Wild Weekends with the Lock/Fearn Franchise

More returning friends are lighting up the Techwise shop once more. Gareth and Howard slipped over for a sneaky weekend of awesome technical diving on the best wrecks of Malta. The Polynsien, The Southwald and the Stubborn graced the menu - proving that even on a long weekend you can really get some depth and see some sights!

Poor guys, they go home and only today our two Italian technical friends spotted TWO Mola Mola Sunfish off the side of the Polynesien. Jammy!

Its unbelievable how fast the season is passing - blink and you're already into next week and a new set of tecchie divers! Soon it will be Autumn already and time for a return visit from Mr Collard, one of our favourite rebreather boys!

Can't wait guys, come on back any time!

Respect the Tec! - Customer Service in the Technical Diving World

Today we are off to Gozo with some Technical divers from the Netherlands, who walked in on the recommendation of another customer.  We'll be having a nice long dive off the Blue Hole of Gozo, possibly followed by a little pootle on the wreck of the Cominoland.

Its been a really busy summer for Techwise so far.  Lots of bookings for holiday makers and locals alike.  I think its also a sign of the growth of the Technical Diving community that we are now welcoming walk in customers for Technical diving. A quick check dive of drills and equipment on the house reef, and we are ready to go! 

In the past it was so selective and niche a market that customers had to really research to find technical services for their needs. Now with expansion of technical diving businesses - you can shop around on holiday - with many centres within walking distance of each other - all offering technical diving. 

This is fantastic for the sport.  The scarcity of this service once meant that if business owners were tempted to be awkward, lazy or give bad service, customers were likely still to put up with such problems because there was no other place to go. Now they have choices, all business are being kept on their toes in the customer service department - and also evolving to realise that there is no such thing as a 'typical' techie - receiving females, young, old, large build and small - and everything in between!

At Techwise, we have always felt that great service is of utmost importance - whether your customer can vote with their feet or not! We like to think that's why we receive so many bookings - and even more tellingly - repeat bookings!

To all of our customers - thanks for making our work so easy - we love diving with you! To all our customers not yet known - come on down, you'll find a ready welcome!

Diving the Southwold, Polynesian and... the Britannic???

Techwise is a flurry with divers this week. As I sit and type, I'm up keeping our gas blender 'sanity-company' while we work magic with the molecules late into the night. Demmand is so high for technical gas fills and rentals that a bit of midnight mixer panel mischief is actually neccessary!

Its great to see the rising interest in Technical Diving in Malta and around the world. Frow what we see here, it is spanning generations and genders too! Only today we certified yet another female Tec diver on the first rung of her IANTD ladder. Meanhile, reporter-photographers Gareth and Howard are checking out the Southwold, with the Polynesien lined up for tomorrow - using their technical skills not just to go deep for deepsake, but to spend time getting great shots and helping to show the world what's down there.

Of course, we've got plenty worth reporting coming up too! Paul Toomer, out rebreather expert has been invited to make a dive on the legendary Britannic! Eons of planning preparation go into a project such as this (and it is a project, a mission and much bigger than a simple dive) so we'll be keeping you up to date with progress as we hear all about - so will you!

The Rebreathers Return!

The infamous Paul Toomer is back on Maltese shores and beginning a new rebreather course today with a fresh faced student.

There are many reasons why people use rebreathers, with a system that cleans your exhaled air and makes it breathable for another use - only small amounts of gas can be made to last for hours. This is a real plus when you're diving deep and expect to be hanging around in deco for quite some time.

There's also the more gentile benefit that in closed circuit, no bubbles are produced. This means that you are less offensive to the sensibilities of underwater organisms that might shy away from open circuit divers.

Whatever the reason you decide to go Closed Circuit, it's a heavy investment in time, equipment and education, so make sure to take your time in preparing for this transition. Then, when you're all set - give us a call and get the best training in town!