What’ s BSAC all about?
61 Travel Special
Published by: IN2 PUBLISHING Ltd, Unit 2A Oaklands Court, Tiverton Business Park, Tiverton Way, Tiverton, EX16 6TG
Email: info @ in2publishing. co. uk
Editor: Simon Rogerson Sub Editor: Kristina Pedder Design: Paul Hanson Equipment Testing: Neil Hope
Publishing Director: Charlie Wise Email: charlie @ in2publishing. co. uk Tel: 01398 310 250 Mob: 07787 565 771
Advertising Manager: Michelle Simpson Email: michelle @ in2publishing. co. uk Tel: + 44( 0) 7434 779164
Print Consultant: Jamie Ringrose Consultant: Jon Fellows © 2025 British Sub-Aqua Club
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without written permission of the copyright owners. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. In the interest of independence and impartiality, many features in SCUBA have been written on behalf of the publisher by third party experts. It should be noted that any opinions and recommendations expressed therein are the views of the writers themselves and not necessarily those of BSAC. BSAC and publishers ensure that the paper used for printing this publication has been sourced from sustainably managed forests.
CONTENTS
If you love diving and want to benefit from great training and an international community of scuba divers and snorkellers, you should get to know BSAC.
What’ s BSAC all about?
BSAC stands for British Sub-Aqua Club, and we are the UK National Governing Body of scuba diving and snorkelling. We have clubs, centres, and members worldwide who are all as passionate as we are about the underwater world.
We are Britain’ s biggest dive club, with hundreds of local clubs run by committed divers and snorkellers on a non-profit basis. With us, you can learn to dive from the age of 10 and snorkel from the age of six.
If you’ re already a diver, that’ s great! All divers are welcome at BSAC. You could further your training or just join us for some great diving. Or both!
As well as developing safety and training standards and supporting our community, we are also focused on the environment and underwater heritage to help protect the waters we love to dive and the earth we live on.
Have a look at this magazine to get a real feel for what we’ re about— we think you’ ll love what you read. To get involved, head to bsac. com, email us at info @ bsac. com or call 0151 350 6201. We’ d love to hear from you!
JOIN BSAC TODAY: bsac. com / joinus FIND YOUR LOCAL BSAC CLUB: bsac. com / findaclub or call + 44( 0) 151 350 6201
8 SCUBA HUB
All the latest BSAC and diving news
18 Critter Confidential
UK marine life named after... grocery store items?
20 Kirsty Andrews
Octopus boom time in the South West
22 Yo-Han Cha
Singing the praises of Swanage Pier
25 Ocean Science
Karen Boswarva investigates the adaptations of blue mussels
27 Two Sophies
Can you use a normal BCD with twin cylinders?
28 SCUBA Chat
Your letters and announcements
31 Club Focus
Kristina Pedder meets Orkney Sub-Aqua Club
36 Liberty 80
Marking the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Liberty ship SS James Eagan Layne
42 A Dive to Remember, part 2
Stories from our competition include: The healing power of Porthkerris + Shoreham’ s SS Ramsgarth + training in Brighton + grey seals in the Farnes + Swanage Pier + The Falls of Lora
50 Test Centre
Icom IC-M25 EVO VHF Marine Transceiver + Style Sling Strap Fins, Reverse Dry Snorkel and Appeal Mask from SEAC SUB
54 Volunteer Life
An interview with Peter Shone, Assistant Advanced Diver at Solway BSC
56 Protect Our Seas
Kerry MacKay on plastic-free July + Should we pay fishers not to fish? + colossal squid + whale shark romance + Barcelona’ s inland wreck + Coelacanth, the living fossil fish
61 Travel Special
In search of affordable European dive destinations
68 Snorkelling
Camp and snorkel with Andy Torbet
70 Crossword
Another brain-teaser from the desk of Charles Wheeldon
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