Paul Toomer Announces Split from RAID

Paul Toomer, the prominent figure in the technical diving community and a co-founder of RAID (Rebreather Association of International Divers), announces that he is stepping down from the training agency, citing differing visions for the future.

Dive Industry News and Matters
RAID

Toomer played a central role in the formation and development of RAID. Originally founded in 2007 in Australia as a rebreather-focused agency, RAID was later restructured and relaunched globally around 2014 with Toomer as one of the key figures driving its expansion. At that time, he served as Director of Diver Training and later became President of RAID International.


On 16 May, Paul Toomer posted the following text on Facebook

Paul Toomer
Press Release
Received from: Becky Roberts I PADI Worldwide

PADI Announces 11th Anniversary of the Most Celebrated Day in Diving - Women’s Dive Day 2025

PADI

Over the past decade, PADI Dive Centers and Instructors have created a powerful movement that has inspired more women of all ages to discover the transformative power of diving. More than 1,500 events in over 100 countries have encouraged scuba divers, freedivers, and mermaids to come together to continue their dive education, plant new coral nurseries, perform beach and underwater cleanups, set a world record for the longest underwater female human chain, fundraise for breast cancer research and local women’s shelters, and take their first breaths underwater as the newest PADI Divers.

Press Release
Received from: Patrick Holliday | BSAC

BSAC Joins the Call for Clean Water

British Sub Aqua Club

BSAC is now a member of the Clean Water Sports Alliance (CWSA), a collection of national governing bodies (Angling Trust, British Rowing, British Triathlon, GB Outrigger, Paddle UK, Royal Yachting Association and Swim England) that united in April over the issue of water pollution and set a vision to achieve healthy and nature rich blue spaces for everyone to enjoy water sports.

New UK-Based Dive Training Agency Launched

UK dive agency NovoScuba launches a new model for scuba education globally


 

Tech and Training
NovoScuba

NovoScuba, a UK-based dive training agency, has announced the introduction of a subscription-based training platform, aiming to offer an alternative approach to the traditional dive education system. The founders, leveraging over a century of combined experience in the diving industry, have designed a platform that they believe will modernize diving education by addressing some of the shortcomings of existing training methods.

X-RAY MAGAZINE FEATURE

Scubatlon: Environmental Protection as a Sport

Over the last half century, scuba diving—which was, in its earlier days, reserved for the elite, brave and courageous—has become a mainstream sport for the masses. On the one hand, this is very good. Millions of people get to see with their own eyes how diverse and exciting the underwater world is. On the other hand, diving can cause serious damage to coral reefs, which are rich in biodiversity, but extremely vulnerable to human impact. In a response to the dive community’s demand for more protection of the reefs and the underwater realm, a group of divers came up with the idea of Scubatlon—a tournament in traditional recreational diving with a conservation bent.

Words:
Andrey Alexandrov
Images:
Download the full article as pdf ⬇︎
Dive Industry News and Matters

"We are not making enough money from our dive center, but we enjoy it immensely," said science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke sitting in his wheelchair. The rustling of palm trees and the ocean waves could be heard just outside. At his home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, I met with Clarke while shooting a documentary about his work in science fiction.

SAA And BOA Join Forces

The Sub-Aqua Association (SAA) is delighted to announce the affiliation of the British Octopush Association (BOA).

SAA, BOA, BUSA, CMAS, Rosemary E Lunn, Roz Lunn, The Underwater Marketing Company, X-Ray Mag
Dive Industry News and Matters

In the last 18 years, the SAA and the British Underwater Sports Association (BUSA) have been working together in partnership for the benefit of the sport. Recently changes in rules and expectations in CMAS have required a more formal recognition of this partnership.

In the UK the SAA represents CMAS - the Confédération Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques.

Therefore, BUSA will through mutual agreement conclude their role to represent Underwater Sport in the UK and this will be continued by the SAA with formal affiliation agreements to each of the underwater sports.

NAUI Mixed Gas & Oxygen Service Technician

Want to enrich your diving experience? Looking for a competitive edge as a diving leader? Want to gain a better understanding of how to safely mix breathing mixtures? NAUI offers both an Enriched Air Nitrox (EAN) and a Mixed Gas Blender and Oxygen Service Course—each designed to provide you with the skills and knowledge needed to safely handle high pressure gases, prepare oxygen-enriched air and helium-based mixes, and prepare equipment for oxygen service.

Tech and Training
NAUI

Upon successful completion of this course, graduates are considered competent to prepare oxygen-enriched air and helium-based breathing gases without direct supervision for use by divers, provided that the equipment used is the same or approximates that used in training; and to prepare scuba equipment for oxygen service, provided that they have been authorized by the manufacturer for servicing the particular brand of equipment being placed into oxygen service.

The skills you will accomplish during this NAUI course include:

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