DATELINE: 21st November 2000
DIVE 2000
Birmingham show attracts 15,000
Despite atrocious weather and the rival attraction of England v Germany, the last football match at Wembley on the Saturday, almost 15,000 visitors ensured that Diver's Dive 2000 show in October was another winning weekend.
The crowds found more to see at the NEC in Birmingham than ever before, with no fewer than 225 exhibitors displaying their latest products, holidays and services.
Featured sections included the bustling PADI and Caribbean Villages, plus participatory attractions such as the Try-Dive Pool and, affording a clearer view of British marine life than is often the case off our coasts, a display in what was believed to be the world's biggest portable fishtank.
A select line-up of guest speakers had been invited. Taking their audiences up close to exotic marine life, US camera wizard Tom Campbell, TV presenter Nigel Marven, dolphin specialist Steve McCulloch and conservationist/explorer Monty Halls made a formidable quartet. On the technical side, Mark Ellyatt talked about his sneaked 170m dive on the Baden while Mark Andrews drew equally attentive and vociferous audiences to hear how he had failed to dive it!
One wreck with which many of the audience were familiar was Stoney Cove's Stanegarth, the sinking of which was recounted by Margaret Baldwin, while Diver's Technical Q&A expert Jack Ingle proved a big success with his well-attended advanced diving workshops.
And in the smaller suites there was constant traffic as visitors came to hear and talk to more well-known divers, from shark experts Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch and Gary Adkison to conservationists Jon Ridley and Philippe Cousteau.
Many competitions were held and prizes awarded, but the big individual winner of the weekend was Kirsten Poynter from Bootham. Every show visitor was given a Holiday Draw card but hers was the name drawn to win a Hayes and Jarvis holiday for two.
Kirsten will now be spending a fantastic fortnight in the Cayman Islands, with a week's diving and accommodation at the Indies Suites on Grand Cayman and another at Brac Reef on Cayman Brac. Everything is included in the holiday, jointly sponsored by the Cayman Islands Dept of Tourism and Hayes and Jarvis.
Visiting the show also proved highly productive for divers from Warwick University BSAC. They returned home proud owners of a Humber Assault 5m RIB complete with Yamaha 50 engine and Hallmark Coaster trailer, worth more than £7000, and all because their names were drawn from those who had bulk-ordered 10 or more discounted tickets in advance!
Working slightly harder for their prizes were Andy Cross from Bristol and Alison Main from Sidcup, who won Suunto Stinger diving computers for correctly identifying the piscine occupants of the very popular Fishtank.
If you missed Dive 2000, there won't be too long to wait for the next big event, which is the London International Dive Show at its new, easy-to-reach Thameside venue, ExCel. Dates are 3/4 March. For divers based further north, the Dive Scotland show is back at Glasgow's SECC three weeks later, on 24/25 March. All three shows are Diver Group events, and details can be found on www.diveshows.co.uk.