Blue Hippo Diving

Blue Hippo have introduced our new Advanced Specialty Edition Packages which are essentially of interest to divers at the Open Water Diver level. The concept is that you sign up for 5 specialties (Deep Diver, Underwater Navigator, Peak Performance Buoyancy plus two other diving Specialty Courses) and you get your Advanced Open Water Diver course free! We've put some packages together but would be pleased to quote for any combination of the two other diving Specialty Courses. The packages are individually priced but all have a deposit of £250 to cover crewpacks, PICs etc. You can spread the course payments over pay packets by completing one course per month (or something similar) and pay the balance just before each course starts.

Watch this space....

If you sign up for the Specialty of the Month we'll give you a 15% discount on the course. The 2012 Specialty of the Year is Enriched Air Diver and we're offering a 10% discount on this course all year, except for January, March and October when you will get the Specialty of the Month discount of 15%.

In association with our buddies FINS we can run Advanced Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver and Specialty Courses in Puerto de Mazarron in the Murcia region of Spain. To save time and allow you to concentrate on diving, and topping up your tan, any pool work and/or theory needs to be completed before travelling. The costs include the appropriate PADI Crewpacks and PADI certification, but not kit hire and boat charter fees. However, these are available at our usual Blue Hippo preferential rate, which is approximately half the walk-up price. This is a great opportunity to do some cheap courses and get some boat dives under your belt instead of the usual shore dives.

We can offer accommodation in our fully-furnished villa in Camposol, about 15 minutes drive from Puerto, for £105 per week. The villa is effectively split into two with both apartments having a double bedroom, a twin bedroom, a shower-room, a kitchen and a living room/dining room. In addition the upstairs apartment has a balcony and a roof-terrace. There is also a swimming-pool which is accessible from both apartments.

The only extras we can forsee are return flights to Murcia/San Javier airport, a share of the car hire/fuel costs, food and drink. If you're on a budget there is a supermarket within walking distance so there's no need to eat and drink out. Any diving is also at additional cost, though we arrange preferential rates for our students, but then that's what you're going for anyway! Just remember diving is not allowed on the day of your return for safety reasons.

If you take the Advanced Open Water Diver course we can discount £10 from the corresponding Specialty course. For example, if one of your Advanced Open Water Diver dives is the boat dive, we can offer the Boat Diver specialty for £70 instead of the usual £80.

PADI highly recommend the use of student materials in all Specialty courses but this is not always mandatory. As such we can offer these courses without student materials at a discount of £15 with the following exceptions: a) Digital Underwater Photographer course materials are required. b) Multilevel Diver has only an eRDPML so the discount offered is £10 and c) Surface Marker Buoy Diver has no course materials so no discount can be offered.

Many thanks to all the staff and club members at FINS, especially Matt and Neil, for all the assistance they gave us and helping it all to run smoothly. I think it's safe to say everyone would throughly recommend checking out FINS if you are ever in the Mazarron area of Murcia.

Last, but not least, many thanks to our Divemaster (going on Assistant Instructor) Angi. As always, it was her care and attention to detail that made it the holiday it was!

We've got ourselves some polo shirts with the Blue Hippo Diving logo embroidered on the left breast area. Even though we say so ourselves, they're cooooooool. So much so that we're now selling them! If you fancy a polo shirt let us know what colour and size you need, hand over the princely sum of £19.99 and we'll do the rest.

Here we have the lovely Angi and the not-so-lovely Adam (The Admiral) modelling their brand new polo shirts:

A friend of ours has written a few books and we're pleased to be able to offer them for sale. Having read them all we can honestly say that they are entertaining and well-worth buying...but then, what else would you expect us to say? All the books are available at the amazingly low price of only £14.99 each. Go on, you know you need something to do when you're not below the waves.

The F**king Book: These writings are a celebration of the evolution of our habitat and its inhabitants from time immemorial to present day. Together with our singular appreciation for the most spoken word of all time, a word that conveys different emotions, has multiple meanings, a word that is never used out of context, always grammatically correct, spans cultural, geographical, political and national barriers, brings all communications to a level playing field. This book is dedicated to everyone who is misguided enough to believe the world has evolved 'au natural'. Hopefully, once reading this literary milestone you will come to realise this worlds original inhabitants were put here by some 'Universal Interplanetary Council Correctional Department' to facilitate their rehabilitation, all of these early settlers were undoubtedly mentally and/or criminally insane and have unwittingly spawned what we know today as a seething mass of institutionalised and certifiable nutters of which you are undoubtedly one.

Livestock: Detective Inspector Bob Buchanan has his own demons to come to terms with. When he embarks on what should have been a routine investigation following a fatal road accident, he finds himself embroiled in a macabre chain of events that will eventually threaten his very own existence and that of those around him. Uncovering evil at its darkest and most threatening level pushes his animal instincts for survival far beyond any normal limits of common decency. An eye for an eye, a life for a life. DI Buchanan spirals down into a world of 'eat or be eaten', looking for revenge.

The Devil's List: Detective Inspector Bob Buchanan, in his quest for the truth, has uncovered evil in its vilest form. This evil has been nurtured within the community for generations and, having infiltrated every facet of a once decent society, now threatens to destroy anyone who tries to interfere. DI Buchanan's survival depends on his ability to fight this evil on its own terms and on its own territory. His long-term friends and colleagues are no longer what they seem; any misplaced trust will spell disaster. The local community of Calderhill is steeped in traditions and folklore that are alien to all normal human traits. Buchanan finds himself inextricably linked with the past history and the future survival of the inhabitants of Calderhill. Taking sides and entering into the eternal struggle for survival in a battle between good and evil can only be decided only once you have decided which side is which. This book is the sequel to Livestock, a must-read before continuing on this nightmare journey.

Calderhill: When you have nothing else to live for, you may have everything to die for. Detective Inspector Bob Buchanan reckons he has been touched by the hand of God. His life-long colleague and friend, Detective Inspector Simon Ramsay, on the other hand, has nothing but evil in his desires. The battle between good and evil comes to an explosive end as DI Buchanan sees a glimmer of hope, a light at the end of life's dark tunnel. Choosing sides can be difficult, especially when the good are intent on inflicting evil and the evil can be harvested to provide all that is good. Decisions have to be made. Simon and Bob are pitched against each other in their personal vendetta against the community called Calderhill. A community steeped in centuries of tradition. A tradition of selective breeding and cannibalistic practices. When it comes to death, there is no good way to go. When it comes to survival, any way will do. If a hand reaches out, grasp it, even if it is from beyond the grave. This is the closing chapter of the trilogy that culminates as Calderhill. Livestock, The Devil's List and Calderhill. The three books that tell the full story of the evil living among us.

Thinking of taking up diving? Here's what you need! One of my friends is succumbing to the aches and pains of old age and has decided to hang up his fins. As a result he's selling all his kit. This is a cash-only sale and he's unwilling to split it up so no "how much for the torch?" or "I'll take the drysuit" calls please!! Here we go...

• Otter Britannic Dry Suit. Suits 6' 2" (ish) diver. Size 10/11 boots. Great condition. Brand new zip.
• Otter 200g Undersuit. New.
• Xerotherm Arctic Thermals. Only used for 4 dives.
• Mares Abyss MR2 1st Stage/2nd stage DIN. Only used for 4 dives.
• Scubapro MK20/G250 and R190 Octopus DIN. Good condition.
• SeacSub 2000 BCD. Large. Good condition.
• Aladdin Pro Nitrox computer. 50% battery life so will need a new battery.
• UK D8R torch/charger. Good condition.
• Bowstone shoulder weight harness with approx 30lbs lead shot.
• 12 litre 300 bar cylinder. Tall. In test .
• 12 litre 232 bar cylinder. Dumpy. In test.
• 3 litre 232 bar cylinder. Pony. In test.
• SMB reel.
• Cave reel.
• 3 pairs fins.
• 2 masks.
• 3 pairs gloves.
• 2 hoods.
• Other bits and pieces.

Now, the $64000 question, how much? Well, for you....only £950 ono. Give Iain a call on 07900 892489 if you're interested or know anyone who may be. You know you want to!

Even though we love to offer discounts, unless stated above, we're unable to combine offers. But, as we're such nice people, if two or more discounts apply you're welcome to choose the one that saves you most money. How about that then?