Personal info
- First Name
- Les
- Last Name
- Newman
- Bio
Les is the owner of Langley Diving and a PADI Course Director. In addition to the full range of PADI recreational dive programs, Les teaches seventeen PADI specialty courses, is an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer and teaches to the full range of PADI Professional level Instructor courses.
Les has been diving for over 10 years and has experience diving on all five continents. While he has been on wrecks and reefs, under ice and in tropical waters, his greatest passion is for diving with sharks, something he has done around the world with sharks from tiny dog fish in England to Great Whites in South Africa.
His passion for diving is reflected in Langley Diving’s high-energy environment.
Diving related
- Highest certification
- CD
- Diving since
- 1997-01-15
- Why did you get into diving?
- It was something I had always wanted to do, but never did because I thought it required Olympic level swimming and fitness abilities. On my very first ocean dive, I fed a sting ray by hand and was completely hooked. At that instant I knew I would end up doing something in scuba diving when I retired.
- Most memorable dive
- To date it has to be Marsa Alam. A simple drift dive off Elphinstone reef in Egypt turned into a once in a lifetime encounter as I 'danced' with an oceanic white tip shark. After several slow, almost casual passes in ever smaller circles, it finally came in so close I couldn't focus my camera so I gently nudged him away with the lens. On his next pass I lowered my camera and he swam up to my chest where I gently eased his nose away with my hand. Two inquisitive creatures showing respect for the other. I turned to the Dive master, we signalled up and retold the story over and over for the balance of the trip.
- Places you've dove
- NORTH AMERICA - Great Lakes, St Lawrence River, BC, Florida, California, Hawaii, Mexico SOUTH AMERICA / CARRIBEAN - Barbados, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Brazil EUROPE - England, Scotland, Norway, Spain AFRICA - Egypt, Kenya, South Africa ASIA / AUSTRALIA - Thailand, Indonesia, Australia
- Places you'd like to dive
- * CHUUK - Come join me in the spring of 2012 as I take a group to Palau and Chuuk. I have visited the WWI wrecks of the German |Fleet in Scapa Flow and now I want to visit the WWII wrecks in the south Pacific. * ALEXANDRIA EGYPT - I have visited the pyramids and King Tut's tomb, now I want to see the palace of Cleopatra which is submerged in the harbour in Alexandria.
- Favourite Local Site
- HMCS Saskatchewan
- Favourite World Site
- Scapa Flow, Scotland
- Favourite Dive Activities
- Sharks, Wrecks, U/W Photography, did I mention sharks?