Newsletter - September 2009

Grant and Shailina take the plunge!

From 1st September 2009, Grant and Shailina Searancke will become the proud owners of Dive HQ Hibiscus Coast, and we are so thrilled about it!

Grant and Shailina at the Leisure Centre.

After 35 years at the helm, Lyndon Rea has decided to take life a little easier. We know he will be well missed, but don't worry as you'll still find him helping us out in the dive center a couple of days a week...we just can't get rid of him :)

So we thought we would say “hi”, introduce ourselves and tell you about some of the exciting things we have planned.

Who are we?

I (Grant) am a New Zealander who learnt to dive in Wellington in 1986. I have been totally hooked on diving ever since and have been enthusiastically working in the dive industry full time for the past 16 years.

Grant diving in Egypt.
Grant diving the Numibia Wreck, Red Sea, Egypt.

I’ve been very fortunate to accumulate 1000s of amazing dives in places like Fiji, Solomon Islands, Canada, USA, UK, Portugal, Maldives, Galapagos Islands, Red Sea and Indonesia and of course New Zealand.

I am an avid photographer/videographer and also enjoy diving on fully closed rebreathers to get much closer to marine life and explore deep ship wrecks.

Shailina diving in Fiji.

My wife, Shailina, grew up in Kenya and learnt to dive in Mombasa in 1997. Ever since, she has also been addicted to diving. In 2000, she took a career break and completed her dive master course in Thailand. She has also travelled and dived many destinations around the world.

This year we returned to NZ to settle down and are both very excited that we will be able to share our passion for diving with you.

What’s happening?

September marks the beginning of Spring and more importantly...

Scallop Season:

So join us as the weather warms up, aboard our 6m Aquapro inflatable boat for weekly excursions to hunt and gather the bounty of the sea. Or simply enjoy the underwater scenery and camaraderie of fellow divers. Everyone is welcome! See the trip schedule below for more info.

Dive Trips:

Now that it is warm again, we know you’ll be itching to get out and do some great diving. We’ll be running regular trips to the local dive sites in the Hauraki Gulf, Leigh Coast and farther afield to the wrecks of the Waikato and Tui out of Tutukaka.

Aquapro 6m inflatable.

We will run mid-week and weekend dive trips. From October, as daylight saving will have kicked in, we’ll also offer mid-week dives in the evenings. Check out the trip schedule below for dates, times and more information.

Dive Courses:

We offer a full range of PADI dive courses from novice through to instructor level. Please check our course schedule below for some of the more popular courses running to the end of 2009. From next year, we will be introducing a whole range of new courses including underwater photography and video, drysuit, nitrox and rebreather courses to name a few... so watch this space!

Web Site:

Over the coming weeks our website will be overhauled to be a great source of information containing regularly updated photos, news and events. So add it to you favourites!

Equipment Servicing:

If your equipment is due for its annual service then please do bring it into the dive centre well before you are going to use it as we are heading into the high season so we do need time to service it well.

Try a Dive for FREE:

Do you know someone who would like to try diving for the first time? Every Thursday night in September we are offering FREE Try Dives at the Leisure Centre from 7:30 – 9pm. It’s the perfect opportunity to blow some bubbles under the safe supervision of an instructor in a controlled environment. Contact us now to book a place as spaces are limited.

That’s all from us. Drop by the dive center or send us an email for further information. We are looking forward to meeting you and wish you HAPPY DIVING!

Grant & Shailina

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