On 16th January at the "Salon de la Plongee" in Paris we received an award from Pascal Martinie, Regional Manager for PADI in France. Our new PADI Recreational Facility has been named Newcomer of the Year in France for 2009.

Needless to say we are delighted, as this is recognition of the efforts we have made to provide the highest possible customer service to our clients. For more information about the award please see the following online articles:

French article
English article

We will be open for business from the beginning of April onwards and look forwards to seeing you all soon.

The end of another season sees us off to Thailand for a large part of the winter.

We’d like to thank everyone who has dived with us this year for their support and look forwards to seeing as many of you as possible in 2010. Big congratulations go to all those who passed a diving course or courses with us in 2009, in no particular order:

Denis, Paul, Darren, Eric, Dexter, Olaf, Benjamin, Peter, Mandy, Paul, Anders, Lily, James, Frank, Stephen (P), Conor, Josh, Tim, Nicolas, Robin, Tom, Alastair, Jelena, Emily, Alex, Sarah, Graham, Joe, Jessica, Vinzenz, Hugh, Adeline, Luc, Julien, Louise, Rosie, Sheila, Stephen (T), Mandy, Jitesh, Danielle, Yann, Adrian, Amedeo, Rita, Michel, Cyril, Virginie, Steve, Tonya, Olivier and Nadege

Extra special thanks go to all those who participated in the Project Aware Clean up on 18th October. Very much appreciated, you know who you are!

We hope all of you continue the adventure and are here to advise you throughout the winter as to what the best steps are for 2010.

For anybody thinking about a luxury dive holiday please bear in mind our partnership with Worldwide Dive and Sail. They are justifiably reputed as one of the best providers of luxury liveaboards in the world and operate in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. We are able to advise on availability on your behalf and suggest you have a look at www.worldwidediveandsail.com

Lots of happy clients and the season is starting to get going properly. So far we’ve had folks from Tasmania, Denmark, Canada, Scotland, the UK and France diving with us this year. The new boat is a marvel and handles the sea exceptionally well, and as you’d expect of a RIB it is very stable and carries loads well. Plus it gets you to the sites fast.

We’re taking advantage of having a little more freedom in our dive planning to mix things up a little bit, expanding the repertoire of sites we dive in the area, and giving more flexibility. Double tank dives are a possibility and we’re aiming to make a day out at the islands (Les Iles de Lerins, Ste Marguerite and St Honorat) a regular thing, once a week, usually Sundays, weather allowing.

Please do look at the Diamond Diving page on Facebook (type Diamond Diving into Facebook search) for more images of the marine life down here, plus video that we’ll be updating throughout the season.

Late deals are possible, and we highly recommend the option of combining a long weekend down here and continuing your dive education. You’ll get thorough training in small groups, a wonderful way to develop your experience and confidence as a diver.

For experienced divers we can pretty much state with confidence that you’ll not do the same site more than twice, even with an eight dive package, and you be on sites with few divers as far as possible, doing healthy dive times, gas allowing! Call 01908 234030 or e-mail info@diamonddiving.net – the £ is still creeping back against the € giving best value for reservations since December.

Diving so far this season has seen some excellent visibility with the sites very rich in diverse and healthy marine life, following the gradual but consistent improvement of at least the past five years.

We are pleased to announce the imminent arrival of our new RIB to be based in Antibes/Juan Les Pins. Fully kitted out for diving with tank rack, ladder, fish finder, echo sounder and VHF radio, we can look after six to eight clients comfortably. Perfect for small groups.

In a constant attempt to offer good value for money and to combat the economy and £/€ exchange rate (which, incidentally seems to be coming back quite strongly in favour of £ at the moment) we have outlined below top-line prices and packages for a number of very good value new offers at the moment. Please contact us for further details and precise availability:

Week long dive holiday Antibes

Airport transfers, eight boat dive package for qualified divers and shared self catering accommodation
From £399 depending on month

Advanced Open Water weekend Antibes (similar available on 2 x specialties e.g. Nitrox and Digital Underwater Photography)

Airport transfers, full PADI Advanced Course including everything (no extras) plus shared self catering accommodation
From £425 depending on month

Week long dive holiday La Londe Les Maures and Port Cros National Park (one of the most established marine reserves in the Med)

Airport transfers, choice of accommodation between self catering, good two star hotel and two great holiday complexes. Ten boat dive package.
From £540 (group price) or £599 (individual price). September and October.