Meet Jack Broad, who works for Dive HQ Christchurch as a Dive Instructor. Jack qualified as an Instructor     with Dive HQ Christchurch, completing his Diploma in Scuba Diving Instruction in 2015 with specialties in night  dive, deep dive, nitrox, navigation, and O2 provider.

  Jack  teaches our Tertiary Students who are taking their one year Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction, here at  Dive HQ Christchurch (rated a 5 STAR Instructor Development Centre by PADI).

Jack says his favourite thing about teaching Instructors is seeing his student’s progress from inexperienced and unsure to confident, experienced divers ready for a career in diving.

Jack also teaches recreational courses to students in Open Water and Advanced Open Water, both locally and at Kaikoura.

Jack’s favourite dive site is one he experienced for the first time in 2015.

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is Jack’s favourite dive site.  Leaving Port  Douglas in November sunshine, this boat dive took Jack exploring in 30 degree  water.  With depths of 25-30m and visibility of 40+ metres, Jack describes the  water as warm and crystal clear.

This dive saw Jack experience turtles, sharks, mauri wrasse, and giant clams, together with an abundance of coral of all types, shapes and sizes.

Interested in making diving your job? 

Our August intake of the Diploma of Scuba Diving has a couple of spaces available with the next intake in February 2018. This is a full time, one year course that provides everything you need to work in a dive related industry or to become a dive expert while you decide on your next move. You can find out more about this here http://www.divehqscuba.co.nz/tertiary-courses

Interested? Then call me on 0800 348347 or email me at richard@divehqscuba.co.nz or my mobile 0274 348347, and we can organise a meeting to chat it through.

Meet Akita Kees, who works for Dive HQ Christchurch as a Dive Instructor and Dive Shop Retail Superstar. 

Akita qualified as a Dive Instructor with Dive HQ Christchurch, completing her Diploma in Scuba Diving in 2016.  Akita enjoys taking new divers out for their Open Water and follows  them through their Advanced Open Water and on to their Dive Master courses.  Akita is especially talented at teaching younger divers.  Akita’s  cheerful smile and technical expertise are always available to our dive shop customers.

 Akita’s favourite dive site is Barney’s Rock in Kaikoura, which she first dived in 2015, at the start of her year-long Diploma course, here at Dive HQ  Christchurch.  A manageable 200m swim from the shoreline at the Hikurangi Reserve, Akita describes Barney’s Rock as having ‘a crazy amount of sea life!’

Huge Blue Cod, Moki, and Butterfish are to be found swimming amongst the playful dolphins and seals.  Climb onto Barneys Rock to view the seabirds,  or explore the massive crevasse for Crayfish.   Barneys Rock is Akita’s number 1 dive spot.

Interested in making diving your job? 

Our August intake of the Diploma of Scuba Diving is filling up fast. This is a full time, one year course that provides everything you need to work in a dive related industry or to become a dive expert while you decide on your next move. You can find out more about this here http://www.divehqscuba.co.nz/tertiary-courses

Interested? Then call me on 0800 348347 or email me at richard@divehqscuba.co.nz or my mobile 0274 348347, and we can organise a meeting to chat it though.

Done your Open Water and now ready for your Advanced Open Water?

We have courses running all year.

Kaikoura Advanced Open Water 16 August (local theory) and 19/20 August (Kaikoura)

Kaikoura Advanced Open Water 27 September (local theory) and 30/1 September/October (Kaikoura)

Interested? Then call us on 0800 348347 or call in to the shop.

This Newsletter is the first in a series to tell you about the fabulous team working here at Dive HQ Christchurch, and their favourite dive sites.

Meet Kane Clare, who works for Dive HQ Christchurch as a Dive Instructor and Dive Shop Retail Superstar. Kane qualified as an Instructor with Dive HQ Christchurch, completing his Diploma in Scuba Diving in 2016.  Kane can regularly be found teaching our Open Water and Advanced Open Water Students both locally and at Kaikoura.  When he’s not teaching, Kane will be found working in our dive shop and providing his technical expertise to help our customers make the best choice of gear to suit their individual diving needs.

Kane’s favourite dive site is one he experienced for the first time during his Diploma course with Dive HQ Christchurch, when the students took off to Fiji, as part of their year-long course.

Mellow Yellow, Vatu-i-ra, Fiji, is a boat dive of 15-28m depth.  Departing from the resort at Safari Lodge in August sunshine and into warm waters, Kane describes the dive as his favourite yet.

With reefs of yellow soft coral stacks in open water, and schools of barracuda, black tip reef sharks, parrot fish, lion fish, angels, butterfly and trumpet fish all seen on the 40 minute dive, it’s not surprising that this is Kane’s number 1 dive site.

Kane describes traversing the pinnacle wall and checking the crevasses for nudibranchs and macro life surrounded by soft yellow coral, as an amazing dive experience.

Interested in making diving your job? 

Our August intake of the Diploma of Scuba Diving is filling up fast. This is a full time, one year course that provides everything you need to work in a dive related industry or to become a dive expert while you decide on your next move. You can find out more about this here

Interested? Then call me on 0800 348347 or email me at richard@divehqscuba.co.nz or my mobile 0274 348347, and we can organise a meeting to chat it through.

After many years of Scuba diving I have managed to search the ocean flora and fauna to hunt for nudibranchs. Some of you will be asking yourself what a nudibranch is, let alone how to find one?

So what are they? Well they are a group of soft jelly-bodied gastropod molluscs. There are over 3000 different species that are known and many that are not yet discovered. They are part of the sea slugs family and have such amazing vivid colours and fascinating shapes. The size will vary dramatically from different species but generally you will find from between 6mm to 300mm in length. Since they are carnivores they graze on algae, sponges, anemones, corals, barnacles and even known to eat other nudibranchs.

While I was diving in the Solomon Islands last year I was fortunate enough to see dozens of the little guys. The great thing about them is that they are so photogenic and because of their slow moving nature you can take your time and create awesome pictures.

If you haven’t been lucky enough to dive overseas then you will find Nudibranchs around the New Zealand coast line and around Canterbury. So on your next Scuba dive don’t just look for the big things and be that focussed on catching crayfish that you miss seeing some of the most beautiful creatures in the sea.
Remember to take your time and start looking at the little underwater things.

Cheers
Richard

My first certification came from co teaching a local PADI Open Water dive course with an experienced instructor. The first two Open Water dives were at Lake Coleridge and we completed the last day at Wainui over on the Banks Peninsular, the weather was awesome! Sun shining, no wind, and flat bay to dive in.

We got geared up and walked down the rocky path to the water’s edge, where we briefed the dive and entered the water to complete the dive skills. We found a nice flat patch of sand at six meters deep to complete the skills, first up was mask removal and replacement and second was an oral hover (for anyone how isn’t familiar with open water skills this this is a neutral buoyancy skill were you inflate your BCD orally and hover mid-water as if you were an astronaut in space). Then we swam around and explored the dive site a bit more, we swam through a mini kelp forest and saw two HUGE Blue Moke! Everyone was buzzing. When we had reached our turn pressure for the dive we swam back to our ascent line and surfaced.

I have never before seen six fifteen year olds with such big toothy grins, the quietest and shy kid of the group spat his Reg out of his mouth and could not stop talking bout how awesome that dive was! I knew at that point that being a dive instructor was all about sharing my experiences with people and give them the ability to make and share new adventures and memories with friends, family and other divers all over the world.

After our second briefing for the final dive of the course, we descended and completed the last couple of skills, and explored more of the dive site. Akita was leading the way and I was following from the rear, after exploring the reef more it was time to ascend. We started our ascent with the other half of the group from about ten meters deep. As we approach five meters, I signal for the students to stop and do a safety stop, so we all adjust our buoyancy and hover mid water to do what is called a blue water safety stop (this is where you conduct a safety stop in mid water with neither the bottom or surface of the water is visible and no other visual reference available). We float there like astronauts in space completely weightless for three minutes, then complete our ascent to the surface.

I thought to myself while we were doing our safety stop that wow these students have gone from being clumsy and uncoordinated in the first pool sessions to doing one of the hardest and most disorienting skill in diving without even batting an eyelid, I was gob smacked with how far these kids had come in just four days of learning to dive.

The whole hour and a half van ride home was filled with stories of what they had all seen, plans of where they all wanted to dive around New Zealand and in some cases other countries. This was the moment that we had trained for, seeing new PADI Open Water divers so happy and enjoying themselves it really makes becoming an instructor so rewarding.

Kane and Akita

“Don’t Touch The Coral” If you have ever been diving or snorkeling by a beautiful coral reef, you would have heard the strict instructions not to touch, or break the delicate coral which takes years to grow.  We are increasingly aware of the threats to our underwater ecosystems caused by bleached and damaged coral, but did you know about the increasingly popular movement of “Coral Gardening” which is helping to restore healthy coral reefs?

Causes of Coral Destruction

Coral has been measured to be declining at an increasing rate with roughly one quarter of reefs worldwide already damaged beyond repair.  Cyclones, pollution, warmer waters, and ocean acidity, as well as competition from seaweeds and predators are some of the main culprits.  Of course Scuba divers and snorkelers also can take some of the blame if they accidentally break coral, or contribute to pollution through use of destructive sunscreens. Destructive fishing methods such as dynamite fishing, or bottom trawling play a big part of the destruction in some areas. Coral mining is also an issue in some countries, where the living coral is harvested for use in bricks, building, road construction, and to be sold to tourists.

Coral Gardening – Aquaculture of Coral

Coral Reef Farming is the concept of extracting segments of larva of live corals from a reef and then proceeding to grow them in a nursery until adulthood. The technique involves treating coral as if it were a plant, leading to the name ‘Coral Gardening’. Coral Gardening has been enjoyed by many who have a coral display in an aquarium, and there are businesses who grow it for this purpose.  Now Coral Gardening is taking off as a popular conservation effort to restore and create beautiful coral gardens which help to provide the important part of the ecosystem for many underwater species.

How are Coral Gardens made?
Coral can either be reproduced sexually, or asexually by budding polyps. In the first method, spawn is collected, collonised in tanks then into floating nurseries in the ocean. The next step is to transplant it into the sea and secure it, then wait for it to grow!  The Coral can be secured with cable ties, rope frames, and other inventive measures to hold the coral in place.

The more current method is to source coral seedlings from reef colonies or stray coral fragments, by harvesting coral branches, fragments, or nubbins (pieces of coral pruned from the tips). This fragmentation is the most practiced method.

Become a Coral Gardener!

Although you may not go out and set up your own home coral gardening facility, there are places all around the globe where you can become involved in the process. Volunteer projects are available in places such as Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, etc… You can learn more about coral conservation and restoration by getting stuck in, and join an educational dive, such as a Project AWARE Reef Conservation Course where you can incorporate learning to recognize a reef in distress to you dives. Be sure to research the facility you plan to volunteer at to ensure you are working towards the greater good, in a sustainable manner. Remember it isn’t always necessarily hands-on; doing things like educating locals on how to preserve the reef can go a long way! Find out more about actions you can take within your own community too!   

In the meantime, here are some good dive practices to help you help the reefs! Consider taking our Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty to perfect your positioning in the water to avoid damaging vulnerable marine life! Fish ID is another awesome specialty that will help familiarize you with the underwater world; conservation starts with education.

If you would like to learn more ways to help the underwater environment, get in touch with us at Dive HQ Christchurch – 103 Durham Street South – 03 379 5804 – and we will introduce you to Project AWARE!

Do you shop like a shark?  Hunting all the best prices in town?

Come and chomp into Dive HQ’s Whopping Big Sale…

Nearly everything is on sale, so you had better come and see for yourself, but here are a few specials that will get snapped up quickly!

Sale Ends 30th April.

Store Hours:  Monday to Saturday 8.30am – 5pm

Dive HQ Christchurch
103 Durham St South
Sydenham
Christchurch
03 379 5804
www.diveskiworld.co.nz

Rocksea Competition Wet Suits

Amazingly camouflaged jacket and long-johns, save $100.00!  Now only $499.00 for the combo!

Hollis M1 Technical Diving Masks were $179.00, Now $109.00!

Espadon 750 Save 22% now $139.00!

US Dive Snorkel Sets all 30% off

Lava Core – Underwater Thermals 

We are excited to have this amazing range of Lava Core Thermals, just what we need to keep warm in winter water.

25 -30 % off the whole range of Lavacore!

Suunto Air Integrated Computers are Up to 20% off!
Plus we offer a FREE transmitter with D series watches and Vyper Air

At least 30% off all Pinnacle Wetsuits!!

Up to 40% off all Oceanic!

Up to 35% off all Apeks Regulators!

At least 10% off all Rob Allen Spearfhishing!

Up to 40% off all Hollis!

Come join the feeding frenzy!  Whopping big discounts all through the store!

See you soon at Dive HQ Christchurch

Sale Ends 30th April.

Store Hours:  Monday to Saturday 8.30am – 5pm

Dive HQ Christchurch
103 Durham St South
Sydenham
Christchurch
03 379 5804
www.diveskiworld.co.nz

The Suunto D4i Novo Dive Computer has definitely taken appearance into consideration.  With a soft wrist strap and bright colour options, your dive computer also functions as a cool watch.

Wear your computer all the time!

When you get the “Dive Bug” and start buying all your own equipment, the Dive Computer can often be the purchase that causes the most questions.  This is because of all the feature options packed into a small unit.  At Dive HQ Christchurch, our staff will ask you about what kind of diving you will be doing as this will help us lead you to the right computer for your needs.  Technical divers, tropical divers, dive instructors, and recreational divers, for example will all be looking for different functions in a dive computer.

Essentially all Dive Computers are designed to help you dive more safely, allow for longer multilevel dives, and potentially shorter safety stops.  They also provide a record of all your dives, which can be very helpful when logging dives.

Here at Dive HQ Christchurch, many of our customers are drawn to the Suunto D4i Computer, which as you see has some serious style appeal.   However, we know you are not just purchasing on the basis of “looks”!

Try your dive computer on, and make sure the buttons are easy for you to press

The Suunto D4i Novo features include:

• Easy to use
• Air integration
• Wrist mounted
• Log history of 60 Dives
• Also functions as a watch and is comfortable to wear all the time
• Available in Blue, Black, White, Pink and Lime Green.

Make sure your display is easy to read

We recommend coming and having a chat to the staff in our Christchurch dive store to help answer all those questions and find the best computer for you, then if you decide it’s the D4i Novo you want, you will only have the most difficult question left to answer…

“Which colour do I choose!”

Dive HQ Christchurch
103 Durham St South
Sydenham
Christchurch
New Zealand
www.diveskiworld.co.nz
0800 DIVEHQ (348347)

When you get a HYDRO or a VISUAL Test done on your cylinder, at Dive HQ Christchurch, we will mark your Cylinder with the date of the test.

HYDRO Tests

When we do a HYDRO we stamp the date, in month/year format, into the top of the cylinder.  There may be a number of dates stamped in there, so to help make it clearer, here at Dive HQ Christchurch when we do a Hydro Test, we not only stamp the cylinder, but also give it a little paint, in the same colour that has been assigned to that year.  This year, being 2016, the colour is Baby Blue.

Here is an example on one of our new tanks, HYDRO tested in October 2015.
You can see 10  15  is the date.  That means it has had a hydro test in October 2015.  It has been painted Red = the colour for 2015.  *Note 041 is our testing station number.

On our next example, you can see this tank has had a Hydro done in 06  15  = June 2015.  So it is also painted Red.

Now let’s check out one from 2014.  The most recent date stamped in this cylinder is 06  14  = June 2014, and you can see it has some blue paint on it, which is the code for a hydro done in 2014. But as you can see it also has a RED tag!! This would indicate a Visual test has been carried out in 2015 (as its RED)

VISUAL Test Dates

Around the Cylinder you will also find a plastic Tag,  this is called an ROC, (Ring of Confidence).  The colour of the ROC changes each year.

2016 Baby Blue
2015 Red
2014 Blue
2013 Maroon
2012 Black
2012 Brown

When just a VISUAL test is done, we will stamp the date on the ROC.
When the last test done was a HYDRO, you will see just an H on the tag, so you will need to look back at the date stamped on the tank for the last HYDRO test date.

On the cylinder below, we can see the blue tag around the neck, with an H on it.  This means the last test done was a HYDRO.   We can tell from the blue tag, that the last Hydro was done in 2014 (Blue Tag for 2014)

The ROC below has the date stamped on it – 10  15, which means it had a VISUAL test done in October 2015.

Please Note:-

A HYDRO is required 2 years from the latest date stamped onto the cylinder regardless of when the last Visual was carried out.

Come and see us at 103 Durham St South, Sydenham, Dive HQ Christchurch, and we’ll get your tanks tested and filled, so that you are ready to go enjoy some great diving.  We can also service your BCD and Regs for you.
0800 DIVEHQ
www.diveskiworld.co.nz

As we know, water conducts heat away from the body a lot faster than air (20x faster!), so making sure that we are wearing an appropriate exposure suit is crucial to ensure that we stay warm.

Wetsuits keep us warm by having heat insulating bubbles of nitrogen gas trapped in the neoprene of the suit. These are heated along with a thin layer of water by our body heat and keep us toasty while diving. We often get asked the difference between our freediving suits and our scuba diving suits and what is better. The truth is that they are very different and are obviously made to serve slightly different purposes.

The biggest difference comes down to the density and therefore the size of the bubbles in the neoprene. If a suit is made with large bubbles and thinner walls surrounding each bubble then that suit is what is referred to as low density. This material will be very soft, very stretchy and have strong insulating properties, making for a very comfortable suit.

One of the Free Diving suits stocked at Dive HQ Christchurch. Designed for maximum camouflage.

The disadvantage of low density neoprene is that when taken to depth, is compresses easily. As it gets thinner its ability to hold heat reduces. Because when freediving, spearfishing and snorkelling the majority of time is spent on the surface, the low density neoprene is ideal, being comfortable and warm.
Most scuba diving suits are made from high density neoprene (Smaller bubbles, thicker walls). This allows the suit to maintain its insulating properties while at depth.

The Aqua Solfx Wetsuit, suitable for SCUBA Diving

The lining on the suits is another distinguishing feature. Most scuba suits are lined on both the inside and the out. This strengthens the suit substantially but reduces the amount of flex and stretch. Most free diving suits have a light lining on the outside for protection but leave the inside unlined. This allows for a better fit to the body and maximises the range of movement.

Bottom line: The suits are as good as each other in their element!

If you would like to find the best suit for your needs, come in and speak to us at Dive HQ Christchurch.  You can also try on the suit to get the best fit for you.

Dive HQ Christchurch
101 Durham St South
Sydenham
Christchurch
0800 DIVEHQ
www.diveskiworld.co.nz