Divers? Anyone else?

That's pretty cool. What are you planning to do with it?

You'll need to paint it black for special forces operations.

I'm into wrecks and many of the best ones are deep. Trimix costs a fortune on open circuit but the rebreather is really efficient with gas. I'm sat on the boat at the moment in Stromness. We did the theory yesterday morning and 'dry dived' them in the afternoon. This morning we were diving by the Churchill Barriers. It was pretty shallow for familiarisation and a few drills. We are back again tomorrow and then two days doing deeper stuff from the boat.

It is pretty difficult - it is like learning all over again as buoyancy control is completely different. You can't alter buoyancy by altering your lung contents anymore and there are three sources of buoyancy to worry about.

At the end of the course I can dive to 42m with air as a diluent, so no different to diving OC on air. After the course I need 25 hours on the unit and then I can do the normoxic trimix course (66m) and then hypoxic for the really deep stuff.

Black is an option but it is £55. Very little in comparison to the cost of the unit but a bit much for a different colour plastic case.

Blasted iphone.

We're trying to book a holiday for 1st week sept, any recommendations? shortish haul, i quite like wreck diving, not Advanced (yet).

We were thinking about Portugal, or maybe Halkidiki in Greece. Anyone got any experience of those destinations?

Thanks in advance

Malta / Gozo is a good destination for a diving holiday. I'm there in September for the third year on the trot. I'd say Malta is better for wreck diving than Gozo but there is no reason you cannot do both on the same trip. We usually have a trip over to Gozo on the ferry and get a couple of dives in. Most of the diving on Gozo is scenic stuff (the inland sea and blue hole are beautiful dives) - the only wrecks I know of on Gozo are the Xlendi, Karwela and Cominoland. They are all artificial reefs (former ferries) and it is possible to swim between them. These are all quite deep by recreational standards (30-42m) though.

The P31 off Comino (small island between Malta and Gozo) is a good wreck dive but you need to get there by boat. It is a former patrol boat and lies in quite shallow water. A similar boat (the P29) was sunk off Cirkewa off Malta a few years earlier in around 28-36m. When I dived them both in 2011, the P31 was quite clean, whereas there was a lot of life on the P29. I expect there will be more life on the P31 than there was. As well as being shallower, they have cut it open a lot more so some basic penetration is quite easy.

My favourite wreck is the Um El Faroud. It is a rather large tanker that suffered an explosion in dry dock, sadly killing nine Maltese dock workers. When they found the structure was severly damaged, they towed it to Zurrieq and sank it as an artificial reef. It can be reached from the shore but it is quite a swim. It is about 36m to the sea bed but much of the superstructure can be seen if you are staying quite shallow.

Quite a lot of the dives what PADI call a deep recreational dive but there are still plenty in less than 20m. Many of the dives can be reached from the shore.

When we visit Malta, we use Buddies in Bugibba. They are a great bunch and a good laugh - their staff are very competent too.

What level are you at? When you say 'not advanced (yet)' do you mean PADI Advanced Open Water? If so, why not do it on the trip? It is a very easy course with little theory (you can do the study and knowledge reviews before you go).

Just back from Malta a couple of days ago. Hoping to go out again in September and do my Tec 40 ticket.

My domestic boss mainly.

I would prefer to go with IANTD or TDI but the boss is recreational PADI through and though, as in taking the slowest possible route to her end training goal of MSD, and doesn't like the idea of me tech diving to start with, let alone with one of the lesser known (to her) agencies. In her mind PADI is 'safe' because it's familiar.

That and all of our tech diving instructor friends are PADI trained. I/We dive with them all regularly, again she trusts them not to let me get into trouble. (And thinks that there is less chance of me going over to CCR in the future if I stick with dedicated OC guys)

So yeah. Adventure.

Somebody has invented a pair of 'goggles' that tell you how much toxic gas you have left!

http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/smart-swimming...

I've heard good things of Alan and Techwise - you won't go wrong. PM me with your email address and I'll send the instructor notes over.

The course should be a little more than showing you what to do if your computer goes into deco. The course qualifies you to execute dives with up to 10 minutes deco and using up to EANx50 as a deco gas (although you use it for conservatism rather than accelerated deco). You should be taught to use software to plan your dive and deco stops. IIRC, you can do the Tec 40 without a twinset but it is obviously better if you do.

I just spotted you are in Manchester. Do you dive much over here?

I've sent it in two zip files - it didn't like it all as one but it seems happy now. I was at Capernwray on Sunday. It was very busy and the visibility has really gone to s**t as you can imagine with loads of trainees kicking up the bottom. I was there a couple of months ago and it was like gin - apparently they've put a load more freshwater mussels in which help things somewhat.

What do you think of Eccy Delph? I've only dived it once. I have heard plenty of bad things about it - mostly about the vis. A couple of lads from my club dive there a lot and say they have been when the water is so clear you can see from one of the sunken objects to the other. When I was there, the vis was terrible.

Some of our lot are at Capernwray on Sunday too but I cannot join them as I have to fit new engine mounts and exhaust centre section to the Elise (great diver's car!).