ALI FIKREE - TECHNICAL INSTRUCTOR

An excellent diver and techie instructor with a very positive attitude to safety. This man-monster is able to carry a twin-set of 18 litre tanks with sling tanks, a scooter and his buddy as well. Our very own Desperate Dan.

Ali Fikree - A small dive CV that goes a little something like this…..

I started diving at the age of 17. My first OW lesson was a birthday present from my parents. I started with what was known as the BSAC Novice Diver and Novice Diver II in the summer of 1995.Those were the days of the famous “ A” tests and long swims….oh how evil they were…

I then progressed to Sports Diver and through to BSAC Advanced Diver in 2000. When I started diving, I was attracted to the mystic aura that surrounds shipwrecks.The small essence of adventure in the human spirit that captures us all. And so began my “wreck “fetish that carries on to this day.

I trained in Nitrox in 1997 when it was still considered to be “ snake oil “ in the club and I remember a few marshals even refusing to allow it on their dives….oh the arguments we had. In 1998 I managed to get up to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands with a few club members. I was really hooked into wreck diving then but found that even with my hectic work , schedule, apprenticeship training, traveling back and forth from Canada, I did not have much time for diving. There used to be a point when I was doing 4 dives a weekend but that soon started to slow down.

I headed back to Scapa Flow in 2000 and completed my extended range and trimix qualifications. I thought it would be the last time I would ever see the North Sea again, but I am planning a trip there again next year. From 2000 to present, my diving career and passion doubled in size. I remember an ex-girlfriend of mine asked me to chose between her and diving. I instantly helped her pack her bags and escorted her to the car. I did my first cave course in Thailand during the summer of 2003. What I found was that I was so hooked on cave diving, that all I read about was caves. I lost all interest in wreck diving and was now a cave addict or a cave troll wannabe.It was strange at that time, I developed a fear of wide open places and surrounded myself with books and articles on cave diving and similar adventures.

I am now working on the First Class Diver program and hope to make it through to National Instructor one day. 

Some of my interests are caves, research and teaching, decompression, physiology and diving medicine. I also have knack for motorcycles but that is another expensive hobby.

On the committee I have served as Boat Member, Training Officer and now Technical member. My aim is to break the strange barrier that exists between recreational and technical divers and promote safer diving.

That's all for now.