Martin Boyce Diving Story
Martin Boyce’s personal account, first published in December 2021.
Thanks for asking me to write my story, Steve. I hope it helps others already in the sport or looking to take it up.
If you want to get into scuba, choose wisely. This would be my first bit of advice. There are people in the scuba diving world who are there to make money and don’t really have a passion for diving. However, many still do have that passion, and those are the ones to go to, both when starting your scuba journey and when taking continuing-education courses.
I am now a PADI Divemaster, but I started my scuba diving with SSI. Why did I swap to PADI? For no particular reason, really. I went on holiday with every intention of doing my Divemaster course, but could not find an SSI school to do it with, so I crossed over to PADI. I have zero regrets about doing so. I also want to become an instructor. Knowing what I do now, I’m very glad I did my Divemaster with PADI, as I want to be a PADI Instructor. For me, its recognition and the working opportunities were important.
My advice in scuba diving is not to do course after course. Get your experience in and go diving. The more you dive, the better you will get. I can also suggest diving with different places to gain experience. It’s good to see other techniques and instructors, and how they do things. I know Steve from Dive UK Hurghada encourages this too. I would say this is a very good sign of a good instructor and dive centre.
I have been lucky to dive in Thailand, Bali, Egypt, Malta and several other places. When you are a scuba diver, you have so much to explore. Where would my favourite place be? I would say Egypt and Bali. Both are fantastic and have so much life. Unfortunately, I have not been to either for over two years now, but I have booked Egypt in 2022 and Bali in late 2022.
I have not actually dived with Steve yet and only met him through Facebook, but we tend to speak a lot. I have booked one of his diving holiday packages for 14 nights, so I’m really looking forward to getting back into the Red Sea and having fun. Egypt is a fantastic place to dive, whether you are a beginner or a professional diver. There are plenty of wrecks to see, the reefs are beautiful, and you can also do deep diving there. The vast array of marine life is fantastic too. I have seen dolphins, sharks, eagle rays, manta rays and turtles, along with all the beautiful colours of the corals. The good thing about Egypt is that you can find a lot of life between five and 15 metres. It’s great because you can have a good 50 to 60 minutes underwater and see so much. The water is also warm for most of the year, so that’s always a bonus.
My tips for diving are to be safe and extra safe, and you will have the best times of your life.
A reply from Dive UK Hurghada
Thanks for taking the time to write your story, Martin. I look forward to meeting you. As Martin says, it’s really important to gain dive time and try different places and environments. Finding a reputable dive centre and speaking to the instructors is also great advice. When diving anywhere in the world, make sure you feel safe. If you don’t, talk to somebody about it and follow your gut instinct. Don’t be talked into something you don’t believe is safe, and remember your training so that you can enjoy your time.
As we say to everyone, if you want to have a conversation about something, please get in contact. We are always happy to advise and will be impartial in the advice we give.
