MEET THE TEAM

Mark Duncombe

INTRODUCTION

After starting diving on a holiday back in 2004 in sunny Fuerteventura with Deep Blue, who would have believed where my passion for diving has taken me. Deep Blue has certainly changed my life for the better that's  for sure. I'm now the proud owner of Bespoke Diving Adventurers and I have a great team around me. We are constantly striving to grow and be a better team.

I have made friend's for life, seen some unbelievable sights, and I look forward to the journey ahead. 

Working  hard to be the best you can be, reaching your goals then making new ones.
Standing back and looking at your achievements, and then taking time to be proud  of yourself.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT ??

Kerry Hammond

My diving adventures started in 2018 whilst travelling in Thailand for the summer. I completed my SSI Open Water and Advanced Adventurer courses with Ami Bignell at Mojo Divers. Her enthusiasm for diving, my experience as a teacher, the sheer beauty of the underwater world and relaxation of Scuba Diving drew me into taking a year away from teaching to pursue a career as a Scuba instructor. Becoming a diving instructor has opened so many doors for me; seeing incredible marine life, travelling the world, challenging myself to become the best I can as an instructor and diver, all whilst meeting some incredible people, not least the Bespoke Diving Team!

 After returning to the UK I bumped into Mark and Mark at the Dive Show in February 2020… and the rest is history… haha! My first experience of the UK waters doing my Drysuit specialty in 4 degrees temperature after a year of diving in a rash guard and shorts at 30 degrees was a huge change but Mark and the Team were brilliant! 

Since then we have created and delivered numerous online courses for the Science of Diving, Dive Guide and multiple other courses, trying to keep everyone and ourselves  busy during a year that has been testing for everyone. This team is truly a close knit family and anyone who joins us for even just the one or two dives becomes a welcomed member, who is looked after not only by ourselves as the instructors, but also the rest of our diving team! I am excited for all the future training, events, trips and of course social events with the Bespoke Family and cannot thank the team enough for welcoming me into the family with open arms and lots of hand warmers. 

Everyone in the team brings many qualities to the centre, from experience to marketing to photography, diving specialities and pure entertainment! The Teams enthusiasm for the underwater world is infectious and we are all here to provide the best, safe and fun experience from start to finish. 

We pride ourselves on providing a ‘Bespoke’ service which is tailored to suit our individual divers by keeping numbers low or even one to one! Developing your ability to perform skills and dive neutrally buoyant, whilst being safe by following the rules of Scuba, allows you to become a confident diver with incredible memories of your diving experiences. This is our aim when we go diving, learning all the time and having great fun! :)

Jayne Brown

INTRODUCTION 

“I’ve always wanted to try Scuba and after a successful try dive in Portugal in June 2018, my journey with Bespoke Diving Adventures then began. My defining moment of wanting to step onto the professional ladder came at a charity try dive in August 2019, I realised I wanted to be part of a team where I could share the same passion and knowledge for Scuba and, teach people the same skills Bespoke had taught me.

With the ongoing support and enthusiasm and, seeing some amazing initiatives delivered by Bespoke Diving on overcoming challenges put on the industry with COVID-19, I gained my Master Diver in October 2020 and signed straight up afterwards to continue my learning to becoming a Dive Master. The learning and fun never stops with this group and can’t wait for you to come join in!”

Craig Brown

INTRODUCTION 

Myself and Jayne did a Try Dive whilst on holiday in Madeira in July 2018 – when we got back home, Jayne found Mark through SSI and he invited us over for a coffee and a friendly chat to talk through what we wanted to achieve (which to start with, was having a choice of SCUBA diving whilst we were on holidays). We pretty much haven’t left since then. It’s been a continuous learning journey, feeding off the team’s knowledge and having a great time doing it. Got the bug so much, that both of us are now on our way to becoming Dive Professionals with the help of Bespoke Diving Adventures and I’m looking forward to being able to assist in someone else’s learning journey.

Will Marzano

INTRODUCTION

I started Scuba diving as a young teen whilst on holiday with my parents. It was a little loose and informal but gave me a taste of what it was all about, and I loved it form the get go. The freedom to mingle in this alien underwater world and experience the peace and quite and wonder at the strange creatures and landscapes hooked me on this adventurous experience.

In my early twenties I finally completed to do the Padi Open water qualification whilst on holiday on the Island of Gozo near Malta and then spent the next 30 years doing occasional diving as and when the opportunity arose.

A chance meeting with Mark in the pub a couple of years ago opened the opportunity to migrate my Padi qualification to SSI. By nature, I am quite suspicious, and my first thought was “is this a guy just trying to make a quick buck by signing me up for Scuba school I’d never heard of”?

The truth could not have been further away. It turned out that Mark is as passionate about Scuba as anyone could be and his motives were and still are to simply spread the gospel to anyone that will listen about how great the whole underwater adventure can be. My concerns about SSI where also unfounded as it turns out. Their structure, Apps, web site, online tutorials and support eclipse all the other Scuba Schools I have encountered. Quite simply, SSI make the whole experience easy to understand and with a well-structured range of speciality courses the path to more adventure is easy to follow.

I did migrate over; I did do more speciality courses and I did rekindle a passion for an adventure sport that had become a little dormant.

One of the first things I did was to complete my dry suit course to allow me to dive in the cold and often murky waters around the UK. My view had always been “why would you want to dive around the UK in the cold and murk”. The answer is that it allows me to dive more often and learn new skills (limited visibility and good navigation in tricky surrounding!) so that when I get to those warm and clear waters of the Med or the Red Sea I will be far more capable and relaxed and enjoy the experience all the more.

The Team at Bespoke Diving Adventures are a great bunch and I feel incredibly lucky to have found them and be part of Marks efforts to spread that Gospel!

Robert Neal

INTRODUTION

My diving adventure started way back in 1989,  aged 18 with BSAC in the days before snazzy BCD’s and digital dive computers, living and diving in Devon and Cornwall got me to Sports Diver, but it was just another hobby, good fun with a good group of divers but that was about it.  At 18 you have lots of distractions.  Spin forward another 25 years and I’m in Cape Verde on a family holiday  with nothing more to do than lie in the sun and the PADI dive school enticed me to take my Open Water Diver, so over a Christmas holiday I picked up my PADI ticket.   Then nothing happens until I meet Mark Duncombe (he lives near me in the same village) many years later, we get talking and I get the buzz again, but this time it’s with Mark and Bespoke Diving and SSI.

 In 30 years I logged less than 20 dives, in the last 3 years approximately 100 more.  I’ve had the pleasure of diving with my 2 sons who are now both Specialty Divers, trained by Bespoke. I’m continuing to learn and gain more experience and certifications, so that I can help bring more people to the sport and see it add to their lives. 

 It’s more than a hobby now, or a thing to tag on whilst on Holiday, it’s my passion it’s what I want to do whenever I can get the time to do it. What we have as a team of divers and friends at Bespoke is what makes the difference. No ego’s, no “been there, done that’ attitudes just a bunch of scuba goobers who love to dive, learn and laugh