Fancy dress, fire-eaters, and fantastic vis - Dive Fest 2010 was a family-friendly festival that saw hundreds of divers from across the UK come together at Pentewan Sands holiday park, Cornwall, over the May bank holiday.
The People's String Foundation. Photos: Simon Rogerson
The main marquee on Friday evening
Suunto and UPSUC dressed up as superheroes
The Caribbean evening was pirate-themed
Ilfracombe Dive Club won first prize for their fancy dress
Circus skills act Poi Passion play with fire
And, of course, there was diving too
The party started on Friday evening, with a selection of live music and entertainment sponsored by Mares. Back by popular demand, The People's String Foundation played in the main marquee and the dance floor was awash with divers wearing the Seven Tenths blue beanie that all Dive Festers received on arrival.
Some had already been in the water and the first prize in the Dive Fest underwater treasure hunt was claimed - Paul West from Trident Sub Aqua Club won a five-day dive package for himself and a buddy at Red Sea Diving College, Sharm El Sheikh, or Red Sea Water World in Taba Heights by finding a silver star on the wreck of the Kanteong Dredger.
Saturday brought near-perfect diving conditions, with little wind and great visibility. Hard boats ran trips from Mevagissey harbour and ribs were launched from Pentewan Sands beach - a slick operation organised by Sal Diving. The few DIVE staffers who managed to evade organisational duties took the opportunity to enjoy dives on the wreck of the Hera and on Gwineas reef which was thick with dogfish.
Meanwhile, non-divers took to the water with BSAC trydives in the pool and there were circus skills and dance workshops outside the main marquee. On the beach, British Divers Marine Life Rescue demonstrated how to rescue a stranded dolphin and DIVE's own action man, contributor Andy Torbet taught a survivals skills course - a great surface interval while your cylinders were speedily filled by Bauer.
Hungry divers tucked into a curry in the evening and there was a bonfire on the beach. Music came from headline act 4 Tons of Funk, singer Paul McGahan and a late-night disco. The Suunto contingent dressed up as superheroes for the evening, together with their friends from the University of Portsmouth Diving and Underwater Club.
On Sunday, the winners of the British Underwater Image Festival sponsored by Cameras Underwater were presented with their prizes and the Cayman Islands tourist board sponsored a Caribbean evening. There was a screening of the film Cayman Went, a meal of Caribbean specialities, a reggae band - and prizes for the best-dressed pirates. The festival was rounded off with ska band Rudi's Message in the main marquee.
Paul Critcher, DIVE's publisher and the festival's organiser, said: 'It was a fantastic event, both in and out the water and we're very proud to have presided over an event that brought so many divers together.'
