Sealife Photo Shoot and Oceanic’s “DataMask” at Sunset Bay Club - Tuesday July 10th, 2007

Dive Fest was on the road on Tuesday, this time to the Sunset Bay Club & Seaside Dive Center in Coulibistrie. Sealife Cameras and Oceanic DataMasks were tested on the west coast dive sites today, and Barry & Ruth Guimbellot brought their photographic experise as well, providing tips on learning ow to take great pictures.

Sealife Camera

The world’s first truly waterproof and shockproof digital sports camera. Compact and action-ready. Depth tested waterproof to 75 feet, rubber armored for a sure grip and shockproof tested up to 6ft/2m.

Photo Seminar with Barry and Ruth Guimbellot - Monday, July 9th, 2007

Monday afternoon was time for the divers to head to the Fort Young Hotel to attend a Photo Seminar. Here they learned tips and tricks from expert photographers Barry and Ruth Guimbellot of Dive Training Magazine.

Sealife Photo Shoot and Oceanic’s “DataMask” at Nature Island Dive - Monday, July 9th, 2007

After debuting its underwater cameras at the Underwater Treasure Hunt on Sunday, Sealife is taking them on tour around Dominica to give everyone a chance to use them. Sealife Representative Mr. Joe Iffie was at Nature Island Dive in Soufriere today.

Divers took the plunge with two different camera models. Notice the cooperation of the octopus modelling for the photographers!

Divers also had the opportunity to use Oceanic’s new state-of-the-art mask called the DataMask. Mr. Dan Emke from Oceanic was on hand to allow divers to demo with this fantastic new piece of equipment.

This mask uses brand new technology to provide a “Heads-Up Display” (HUD) of important diving information: Air Time, Depth, Time Remaining, etc — all in the corner of the mask! This takes the place of the gauge traditionally attached to the regulator, eliminating one more piece of dangling equipment.

Live Action Photo: President of the Dominica Watersports Association, Mr. SimonWalsh, trying out his Oceanic Data Mask.

Victorinox Swiss Army/Jewellers International UNDERWATER TREASURE HUNT - Sunday, July 8th, 2007

Sunday afternoon was another exciting event, the Underwater Treasure Hunt, hosted by Irie Safari at Champagne Beach.

International press was on hand to document this event -Greg from Scuba Radio (at right in photo) interviewed many participants. You can listen to the broadcast online on Saturday, July 14th from 3 to 5 pm EST (details on ScubaRadio.com).

The Rules…
The Underwater Treasure Hunt always starts with the “Reading of the Rules.” Here, the hunters are told what coloured rocks to search for & the value points of each colour, as well as the Do’s and Don’ts…. Don’t get separated from your buddy, don’t submerge again after time is called, don’t return with less than 500 PSI in your tank, don’t… well… You can get disqualified for any infraction!

Clearly the audience was attentive!

Gearing Up… and the search begins

Ah, the prizes…

All participants received Swiss Army Knives. That’s right, every on of the 22 participants went home with a brand new knife!

And the winners are….

• 1st Place: Leslie Yen & Andrea Felix - 2 Swiss Army Dive Watches
• 2nd Place: Karen Anderson & Jake Alishaw - Dinner for 2 at Ancient Capital Restaurant & 2 Ultra-Dry Snorkels from Oceanic
• 3rd Place: Liz & Dylan Madisetti - Lunch for 2 at Cocorico Cafe & 2 Masks from Irie Safari

Wild Card Prizes were also awarded: 2 cases of Kubuli, Overnight for 2 at Sunset Bay Club, and Dinner for 2 at Sunset Bay Club.

Jewellers International Presents Swiss Army Dive Watches to Winners: Leslie Yen & Andrea Fellix

Discover Scuba Diving at the Anchorage Hotel - July 7th, 2007

More than 40 participants gathered at the Anchorage Hotel on Saturday to learn about the sport of Scuba Diving, sposnored by.

There was a strong presence by the youth of Dominica, although many adults also tried their hand at this new sport.

After participating in a lecture and watching a video, attendees proceeded to the pool to put on their scuba gear and practice a few essential skills.

Next it was out to the reef for a real dive to get a glimpse of Dominica’s beautiful underwater marine habitat.

Amidst all this excitement, Oceanic distributed it’s new Heads-Up Display “DataMask” for eager divers to try out. This is brand new technology for divers, allowing them to read their gauge information right in their mask! No more dangling gauges getting in the way.

Discover Scuba Diving in Portsmouth - July 7th, 2007

Cabrits Dive Centre and Portsmouth Volunteers gathered together on Saturday July 7th at the Purple Turtle Beach restaurant to Discover Scuba!!

Adults and children alike marveled out how they could breath underwater and want to know when they can try it again!

Dive Fest Happy Hour at the Fort Young Hotel

Happy Hour is the traditional kick-off to the ten-day Dive Fest event here in Dominica. Hosted by the Fort Young Hotel, the evening’s sponsors were Cable & Wireless and Carib Beer.

Minglers enjoyed Happy Hour prices all night long as they socialised and then danced to the beat of Dominica’s premier band - The Swinging Stars.

Dive Fest 2007 has begun!

Dive Fest 2007 is on! With the promise of a bigger and better event than ever before, don’t miss it.

Some highlights:

• Demo’s of Oceanic’s Heads-Up Display “Datamask”
• Sea Life Camera Photo Competitions
• Dive Training Photography Seminars & Workshops
• Victorinox Swiss Army & Jewellers International’s Underwater Treasure Hunt

Sponsored by Cable & Wireless and Victorinox Swiss Army, you know there will be plenty of great prizes and give-aways!

Check the Schedule of Events for details.

Launching of Dive Fest 2007

Ms. Urania Williams (Cable & Wireless), Mr Andrew Armour (Master of Ceremonies), Mr. Simon Walsh (President, Dominica Watersports Association).

July 6th, Garraway Hotel: Press Conference Launches the DWA’s Dive Fest 2007.
Headline sponsors Cable & Wireless and Victorinox Swiss Army/Jewellers International welcomed the start of this year’s Dive Fest celebrations. In attendance were the Honourable Yvor Nassief, Minister for Tourism, Industry & Private Sector Relations, the Honourable Vince Henderson, Minister for Education, Sports, Youth Affairs and Human Resource Development, the international sponsors (see Sponsors page for complete listing), and members of the press.

Kubuli Carib Canoe Race at Soufriere - Sunday, July 16, 2006

This year’s Kubuli Carib Canoe Race was a great success, 20 teams battled for supremacy and the right to claim the trophy for 2006. This years winner, the first team to ever “threepeat” was Dominica Brewery, despite a strong challenge from second place “Team NDC” and third place finishers “Domlec”. Winning teams claimed cases of Kubuli from United Distributors Ltd, cell phones from Cable and Wireless, drums of fuel from National Petroleum, Soca Rum from Belfast Estates and other great prizes.

The crowd that cheered them on was one of the biggest ever and with good music, fresh fish and Kubuli flowing the vibes were excellent.

This brings to an end a hugely successful Cable and Wireless Dive Fest 2006, organized and presented by The Dominica Watersports Association. Until next year.

Red Bull Wacky Triathalon - Saturday, July 15th 2006

The Red Bull Wacky Triathalon was held at Portsmouth Beach on Saturday. This event was brand new to Dive Fest this year. Organised by Cocorico and Cabrits Dive Center, it was sponsored by Red Bull and Kubuli.