Holiday Diver issue 2 – Introduction

From the Editor
Well, I said in edition one that Holiday Diver would hopefully improve in the issues to follow; hey people – this month you’ve even got a proper contents page! ‘Whoops’. I do hope that what was a rush job in getting out edition one didn’t detract from what we are trying to achieve and that is – to give you up to date articles on new sites; wrecks you haven’t yet dived (and didn’t know they were there – cos the Dive Centres kept those sites close to their chests for one reason or another).

An attitude seems to exist within many centres that – ‘we’ll take the customers to all the well known and over dived sites because we know them so well and the new and exciting locations (many being new wrecks) – they’re for us (the instructors) to dive on our days off.’ Okay, I can understand that some of these sites can be pushing it to say the least and only for the most experienced and qualified divers but let me give you one example to the contrary, a decent wreck dive in Malta (not mentioned in any of the dive guides), depth – a maximum of 20 metres and without looking it up perhaps a lot less. A boat dive, but only some 10 minutes from the jetty at Marfa. I only know of one dive centre that actually takes divers to this site – and that is rarely! After 25 years of diving the Island I was taken to it for the first time last year (2006). The name of the ship (a barge) is the ‘Z Craig’ and I would take a bet that you haven’t even heard of it let alone dived it! This is a great wreck dive for those less experienced and one that shouldn’t be missed by all no matter what level of competency.

On Kit Reviews; as I have stated before we will not just test the kit once (on receipt), we will test it hard over many months – just to see if it will last and give value for your hard earned cash. If the kit is crap, we will tell you even if the manufacture advertises within these hallowed pages – they might not like it but so what, it is you that is keeping them in business and it is up to them to keep you safe under the surface!

When this magazine was just an idea I vowed that I wouldn’t be hammering the Red Sea month after month after month – I’ve got just sick and tired of reading the same old stories on the same old sites; but I have to admit the Red Sea is good, and perhaps I have understated that fact. The coral reefs are superb and the marine life – mind blowing! Personally I don’t think places like the Caribbean and the Florida Keys can really compare and don’t forget the Red Sea is just 4.5 hours travelling from the UK and Europe. So, I relented a little and put in this and edition 1 a story on the area with one more to go in a future issue. In edition 4 (travel section) I travel to the Southern Caribbean where you will see I have not spared the truth. There are certainly better dive locations within Europe; on that point you’ve got another Maltese article in this issue with many others to follow – they have to go in, I’ve been sitting on the stories for months (or rather the articles have been sat in other dive-mag editors in-trays for months – even though they describe new wrecks discovered with many from WW2) why – blue water and coral reefs had to come first – from these areas come the big advertisers!

Well I’ve had my grouse and no doubt I will get my backside well and truly kicked for those comments but what the hell that’s the way I feel. Remember – check your kit, check your buddies and be careful down there!

Ed.

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