Combined Clubs Weekend - 2013

The 8th annual Tasmanian Combined Clubs Weekend was a huge success. With 162 registered participants across 7 Tasmanian clubs, it is the largest event ever. Whats more is that virtually all of the participants were from Tasmania so the event is growing strongly.

The weather was fantastic over the weekend and as such the diving was great and plentiful. This year the CCW had a number of new features including rebreather, scooter and sidemount try dives and some inspiring presentations about rebreathers, cave diving, Great White sharks and RedMap findings. The Scuba Olympics was great fun and the new event - "Blind leading the Blind" was both very funny and just a little painful for a few people - we may just see it again next year!

25 people braved the cool evening air for the night dive on Saturday night and the spud hunt was an every man for themselves kind of affair with the water bubbling furiously with divers in search for elusive golf balls. The photo competition enries were fewer than last year but the quality was higher making judging hard. For the first time we had 6 complete entries for the video competition, all of which were absolutely fantastic. The tugboat award was won by Go Dive this year, seperated only by the two gnomes they found from TUDC and Sea Green Dive, it was a close year.

For the full report of Combined Clubs Weekend 2013, click here.

Combined Clubs Weekend - 2012

The 7th annual Tasmanian Combined dive Clubs Weekend (CCW) was held over the weekend of 9-11th June, 2012, at the iconic east coast town of Bicheno. This year saw the Ocean Divers Plus (ODP) host the event again this year.

The three day event attracted divers from all over the state, with eight clubs represented as well as members from Victoria’s GetUnder Dive Club. In addition to providing an opportunity for some serious bubbling, the weekend included informative presentations, try-dives of the latest gear available from top dive brands, great food and socialising, high-octane events, and almost $10,000 in prizes given away.

A large 4m swell rocked the Tasmanian east coast in the days leading up to the event which dramatically reduced the visibility. However, fine weather and calm conditions throughout the weekend saw the vis substantially increase over the three days resulting in some fantastic diving, particularly on the Monday. Divers hit a number of the top sites throughout the weekend including The Castle, Hairy Wall, Trap Reef, Canyon, Blue Waters, Split Rock, Muirs Reef, Bird Rock, The Steps and the Chimney.

Combined Clubs Weekend - 2011

The 6th annual Tasmanian Combined dive Clubs Weekend (CCW) was held over the weekend of 11-13th June, 2011, at the iconic east coast town of Bicheno. This year saw the Tasmanian University Dive Club (TUDC) host the event for the first time, with record numbers of close to 150 divers in attendance.

The three day event attracted divers from all over the state, with eight clubs represented as well as members from Victoria’s GetUnder Dive Club. In addition to providing an opportunity for some serious bubbling, the weekend included informative presentations, try-dives of the latest gear available from top dive brands, great food and socialising, high-octane events, and almost $10,000 in prizes given away.

A large 4m swell rocked the Tasmanian east coast in the days leading up to the event which dramatically reduced the visibility. However, fine weather and calm conditions throughout the weekend saw the vis substantially increase over the three days resulting in some fantastic diving, particularly on the Monday. Divers hit a number of the top sites throughout the weekend including The Castle, Hairy Wall, Trap Reef, Canyon, Blue Waters, Split Rock, Muirs Reef, Bird Rock, The Steps and the Chimney.

For the full report of Combined Clubs Weekend 2011, click here.

Combined Clubs Weekend - 2010

The 5th Annual CCW was held over the 12th-14th June with over 80 divers plus families turning out for the event. This year saw the introduction of a "Synchronised Swimming" event with a "World Cup" theme. The Tas Uni Dive Club produced a stunning video entitled "Gnome Goal" complete with an underwater can-can. A second new addition was a free gear trial with Scubapro; divers could try the latest BCs and regs, fins and drysuits, plus go in to the draw to win a new Galileo Lunar computer!

The Scuba-Olympics also included the old favourites: gear relays, gnome and spud hunts, navigation and quiz night. The Tas Uni Dive Club deservedly dominated the event and took home the coveted Tugboat trophy as well as two tanks kindly donated by Aqua-Scuba. The overall results were 1st TUDC, 2nd TSDC, 3rd Leven Scuba Club.

Presentations this year were varied and ranged from body identification and recovery of a world war 2 bomber crash in PNG to gear maintenance, a Redmap overview and a wonderful slide show by John Smith. The underwater photography shootout expanded to include six categories, with Emma Flukes taking out 6 prizes across most fields.

For the full report of Combined Clubs Weekend 2010, click here.

Combined Clubs Weekend - 2009

Over 120 divers and partners attended the 2009 CCW from all of Tasmania's dive clubs: TSDC, Ocean Divers, Leven Scuba Club, Tas Uni Dive Club, TSAC, CRABS, East Coast Dive Club and Club Go Dive. Plus a visit from the Victorian Bass Strait Aquatic Club (BSAC). The weekend was a mix of diving, scheduled events and socialising, this year based around the Bicheno Town Hall, just 100 metres from the nearest dive site!

Tasmania's winter weather this time round wasn't really on our side with a large easterly swell heading into Bicheno. But not deterred the event continued on. punters registered at the hall followed by the usual welcome, then out came the gear! And what a huge amount of gear there was. Double tanks, Re-breathers, SLR cameras you name it we saw it and off everyone went. This year due to the generosity of sponsors, we had great prizes for the "Great Gnome Hunt", a new event which will be hard fought for! Six 30 cm high painted gnomes were placed around the various dive sites that could be dived in the conditions. Saturday afternoon saw the Golf ball hunt off the Bicheno breakwater. 40-50 divers geared up in the rain then hunted for numbered golf balls for prizes; everyone had fun!

By Sunday conditions had improved quite a bit so boat diving was in order and divers were able to get out and explore the deep sites around the reserve. A huge spit roast at the hall capped off the day followed by a fun trivia night and an excellent presentation by Tasmania's premier underwater photographer Jon Bryan. The annual SCUBA Olympics was won by Hobart based TSDC for the first time, over last year's winner Ocean Divers and the Tas Uni Dive Club in third. The drawing of the lucky door prizes finished the evening, with the guests from Victoria taking home a wonderful Stormy Seas vest worth over $500.

Monday dawned with fantastic conditions and the Governor Island Marine reserve was packed with boats full of divers taking in the very good visibility, considering the swell a few days before.

For the full report of Combined Clubs Weekend 2009, click here.

Combined Clubs Weekend - 2008

The CCW moved to the June long weekend for the first time in 2008. Over 80 divers and partners attended the 4 days at Bicheno from most of Tasmania's dive clubs: TSDC, ODP, TUDC, Leven Scuba Club, and Club Go Dive. Tasmania's winter weather was outstanding for the 4 days, with shorts and tee shirts the order for the afternoons! The visibility was excellent and some clubs used their boats to explore Bicheno's world re-noun marine park while others did shore dives around Governor Island.

Saturday afternoon saw the running of the "Scuba Olympics" where clubs competed against each other over 3 events. The main prize of a set of Scubapro regs was won by a member from the Tas Uni Dive Club. Ocean Divers Plus won the Olympics for the 3rd year in a row, from a fast finishing Tas Uni Dive Club and Leven club. That night saw a BBQ dinner followed by presentations of prizes. Talks were given from various dive bodies from around the state, including Michael Jacques on the progress of the Long Spine Sea Urchin surveys that most clubs had been doing over the preceding 6 months.

Sunday night saw a "Mass" night dive at the Bicheno breakwater followed by dinner at the Bicheno Dive Centre. The photo competition was judged by leading Tasmanian underwater photographer Jon Bryan with excellent photos in both the "Best Tasmanian Photo" and "Best photo from the weekend" categories.

Monday produced the best visibility of the weekend reaching 30 metres plus! Most clubs did at least one dive before heading home after a big weekend of diving.

For the full report of Combined Clubs Weekend 2008, click here.

Combined Clubs Weekend - 2006

Over 50 Tasmanian divers converged on the east coast diving mecca of Bicheno for the second Combined scuba diving clubs weekend on the 13-14th May 2006. The event was hosted by Ocean Diver Plus and run through the Bicheno Dive centre. The visibility was around 25-30 metres which resulted in some spectacular diving both within and outside of the reserve.

The scuba Olympics included a navigational task, a scuba relay, and a spud hunt. Phil White from the Leven Scuba club came within 2 metres of the navigational target, while TSDC stylishly took out the relay. The scuba Spud Hunt from the Bicheno Break water involved 55 spuds and Golden 3 pound weight. Ocean Divers found the most spuds, while Peter Paulson, from the East Coast Dive club found the golden weight. Overal results of the Olymics were Ocean Divers 1st, TSDC 2nd and Leven 3rd.

The day finished with a beer and BBQ at the Bicheno Dive Centre before talks and videos from Mick Barron from Eaglehawk Neck Dive Centre on a recent dive trip to Scotland and a video on Bikini Atoll

This year saw the introduction of digital underwater shootout. Ed Moroni winning the best Photo from the day award with his interesting Bubbles shot and Sarah Quine winning the best photo of the year with her brilliant photo of a seahorse in a sponge.

For the full report of Combined Clubs Weekend 2006, click here.

Combined Clubs Weekend - 2005

The first combined dive club weekend was held on the weekend of 18-19 March 2005 and was a huge success! Over 45 divers turned up for the inaugural event from most clubs around the state. The diving was great and everyone got to meet a heap of divers who they normally don't see. Drew Burt and the crew from TSDC led the organising committee and everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

The weather was good and many divers got out to explore the deeper waters of the Marine Reserve where the visibility was round 15 m+, exploring The Castle, Cannon and Golden Bommies. Some of the beginner / intermediate divers explored Blue Waters at the northern end of the Gulch and The Rock. Unfortunately an increasing southerly swell meant the visibility was reduced somewhat on the Sunday but luckily it was not large enough to stop divers reaching the reserve.

The Saturday afternoon saw the Scuba Olympics. There were 3 events down on the beach with a scuba equipment relay along the beach, an underwater navigation course, and the most waited for event; the big Spud Hunt! It was a great time and much laughter with Ocean Divers kicking some serious ass and winning the overall event.

That night all clubs got together for a BBQ at the Lions Park which was supplied by Bruce at the Bicheno Dive Centre. There was plenty of stories of the day's events and a few beers poured. Presentations occurred later that night by Ian Cooksie from Aqua Scuba about diving on Maria Island and The Wynyard Dive Centre on North West diving. The night also featured videos of Bicheno and Eaglehawk Neck, plus some great prizes won from the various raffles run on the night.

For the full report of Combined Clubs Weekend 2005, click here.