About Us

Mark Murphy

Master Scuba Diver Trainer and Managing Director

Having worked as a Dive Instructor in the Virgin Islands, Thailand and Egypt, Mark returned to the UK in 2006 when he founded Oyster Diving. His principle aims for the new diving centre would be to appeal to the more discerning customer by offering the best facilities, having an integrated travel agency so customers can complete their dives abroad as well as in the UK. In 2010 Mark won Sport Diver magazines' 'Best Diving Instructor'.

Favourite destination?
Djibouti - On one dive I was surrounded by five Whale Sharks and ended up in the mouth of one of them. Thank goodness they only eat plankton!

Favourite Dive Site?
Shark Reef in Egypt - I was still fairly new to diving and it was the dive that changed my life for ever. Being surrounded by a school of circling barracuda's, I was only feet away from about three feeding 6 foot Black Tip sharks. One of the sharks swam right passed me with a Barracuda still hanging out of it's mouth as if to show off it's prize. I didn't feel at all threatened and has now made me appreciate the beauty and value of sharks in the wild.

Favourite marine life?
I'm a huge fan of sharks but I also love Turtles, Bat Fish and can spend hours playing with Clown Fish (Nemo).

Which countries have you dived in?
Great Barrier Reef, Portugal, UK, Egypt, Djibouti, Cayman Islands, Malta/Gozo, Virgin Islands, Aruba, Thailand, Maldives, Barbados.

Andy Mangold
Communications Officer and PADI MASTER SCUBA DIVER TRAINER

After a Big Mac and large fries, Andy's favourite hobby is checking out the historical WWII wrecks around the coast of Britain. Andy is also in charge of the website and other forms of communication. Despite being the communications officer it appears Andy is a man of few words:

Favourite destination
Red Sea - wreck diving

Favourite marine life
Nudibranch (because it sounds rude)

Which countries you have dived in?
Spain, Florida, Red Sea and England

Melvin Grant

PADI IDC Staff Instructor

Melvin is a highly experienced PADI instructor who is renowned for his patience, friendliness and good sense of humour. He is just as happy teaching children to dive as adults. At the 2012 Sport Dive Awards he came runner-up as 'PADI Instructor of the Year'.

Favourite destination
Red Sea

Favourite marine life
He loves small macro marine life and can spend hours studying a small coral pinnacle to find what's lurking in the nooks and crannies.

Which countries you have dived in?
Malta, Cuba, Red Sea and the UK

Lynn 'Taff' Garland

PADI IDC Staff Instructor

Taff is a really helpful and hard working member of the team. He has lots of patience and is very approachable. He likes to record the Rugby and watch it on his return from his courses, so make sure you tell him the Wales score as soon as you can, he will be very appreciative!

Favourite destination
Tenerife

Favourite marine life
Rays and Sharks

Which countries you have dived in?
Malta, Tenerife, UK and Red Sea

Ian Neale

PADI IDC Staff Instructor

My most enjoyable dive has to be the first dive with my daughter in the Red Sea, My daughter had passed her open water course and was always nervous about diving in the sea but earlier in the year while on holiday me and my son went for a dive with my daughter and to get her to overcome all her fears and see her face was just amazing

Favourite Destination
Good question... I love to dive anywhere and if the water is clear and warm then that's an added bonus but I also really enjoy diving at Stoney Cove in the UK.

Favourite Marine Life
That's an easy one for me and it has to be Turtles – May I warn anyone if you are on a dive with me and a Turtle pops up on the horizon I may just forget I am in a buddy pair with you and all of a sudden the Turtle is my new buddy

Which countries have you dived in? 
Egypt the red sea, Dubai, Spain, Florida & Thailand – Saying that this has to be the answer to the best place to dive (Thailand)

Andy Humphrys

PADI IDC Staff Instructor

Andy is a highly experienced instructor and has spent many months working in the British Virgin Islands before heading back to the UK to join us.

Favourite destination
Egypt (Northern Red Sea) – a mix of great wrecks and beautiful reefs

Favourite marine life
Turtles

Which countries you have dived in?
Balearic Islands (Mallorca), Caribbean (British Virgin Islands, St Maarten), Dubai, Red Sea, Thailand (Phuket) and UK.

Mark Grey

PADI Divemaster and Dive Club Officer

Mark is a keen photographer and with 2 young boys of his own, he is really good at giving customers a helping hand. Mark has dived all over the UK and as a good organiser helps to run our new diving club. Mark is also a qualified underwater photography instructor.

Favourite Marine Life
Basking Sharks

Which countries have you dived in?
Mark is happiest in UK waters and has been to destinations such as Selsey, Cornwall, Devon, Portland and Chepstow.

Barry Magee

TRAVEL CONSULTANT AND PADI INSTRUCTOR

Barry has worked as an instructor on and off for the last 5 years or so in between jetting off around the world working in lots of amazing countries. He has a wealth of knowledge of the best places to dive and when and gained much of his travel experience working for the FlightCentre. He's also a great instructor with lots of patience and a very friendly demena.

Favourite Desintation
Borneo - it has virgin coral reefs and Barry's passion for macro diving with little critters such as pigmy seahorses, octopus and cuttlefish is well matched here.

Favourite Marine Life
Octopus

Which countries have you dived in?
Red Sea, Borneo, UK, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico, Honduras, Belize, Indonesia - Bali & Sulauwasi and a giant 6.5m deep swmming pool theatre in Macau.

Philippe LeChance

PADI Divemaster

Philippe is our friendly Canadian with a dodgy accent and likes to take taxi's everywhere. He's always the first to be in his dive kit, hates to get cold and loves to give students a hand.

Favourite destination
The Maldives, its one of the best places in the world to spot Whale Sharks and Manta Rays.

Favourite marine life
Mermaids

Which countries you have dived in?
Maldives, UK, Thailand, Saudi Arabia Red Sea and Bali