About DiveLife

DiveLife was originally started in 2003 as a way of organising diving trips for the Uk and abroad. I [Brett] was working for another large UK dive shop and whilst there i organised between 15-20 trips a year for staff, friends and customers. We were lacking a coomon point of contact and a way to keep people informed as our group covered the farthest points of the UK. I decided that the best way to do this way to start an email list and to put the trips on the website so people could easily reference dates and who else was going on each trip. Previous trips were replaced with photos that people forwarded.

It was in mid 2005 that i decided my future lay not in working for someone else but in trying to promote trips around the UK and eventually, after looking around i decided i should open a shop in Manchester. Manchester was not too far away but seemed to be lacking a true diving retail facility. We started, as most people do on a small scale but it soon became evident that there was a definate demand. We supplied air, nitrox and trimix from the outset as well as the standard kit. After six busy months we managed to secure the offices above our then shop in order to expand, hold more stock and provide better training facilities.

In early 2007 we also secured the premises above the shop next door, expanding our floor space to 2000sq ft. We brought our suit repairs reg servicing and cylinder testing on site in mid 2007 and now have a full IDEST facility on site.

As well as the testing centre the school expanded rapidly and we now have 30 sets of full kit including drysuits, BCD's and regulators as well as most accessories. This led to a huge increase in our hire demand and we now hire out equipment from the basics to rebreathers, stills and video cameras and even scooters.

Our school continued to grow and in December 2007 we attained PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre after only 12 months of being a PADI facility. We hope that 2008 will take us to 5 Star Career Development Centre, the highest level available through PADI. With the school growing and plenty of trips planned for 2008 we hope to have a good year.

We continue to gain support of more and more manufacturers and now supply 72 different manufacturers of divign equipment. With the initial support of Cressi, Apeks, Custom Divers, Ambient Pressure, AP Valves and with Suunto and Scubapro both coming onboard in 2007 we have one of the largest ranges of equipment in the UK and the largest stocks in the North West.

We aim to be friendly and create a warm and welcome atmosphere. Our knowledge is comprehensive and our ability to find answers to your questions is second to none. We only sell kit we feel is safe and that we would be happy to use ourselves.

Why not pop along for a coffee and a chat and see what you think for yourself.