Trips

Trip Reports

I use trip reports to look back at dives once they are complete. The aim is to record what I learned, what worked well, what I would change next time and how each trip helped my development as a diver.

• UK inland diving Skills & shakedowns
  Useful for kit checks, weighting, buoyancy practice, confidence building and controlled skills work.
• UK sea diving Real conditions
  Useful for drysuit control, boat routines, DSMB work, weather judgement, visibility changes and sea confidence.
• Red Sea diving Warm-water experience
  A place for future reflections on reef diving, multi-day dive pacing, boat routines, marine life and course opportunities after the trip has happened.

Destination Notes

My destination notes focus on diving value rather than personal travel detail. I am interested in what a site or trip teaches me as a diver.

• Dive conditions: visibility, temperature, current, entry, exit and surface conditions
• Training value: what the location helped me practise or understand
• Kit notes: what worked, what annoyed me and what needs changing
• Buddy/team notes: communication, briefings, awareness and post-dive discussion
• Safety lessons: useful learning points without sharing private emergency or personal details

What I Do Not Share Live

This site is public, so I keep live travel details off it. Most of my current trips are family time with Gemma and the boys, and it would not be fair to turn their lives, locations or plans into public content.

• No live itinerary: I do not post future travel dates or day-by-day plans for private trips
• No live accommodation details: I do not share where I am staying while a trip is live. After a trip, I may mention publicly available places such as hotels, resorts, dive centres or general areas relevant to the diving.
• No live location posting: reflections belong after the event, not during it

In future, I may offer or organise a public dive day or trip for people who want to dive with me. If that happens, it will be shared separately as an open invite, with appropriate public details, consent and safety information.

How I Prepare

Good trip preparation makes the diving calmer. I like having the practical things sorted so I can focus on the dive, the buddy team and the conditions.

• Fitness: arrive rested enough to dive safely and make sensible decisions
• Kit: check, service and pack equipment with realistic spares
• Gas: analyse, label, record and personally verify nitrox mixes
• Weather: understand how conditions affect the plan before getting in
• Admin: keep private documents checked, current and available offline

Kit Packing Themes

I try to pack around the actual diving rather than carrying everything I own just because it looks impressive in a gear pile.

• Core kit: mask, fins, exposure protection, computer, DSMB, spool and cutting tool
• Redundancy: backup mask, backup lights and save-a-dive basics
• Comfort: thermal choices, hydration, seasickness planning and dry clothes
• Logging: site name, depth, time, gas, buddy, conditions and lessons learned
• Review: note what was actually used, not just what was packed

Post-Trip Questions

After a trip, I want the notes to be useful rather than just a list of places I went. These are the kinds of questions I use to pull the learning out of the diving.

• Best dive: what made it work so well?
• Hardest moment: was it conditions, task loading, kit, confidence or decision-making?
• Kit notes: what worked, what annoyed me and what needs changing?
• Skills: how were buoyancy, trim, DSMB, navigation, awareness and buddy work?
• Next time: what one practical thing would improve the next trip?