Oceanauts Diving

🎉 THEY DID IT! 🎉

A huge congratulations to Chris, Dainius and Stephen, who today successfully completed their final evaluations and are officially SSI Open Water Instructors! 🤿👏

After two intense weeks of academics, confined water sessions, open water training, presentations, workshops, practice, feedback and plenty of laughs along the way, today it all came down to their final open water presentations at Markethill Scuba.

All three passed their evaluations and have absolutely earned the right to call themselves SSI Instructors.

A massive thank you to SSI Instructor Certifier Andy Egan for joining us this weekend, putting the candidates through their final evaluations and helping bring our very first full in-house Instructor Training Course to a close.

And a very special honourable mention to Brendan, who joined us for the ITC, successfully earned his SSI Assistant Instructor qualification and then stayed involved throughout the second half of the course, helping, assisting and supporting both the candidates and the training programme.

His contribution made a genuine difference, and it was brilliant to have him as part of the team throughout the final stretch.

For me personally, there’s a fair bit of relief tonight too! 😅

Running our first full ITC has been a huge milestone for Oceanauts, and seeing the candidates come through it successfully makes every long day, late night and bit of preparation worthwhile.

Chris, Dainius and Stephen — congratulations. You came into this course as experienced divers and dive professionals, and you leave it as SSI Open Water Instructors.

Brendan — congratulations on earning your Assistant Instructor rating, and thank you again for everything you brought to the course.

A fantastic finish to a very special two weeks for Oceanauts. 🌊🤿

🔥 WE’RE IN THE FINAL STRETCH! 🔥

After nearly two weeks of intense training, learning, teaching, skill development, presentations, pool sessions, problem solving and plenty of laughs along the way, our SSI Instructor Training Course is heading into its final phase.

Today marked our last academic and pool training session of the ITC.

Tomorrow, we leave the classroom behind and head back to Markethill Quarry for our final open water training day — the last chance to bring everything together before exam weekend.

And then it gets very real. 👀

This weekend we’re delighted to welcome SSI Instructor Certifier Andy Egan, who will be joining us to conduct the Instructor Evaluation.

It’s been a huge couple of weeks for everyone involved. Becoming a scuba instructor is about far more than demonstrating skills or passing an exam. It’s about learning how to teach, manage students, solve problems, communicate clearly and create divers who are confident, capable and safe in the water.

The candidates have put a serious amount of work into getting to this point.

Now there’s just one final push. 💪🤿

Tomorrow: Quarry.
This weekend: Instructor Evaluation.
Next stop: SSI Instructors.

Let’s finish strong. 🔥

Week 2 of the ITC is officially underway! 🤿🔥

We’re now past the halfway point of the Instructor Training Course, and the candidates have already packed a huge amount into the last week — academics, pool sessions, open water training and plenty of problem solving along the way.

Becoming an instructor is a serious undertaking, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the journey. There’s been plenty of hard work, plenty of laughs, and a great atmosphere throughout the course.

Now it’s time to push into the second half and bring everything together as we work towards the Instructor Evaluation this weekend.

One week down. One big week to go. 💪🌊

🚀 HALFWAY THROUGH THE ITC!

A massive well done to our Instructor Training Course candidates who have now officially reached the halfway mark.

So far they’ve completed:
• 3 days of pool sessions and academics
• 1 dedicated academic day
• 1 dedicated open water training day at Markethill Quarry

There’s been a huge amount of learning, teaching, practising, problem-solving and development packed into the first half of the course, and the candidates are all doing brilliantly.

Tomorrow we’re taking a well-earned day to decompress, reset and recharge before kicking things back off on Sunday for the second half of the ITC.

We’ll still be heavily tied up with instructor training for another week, so normal Oceanauts scheduling will resume the following week.

Plenty more to come yet. 💪🌊

Halfway there. Keep going.

A quiet weekend at Oceanauts for a very good reason… 👀

Monday marks the start of our first fully in-house SSI Instructor Training Course — two weeks of theory, in-water training, skills and drills.

We’ll be putting 110% into our instructor candidates, so replies may be a little slower than usual.

Big milestone for Oceanauts. Let’s get to work. 🤿💪

Twinsets. Teamwork. Precision. 🤿🔥

Today was all about taking diving to the next level.

Our XR Foundations divers were back in the water at Markethill, building the skills that form the backbone of technical diving. Every dive is about refining buoyancy, trim, propulsion and teamwork—getting the fundamentals right before pushing deeper.

Alongside them, we also had some of our newly certified Open Water Divers back for fun dives, gaining confidence, building experience and reminding us what diving is all about… getting in the water and enjoying it! 🌊

These are just the surface shots… the underwater footage is coming soon, and trust me, you won’t want to miss it. 👀

Thinking about taking your diving further? Whether you’re just starting out or you’re ready to begin your XR journey, we’d love to help you get there.

📸 Brendan Wainwright

🌊 Another busy week ahead at Oceanauts! 🤿

Whether you’re building new skills, exploring local wrecks or joining us for a boat dive, there’s plenty happening over the next few days.

📅 This week’s highlights:

🔹 Wednesday – Workshop in the morning, then Perfect Weighting & Trim Masterclass at Markethill Scuba (6:30pm).

⚓ Thursday | 12:00pm – MY Alastor Wreck Dive in Strangford Lough. A perfect opportunity to begin or continue your Wreck or Deep Diving specialty, with a maximum depth of 23m.

🛠️ Friday – Workshop day. We’ll be servicing regulators, inspecting cylinders and preparing equipment for the weekend.

🤿 Saturday | 10:00am – Advanced Diver Training at Markethill Quarry. Still have specialty certifications to complete? This is the perfect chance to tick another one off.

🚤 Sunday | 7:00am – Boat Dive Day! Launching from Carlingford Marina for dives on the Hebron and Falavee wrecks. Booking is essential.

Ready to get back underwater? Send us a message to book your place—we’d love to have you join us.

🌊 Ever wondered what lies beneath the surface of Carlingford Lough?

Most people only ever see the view from above…

But beneath the surface is a completely different world. Crystal-clear water, giant crabs, kelp forests, sea urchins and an incredible variety of marine life waiting to be discovered.

🤿 Join us this Sunday for the Oceanauts Giant Underwater Experience!

Designed for complete beginners, this is your chance to experience the thrill of scuba diving in a safe, relaxed and professional environment.

For just £195 you’ll get:
✔️ Full scuba equipment rental
✔️ 7mm wetsuit & boots
✔️ Professional dive instruction
✔️ Small class sizes for the best experience

📍 Greencastle Shore (just in front of Greencastle B&B)
🕧 Meet at 12:30

No experience is needed—just bring your swimwear, a towel and your sense of adventure. We’ll take care of everything else.

⚠️ Spaces are limited and once they’re’re gone, they’re gone.

DM us for the booking link or follow the link in our bio

Tag someone who needs to try this with you! 🌊👇

🌊 Who’s getting underwater this week? 🤿

Another great few days of diving lined up with something for both qualified divers and those working towards their Open Water certification.

📅 Coming up…

🌿 Thursday | 6:30pm
Greencastle Shore Dive Evening
Our favourite local shore site is absolutely packed with life at the minute. Expect crabs, prawns, lobsters, flatfish and plenty more.

🏊 Friday | 6:00pm
Open Water Diver Training
Pool session at Newry Leisure Centre as our newest divers continue their journey.

🌊 Saturday | 7:30am
Open Water Training Dives 1 & 2
Plus fun dives at Greencastle Shore. If you’re certified and fancy getting back in the water, come and join us.

💦 Sunday | 10:00am
Open Water Training Dives 3 & 4
Plus fun dives at Markethill Scuba.

Whether you’re taking your first breaths underwater or adding another dive to your logbook, we’d love to see you there.

Drop us a message to book onto any of this week’s dives or courses.

🌊 Explore the Underwater World.