory and practical learning takes place in the dive centre, and is generally structured over 4 days

Please note-

*all equipment and any materials and dives required are included in the course cost

*E-Learner Students should bring the PADI Theory Completion Referral Paper with them

* All students need to bring a passport size photo for each PADI course completed

*PADI certification on completion of the course is an additional 20 Euro

Pre-paid rates only avalible for packages booked and paid for prior to arrival

If you would like further information regarding these and any other PADI Diving courses, please don't hesitate to contact us.

We are also happy to assist and arrange full packages including airport transfers, accomadation, and additional diving.

Please contact us for pricing on any of the above:

Owner: Glynis Sanders

Dive Centre: Underwater Centre

E-Mail: divesey@seychelles.net

Ph: 00248 345 445

HAPPY 2010, AND EVERYONE IS HARD AT WORK!

2010-01-18T00:05:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe we are now already half way into Jan 2010?? They say that as you get older time seems to speed up but this is ridiculous!

Here at the underwater Centre it has been crazy busy with so many divers.... all wanting to escape the ravages of the freezing European winter.

Our Divemaster interns have been very busy, the paper work all over, and ALL exams passed, its now down to the real work.. getting that all important dive centre experience.

Annika busy setting up for the morning dive

Our interns are now on a weekly roster, and spend their days participating in and around the centre, learning and assisting with the day to day operations discovering just how much fun hard work can be.

Ross setting up his morning dive

Completing client dive registration

As we watched the dive leave this morning; the locals also hard at work, were fishing off Beau Vallon Beach. It's great to see the traditional methods are still being used today, and if you ask, they will include you.

Another beautiful morning on Beau Vallon Bay beach, with one of our dive boats ready for the morning dive, with local fishermen bringing in the catch

It's Christmas in Seychelles

2009-12-24T01:45:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Seychelles; you would think palm trees, the ocean, a cool drink? NO WAY!Everywhere you go people are wearing red hats, there are christmas trees, and more shiney tinsel than you can shake a stick at, just like home back in UK.

Instructor Sabrina, Interns- Gary, Annika, Ross, Kayla and sally

Here at The Underwater Centre it's very festive, everyone has their xmas hats, flashing earings and raindeer hair ties!, someone even went diving this morning dressed as the Xmas Fairy, so hopefully we will have photos to share later. and ofcourse we have our own Christmas tree so that santa can find his way.

Our current Divemaster Interns are hard at work, finishing up their 2nd week of theory, the great news is all have past all their exams with just the physics exam to complete next Thursday, then it's serious diving!

Everyone hard at work

So to all our wonderful clients past, present and future, please, have a fabulous Christmas, may all your wishes come true. And best wishes for a peaceful happy 2010 with lots of georgous diving, and we hope to see you all very soon.

Our New Divemaster Interns

2009-12-18T01:16:00.000-08:00

Furthering your Dive education is something that we at the Underwater Centre strongly encourage. At the begining of this week we have had 5 friends commence their Divemaster Internships.

Getting instruction for the morning program from PADI Dive Instructor Sabrina

A Divemaster Internship is a great fun way to learn how to be a Divemaster, and get valuable experiance participating in the day to day operations of a busy dive resort centre.

It's important to start the day with a briefing.

So this morning Gary, Ross, Kayla and Annika were working on the fundamentals of Navigation, a bit of a dry run on the beach is always a great way to identify any possible issues before trying it all out underwater.

Our internships are made up of both practical and dive theory, with huge experiance gained, most day's these interns will spend at least half of it in the water, learning all the time.

Ross, Annika, Sabrina (PADI Dive Instructor) Kayla, Gary

With the end of week one our interns have already completed a couple of exams, and the emergency assist plan, and after today's navigation exercises and stamina swimming tests, are looking forward to a relaxing weekend in one of the most beautiful places in the world- Seychelles.

We will keep you updated on their weekly progress, if you have any questions regarding enrolling in a Divemaster Internship or any other PADI Diving program please either drop us an email or give us a call-

Email: divesey@seychelles.net

Ph: +248 247 165- Shop

Ph: +248 345 445- Office

we would love to help you further your dive education, and assist you in possibly starting a new and exciting career in diving.

Beautiful Seychelles

2009-12-03T01:24:00.000-08:00

It is always difficult to decided just where to holiday each year. We all work so very hard, and our holiday time is so very precious. This year a friend of mine is living in Seychelles and suggested I come for a visit. You have to understand New Zealand is about as far away from Seychelles as you can get!

I think the deciding factor was the idea of gorgeous crystal clear blue waters, stunning diving, with the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. I have dived through out the South Pacific, and love islands, but coming to Seychelles was an experiance I will never forget.

The first thing that hit me when stepping off the plane is how blue the sea was and the mountains are so green. And yes they do have mountains; made up of these most incredible ganitic rocks. The shapes are amazing, it looks like someone has carved them out of the stone!

The other thing that really hit me was the most stunning sunsets. Every evening was different, and the light is so very clear. It was the most relaxing and enjoyable hour, sitting with an ice cold "Seybrew" beer watching the sun going down, and looking forward to the cooling of the night air. we watched the sun set all over the island and below are just a couple of the most perfect sunsets ever.

I was diving with the Underwater Centre, Tony was my Guide/Instructor. He was amazing and showed me so much; the fish life in Seychelles is very special, and such a huge range of fish, there are so many different species, we dived on Aquirium, and Tony mentioned that there are over 450 different kinds of fish living there, it was just a riot of moving colour!

The diving was fun, and at times a little challanging with small currents, but every dive site was different, my favourites include, Brissare, and Dragons Teeth- beautiful corals, and large numbers of rays, sharks and all the other good big stuff. L'llot- a stunning sight with an enormus varity of soft corals, and you got to look out for those Nudi Branches, and Aquirium and the Marine Park at Baie Turney- the varity of reef fish life/spicies is just amazing.

Tony really went all out to find the critters I really wanted to see, and I'm into the small stuff, it's the perfect place to go and poke around looking for those rare and shy guys who hide away during daylight hours... I could have spent days underwater.... You have to bring your underwater camera!!

This is a country of contrasts, the people are friendly; it's very much island life, lived in, on and around the sea. Everyone is linked to the ocean in some way, and I think that that is a very special way of life, one I can relate to a little from New Zealand, but on a much larger scale.

So to everyone at the Underwater Centre, a huge thankyou for all your advice about where to go and what to see, your hospitality is second to none, and the most fabulous diving I have had in a long time, look after your environment, and it really is unique to the rest of the world; I hope to come back soon. Andrea

Wreck Diving in Seychelles- The Aldaberon

2009-11-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

There's such a varity of diving oppertunities here in Seychelles. Yes we are well known for the HUGE varity of reef fish corals and the bigger stuff; we also are able to offer you a wide range of Wreck dives. Most of these wrecks have been sunk on purpose, creating a ranges of artifical reefs, and every one is different, these include: Twin barges, Dredger, Ennerdale, and now The Aldaberon.

Aldaberon bow with divers

She sits at 40 mt's on sand, and has become home to an amazing vairity of creatures, and it seems everything down there is just that little bit larger.

Schools of huge batfish circle the wreck

Aldaberon has only been down for just over a year, yet there are more Moray Eels here on one place than anywhere I have seen before, they tend to pop out a surprise you when you least expect it! esspecially the Peppered Morey, these are big guys!

Stern of Aldaberon, surrounded by a huge school of Yellow Stripped Snapper

A fabulous dive, it can be a bit challenging, as there is always a little current, but everyone always comes back smiling

Blowing bubbles on the way up

Safety stop, time for a little reflection

Halloween comes to Seychelles

2009-11-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well it's better late than never!
With the end of the Whale Shark season, and all the volunteers heading to new places in the world, we at the Underwater center felt it was time to celebrate... and it just happened to be Halloween.

The Under Water Centre Crew, and volunteers

A fun night had by all, with a huge barbeque, and some very dangerous cocktails.

Everyone got dressed up; some pretty inventive costumes to say the least, Thanks David and Glynis

Flying Instructor?? Cat lady, Lillian, and Kiera Mervin the skipper...

Mantas, Mantas... Everywhere!!!- by Tara from USA

2009-11-18T03:04:00.000-08:00

What a day!!!!

Don't you just love this time of year here in Seychelles!! with the changing of the monsoons, you never quite know what's going to show up.

We started our morning with an early dive brief, heading out to complete twin tank dives. First site was Sth Conception... a very busy morning there, with a number of White Tip Reef Sharks, Eagle Rays gliding through and the awesome Giant Trevalies just hanging out up in the rock wash. Very peaceful, and amazing vis!

Then we were off to Bay Ternay to complete out interval stop and it was onto Grouper Point, and check it out!!!

We dropped in , and were all ohhhing and ahhhing over a couple of White Tip Reef Sharks having a wee snooze, when the dive master looked up and there they were... Mantas.
We all just hung at 20 metres watching in amazement as these most beautiful creatures swum around and around our heads. Estimates are that there were over 100 Mantas! and so very close.

So what was meant to be a 50 min drift dive around the point ended up with us all settling on the sand for nearly 20 minutes just watching the antics and acrobatics of the Mantas.
Thanks everyone for making this a most memorable day, I will be talking about this for years to come, and I hope you enjoy the photos.

Our Fabulous German Couple

2009-11-17T21:52:00.000-08:00

Another very busy week passes, and we had lots of couples out on holiday from Germany!
It seems it's the time to learn something new and Billie here certainly took advantage of the warm calm waters.

Billie, all decked out and ready to take her "PADI Open Water" exams

Billie and her lovely partner, had a great week and both completed their Openwater PADI certification. Tamara their instructor also spent some time teaching them about underwater conservation, and reef cleanup.

Thanks guys for diving with us, the photos are great, and we hope to see you again sometime soon.

It's all about the diving... Well done Sue 200 dives!!!!!

2009-11-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks Sue, we too had a great week diving with you.

A fabulous logbook@ 200 dives!

It's great to share a major milestone and 200 hundred dives is a real feat! And what a place to complete that magic 200th dive "Shark Bank"

Dan, Dive master Sabrina, Sue and fab instructor Tony!

Shark Bank is always full of surprises, but it's extra special to come across the odd Whale shark on the way back to the beach, making for an extra special dive trip!

So many thanks Sue, keep up the diving, though I must say it's a little warmer here reather than Scotland!!, and we really look forward to seeing you out here again soon.

Dan's back in Seychelles after Seven years!!!!!

2009-10-12T06:10:00.001-07:00

It's always lovely to catchup with old friends!!!.
Dan who worked with us on "Indian Ocean Explorer" as a Dive Instuctor/ Dive Leader, is back!

Currently Dan is a Traffic Officer with the Surry Police in the UK, but is here to shoot photos of fish and turtles rather than the odd speeding baddy on the very busy roads back home, a much more peaceful pass time for all concerned!!
With a week of his holiday to go Dan says " So much has changed, but the diving is still just as fantastic as before!"

He really has enjoyed spending time with the Dive Seychelles dive team, some of which he used to work with, and revisiting some of his most stunning favourite dive sites in the world. Grouper Point never fails to please with a large resident reef shark population come to check out the divers... wow!!!

Baie Turnay Marine Park, lived up to it's reputation of the wide varities of stunning hard and soft corals, and a real surprise was a long swim with a very friendly Green Turtle. It's nice to know you can still find these special guys still around the main island.

Shark Bank Was amazing, crystal clear waters at 30 mts, a huge school of Barracuda, circling above the resident school of Yellow Stripped Snapper doing their thing, and of course sharks!!!, with a couple of rather large White Tip Reef Sharks having a sleep under a large granite ledge, and four Fantail Rays, just cruising around chilling out!

And to top it off we almost ran over a Whale Shark on the way back to the beach, so it was time to get back in the water and snorkel with a young 3.5mt female shark.... what a morning!!!

So we look forward to hearing more from Dan before he heads back to chilly UK.

june 3rd..... lucky visit for the Canadians

2009-06-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Things were just getting a little quieter, and the South Easterly winds were just beginning to blow when the Canadian Navy vessel Winnipeg called into Port Victoria for three days R&R in Seychelles.

Louis Beaubet had been in touch with us for several days and had organised three days of diving and snorkelling activities for his crewmates and so we were keen to impress him on his first day!

And impress we did, as on the way out to Grouper Point a whale shark was spotted swimming lazily on the surface... a great way to start the day!

Everyone got to see the shark and Louis who had the camera was keen to get some photos for the Photo ID project and so was quickly into the water to meet this big spotty shark....

After a few minutes the shark tired of his new friends and went back to the business of hunting lunch in the form of plankton and so the delighted team carried on for their dive. A great dive was had by one and all and just to cap things off as they were heading back another whale shark was seen... Instructor Lillian was sure it wasn't the same one, but it didn't matter if it was, everyone was keen to get in with it anyway. And Louis had to get the photo IDs just in case it was a different shark.

One of the HMCS Winnipeg team gets an up-close and personal look at one of our 2007 returning sharks

It didn't take long for the MCSS team to hear about the sightings and soon the images were with them for analysis and sure enough there were indeed two sharks and both had been seen previously: one on the 11th and 21st of October 2006 and the other was seen only once on the 15th of October 2007; both sharks were juvenile males of around 4 metres in length.

So welcome back to our two young visitors, its nice to see you both again and

Bonne Voyage

to Louis and all the crew of HMCS Winnipeg, we hope to see you back again soon as well!

may 15th.... Kerstins first whale shark

2009-05-16T00:21:00.000-07:00

After more than a year in Seychelles Kerstin Gillray, a Divemaster Intern at Underwater Centre / Dive Seychelles, has finally seen her first whale shark!

All through the 2008 whale shark season Kerstin was on tender-hooks with each dive, hoping to see one of these big spotty fish, but she consistently managed to avoid them... even on the monitoring programme it seemed that where Kerstin was the sharks were not!

But all this came to an end on Friday the 15th of May... Kerstin and instructor Theirry Vandamme had just finished a great dive at Brissare Rocks and Dragons Teeth having seen a school of 35 eagle rays, white tip sharks, groupers and more fusiliers than she could think about counting.

Everyone was back on the boat chatting enthusiastically about the dive when the boat captain Nigel sighted the whale shark. All discussion stopped and Kerstin barely had time to repeat the whale shark code of conduct before an excited group of divers had donned masks, snorkels and fins and were back in the water for a very special treat!

Even though it was her first ever whale shark, Kerstin did a good job of getting both left and right side photographs for the MCSS photo ID programme and less than two hours later they confirmed that this was a 'new' shark and in fact is the 1240th identified whale shark in the regional database!

But Kerstin didn't care... it was Number One for her!!!

may 5th.... status of Seychelles coral reefs

2009-05-16T00:15:00.000-07:00

The 'Status of Coral Reefs of the World, 2008' has just been released by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring network and has some interesting facts and figures about Seychelles coral reefs:

"The Seychelles islands have an estimated 1690 km2 of coral reef, which is about 13.1% of the total coral reef area of the Eastern Africa and the South West Indian Ocean islands."

"In the Seychelles inner islands, corals at the north of Mahé Island and in the Curieuse Marine National Park indicate rapid recovery..... Coral recruitment on the granite based reefs of the inner islands is much better than on the carbonate reefs".

So good news for us here in Seychelles.

A healthy coral reef in Seychelles, photo Andre Nekrasov

may 1st.... specialty ratings for Tony

2009-05-16T00:10:00.000-07:00

Instructor Tony Marie-Jeanne has just completed a total of seven PADI specialty instructor qualifications and in addition to the full range of standard PADI courses he is now able to teach:

Digital Underwater Photography
Search and Recovery
Surface Marker Buoy Diver
Boat Diver
Deep Diver
Underwater Navigation
Emergency Oxygen Provider

And it wasn't long before he got the opportunity to test his skills with Jan Steinvik (the Big Man from Afghanistan!) who has to be one of the tallest men we have ever had diving with us! However, Tony was pleased to teach him the skills need for the Search and Recovery specialty.

Tony and Jan off on a search and recovery dive

april 28th... Dagmar our new divemaster intern

2009-05-16T00:06:00.000-07:00

Dagmar Ehlert became the latest Divemaster Intern at Underwater Centre / Dive Seychelles; Dagmar has been resident in Seychelles for many years diving and doing all of her dive-training with us. Not content with just enjoying her dives she was looking for something a little more challenging and so the Divemaster Course seemed an excellent opportunity.

Dagmar and instructor Theirry Vandamme preparing for a dive

april 2009.... returning divers... new buddies

2009-05-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

Both Horst and Wolfgang are frequent visitors to Seychelles from Germany, although they had never met before; this month they were introduced and became firm 'buddies' diving with us over several weeks. They were treated to some lovely diving conditions, with blue skies, calm seas and great visibility and managed to notch up some impressive sightings including a whale shark on their first dive to Shark Bank.

Horst and Wolfgang, confirmed dive-buddies during April.

april 25th... visiting Polish dive operators

2009-05-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

Joanna Magiera and Krzysztof Mann, owners of Divemaster dive centre in Poland were recent visitors to Seychelles and did 10 dives each with the Underwater Centre / Dive Seychelles. During their visit they pretty much covered the top 10 dives sites of Mahe including Shark Bank, Ennerdale wreck, Brissare rocks and Dragons Teeth.

With over 2800 dives Krzysztof was keen to see the offshore dive sites and they did not disappoint with Shark Bank putting on a show with hundreds of yellow snappers and a squadron of eagle rays!

We hope to be seeing Joanna and Krzysztof with some groups in the coming year.

april 22nd 2009 "Earth Day"

2009-05-07T02:54:00.001-07:00

Divers with the Underwater Centre / Dive Seychelles have had a long involvement with conservation as the proprietors also founded the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS); this has meant that resident and visiting divers are often involved in various conservation projects.

Recently, the annual “Earth Day” clean up dive had a slightly different focus as a Crown of Thorns starfish (COTs) management programme was in progress and so divers were needed for collection duties. Resident divers from the Marine Parks Authority / Seychelles Centre for Marine Research &Technology, Seychelles Islands Foundation, Seychelles Fishing Authority and Global Vision International joined the staff from MCSS and the Underwater Centre for two concerted control dives in northwest Mahe.

The two dive teams gather for a group photos after the clean-up / crown of thorns dives

The dives were a great success and 21 of the starfish were removed from two popular dive sites; each was measured, weighed and tube feet collected for genetic analysis by the University of Hawaii before disposal.

The starfish were fairly large with an average width of 32.95cm and average weight of 1.5kg which is characteristic of a managed population; small numbers of COTs are a necessary part of coral reef ecosystems as they tend to browse on fast growing corals giving slower growing corals a chance to flourish and thus increase the diversity of the reef.

april 1st 2009...The hunt for the Diamond Bannerfish....'Poisson D'avril'

2009-05-07T02:20:00.000-07:00

The Diamond Bannerfish, a seasonal visitor to Seychelles!

April the 1st came quietly to Seychelles but with it news of the return of a fish species found only seasonally in the area, Heniochus cubicus or the Diamond Bannerfish.

Eager to give the day's divers a bit of a challenge the centre team prepared some laminated photos of the fish for inclusion on the pre-dive briefing and the divers were all keen to see if they could add this rare fish to their personal fish-check lists! The divers on this dive were a multi-national crew from Canada, the UK, Germany and South Africa, all keen to be the one to find this elusive species first!

The divers searched diligently on their dive around Grouper Point, an area where the Diamond Bannerfish was supposed to have been seen before, but despite their efforts no-one could find the elusive species.

On returning to the base the Centre team had to come clean and told the crest-fallen divers that the local name for the fish was 'Poisson D'avril' which literally translated from French is April's fish but in its common usage is April Fool!

The adventurous divers after their search for the 'Poisson D'Avril!

The term comes from the 16th Century when Charles IX declared that France would now follow the Gregorian calendar, starting the new year on January 1st instead of April 1st (the Solstice); French legend has it that anyone who didn't follow the calendar were called 'Fools' and were invited to fake parties or had other tricks played upon them. French children continued the tradition of pranking each year by taping a fish to their friends back and when discovered calling out "Poisson D'avril"!

Some think that the fish connection came about as on April 1st the sun is leaving the Zodiac sign of Pisces..... others say its because fish were thought to be dumb and easy to catch (? maybe in the 16th Century!!). Whatever the origin our team of divers were delighted to have been pranked in this way and have a new entry for their log-books if not their fish lists.