The Best of Ireland Underwater, Macro Category Prizes

1st 1st prize – Suunto D4i Dive Computer including Dive Manager software
2nd prize – IST T-100 Dive Torch
3rd prize – Voucher for dinner for 2 people in the Bards Den, Letterfrack

The Best of Ireland Underwater, Wide Angle Category Prizes

1st 1st prize – Scubapro Mk17/C300 Regulator
2nd prize – Fourth Element Arctic Thermals (3 piece set)
3rd prize – Annual Subscription to Sport Diver Magazine

The Best of the West: Connemara Overwater Category Prizes

1st 1st prize – Voucher for a mid-week break for 2 people in the Renvyle House Hotel
2nd prize – Voucher for dinner for 2 people in the Maol Reidh Hotel, Tullycross
3rd prize – Voucher for a massage and a seaweed bath in the Connemara Seaweed Baths, Leenane

Scubadive West thanks all of our generous sponsors for their contribution to this competition.

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Here are the winning photos from the 2010 competition.

3rd Place: Connemara Above Water ‘Unicorn near Lough Inagh’ by Bogna Griffin

Prize: Dinner for 2 in the Maol Reidh hotel

2nd Place: Connemara Above Water ‘Sunset near Leenane’ by Mike Barry

Prize: Scubadive West Discover Scubadiving for 2 people

1st Place: Connemara Above Water ‘Kylemore Lough’ by Eric Grundy

Prize: Renvyle House Hotel Weekend Stay for 2 people

3rd Place: Ireland Underwater Wide Angle ‘ The Eye, Inis Turk’ by Tom Brett

Prize: £100 Oonas Diver holiday voucher

2nd Place: Ireland Underwater Wide Angle ‘Spirit of the Sea’ by Kate Hamsikova

Prize: Fourth Element Ozone Outer Layer thermal system

1st Place: Ireland Underwater Wide Angle ‘Three’s a Crowd’ by Ciaran O’Murchu

Prize: Suunto Vyper Air Computer & Transmitter

2nd Place: Ireland Underwater Macro ‘Seahare Carraroe’ by Joe Hyland

Prize: Scubapro UWATEC Tec 2G Dive Computer

3rd Place: Ireland Underwater Macro ‘Hairdo in Doolin’ by Martin Kiely

Prize: Scubapro Twin Jet Max fins

1st Place: Ireland Underwater Macro ‘Rainbow Torpedo at Scubadive West reef’ by Patrick Rooney

Prize: Scubapro MK25/A700 regulator

Well done to everyone involved.

Roundstone Dive Festival Invitation

Monty Halls, Scubadive West & IWDG Invitation

http://www.ocean2012.eu/petition

Scubadive West will host a special screening of ‘End of the Line’ on Saturday 5th June @ 7pm, after the day’s diving activities.  A discussion panel will immediately follow the film, and refreshments will be served.  Please see below for your invitation.

'End of the Line', Invitation

Below is Siobhan’s story as to why she deserves to be Ireland’s newest diver!

I’ve had a fascination with water since as far back as I can remember. I’m only seventeen, so that’s not an awfully long time, but even so, some of my first memories are of splashing around in the sea, going as far out as I was allowed, taking off the armbands and attempting that perilous first stroke.

I was fascinated by fish. Creatures that could live and function without air. How was something like that even possible? To me, under the sea is a whole other world, a completely different reality to anything you will experience on land. Any documentary or film I have ever watched involving the ocean has justified that to me. The colours, the animals – everything seems to have a surreal quality, an untouched beauty for the sake of sounding corny. It intrigues me.

However, it wasn’t just what was to be found underwater that drew my attention; it was the untameable force of the sea, its power. I remember before the stones were placed on Bray beach, whenever the sea was choppy my guardian would bring me down to watch the  waves crash over the promenade and then get sucked back into the ocean only to come rushing back again. One word will suffice to describe it, beautiful.

I’ve tried surfing, though I admit to being useless at it, the whole staying on the board without falling on my face was too much of a challenge it seems. I’ve tried canoeing as well, and I love it, and while I’ve never done it before, I love watching people water-ski, it looks like magic.

 What really intrigues me most though, in a way that I can’t even put into words, is shipwrecks. They have a sort of eerie, mysterious aura about them that is almost hypnotic. (I confess it was The Little Mermaid that first twigged my interest) I would like to do underwater archaeology when I’m in college, however it seems that’s not a standard course in most universities, and when I asked around at universities about it I got vague replies about “no direct route” and “not exactly a science” while the poor professor looked around, silently begging someone to ask a question he could actually answer.

The more elusive the answers get, the more determined I become. I’m difficult like that. So that is why I applied, because there are some things in life you know you have to do, experiences you have to have. I seem to be drawn to the more dangerous experiences in life, now that may be my youth, as many believe, but I think it’s more than that. If you ask me, my desire to dive has nothing to do with my age, neither does my love of rock climbing or sky diving. It’s my personality, something that is ever evolving but also unchanging. You cannot change your nature. My nature has always been taken with the sea, its beauty and strength, and that it why I would really like to do this course, because it would mean something, a thirst quenched, a task fulfilled, a dream come true.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to try,

Siobhan Stella x