Hi I'm Dave instructor at the Silver Dolphin Centre, The past few weeks good weather have seen really fantastic dive conditions here in Cornwall. Call me if you want to talk about learning to dive, your career in diving or our conservation work. Listed below is information about the centre and all the work we have been doing.For more detailed information on our courses, projects and conservation work, just click on the side bar, then give me a call on 01736 364860 to dive with the Silver Dolphin Centre.

The above photo was taken by Nicky James on Sunday 23rd May, Nicky's son Torran was one of our DSD students enjoying the great dive conditions.

The Silver Dolphin Centre is based in Penzance in beautiful Mounts Bay, as a PADI 5 star IDC centre we run a full programme of dive courses from DSD to IDC. We are the longest established PADI dive centre in the Penzance area and pride ourselves as being family freindly. Complete your dive course at the Silver Dolphin in 2010.

This photo of a smoothhound shark was taken by me, we have kept the location, to ourselves as one of our DM's was asked where it was by a local fisherman, as he wanted to try and catch it. NO WAY, the last thing I would want to do is help someone kill a shark. 

All sharks are in danger, like many other species of marine life. we are here to look after them not place them in danger and add to the threats they face.

The past two months have really been great weather, more like tropical diving rather than UK diving. To many people think of Uk diving as cold and dark with little to sea. Diving in Cornwall this summer has been just the opposite, 10m viz, warm water, flat blue sea. What more do you want? Lots of fish to see, jellyfish by the hundred. Complete your PADI Open Water Course in the best conditions the UK has to offer.

Lamorna cove's excellent dive conditions for the past few weeks. We have had 10 metre viz on some days. The cove was full of small crossed jellies and a few blue jellies. Picture taken by Tony Halfyard.

I teach students the way I would want to be taught, which means no short cuts, no hidden costs, and safe diving. All our courses are based on Conservation Education and Research. Conservation means we protect the environment to the best of our ability, Education mens we teach people to care about the environment, so when they go off diving elsewhere, they take with them safe diving practices. Research means we learn something new on every dive, about the marine life, we record it and collect data. Which adds excitement to your dive.

Jellyfish are a good indicator of the state of the seas, and last year seemed to be a really good year for seeing all sorts of jellyfish around the Cornish coast. I always record our sightings in my logbook after a dive, and on one dive last year I saw three different types, two of which I am still not sure what they were. This Compass Jellyfish picture was taken by Vicky at Swanpool beach last summer on the same dive as we saw the cat shark.

Monday 7th June The 5 day open water costs £290 and this includes all use of kit, PADI Crew Pack and final certification. Call the Centre now on 01736 364860 to book your place.

Saturday 12th June,  The 3 day course costs £190, and includes use of all kit,PADI crew pack and Final certification.

Call 01736 364860 to Book your place Now

2009 was the international year of the shark. We would like all our dives to be shark dives, but that isn't going to happen as we all know that sharks are being overfished, and very little is being done by governments to protect them. The best thing we can do is educate people that sharks are not mindless killers but are in need of protection, for us, as we are the greatest threat to them. Humans kill around one and a half million sharks each year, and it wont be long before they are all gone. Now is the time to take action, so contact the centre, checkout our sharks page, or get intouch with one of the organisations on our links page. To do nothing will be fatal for the sharks.

Catshark photo taken on a local dive by Vicky completing her PADI digital underwater photography course.

Em, Jenny and Vicky before the dive where they saw their first Catshark.

Many of you will know that we have been fighting against the plan to build a new ferry terminal on Battery Rocks. Unfortunately the Cornwall Council have now pushed through the planning application, so penzance will loose an important marine habitat. 

Want to learn to dive, but not sure how to do it, we have three easy options that let you learn to dive in east steps. You can also spread your training to suit you, so if you can only dive at weekends, no problem.

A half day session for an introduction to scuba diving for only £25

A three day course that takes you two thirds towards your full open water certification and costs £190

The full 5 day course that enables you to dive with a buddy anywhere in the world. Costs £290

You can now complete your dive theory on line with PADI e learning, so then you come to us to complete the confind and open water dives. Contact the centre for the cost of your PADI course with us when you complete on line e learning. 

As Michelle and her partner Tom. Michelle is on the on the right of the picture with her instructor Dave. E learning can now also be used to complete your advanced open water course. Photo taken by Ann Haynes.

Diving isn't as expensive as you may think. If you have qualified as a diver and you want to gain some experience diving in Cornish waters you can come and do a guided shore dive with us for only £25, this includes any tanks or kit you may need.

For all your diving air needs contact Phil at St Hilary on 01736 740647. This is also the best camping site in Cornwall, so if your a dive club or family looking for somewhere to stay give Val & Phil a call. www.trevairtouringpark.co.uk

We started the charity to look after people and the environment, as both are important to us. The marine environment is under constant threat and divers are in the best place to see the danger and are the best people to protect the marine life. Surley that is one of the best reasons to learn to dive. So give us a call and start today, it may be the start of a new hobby but it can change your life.

We try to dive all year and are open through out the year but this dosent mean we open 7 days a week. If you want to come diving it is best to call first, to make sure we haven't gone diving without you. So send us an e mail or call us on 01736 364860 or 07881 688 234 to book your diving now.

Our recent dives have seen lots of small unusual Jellyfish around the coast. Also saw what looked like a Salpa at Lamorna cove last week, but of course didn't have a camera with me, so we will be back there as soon as we can this time with a camera at the ready.

 Saw Nudibranch eggs on a dive at Roskilly a couple of weeks ago. Also seems to be a lot of Jap weed which is very invasive, at Roskilly. Loads of starfish around at the moment and the sea is warming up to about 16 degrees C.

This cream swirl, are the Nudibranch eggs at Roskilly beach seen on 11.04.09. Also seen on the dive were small Devonshire cup coral, growing on the rocks on the right hand side of the kelp forest.

The conservation of the marine life is essential. With out a good protected eco system why would we want to dive. To protect something we must be passionate about it, to be passionate about it we must understand it and for us to understand it we need to be educated about the eco system and its marine life.

It may be looking at Snakelocks anemones while diving Trenow  or coral on the Great Barrier Reef. It all needs protecting, so if divers wont protect it who will? Marine Life Identification is really important, so when you dive don't just log the depth and time, record the species you have seen.

Now this isn't the best cuttlefish picture I have ever taken The backscatter, that is the small white blobs that were lit up by the flash looked like the juvenile ephyra stage of a jellyfish. When looked at on the full screen of the centres computer they can been seen more clearly.

Its is easy to forget that sometimes even a bad picture can contain good information. This picture was taken last August so we will be keeping an eye out for them this year. Last year we saw something that looked like a Salp, but of course we didn't have a camera. Salps are important in fixing CO2 from the atmosphere and an important species in the fight against global warming. So all marine habitats are important, as we no so little about species such as Salp's and Jellyfish. Key species may disappear and never come back, so remember when diving all marine identification is important, even when at first glance, the picture may look like it needs to be deleted.

At the moment we are carrying out research dives at Battery rocks and Roskilly beach, because if proposed building work goes ahead, these two sites could be devastated.At the moment there is no record of baseline information for theses divesites, so I am going through all my past photography and log books for theses sites to start recording species we have seen in these habitats. The should the building work go ahead we will bee able to compare a before and after effect of the building work on the marine life.

You don't have to be a scientist to carry out research diving. All divers can contribute data to help record the marine life around our coast. Organisations such as MArlin have a great database which we can all contribute to, take a look at www.marlin.ac.uk . If your not sure then we run courses such as PADI Underwater Naturalist, PADI Fish ID and our own distinctive speciality PADI Research Diver. So you can take a course and be sure that you are helping to make a difference.  For more information on these courses look on the dive specialities pages on the sidebar and check the course dates on the sidbar.

Flat sea at Roskilly, one of our favourite dive sites.

 Roskilly Beach above is a great dive site and battery Rocks to the left is a good site for your first dive. But both are in danger from the proposed Penzance harbour extension plans. The two sites are both great for marine life. Last year cuttlefish were laying their eggs along the harbour wall. For more info on the proposed harbour work and our conservation efforts click on CONSERVATION on the side bar.

Why not start your diving career this year at The Silver Dolphin Centre. Students come to us to do their Open Water and leave as a Divemaster to go offand travel around the world. As a PADI 5 Star IDC Centre we offer Assistant Instructor and Instructor training, so come down and talk to us about your next course or just come diving. Then head off to the sun and find that being a dive instructor isn't work, its more of a way of life.

Many people learn to dive for a specific reason. Mine is for the marine life. I'm not a big wreck diver and I am not worried about going really deep. For me its the marine life that I see. Thats why we are committed to conserving the marine environment, so check out the Marine Life Research sidebar for news on the environment and species we hope to see when we dive and species we hope will still be there in the years to come.

We have our own distinctive speciality PADI Research Diver, this is a two day course that will let you carry out research dives and record data for research projects. The cost of this course is £110 We are at present recording information on the Eel Grass beds at Roskilly which are in danger from a proposed development of Penlee Quarry and we are also going to be researching Battery Rocks which is also endangered by proposed extention to Penzance Harbour. So diving with the Silver Dolphin Centre can help make a difference. The photo is of a Combe Jelly taken at Roskilly Beach.

Species are on the move, see the Marine Life Research page for more information.

See the Sharks page page clicking on the side bar for more information.

Four candidates, Jenny, Jonty, Jude and Heidi, successfully completed their Emergency First Response Instructor training course. Contact the centre if would would like to become an EFR Instructor. Call to book your place on our next EFR instructor training course.

Last summer saw some really great diving conditions with flat seas and warm days. It may not have been the really hot summer the weather men prommised us but the sea temperature reached 16 degrees, which is low for us but allowed us to dive without hoods last week. Also lots of jellyfish about.

If you are having trouble finding the right present for someone special, why not give them a gift voucher that they can redeam in our shop or for a dive trip or training dive. Gift Vouchers can be for any amount and for anything, so call the office to find out more.

Please click on the side bar for more information on diving courses or call us on 01736 364860

The Silver Dolphin Marine Education Centre SDMEC was formed to run all our not for profit work. We have now gained full charitable status for the SDMEC . If you are interested in this work, please click on the SDMEC side bar for more information. SDMEC is registered charity number 1125147. The Silver Dolphin Centre has always been committed to looking after the marine environment and so much of the marine life conservation work we have done, for the past six years, has been carried out on a 'not for profit' basis. The work we do with the local childrens' groups has also been carried out on a 'not for profit' basis. As theconservation and education work has grown we have been unable to keep up with the demand so now with the set up of the SDMEC as a charity, we will be able to do more work in these fields. Please contact the Centre if you would like more information on this. 

We run marine education courses for schools and colleges both local and from other countries. The girls in the photo are from a school in Austria which now send regular groups to the centre. For more information please click on Education Programme on the sidebar.

Photo of Wrasse taken by Melika Powell at Lamorna Cove.

The speciality courses listed below are my favourites. Details of all the specialities we run can be found in the diving section of the side bar. 

Come and dive with the Centre and complete the PADI Digital U/W photographer course. See dive specialities pages for details.

All photos used in this website have been taken by the centre staff and divers. Learn to take pictures of marine life in Cornwall with the PADI Digital Underwater Photographer Course

Then take photos of the fantastic marine life on your next dive holiday.

This is our own unique distinctive speciality. This is a chance to learn real research techniques for cetacean research. The four day course includes, dolphin rescue training, whale watching programme and photo identification and passive monitoring. This is not a swim with dolphins exercise but real research on the whales and dolphins that live around the Cornish coast.  A 4 day course costs £230

Take part in real underwater projects and learn more about marine life in the UK. Our centre runs several real projects where you can get experience identifying the life in the Cornish coastal waters. A two day course costs £120

The UK has more species of fish in the sea than we have mammals on the land but how many can you identify? Spend a weekend at the Centre and you will start to recognise the amazing fish in our own waters. A two day course costs £110

As the light falls, some fish take cover as other nocturnal predators swim through the kelp forrests searching for food. A night dive lets you see another side of the life in the ocean. a two day course costs £130

Photo taken by Olivia Haas during a visit to Blue reef Aquarium. The picture is from the Aquarium coral breeding programme.

We dived with the stingrays at Stingray City on our last holiday in the Cayman Islands. Do you think this is good conservation? it does disturb their natural environment but if a family of rays lived in a Cornish cove would they be as safe?

Big schools of fish used to be common around the Cornish coast but now they seem to have vanished. If you see large schools let us know at the Centre. Do you think we need marine protected areas around the Cornish coast? If so where should they be and how big should they be? Would a marine protected area make you want to come diving in Cornwall?

Spiny Starfish as shown in the picture taken at Roskilly.

A lot of people think UK diving is boring, just grey water and nothing to sea, but we think diving in Cornwall is the best in the UK and we see things like the Purple Henry starfish in the photo, taken by Centre staff PADI Divemaster Jude Chesterfield.

Underwater Navigation is one of the most important skills you can learn, as with all our training we go that extra little bit further so when you leave us to go diving on your own, we know you will be able to find your way safely back to shore.

If you have completed you diving course somewhere warm and sunny say the Red Sea or Caribbean, you might think diving in the UK sea is not for you. Many who learn to dive abroad think that UK diving is all deep, dark and murky but it is not. Cornwall offers clear safe diving, better than some more tropical waters, with great marine life, so don't leave your diving till you go on holiday abroad, come and dive Cornwall, now.

If you have completed your diving in an inland dive site such as a quarry or lake you may be concerned about diving in the sea. Our PADI Discover Local Diving includes tuition on sea conditions such as waves, tides and currents. In fact all you need to know to plan diving in the UK coastal waters.

A major part of the research work of the Centre will focus on the local dolphin population and bycatch throughout the year. As always, we will be running our popular PADI speciality Whale and Dolphin Research Diver course throughout the year.

For information check our course dates page on the sidebar. New courses are being added all the time or contact the Centre to arrange the dates you want.

 If you are visiting Penzance, call into the Centre to discuss your diving needs. We are right by the harbour in the Trinity House building. The entrance to the Silver Dolphin Centre is in the courtyard at the back of the building through the green gates by the Isles Of Scilly booking office and by the Dolphin Pub.

Divers train for their open water course during the summer months in the Jubilee pool. For our pool training, we also have indoor pools that we can use when the weather is not so good.

Dive students continue their open water training at Roskilly beach near Penzance, just 5 minutes drive from the Centre. We also use other beaches around South West Cornwall such as Lamorna Cove, so our students gain experience at a variety of dive sites.

There have now been nine Cornish Marine Life Rescue courses run by the Centre and a mass stranding training course.  These have been very popular (despite some bad weather!) and a tenth course is planned for later this year.  The day course is free of charge and includes both theory and practical training.  Places must be booked in advance.

A group of divers get ready to survey eel grass beds at Durgan. There will be more survey dives carried out this summer.

Students from the Austrian W@ltz Viennese Learning Centre, taking their Discover Scuba Diving programme as part of their two week stay at the Silver Dolphin Centre.

Close to the Sea Front In PENZANCE

The Silver Dolphin Centre
Trinity House
Wharf Road
Penzance
Cornwall
TR18 4BN

Tel:  01736 364860 or mobile 07881 688 234

Email:  conservation@silverdolphin.freeserve.co.uk

www.silverdolphinmarineconservationanddiving.co.uk