Hot out of the Design Hub at Atomic Aquatics are two awesome products. First the Atomic Venom ARC mask is a blend of the Atomics SubFrame and Frameless Masks. It has a reinforcing internal frame that’s molded directly beneath the surface of the silicone rubber skirt, like on the Subframe, yet it offers the relatively low profile of the Frameless. A single window like the Atomic Frameless, but it has a high bridge and tear-drop shape similar to the SubFrame’s dual-window design. Its easy-to-use squeeze-to-adjust buckles are soft-mounted to the mask skirt, which allows flexibility in strap positioning, plus they can be folded flat for packing.

How the Venom differs from its SubFrame and Frameless cousins, is how the bright sparks over at Atomic have constructed the lens. The Frameless and SubFrame mask use Ultraclear glass, which in itself has almost unrivalled clarity and a reputation for optical quality. On the Venom Mask Atomic import and even higher-quality glass imported from Germany, this Schott Superwite glass allows even more light to pass through the lens unobstructed compared to the Ultraclear glass.

In addition to the Schott Superwite glass the Atomic Venom ARC mask has an Anti-Reflective Coating which allows more light to enter the mask and reduce light reflection. This makes seeing through the mask better above and below the water. Atomic Aquatics developed ARC (Anti-Reflective Coating) Technology to Reduce Reflected Light and actually Increase the amount of Available Light Transmitted to a Diver’s Eyes. The result is a greatly Improved Transmission of 98% of Available Light, compared to a loss of more than 14% of light with standard green “float” glass used on the majority of masks on the market. Anti-Reflective Coatings or ARC” is a Multi-Layer Metal Oxide Coating Process applied to both sides of the Ultra-Clear Lenses. This allows more light to enter the mask by Reducing Light Reflections off the inside and outside surface of the lens. The Metal Oxide Coating is only a few Microns Thick. ARC will give you Clearer, Crisper Vision.

And Second the All New Atomic SV2 Snorkel. As many of you know diving with a snorkel can be more of a burden than a help, whether it be the way it sits on the side of your head or that when you do go to use it is just not that easy to clear. I know I noticed this the most on a dive trip while I was on holiday in Rarotonga, nearly every diver was not diving with a snorkel. The bright sparks over at Atomic have come up with what I think is an almost perfect snorkel. The Atomic SV 2 Snorkel is easy to clear is Low in Profile and one that stays Dryer inside is what you are looking for. SV stand for Scupper Valve, also known as a One-Way-Valve. Just like the One-Way-Valve in your Regulator which when you exhale drains water from your regulator the Scupper Valve basically works the same. The SV2 uses an additional feature that keeps water away from your mouth a Small Tube located just below the Mouthpiece is designed to keep the Breathing Airway path Free of Water Droplets. To keep water from easily entering the top of the snorkel the SV2 incorporates a Grill Grid Opening which Deflects Water that would go down the end of a conventional snorkel tube. The Flexible Lower Tube makes the Atomic SV2 Snorkel perfect for Scuba by Automatically-Swinging Out-of-the-Way when you are using your Scuba Regulator. So if you hate to use a snorkel, but want more bottom time this is the solution you are looking for

Spend $100 in store anytime this month to go in to win these bad boys!

As a diver you know that you are limited on bottom time due to the Nitrogen we breathe in.  When diving 16 metres or shallower, you can stay for up to an hour if you have enough air.  But go a little deeper and your bottom time is reduced dramatically.

Well why not extend your bottom time by using Enriched Air Nitrox?  With more Oxygen and less Nitrogen, you get longer under the water as long as you take enough gas with you.

You will then need to come for 2 fun dives with your instructor, (what a shame), so they can sign you off.

The PADI Enriched Air Nitrox specialty also counts towards one of the 5 PADI specialties you need to gain the Master Scuba Diver qualification.

Spend $100 in store this month to go in to win an Enriched Air Course!

PADI Rescue diver

Scuba diving is a great sport and like any activity it is not without its risks, and that is what attracts some divers. Other divers pick up the sport for the weightlessness, to see the beautiful marine life, or as an added activity for their vacations. These are all great reasons and they bring a lot of value to our lives as well as make for fun stories of adventure.

Learning how to dive encompasses a whole range of skills and advances your abilities in many ways. Your initial step into the world of diving as a PADI Open Water diver touches briefly on safety, and managing the risk factors we all face as divers. Along with teaching you how to dive. The certification following falls under the PADI Advanced Open Water diver- this is a course geared towards advancing your skills as a diver (surprise surprise). The next step up in your PADI adventure is then a PADI rescue diver course.

Becoming a PADI Rescue Diver brings many benefits, and is the course put in place to further outline safety concerns when diving and to delve deeper into the concept of risk management.

Like all sports or activities, people gain a level of comfort with time and experience, and many times right after that comes complacency. We often read of people tramping that ventured beyond their ability to navigate back, or failed to bring enough water, food, or protective clothing. They may have also not paid attention to the weather and now find themselves in a pretty sticky situation and in need of rescue.

Stepping up to become a PADI Rescue Diver can sound like a daunting task – but nearly anyone can do it. Learning how to manage accidents can have a hugely positive impact on more than one diver. Challenging and rewarding are the 2 words commonly used to describe the PADI rescue course. Expanding your diving knowledge and experience level will give you the confidence and dive ability to not only consider the safety of yourself, but other divers too.

Coming back to the analogy of the tramper, becoming a rescue diver will take you to the next level of experience. You’ll know how much food to bring, what protective clothing to wear and always know to keep a keen eye on the weather. By the end of your PADI Rescue Diver course you’ll have a sound knowledge of basic first aid, be able to provide life support in and out of the water, understand how to recognize stress and be able to manage dive emergencies.

Just do it! The rescue course is serious – but also a hell of a lot of fun. Your confidence will grow right along with your abilities as a diver. And to make things even more tempting, you have a chance to WIN a full PADI Rescue Diver course with Dive HQ from the 1^st of January. No excuses now.

Once you’ve finished your Rescue Diver course, you may decide that now is a good time to change your life and turn your love of diving into a career. The next step up the PADI ladder is into the PADI Pro realm, maybe even becoming a Divemaster is on the cards? See you in the water!

Spend $100 in store to win yourself a Rescue course during the month of January!

Split Fins or Blade Fins

 The design itself is meant to channel the right amount of water with each kick behind you to propel you forward and allowing extra water to slip through the split to ease the strain and work load on the ankles, shins and all other muscles involved in the desired kicking style. The atomic split fins are great for those people that can be exasperated and tired with a stiffer more cumbersome blade fin or for those with lower limb injuries.

Ever dropped a fin while gearing up? Don’t panic these are a fraction positively buoyant and so, no more feeling around on the bottom groping for your fins in the kelp!

 The Atomic split fins come in a range of colours, with the options of rubber or stainless-steel fins straps.

Features include:

• Less Drag, More Thrust, Less Strength is Used
• Latest Technology in Composite Plastic Polymer Materials
• Light Fin (Great Travel Fin)
• Increases Thrust and Reduces Fatigue
• EZ-LOK Squeeze-Style” Quick-Release Buckles
• EZ-LOK: Snap-On-and-Off with Ease, Will-Not Disengage- Accidentally
• Rubber Straps with Large Pull-Tab for Easy Donning and Doffing
• Flexibility and Rigidity for Efficient Propulsion
• Less Air Consumption
• Power Rails: Backbone of the Split Fin, Highly-Resilient, Storing and Releasing Energy with Every Kick
• Semi-Ridged Flex Battens: Control the Precise Wing Shape to Optimize Thrust and Reduce Drag
• Large Surface Area Blade Improves Pivoting, Turning and Alternate Kick Styles
• Thin, Yet Strong and Highly Flexible Hinge Points Cause Blade to React Quick-and-Efficiently
• Anatomically Contoured Foot Pocket Designed to Fit Foot without Stress Points
• Semi-Open Toe for Added Comfort
• Internal Sole Plate, Ridged Platform Beneath-the-Foot, Greater Power Transfer to the Blade
• Soft, Comfortable Open Heel Foot Pocket
• Sizes: Small, Medium, Large or X-Large

Spend $100 in store anytime during December to go into the draw for some awesome fins!

August monthly prize draw!

Whether it’s poking your nose under a rock to check for that next monster cray or going for an always epic night dive to check out the nocturnal sea life, every diver should carry at least one torch. A back up is also always a good idea, as well as a necessity when night diving. The Hollis LED Mini is a great torch for either purpose, hunting for crayfish or as a back up at night. It’s compact, and for it’s size carries a lot of “oomph”. The simple click on, click off mechanism is so straight forward that even my cat could use it. The simplicity and durability of this torch means you’ll experience minimal flooding (if you’ve ever had a flooded torch, you’ll understand this pain) as well as a bright beam from a compact piece of kit. See below for the specs. 

• Single 3W backup light
• Concentrated 8 degree beam
• Output 210 Lumen
• Burntime – 4 hours total
• Bulb life 50,000 hours
• T6061-T6 Anodized Aluminum
• 3 AAA alkaline batteries
• Rear tie-point for boltsnap/lanyard included
• Double O-ring seals
• State of the art PMMA reflector

Once you’ve gone head first into that cray hole with your awesome torch and returned safely with your catch, you’ll need to be sure he’s up to size. Included in the prize for the month of August will be a standard aluminium cray measure. Ensuring your catch is legal will save you a potential headache, as well as giving the wee fellas a chance to grow up to size for good eating. The aluminium measure is tough, and can be clipped to your gear for easy underwater measuring.

Crays are spiky little buggers, if you’ve ever tried grabbing one bare handed you’ll understand this pain. This is their defense mechanism (one of many) and luckily for us we can combat this using kevlar palm gloves. Kevlar stitching is durable and definitely able to withstand those pesky cray spikes. In your kit you’ll find a pair of Oceanic Kevlar gloves. These gloves are warm enough for NZ waters, as well as being tough enough to tackle the biggest of crays.

And finally, as a cherry on top of this badass sundae, you’ll need somewhere to put all these crays you’ll be catching. An NZ made, Dive HQ catch bag will do the trick for sure. This heavy duty catch bag will retain your catch, saving you hanging on for dear life to a frantic crayfish. Nothing worse than doing the work only to discover your dinner has snuck out the back way.

Spend $100 in store anytime during the month of August to go in the draw!

I have been a PADI instructor for 19 years and one of the most common questions asked when people are completing their PADI open water course or looking at purchasing dive equipment in the shop is, “What dive gear do you use?”

Dive Mask:
Hollis M3 mask is a black silicon dive mask that fits extremely well. Designed for technical diving means that reliability and a great seal on your face is a must. The most important thing with scuba diving masks is the way it fits you. Remember that if your mask continuously leaks and hurts your face, you will not enjoy the scuba or free dive. Also the fact that it has a gopro mount that can attach your camera too gives this mask another tick.Learn more…

Snorkel:
Aqualung Impulse 3 snorkel, I first started using the Impulse 2 snorkel 19 years ago once I first started working as a diving instructor in 1998. The only real change between the two snorkels is that the new impulse 3 is more streamlined and modernised.   What Aqualung have done is designed a snorkel that doesn’t let any water into the bore of the snorkel when on the surface. This stops any surface splash and chop. Learn more…

Fins:
Scubapro Nova Wing Fins hit the dive scene in 2014 and made massive splashes, winning scuba lab fins of the year. Just by looking at these dive fins you can see the shape if different from traditional fins. In the water it feels like you are hardly wearing fins. Nearly all of the dive instructors in the shop now wear these fins. That tells you a lot. Learn more…

Wetsuit:
Aqualung Solafx Wetsuit is a warm suit that meets all my diving needs. I used to be a real hunter gatherer and was always quite rough on the wetsuits. I used to have a Southern Ocean front entry suit and always loved it. For many years I have looked for something similar but never could find it. I had a Beuchat comfort 4 wetsuit for about 3 years before moving to the Solafx. I am still a fan of the Beuchat suits and still use a Beuchat Rocksea Comp open cell spearo suit for freediving and spearfishing. The great thing about the Solafx suit is its 8mm thickness through its core and 7mm around your arms and legs with a super flexible neoprene. Learn more…

Dive Regulator:
I use four different dive regulators, each have a different purpose for the type of diving that I am doing. For technical diving I use a Hollis 200LX, for a stage O2 regulator (over 40% oxygen) I use an oxygen clean Apeks XTX50, for my other stage (under 40% oxygen) I use a Hollis 500SE and lastly for recreational diving I use the Aqualung legend LX regulator and legend octi. Many years of manufacturing has gone into this dive regulator and as a high end product it does not disappoint from its performance underwater at all depths to the ergonomic design that makes the user experience better and easier to use underwater.  Learn more…

Dive Computer:
Shearwater Perdix AI Dive Computer is in a class of its own. Shearwater has been a well-known brand to technical divers for years now and they just get better and better. Colour screen that is perfect for low visibility, links to multiple air transmitter, can be used for recreational, technical and even a backup for your rebreather computer. I can keep going on about this dive computer but take a look at its specs and it says it all. Learn more…

BCD:
Hollis HTS2 harness with integrated weight pockets work so well for me. It offers the flexibility to be used with single, twin, side mount and my Hollis Explorer rebreather. The Hollis technical range is a modulated system that lets you set your harness and wing up to meet your requirements. The other good thing is that the design gives you lots of room around your front and is uncluttered. You really do need to come into Dive HQ Christchurch to see exactly what I mean. Learn more…

Feel free to ask me any questions relating to the dive gear that I use.
Cheers
Richard

Meet Louis Kimber, who works for Dive HQ Christchurch as a Senior Dive Instructor, and teaches our full time Diploma students.

Louis qualified as an Instructor with Dive HQ Christchurch, completing his Diploma in Scuba Diving in 2014.

Louis is an experienced Senior Instructor, and his recent group of full time Diploma students all passed, achieving a 90+% pass rate.

 Louis’ favourite dive site is a wreck dive, the Mikhail Lermontov in Port Gore.

  The Mikhail Lermontov is a 180m long Russian cruise liner, which sunk 30 years ago when the

  Marlborough harbourmaster, Captain Don Jamison who was piloting the vessel, misjudged Cape

 Jackson and hit  rocks.

A wreck dive, with boat only access, this beautiful dive is

14m to 35m in depth,  with visibility of 4m to 15m.

The Lemontov has created its own mini ecosystem,

with an amazing and diverse variety of fish to see.

Blue Cod, Octopus, Leather Jackets, Kahawai, and a resident Eel,

make this an amazing dive experience.

  Louis says that he most enjoys swimming through the Winter Gardens and on

  to the swimming pool.

  It is a favourite dive for many of our full time Diploma Students too, who

take a trip to this dive site as part of their Dive Master training.

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.

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.

We all heard about the Kaikoura seabed floor lifting 1 metre upwards in the Nov ’16 quake, and following the subsequent media reports of stranded Paua and Crayfish, we wondered what the future would hold for diving in Kaikoura. 5 months on, and things are looking much brighter.

Dive HQ Christchurch have surveyed various new dive sites, and found that the intertidal reefs around Kaikoura continue to offer an awesome experience for scuba divers. Whilst the whales, sharks and squid prefer the depths of the canyon, the intertidal reefs are still alive with reef fish, starfish, anemones, sponges, molluscs and crustaceans.
One of our new learn to dive training sites, off the south side of the Peninsula walkway has a flat table top limestone platform, surrounded by beautiful soft sand and rocky reefs. With good visibility and a maximum 7m dive depth at high tide, our team have reported some exciting dives with 3 resident stingray around 2m in length keeping them company.

Photo by Patrick Rose

During a dive on this particular site there is no shortage of sea life with Banded Wrasse, Triple Fin’s, Blue Cod and an abundance of a fluorescent pink anemone. One minute from the platform in any direction a smorgasboard of crayfish and sea life are clearly visible.
SCUBA Diving off Baxter’s Reef shows the different rock formations visible post-quake, with previous reefs sunken and new rocks and reefs apparent. Visibility has been slightly reduced probably due to silt from the dredging of the harbour area, but our team report that the crayfish are not put off by the silt and are still plentiful. Baxter’s reef has a maximum dive depth of around 12metres and the reef fish and kelp gardens are an excellent example of the colourful ecosystem of the area.

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