How it all started....

Well hello everyone and welcome to Scuba Duba Dive's first blog post.

Hopefully everyone reading our blog is either currently a keen scuba diver or is eager to learn.  Scuba Duba Dive has been launched to cater for both needs beginners and experienced divers.

There is currently a huge amount of work going on within the Scuba Duba Dive team getting everything ready for the official launch.

I'd thought I would take the opportunity in this blog post to introduce myself, Mungo Finlayson, as the Managing Director of Scuba Duba Dive.

The first time I ever tried scuba diving was on a PADI discover scuba diving day in Zanzibar, Africa in 2005.  To be honest I didn't enjoy the experience much.  This was down to me having food poisoning and the lack of professionalism within the dive centre which didn't make me feel at ease.  

It was a few years after trying diving in Zanzibar that I felt I should give it another go.  So I signed up to a 10 week diving marine conservation project in Fiji learning more advanced dive techniques throughout the project.  Yes, it was a bit of a gamble, signing up to a 10 week project related to diving when I wasn't sure the first time but I wanted to give it a second chance.  I'm seriously glad I decided to give scuba diving another try.  The difference it made having an instructor who was interested and focused on any elements that you were struggling with was amazing.  I qualified up to an PADI Advanced Open Water diver in Fiji, getting to dive some pretty amazing dive sites and to top the whole trip off I saw a hammerhead shark!

Before a dive in the Fiji Dive Shack

Sunrise from the Beach in Fiji

After Fiji I had fallen in love with diving and what the underwater world had to offer, I moved onto Australia with a one year working holiday visa.  I gained work on a day diving boat on the Great Barrier Reef,  being paid very little daily but with the promise of gaining my PADI Rescue Diver and PADI Divemaster with the job.  This was a very slow process considering they said it was to be a three month internship.  I stuck at it though for five months due to the fact I loved that I was diving daily.  In the end I had to leave due to running out of money and only gained my PADI rescue diver from them.  I moved on within Australia and worked 6 months on a cattle farm in the Northern Territory, which was an experience I will not be forgetting.

Nudibranch

After Australia I starting making my way back to the United Kingdom but there were a few stops on the way.  The first stop were the Sipidan Islands in Borneo, where I spent five days doing some of the most fantastic diving I've done still to date.  There were literally too many things to see- sharks, turtles, bump-head parrot fish, sting rays, barracuda, the list goes on.

Moray Eel

After a short stay in Borneo the next stop was the tropical island of Koh Tao in Thailand which I'd heard lots about.  Koh Tao is located in the Gulf of Thailand and is known to be a divers' paradise.  On Koh Tao I started my BSAC Professional Underwater Course, learning how to use the camera on the land and underwater.  Learning how to edit my footage using Adobe Premiere Pro was confusing to start with but with the excellent tuition I received it wasn't a problem.  Once I had qualified as a BSAC Professional Underwater Videographer I spent some time filming student divers on their qualifying dives, editing the footage and doing a sales pitch in the evenings.  Getting a whaleshark in the footage was a guaranteed sale!  While being a videographer I also wanted to expand my diving knowledge so started on my PADI Divemaster Internship.  Overall I spent around four months on Koh Tao, learning and working.

Sairee Beach, Koh Tao

It was then time to return to cold and wet Scotland.  I decided to seek diving work once again.  I started diving in Aberdeen's finest quarries and coast.  I was doing my PADI Dry Suit Diver course five days after I was home from Thailand. It was a shock to the system having been diving in 30degree water to 10degree water.  After working the summer in Aberdeen I moved to Edinburgh to study Travel & Tourism at college.  I thought it would suit after doing so much travelling.  During my year in Edinburgh I joined a local diving club and continued diving the cold and beautiful waters of Scotland.

Once my time was up in Edinburgh I moved to Turkey to a warmer diving job.  During my four months in Turkey I was diving daily again in warm waters.  While I was there I become a EFR Instructor so I'm now two courses away from becoming a PADI Open Water Instructor.

Once I returned from Turkey I was at a bit of a loose end as to what to do next.  Did I go and complete my PADI instructor development course and become a PADI Open Water Instructor or should I start up a scuba diving travel company with all the contacts I'd picked up over the last few years?  I decided to risk it. So on  7th  February 2012 Scuba Duba Dive was born, or, more accurately, registered at Companies House in Scotland.

The whole project has been a lot harder than I ever thought.  The main issue has been "the website" which was always coming soon along with applying for all the travel licences -  ATOL & The Travel Trust.  The site which is finally to be launched, is the second attempt from a second company, Deep Blue Media who I believe have done a fantastic job and have created a very strong brand for Scuba Duba Dive.  During the start-up process I've explored many areas of the diving industry I didn't know very well.

I spent 3 weeks in Egypt exploring the excellent diving that the Red Sea has to offer, covering all the most popular dive locations.  During my time there, I met the first member of my Dahab Team, Lieve Rutsaert.  Lieve has been travelling and working back and forth within Egypt for many years, finally settling in Dahab for 6months of the year and the rest back in Belgium where Lieve is originally from.  Lieve has an extensive network of contacts in Dahab which are a massive asset to the running of Scuba Duba Dive's operation in Dahab.

Lieve, Dahab Rep

The reason for Scuba Duba Dive expanding to more countries and dive locations is to be able to offer you a greater choice whilst maintaining our principle of only working with people we know and trust in reputable dive centres.  With these locations all being places a member of our team has been, we know they will deliver a high standard of professionalism and reliability and you'll have a safe and enjoyable trip. 

Thank you for reading my blog and hopefully, one day soon, we'll see you under the water!

Eagle Ray, Koh Tao

Mungo