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 around 15-20 trips a year for staff, friends and customers. We were lacking a common 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 we should open a shop in Manchester. Manchester was not too far away but seemed to be lacking a true comprehensive Diving 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 PADI and IANTD training. Many of the scuba manufacturers I had dealt with previously were able to support us from the outset. After six busy months we managed to secure the space 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. In June 2009 we are moving to new premises which will give us more room to display our already comprehensive stock and create a more relaxed environment for our customers to come and relax.

As well as the testing centre the school expanded rapidly and we now have over 30 sets of full kit including Oceanic and Typhoon drysuits, Cressi BCD's, Halcyon Wings and Apeks regulators as well as most accessories. All our school kit is less than 12 months old (with the exception of the drysuits which are replaced every two year. This led to a huge increase in our hire demand and we now hire out equipment from the basic mask, fins and snorkel through full scuba kit 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. In 2008 we became a National Geographic Centre, a privelidge attained by only a few of the most dedicated and forward thinking Dive Centres

We continue to gain support of more and more manufacturers and now supply over 100 different manufacturers of diving equipment. With the initial support of Cressi, Apeks, Custom Divers, Ambient Pressure, AP Valves and with Suunto, Scubapro and Aqualung coming onboard we have one of the largest ranges of equipment in the UK and the largest stock in the North West.

Along with the active forum which is used for diver to diver contact we added a blog in early 2009. This can be subscribed to through your RSS feeds and can be used to keep you up to date with all the diving manufacturers latest news and the odd bit of humour.

Our calendar which is found on the front page is kept up to date with all the latest training which we do most weekends, trips which are at least once a month and social calendar which has a varied array of activites.

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 find out for yourself.

The DiveLife Team