Dive shows around the world – season 2016/2017

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I did it again: I couldn’t resist to visiting scuba diving shows at the beginning of the year. On my way back from Florida to Scotland, I stopped in Paris to visit for the 5th time the Paris Dive Show (“Salon de la plongée”). Mid-February, I decided it was time to visit a dive show in my home country and headed to London to visit for the 1st first time LIDS (I love London and would find any excuse to visit). Once again it was an excellent way to meet up with my scuba diving friends and partners, meet new faces and keep up with the industry latest news.

Taking into account the large success of my post on my diving blog last year about dive shows in Europe, I decided to extend the list for the 2016/2017 season to Asia-Pacific and America.

Review of Paris dive show 2016 (Salon de la plongée)

Since the first show I attended back in 2010, Paris Dive Show has evolved a lot. From a domestic market-oriented trade show, it has truly become one of the greatest international shows. I should say I’m quite impressed by the number of countries represented and now hearing conversations in English is not surprising anymore. In 2016, Paris Dive Show recorded 55,000 visitors.

For me, it was the opportunity to help my friends of French Kiss Divers in Thailand and the Philippines to promote their dive centres in Koh Tao and Malapascua. It was also a pleasure to meet up again with Aqua Lung France team who were celebrating the 70th anniversary of the brand. They gave me a beautiful book about the history of the company from the 26th of May 1946 when Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Jean Delorme and Emile Gagnan founded the French company “La Spirotechnique”. It’s a collector I’m going to keep preciously!

As of new faces, I finally met Corinne, the French dive blogger of “Petites Bulles d’Ailleurs” who made me dream with her stories of Raja Ampat in Indonesia.  I also met up with DAN as this year I decided it was time to promote more safety on World Adventure Divers.

The show was big and the day and a half I had before heading back to Scotland weren’t enough. I could almost see everyone I wanted, but I had, unfortunately, no time to attend any of the presentation or to give a try to the rebreathers in the demonstration pool.

Brand new gear presented at Paris Dive Show: Aqua Lung has now terminated its partnership with Suunto and is launching its first Aqua Lung branded line-up of dive computers. I was impressed they directly released a full range with an entry-level beginner model, an advanced model and a tech model. Will I give up by beloved Suunto D6i to give it a try?

Review of London Dive Show 2016 (LIDS)

I couldn’t find a better excuse to spend my St Valentine weekend in London: Saturday, exploring a new scuba diving show at the Excel, and Sunday sampling delicious street food from all over the world in the trendy district of Shoreditch. The British Capital city being bustling with activity everywhere you go, I was maybe expecting too much from the LIDS (London International Dive Show). Being used to the Excel at its full capacity for shows such as the WTM (World Tourism Market), my first surprise was only the right side was open.

I knew in advance that LIDS was together with the Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show, the Bike Show and the Triathlon Show, but still, when I arrived at the entrance I couldn’t help thinking “OK, so this is it”. However, even if half a day was more than enough, I got an excellent surprise. It was the opportunity to meet Justin, the American dive blogger of artofscubadiving.com and the crew of the boat I dived with last year in the Sound of Mull, Scotland.

I especially enjoyed the possibility to check what was going on in other outdoor sports. It gave me lots of idea for gear, clothing and destinations. I loved the exhibition of Whale Fest with actual size inflatable models of cetaceans. With the light and sounds effects, it felt like swimming with them.

For once I also had the time to attend a presentation. I went to “shark feeding: Right or Wrong?”. It was interesting, but I was disappointed John Bantin never really took any position. It was more like a list of all the feeding technics in the Caribbean for different types of sharks. So even if I liked that he explained in details why sharks are so necessary for healthy oceans, I found the presentation to be pure advertising for this kind of experience.

Brand new gear presented at London Dive Show: It wasn’t directly in the scuba diving area, but with a big 360 sign near the PADI Booth, it instantly caught my attention.I thought 360° videos were a matter of complicated video system of several cameras when I heard about it for the first time last year at the Traverse blogger conference. The Kodak 360° Action Camera completely changed my vision of what 360° videography could be. The camera is about the same size as a GoPro. You need to buy the special case to make it waterproof, and if you want a full 360°C above and below, you need two cameras attached. With a starting price of £249 for the waterproof package, I’m seriously considering taking this kind of camera underwater. What do you think? Would you like to be able to explore freely each place where I’m scuba diving?

Dive shows in Europe

  • April/May 16 – UK: Cornwall ScubaFest in Pentewan, from the 30th of April to the 2nd of May 2016
  • October 16 – UK: DIVE 2016 in Birmingham at NEC, 22nd and 23rd of October 2016
  • January 17 – France: International Dive Show 2017 in Paris (Salon de la plongée) at Porte de Versailles Exhibition Park, from the 6th to the 9th of January 2017
  • January 17 – Germany: Boot 2017 in Düsseldorf, at Messe Düsseldorf, from the 21st to the 29th of January 2017
  • February 17 – Netherlands: Duikvaker Expo 2017 in Utrecht, at Expo Houten, 4th and 5th of February 2017
  • February 17 – UKLIDS 2017 (London International Dive Show) at ExCeL
  • February 17 – Spain: Salón de la Inmersión 2017 in Barcelona, at Fira de Cornellà, 24th to 26th of February 2017
  • March 17 – Spain: Dive Travel Show 2017 in Madrid,: at Pabellón de Cristal, from the 4th and 5th March 2017
  • March 17 – Italy: EUDI 2017 in Bologna, 25th European Dive Show at Bologna Exhibition Centre, from the 3rd to the 5th of March 2017

Dive Shows in Asia-Pacific

  • March/April 16 – Indonesia: Deep&Extreme Indonesia 2016 in Jakarta, at Jakarta Convention Center, from the 31st of March to the 3rd of April 2016
  • April 16 – Singapore: ADEX 2016 (Asia Dive Expo) at Convention Exhibition Centre, from the 15th to the 17th of April 2016
  • July 16 – Malaysia: MIDE 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, at Putra World Trade Center, from the 29th to the 31st of July 2016
  • September 16 – Philippines: Diving Resort Travel Show Philippines in Manilla, at SMX Convention Centre, from the 9th to the 11th of September 2016,
  • September 16 – Australia:  AIDE 2016 in Sydney (Australia International Dive Expo), at Royal Hall of Industries, 10th and 11th of September 2016
  • December 16 – China: Diving Resort Travel Show 2016 in Hong Kong, at HKCEC, from the 9th to the 11th of December 2016
  • March 17 – UAE: International Boat Show 2017 in Dubai, at Dubai International Marine Club

Dive Shows in America

  • June 16 – USA: Scuba Show 2016 in Long Beach, California, at Long Beach Convention Center, on the 4th and 5th of June 2016
  • November 16 – USA: DEMA show in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Las Vegas Convention Center, from the 16th to the 19th of November 2016

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Posted by Florine

  1. Dates of the dive show in Barcelona in Feb 2017 have been added!

    Reply

  2. Such a wonderful post. Thank you so much for sharing.

    Reply

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