New dive centres open in the UK

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New dive centres open in the UK

August 04, 2017 - 12:58
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Three new RAID dive centres have recently opened in the UK.

RAID Instructors and ITs pictured at NDAC, Chepstow

The dive centres—Dive Blue Horizon in Wakefield, Severn Tec in Shrewsbury and The Fifth Point in Northumberland—have bucked the harsh economic trend by opening their doors during tough trading times.

"We’ve gone fully 'tecreational'," said Nic Emery, co-owner of . "All our students learn in wing and long hose configuration from the beginning. We’re creating confident and competent divers.”

Co-owner James Learwood said that Emery and he had been teaching for years. However, it was an in-water workshop with RAID Instructor Trainer Edd Stockdale that made them rethink their diving.

"A couple of hours in the water with Edd turned everything we knew on its head. It opened up a whole new way of teaching and modern diving slapped us in the face, making us wonder why we’d never thought of it before.”

These are dedicated RAID Dive Centres, soley offering RAID training.

Adrian Fox of confirmed that he appreciated the fact that the UK Directors, James Rogers and Garry Dallas, “are travelling the country, hitting the water and showing divers what RAID is like, rather than just talking about it."

In a RAID press release, Kevin Murphy, owner of , said he was “frustrated with the watered-down approach to dive training” that he had witnessed in the industry.

“I’ve always thought that skills like propulsion, buoyancy and DSMB use are core skills—not something that should be bolted on as an afterthought. I’ve got standards to follow, but I’m given the freedom to add my own style. If a student is struggling, I can spend more time with them—it’s not a box-ticking exercise.”