YDive diving club Hong Kong :: YDive Committee 2006

Ydive Chairman - Gareth Morris

Born in St. Aspah, North Wales where he studied Mechanical Engineering, Gareth is now a procurement specialist for Kohler Company where he is involved in outsourcing into China.

Gareth started diving in 1994 with the Sub-Aqua Association in North Wales and shortly afterwards joined Peterborough BSAC where he conducted most of his early diving tackling wrecks in the North Sea off Norfolk.

After several years of regular travel to Hong Kong, Gareth eventually moved here in 2002 and joined Y Dive shortly afterwards, diving regularly in Hong Kong and enjoying holidays to Puerto Gallera, Bali, Pedro Blanca, Kota Kinabalu, Mabul-Sipadan, Komodo and Sydney.

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YDive Diving Officer - Nigel Dearden

Nigel first dived with the Y Dive in July 1994 at Little Palm Beach (Shan Shek Wan) as part of a reconnaissance dive to assess the general marine condition.

Nigel joined the club in 1995 and has held various posts within the club since that time. These have included the Qualified Divers Representative (QDR), 1995; Assistant Diving Officer (ADO), 1997; and Training Officer (TO), 1998 and Diving Officer (DO) in 2002 and again in 2005. Since 1997 he has also been the clubs Team Leader for Reefcheck at Hong Kong's number 1 coral site 'Coral Beach' in Hoi Ha Wan.

He is looking forward to seeing the club expand throughout the year through encouraging development within the club and crossover of qualified divers from other organizations.

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Ydive Treasurer - Guy Bridges

I discovered diving in 1997 when on an extended trip around the world. Enjoyed it so much the remainder of the trip became biased towards more diving, with me visiting Sipadan and gaining the PADI Divemaster qualification within 6 months of learning to dive.

Upon arriving in Hong Kong, I turned up at the Mariners Club one Wednesday night as I had been advised, and thus was welcomed into the BSAC fold. My introductory dive was as a casualty for Diveleader rescue training, followed by a dive on one of the Hoi Ha Wans wrecks in 0.5 metre viz. As I came back in one piece and still enthusiastic, I guess I passed the test.

Since then I have attended many of the courses run by Ydive, including the Club Instructor course held in 2000. I have also held the posts of Treasurer and Secretary in the past.

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YDive Secretary - Angela Cogman

I first learnt to dive with the Leeds University BSAC Branch in the cold UK waters... My first dive was in January in Stoney Cove, a quarry in the UK where believe me the water was freezing. Still I was hooked...

Whilst at university I qualified as a BSAC Club Instructor and was the branch's training officer for two years... lots more cold water training dives in Stoney Cove and Guildenburgh but also some great wreck diving in Scotland and on the English South Coast.

During the long uni holiday, immediately after my 3rd year exams, I headed to Borneo to work as a BSAC Diving Instructor with Raleigh Interntional (formerly Operation Raleigh); this trip gave me my first real experience of "warm water, clear visibility and fantastic marine life" diving.

I joined YDive in 2000 not long after arriving in Hong Kong to works a Civil Engineer on the West Rail Contract. Being located in Hong Kong has given me the opportunity to dive in some of the best location in the world... Australia, Malaysia, Bali, Komoda, Sipadan and the Philippines being amongst my favourites.

Of course Hong Kong is up there amoungst the favourites too... it's a fab day out on the boats and sometimes were blessed with great visibility and loads of the marine life too.

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Training Officer - Bruce Stephens

A native of the UK, Bruce came to Hong Kong in 1994 and currently works as a commercial diver, both in the local waters and in the offshore oil industry.

His first experience of scuba was a very chilly dip on the Great Barrier reef in '93 and it was to be another 4 years before the bug bit during a holiday in Puerto Galera (Philipines). Awed by the experience of being surrounded by such a world of variety, that till then had been the stuff of TV documentaries, Bruce became a diving stalwart.

Now a BSAC Advanced Instructor,Bruce has been a YDIVE regular and frequent committee member since '97. While he has very fond memories of dive trips to places such as Layang Layang, Sipadan, Tubataha and the Mergui Archipelago,the Hong Kong dive trips remain a regular source of surprise and enjoyment.

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Equipment Officer - Phil Cowley

Our dive tips would not be nearly as successful and fun were it not for the care given to the Club's diving equipment, particularly the boats. As a one time "salty sea-dog" and fan of all things technical, Phil's willingness to take the post of YDive's Equipment Officer is greatly appreciated.

Phil is also YDive's Tech Diver and a PADI Instructor as well as BSAC.

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YDive Social Secretary - Peggy Feng

As the owner of The bridge bar in Wanchai, Peggy seemed an obvious choice for YDive Social Secretary.

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YDive Expeditions Officer - Dave Carr

Only a year in the club but enthusiastic enough to volunteer for the task of coming up with holiday expeditions that might appeal to the membership. Expeditions Officer is not an easy task as anyone who's attempted to get a group of disparate individuals in one place at the same time will testify.

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