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Our Store
97 Wairau Road
Wairau Valley
North Shore
Auckland 0627
New Zealand
Ph: +64 9 444 7698
It was also an amazing year for diving and our return trip to the Galapagos Islands was even better than our previous trip in 2014!
Let me paint a picture – we’re sitting on the liveaboard boat at Darwin Island – over 165 nautical miles north of Galapagos’ main islands, we've crossed the equator overnight and just arrived that morning…
e look out towards Darwin Arch less than 1km away, just down the coast we can see a mother Humpback Whale teaching its baby to slap its tail on the surface, around the boat we count 6 turtles relaxing on the surface, 7 Silky sharks are swimming under the boat, then suddenly a school of Mobula Rays are jumping into the air as they swim past, and the biggest school of dolphin any of us has even seen is in the distance leaping and playing as only they can… this isn’t over the morning – this is all at the same time! To say we were excited to get in the water was the biggest understatement you can imagine… we were all buzzing to get under Darwin Arch!
Click here for the first batch of pictures we've managed to sort through!
Heading out towards the arch on one of the two inflatables – our boat driver suddenly yells out “Whale Shark right below us... get ready to go” heart racing gear in place camera in hand, “3, 2, 1, go as the inflatable slows down ahead of the whale shark – we backward roll in – I'm lucky – I'm at the front of the RIB and manage to swim ahead and slowly let her catch up to me and we’re only 3m below the surface! I angle to be above her and swim to get into the pressure wave above her head… always mindful of never touching – and manoeuvring so I'm in the sweet spot. I don’t have to fin as hard – I'm being pulled along with her – it feels amazing, I quickly look back and a couple of divers are still swimming trying to keep up – the others have peeled off towards the arch.
She angles down and takes me on a 9-minute swim to 30m – several Giant Trevally come and join me above her head… they don’t stay long as almost unbelievably she swims through a school of hammerhead sharks!Truly one of the most epic moments I've had underwater in my 36 years of diving! She turns – I'm trying to remember to take pictures but I don’t want to waste this experience looking through the lens… she starts to ascend – too quickly for me to safely stay with her… so I peel off to the side – making sure the Go Pro on top of my camera captures her disappearing up into the blue shallows around the arch… she’s gone – I turn to high five the others (if they're still there) and a second whale shark is 4m away swimming straight towards me! I move up above and out of the way and let her pass underneath me and I swim on her back for the next couple of minutes and realise just how lucky I've been on my first dive at Darwin Arch – and that was just the first 15 minutes!
Over the seven days we’re on board Galapagos Aggressor we swim with hundreds of Hammerheads, Turtles, and many more Whale Sharks – not to mention the Seals, Sealions, Marine Iguana, Sunfish, huge schools of Barracuda – this really is scuba diving heaven… We climb an extinct volcano and get incredible pictures of the wild landscape, we visit the giant tortoises and tour around finding penguins. We eat great food, drinks, and have some late nights playing our new favourite dice game “Zilch” (thanks Willie). This made for another epic trip at what we believe is the greatest big fish dive in the world – Darwin Arch - Galapagos… And yes, we've booked the Galapagos Aggressor for August 2021! Contact Malcolm on 09 444 7698 to book your spot(s)!
We were very proud to recently receive the shop award from PADI Asia Pacific in recognition of "Outstanding Contribution to the Diving Industry".
Jen Clent PADI Regional Manager for New Zealand presents the award to Malcolm Kidd - MD Dive Centre Ltd.
At the same time Jen also presented Matt Shortall, Dive Centre's long serving Instructor with the "Outstanding Contribution to Diver Training Award" due to his consistent excellent work and issuing almost 200 certifications last year!
Jen Clent PADI Regional Manager for New Zealand presents the award to Matthew Shortall - Dive Centre Ltd Master Instructor.
We also became New Zealand's first PADI Tec Rec Training Centre! Offering a wide range of Technical, Deep, Mixed Gas and Solo Dive courses - Phone Matt Shortall for more info on 09 444 7698 now!
Go deeper and longer than you ever have before!
All of our Dive cylinders come with a valve (included in the price) that can be filled to max. 225 Bar as an "open face" valve.
All valves are stamped with your initials and cylinders come filled with neat sweet dry filtered Dive Centre Air! (Unless couriered to you directly, as they have to be empty).
Steel vs Aluminium is a question we're asked all the time, and it's a good one! There is no short answer and it is really dependant on several factors.
1. Price - Usually there is quite a difference between Steel and Alluminium cylinders; this has been fixed by our current pricing as there is now very little difference, although at some other shops it is still significant.
2. The amount of air you actually need - The most popular steel cylinders are the big ones! The 15 litre holds around 30% more air, and is slightly shorter than the big aluminium. The 12 litre model holds 10% more air but it is also 10% lighter!
3. Air Consumption - If you are breathing through your cylinder faster than the buddies you are diving with, then the bigger steel cylinders are a great way to even up the game! If you go through your air at the same speed or slower than your buddies, it is a waste of time having more air, as you'll have to come up when your buddy does anyway! Stick with the same size cylinder that they use.
4. Warranty - You get a 10 year warranty from date of manufacture with Catalina Aluminium cylinders, and a 5 year warranty with Faber Steel.
5. Buoyancy - All cylinders get more buoyant as they empty, however there is a difference between steel and aluminium. Luxfer Aluminium cylidners will become positively buoyant when low on air, Faber steel and Catalina Alluminium cylinders are still slightly negatively buoyant when low on air. This means you don't have to wear extra lead to counteract that buoyancy at the end of the dive, and a lighter weightbelt is a good thing!
6. Corrosion - Faber steel cylinders are Zinc coated on the inside and under the paintwork on the outside, to try and stop rust, but scratches and Hydrostatic test marks will rust eventually. And if you get a fill with to much moisture or accidently "fully" empty your cylinder, it could start rusting inside! Not good!! (Ensure you only get fills from a reputable air source). Click here to see the "peace of mind" you get with Dive Centre Air! Aluminium cylinders don't rust, so from a maintainence issue, you don't have to repaint or rub down alluminium cylinders, and although it is recommended for aluminium, washing down steel cylinders after use is HIGHLY recommended! You can get a build up of aluminium oxide (white powder) inside aluminium cylinders from to much moisture in bad air, but this is easily fixed, and causes no real damage to your cylinder. A steel cylinder with rust inside has to be "rumbled", and this is expensive, takes time and has to be repeated usually every year!
As you can see, there is a bit to this decision. :-)
But once you own your own cylinders, going for a dive is so much more convenient, because there they are, sitting in your garage, full of air, and ready to go!
All prices include GST, Valve & first fill, but prices, availability and details are subject to change without notice. Please call us on 09 444 7698 oremail us now, to confirm availability and details.
All details, prices and availability are subject to change - All rights reserved Dive Centre Ltd 1972-2019