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Diving with… Nic Emery, The Fifth Point, Blyth, Northumberland, UK
In this ongoing series, we speak to the people who run dive centres, resorts and liveaboards from around the world about their businesses and the diving they have to offer…
What is your name?
Nic Emery
What is the name of your business?
The Fifth Point
What is your role within the business?
Director
How long has the business operated for?
Coming up to 4 years.
How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?
I started diving in Hurghada way back in 2005 so I’ve been a diver for nearly 16 years. I qualified as an OWSI in 2010 and I’m currently a Master Instructor
What is your favourite type of diving?
It may seem a bit weird, but my favourite type of diving is litter picking! Every dive at The Fifth Point is a Dive Against Debris as we’re always picking up litter when we see it, but I love those days where we’ve organised a big clean up. Seeing the trash we’ve removed gives an amazing feeling of accomplishment.
If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?
When people walk into The Fifth Point for the first time, their initial reaction is always “wow, what an awesome set up!”. Our dive centre looks completely different to any other. It’s made from as much reclaimed materials as we could get our hands on and it has a really chilled out atmosphere.
Dive Dog Haldane always gives a warm welcome and our team are there to make your experience amazing. We’ve got an onsite training tank which means we can offer course schedules to suit even the busiest lifestyles and we always keep our sessions one to one.
Once you’re qualified, you join our army of eco-warriors. During our courses we arm you with all the skills you need to be an environmentally responsible scuba diver!
What is your favourite dive in your location and why?
My favourite dive in Northumberland has to be up at The Farnes. There’s a huge grey seal colony around the islands and when they come to play it’s an amazing experience. I never get bored of them! You’re more likely to see the seals in the autumn but diving The Farnes has a lot to offer all year round including deeper dives, wrecks, swim throughs and a striking underwater landscape.
We dive with our friends at Sovereign Diving. They’re awesome skippers and as divers themselves, they know all the sites inside out. They always take us to the best locations and give us detailed dive plans to make the most of our dives.
What types of diving are available in your location?
We are so lucky to have some cracking dive sites right on our doorstep. We regularly dive St Mary’s Island, Browns Bay and Collywell Bay which are only 15 minutes away from the dive centre. They’re teeming with life. A huge bonus is that The Farnes and our Project AWARE Adopted Dive Site at Beadnell’s Knacker Hole are less than an hour away. We can go and play with the seals whenever we want! Venturing a little bit further north, we can dive around Eyemouth. The boat dives to St Abbs are amazing, and the shore dives in the gullies are just as good! If I’m feeling a coral withdrawal, this is where I go!
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
We’re still a relatively new dive centre but I feel that we’ve created something really special. It’s so cool to watch new divers become so passionate about ocean protection. We’ve got a lot of youngsters coming through the ranks. My favourite thing is to go diving with the gang and help them pick up trash. They’re true advocates, educating everyone they meet and protecting their future. It’s just AWESOME.
What is your favourite underwater creature?
I love all underwater creatures. Well… apart from jellyfish, I don’t get on with them so well…
I think my favourite depends on where I am in the world. In the UK, it’s got to be the seals. They’re so curious and playful. I love nudis too, especially the look on peoples faces when we point them out in the North Sea! Divers only expect to find them in warm waters!
Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?
As the first PADI Green Star dive centre in the UK, we’ve recently launched a whole new set of environmentally focused courses. Our PADI Open Water courses now include the Project AWARE Specialty as standard, and our Advanced courses include the Dive Against Debris Specialty.
As a centre what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?
One of the biggest problems is when we see student divers from other centres in washed out, sun faded, second hand equipment. It’s so old, it belongs in a museum! It’s not doing much to promote our awesome sport to the younger generation. We must be careful that scuba diving doesn’t get left behind. Especially when compared to other activities like stand-up paddle boarding, surfing and rock climbing which are so trendy right now.
Is your centre involved in any environmental work?
Heavily! Our whole business revolves around protecting the ocean. Alongside our regular Dive Against Debris surveys, we also conduct monthly beach cleans. Since 2016, our volunteers have removed over 1,800kg of trash from the Northumberland coastline.
We are a no take, no touch dive centre. We’re proud that our divers will never remove marine life or wreck artefacts. We are one of the very few dive centres in the UK that will never take lobsters. In fact, we help to put them back! We work with our local lobster hatchery at Northumberland Seafoods in Amble to release baby lobsters back into the sea, bolstering local populations.
We recently received the PADI Green Star Award in recognition of our dedication to environmental conservation.
How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkelling industry overall? What changes would you make?
It’s exciting! There are so many opportunities available to dive centres, we just have to make the most of them.
The Blue Planet Effect rippling out from Attenborough’s series has inspired so many potential underwater explorers. The next generation are looking to get involved in these activities to do their bit to help protect the environment for their future.
As an industry, we should embrace this and encourage ocean protection at every opportunity.
What would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?
We’re always looking for divers to join our army of eco-warriors. If you, or anyone you know would like to get involved with the leaders of ocean protection, then just get in touch!
We run regular boat trips to The Farne Islands and St Abbs. Even if you’re not local to us, we’d still love to take you diving!
You are more than welcome to call in at the dive centre and check us out. The kettle is always on!
Where can our visitors find out more about your business?
- Website: www.fifthpointdiving.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/thefifthpoint/
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/the_fifth_point/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/The_Fifth_Point
In early summer we were given a wonderful opportunity to visit Alonissos in the Sporades Islands in the northern Aegean Sea. This green and forested island sits at the edge of the Alonissos National Marine Park, the largest marine protected area in Europe. Our main focus was to be scuba diving, but during our short stay we were especially impressed with all of the other activities and experiences available on Alonissos for the discerning vacationer.
The scuba diving was really outstanding. In contrast to some areas of the Mediterranean, the marine biodiversity here was impressively diverse and abundant. Our short stay meant we just had a small taste of the diving available, however our hosts at Alonissos Triton Dive Center treated us to some exceptional sites from their impressively long list. The variety of marine life we encountered was a delight: large Gorgonian sea fans, many species of nudibranchs, small pipefish to large groupers, octopus, and much more.
One of the most incredible experiences was the chance to dive the oldest accessible shipwreck in the world, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera underwater archeological site from 500 BC … an amazing dive site with a very unique automated underwater museum monitoring system in place to protect its archaeological heritage. It was a busy but hugely satisfying few days of diving and we could certainly spend much longer on this idyllic isle!
Greece has a huge number of beautiful islands to visit, so why choose Alonissos?
This island is one of the quieter Greek islands and as such has a very relaxed and welcoming feel, where you can find an authentic slice of the Aegean region. And, it is really easy to get there — so many airports in the UK offer flight connections directly to Skiathos (the hub of the Sporades) that you should not have to drive more than 100km in the UK to an airport.
Finally, the variety of non-diving activities is hard to beat. There are boating day trips into the National Marine Park, taking you to visit secluded beaches and giving you a chance to see some amazing wildlife (such as monk seals, Eleonora’s Falcon, and several species of dolphin to name a few). Both the main port town of Patitiri and the old village of Chora are full of interesting shops, charming alleyways, and restaurants with delicious meals. As an added bonus, the Alonissos cheese pie is a particularly moreish local specialty!
As a holiday destination, Alonissos really had everything one could ask for. Look for our full print article in an upcoming issue of Scubaverse’s own Dive Travel Adventures magazine!
Thanks to:
The Municipality of Alonissos (https://alonissos.gr/en/)
Alonissos Triton Dive Center (https://bestdivingingreece.com)
Alonissos National Marine Park (https://alonissos.gr/en/marine-park/overview.html)
Paradise Hotel (https://paradise-hotel.gr/)
Albedo Travel (https://alonissosholidays.com/)
What is your name?
(Anastasios) Tasos Ktistis
What is the name of your business?
Sporades Diving: Skopelos Dive Center operates in Skopelos island and Ikion Diving that operates in Alonissos island, which is run by my business partner Kostas Danis.
What is your role within the business?
Master Scuba Diving Trainer PADI & Co-Owner of Skopelos Dive Center & Manager of Skopelos Island diving operations
How long has the business operated for?
Since 2014
How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?
I have been diving since 2012. I am a Mechanical Engineer with a BA in Documentary Photography and since 2012 I am qualified as a Master Scuba Diving Trainer PADI, since 2021 Tec65 diver and since 2022 as a Tec40 Diving Instructor
What is your favorite type of diving?
Wreck Diving
If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?
We offer our clients a safe and relaxed type of diving in the exciting and crystal-clear waters of the Sporades islands in Greece. Christoforos and Peristera’s ancient wreck are two must dive destinations.
What is your favorite dive in your location and why?
My favorite dive location is the “Christophoros” shipwreck. A 83m long modern shipwreck that sank in 1983 in Panormos Bay in Skopelos island. As a wreck diving lover, I am so excited that as one of our dive locations I get to dive on this amazing site with our clients.
What types of diving are available in your location?
On our dive sites the rocky landscape is dominant with beautiful reefs, walls and caverns that I am sure everyone will enjoy. And of course wreck diving at the “Christophoros” shipwreck
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
The satisfaction and the happiness on our clients’ faces after a dive.
What is your favorite underwater creature?
Nudibranches!
As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?
I would say the fact that the Sporades islands have a short summer season (July-August) although the weather is ideal for diving from May till October.
Is your center involved in any environmental work?
Of course we are! First of all, we are all great advocates of the less plastic movement that has started in 2014, not only in Skopelos but also in Alonissos (Ikion Diving). We participate in underwater clean-ups as well as in projects for local management of plastic waste (#zeroplastic with iSea and Re-Shape plastic-funded by Beyond Plastic MED.)
Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?
We currently aspire to get more involved in Scientific Diving projects by actively supporting the operations through our involvement in EU funded projects, while at the same time we are also exploring the possibilities of Technical Diving as me and my partner of the Alonissos base, Kostas Danis, are certified PADI Tec40 Instructors. We believe that in the future our business will be well known for not only its recreational diving services but also its involvement with the Scientific Diving community through its technical diving services and expertise.
How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?
I believe that SCUBA and in general alternative tourism becomes more inclusive and even more people are interested to get to engage in this type of activities that ultimately protect the environment by raising awareness of the public about the ecosystem of the sea and its significance to a viable future.
Finally, what would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?
At Skopelos Dive Center and Ikion Diving Alonissos (Sporades Diving Group) you can create fantastic underwater experiences – including guided dives, PADI courses, and snorkeling tours combining the two islands. It is our goal to create a safe, comfortable experience for divers of all abilities.
Where can our visitors find out more about your business? (This is where you enter your contact details and any specific details on how our audience can reach you)
Website: https://sporadesdiving.gr/
Skopelos Dive Center (Skopelos Island)
+306940448000
Ikion Diving Alonissos (Alonissos island)
+30 6940 448 004 (WhatsApp: +30 6984181598)
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