We’ll have individual posts up as soon as we have details, but we wanted to post something quickly as we know you’re already making plans for 2011!

Remember, we have three trips to Florida planned in January, February and March, plus we have a trip to Catalonia Riviera in Mexico for some boat and cenotes diving in April. Click on the links for the full details.

Peter Katz will be running the annual Nassau trip for what we think is the 11th in a row. Dates are May 25 – 30 and we’ll have rates soon.

Just today, we booked a trip to Coco View Resort in Honduras for July 23 – 30.

Jeff Cinciripino will be leading the trip to Dive Provo in the Turks & Caicos from Aug. 28 through Sept. 5.

The fourth trip planned is Bonaire from Oct. 1 – 8.

Ensure you are registered for our e-mail newsletter to stay up-to-date!

Paul Costanzo

As many of you can imagine, completing the Assistant Instructor course and Instructor Development programs is quite a challenge, toss in two days of extensive evaluations including academic testing, presentation and in-water evaluations and some swimming, it’s a feat to be recognized.

Scuba Shack is happy to have Mark, Paul and Stretch now on staff as instructors. They all are home grown, completing just about all of their dive training and professional level training – including instructor development – with other Scuba Shack instructors.

Paul has been a certified diver since 2008. After he finished his open water at Scuba Shack he was hooked and never stopped training. He is also a GUE diver and wishes to pursue more learning through them. Paul enjoys diving with the many friends he made since he started in this sport.

Stretch Altenhein

They dive from the North East to Florida and the Caribbean. Underwater photography is a big part of his diving, especially when there are sharks around.

Stretch began diving in 2008 in the Caribbean. As a PADI Instructor and with the help of Scuba Shack has become fully submerged in diving.

He frequents the warm clear reefs off of St. Kitts, but the more cooler diving that New England has to offer still holds a lot of appeal and interest for him.

Mark was interested in learning to dive since he was 12 years-old. He read about the wrecks in Lake Ontario from the war of 1812 and the treasure hunters in the Caribbean in National Geographic magazine. He just never had the time to get certified.

That all changed in the fall of 2006, when he decided to give scuba diving a try. He received his Open Water certification from Scuba Shack and never looked back. One thing led to another and Mark became a divemaster in August 2008, attended the IDC this past summer, and received his Open Water Scuba Instructor certification in October.

Mark Fearon

Stop by Scuba Shack during the month of September for more details, but here’s simple the run-down. Note: This offer will be formally announced in about three days, but we’re giving Scuba Shack website readers the heads-up. Halcyon is still finalizing some offer details which are subject to change prior to the formal announcement.

Offer 1
Purchase two H-75P or H-50D first stage regulators with Halo and Aura second stages, and get a double tank hose kit, Halcyon submersible pressure gauge, and second stage regulator necklace for free.

The double tank hose kit includes:

• Primary hose: 7′
• Secondary hose: 22″
• SPG hose: 24″
• Stage bottle primary: 40″
• Stage bottle SPG: 6

Offer 2
Purchase a single H-75P or H-50D first stage regulator with Halo and Aura second stages, and get a single tank hose kit, Halcyon submersible pressure gauge, and a second stage regulator necklace for free.

The single tank hose kit includes:

• Primary hose: choice of 5’ or 7’ primary hose
• Secondary hose: 22″
• SPG hose: 24″

Offer 3
Purchase an Explorer 9/21 Primary Light system and get two HP LED Scout backup lights for free.

Offer 4
Purchase an Eos LED Primary Light (new for 2010) and get an HP LED Scout backup light for free.

The boat will be leaving the dock promptly at 1:30 p.m., but as usual you must arrive at Cape Ann Divers by 12:30 p.m. The Chester Poling is scheduled to be the first dive, and the second dive is captain’s choice.

We have the boat reserved for Scuba Shack staff and customers, but you will need to call Scuba Shack right away to pay for your spot. The cost is $80 per person.

Ed Hayes and Monty Fitzpatrick (Scuba Shack’s resident course director) will be on hand to review the steps involved, options, program cost and materials required for any and all diving professionals interested in becoming assistant instructors or instructors. Instructors who are interested in completing the IDC Staff Instructor program should also plan on attending.

Please call Scuba Shack to RSVP if you’ll be coming to this meeting.

A well deserved pat on the back to Fran Falanga, Paul Costanzo, Jeff Kezerian and Erin Arai! Congrats … and maybe we’ll see you at the next IDC!

Last year, nine divers took Scuba Shack up on the offer to enroll in the special Black Card program and these four have completed training and the other divers are in the process of completing the program. If you’re interested in joining the professional divers at Scuba Shack, check out our 2010 Black Card Education Program that can save you more than $1,000 on your training.

Update: (Oct. 22, 2010)

In addition to those mentioned above Ed Kask, Devin Berke and Stretch Altenhein completed their requirements for the PADI Divemaster certification this summer.

Three staff members – Mark Fearon, Paul Costanzo, and Stretch Altenhein - have been working to complete their instructor development and are scheduled to take the PADI Instructor Examination at the end of October.

Now that we’re well into the 2010 diving season, Scuba Shack has a bunch of divers looking for a clear training path. We have put together three training programs tailored to meet your personal diving goals.

You can find more information here…

Work towards your Master Diver rating
Select three or more training programs and save hundreds of dollars on 11 different training opportunities.

Become a diving professional
Designed and refined after the success of the 2009 Black Card program, this all-inclusive* training package will save you more than $1,000 and includes the PADI Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and Divemaster classes, plus the Emergency First Responder (EFR) first aid and CPR program, and the GUE Fundamentals class.

Become an Assistant Instructor or Instructor
For those of you who completed the 2009 Black Card program, or for those with a PADI Divemaster certification, you can enroll in the AI or full IDC program and save hundreds of dollars!

We believe that Scuba Shack divers are some of the best trained in the world. Why not join us for more diving experiences and let our staff bring you to the next level, and save a lot of money on your dive training!

* Program costs are exclusive of required materials.

If you took advantage of the Scuba Shack Black Card program in 2009, or if you are already one of our  practicing senior assistant instructors or divemasters, this program may be for you! The package program includes either the Assistant Instructor program or the full Instructor Development program (including Assistant Instructor).

If you just want to complete the AI course, the normal price is $600 which is currently discounted to $400, and if you want to complete the full IDC, normally priced at $1,300, the full IDC will be priced at $850.

If you are interested in either program, please contact Ed Hayes at Scuba Shack to make an appointment for a training counseling session.

*Pricing is subject to change at any time. Not all certified divers will qualify for this program. To learn more or to register for this program, the free personalized training counseling session is required and will answer all of your questions.

This package is designed to bring you closer to the PADI Master Diver certification, the highest recreational diving rating in the PADI system of education. To achieve this rating, you must be certified as a PADI Rescue Diver as well as complete five specialty certifications and complete at least 50 logged open water dives.

To pre-qualify for this program, you must have taken Scuba Shack’s Buoyancy & Control 101 program, and the PADI Enriched Air Nitrox class (or equivalent).

The Scuba Shack Advanced Training Package includes a diverse selection of classes at a reduced rate when purchased as a three-program package. (You must select at least three classes – paid in advance – to qualify for discounts.) Prices do not include required materials.

• Buoyancy & Control 201 – Special Price: $260 (normally $325)
• PADI Advanced Open Water – Special Price: $300 (normally $375)
• Emergency First Responder (EFR) – Special Price: $125 (normally $175)
• PADI Rescue Diver – Special Price: $300 (normally $375)
• Doubles – Special Price: $160 (normally $260)
• Recreational Stage Bottle – Special Price: $160 (normally $200)
• PADI Underwater Navigation – Special Price: $160 (normally $200)
• Digital Underwater Photography – Special Price: $160 (normally $200)
• PADI Wreck Diver – Special Price: $160 (normally $200)
• PADI Dry Suit Diver – Special Price: $160 (normally $200)
• GUE Fundamentals – Special Price: $475 (normally $650)

*Pricing is subject to change at any time. Not all certified divers will qualify for this program. To learn more or to register for this program, the free personalized training counseling session is required and will answer all of your questions.