For many divers, (and I’ll admit I was one of them) scuba diving only involves tropical islands with water of 25°C and above. There is no denying this water temperature is extremely inviting and I love tropical water diving, but that said there is still some amazing world-class scuba diving right on your doorstep waiting to be explored.

So ask yourself why only dive on holiday 🏖️?

Why not do your passion year-round?

With the restricted travel situation, we now find ourselves in, there’s no better time to start exploring locally!

We’ve pulled together 5 great reasons to start diving in your local area. Of course, there are more but that will be for you to discover yourselves…

Suport Local

It is no secret that local businesses are struggling right now. So showing support to your local dive center by taking courses and joining dives will go a long way. Small, local dive shops have a strong focus on customer service, and when you become a customer of your local dive centre you will receive honest, personal dive advice and become a part of the team.

Check out our support local campaign to see how you could become a part of our team!

Be surprised by the marine life

A question we hear a lot is, ‘but what is there to see?’

We don’t have Nemo here, but most divers are surprised by the array and abundance of marine life. Gavin Parsons, a visiting photographer, and writer wrote in his article in divernet magazine…

‘’Bouley bay is one of those places where almost anything can turn up’’

And he wasn’t just talking about adventure! With potential sightings of seahorses, sunfish, nudibranchs, and more! you’ll be surprised what you can see! Click here to read the rest of the article and check out some pretty cool photos of a few of our local critters.

Wrecks, scattered on the sea bed, are filled, not only with historical stories from the war but plentiful marine life too.

A personal favourite are the night dives, with a good dive torch, the colours of the reef are breathtaking and marine life such as squid, cuttlefish, rays, and lobster come out to play.

Challenge yourself and learn new skills

Divers using their SMB at Great Rock dive site.

Allow yourself to be challenged and broaden your dive skills and even develop new dive skills such as wearing a drysuit, using a compass, and joining dives such as wreck dives and drift dives.

Click here to find out when you can become a dry suit diver and get to dive all year round.

Make new friends

Diving is a social activity, and what better way to make friends than to share the same passion? We all know what it‘s like trying to share our underwater photos or diving talk with our land-based friends! 😬

Diving locally, or even joining the local dive club, allows you to connect with other divers, share stories and experiences, and even pop down to talk about diving with the rest of the team. Before you know it your social calendar could be filling with weekend dives to your local wreck, or evening scallop dives, followed by mandatory bbq of scallops after!

If you want to know more about our local dive club and the benefits of becoming a member then click here

More diving!

If you get an average of 4 weeks annual leave each year, it’s unlikely you’re going to clock up much bottom time. By diving locally you not only increase your yearly dive count, but you can also avoid becoming a rusty diver because your skills are always being used. If you take your Drysuit Specialty you expand this even more and open up the opportunity to dive year-round!

Who wouldn’t want to be able to do what they love year-round?!

If we’ve inspired you to start diving in Bouley Bay then email us to tell us a little bit about yourself and whether you are a qualified diver yet or not and we will find the perfect dive for you.

You can also check out what we offer online here