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National team of Russia reached the quarter-final. Divecentre BaikalTek are also doing wel

National team of Russia reached the quarter-final. Divecentre BaikalTek are also doing well. BaikalTek diveclub members are always striving for interesting diving as well as acquiring various qualifications.

To make our diving interesting, we, as usual, make dive safaris, which started in May this year. Our guests are BaikalTek groups, groups from Russia, Denmark, Korea, China, Germany. There were also groups of technical divers. Great visibility (at some places up to 50 metres) made our diving most pleasurable, the boat team did their best to provide excellent meals - blini, barbeque and pozy (Buryat national cuisine - meat dumplings) - during surface interval time; to cruise along beautiful landscapes as well as a banya (Russian sauna) by night. Nice sunny and chilly Baikal weather made it possible for us to trek the picturesque Baikal shores with agility. Our portable boat sauna on the shore perfectly drove the tiredness away. As usual, after lake Baikal diving safaris the divers get a nice charge of vigor, experience and indulge themselves into the beauty of lake Baikal on the surface and underwater. Lake Baikal (if you are still not aware of it) is one of the best places for diving in the world. Such places are not really numerous, as it might seem at first.

In the framework of these safaris BaikalTek instructors dived deep and very deep in order to continue exploring some of the places. Fantastic visibility made this work very interesting. Yet again and again did we realise that we were looking at  the beauty nobody had ever seen. Great depth, dive sites availability only in the framework of a dive safari, as well as our awareness of where and how to dive allows us to see the places nobody had seen before. Then we show the places to other divers.

As a result of our research diving we added more detail to the schemes of the following dive sites: Black-and-white, Mountain System. We made a bigger scheme for dive site Ivanovskiy, pinpointed a separate site Stone Garden. For each site we worked out the best routes and recommended depths. It is a pity no photographers and film makers accompanied us on these voyages. We are surely filming everything with the help of GoPro, but it leaves much to be desired. Besides, it is extremely difficult to reveal the greatness of Lake Baikal landscapes with the help of a regular camera.

An unusual divesite - Methane Volcano - was explored. 4 km away from the mouth of the Selenga River, at the depth of 40 metres in the dull clay bottom (what else can be expected from a place next to the mouth of a big muddy river?) there is a huge methane volcano and a small volcanic crater. It is a dive site for real connoisseurs, but those willing to see something special are recommended to dive there. To tell the truth, diving there is difficult - depth, drifting. If the waves are big enough, one might fail to find the divesite, despite the accurate coordinates.

During these safaris we continued testing programme for MARES 25XR DR regulators, which we started in winter. This time we actively used them for deep diving (up to 110 metres), water temperature +2 - +4 Celsuis. They work perfectly well! An excellent regulator for tech diving. We ourselves usually dive with APEKS, but during the tests we realise that MARES 25XR DR is a very reliable regulator for winter and tech diving, it is trustworthy during difficult dives. Mares tests will be continued during deep Baikal dives, as well as in Ordynskaya cave, where BaikalTek instructor Gennady Misan is planning to deliver another Cave Diver course.

Deepwater testing regulators Mares. MARES 25XR DR.

Deepwater testing regulators Mares. MARES 25XR DR.

Deepwater testing regulators Mares. MARES 25XR DR.

Divers excell in their qualifications, courses (from OWD courses to Instructor seminars) and master classes are being delivered in accord with the schedule. As well as Sidemount Diver, Inrto to Tech Diver, Cavern Diver and some other. As usual, Dry Suit Diver course is popular. Divers from Poland, the USA, China and, of course, Russia are taking the course with pleasure.

Great visibility in the Baikal as well as in Listvyanka was till the beginning of August! Listvyanka is the main place for daily diving (like Dahab in the Red Sea, but looks like this place is almost forgotten by everybody). When the visibility is great it is easier and more fun to learn. It is a pity Lake Baikal Cup in Underwater Photography competition is not being held this year. There surely would be a lot more nice photos. However, we have to keep it in mind, that good visibility implies cold water. Lake Baikal divers’ kit is very warm and they are used to wearing thick thinsulate undergarments and dry gloves.

Diving is Fun

Top view

Snow

Why not?

Ship's bathhouse. Very hot, very good!

The invasion of "Aliens"

Under the water. Bottom view of our ship

Under the water. The ancient Baikal anchor. Very big!

Under the water. The deep-water canyon.

Under the water. Baikal shelf

Anchor