Thanks again for such a brilliant and well orchestrated course. We truly had an amazing time and have learnt so much over past couple of weeks. Will highly recommend you to any friends and family looking to become PADI certified and look forward to a pool session in the near future. M Crouch Open Water

Well this happened at the weekend, feeling old now with both my kids now PADI OW qualified (technically Junior OW).
I spent some time looking for an instructor and after a number of recommendations we went with Simon Gray from SMG Scuba. A combination of being a very capable and experienced instructor, his experience teaching kids, and his insistence on small OW groups to maintain the quality of the instruction means I would fully recommend him. We'll probably be booking additional advanced diver courses with him next year.
He works with many schools and youth groups in the area and his experience with with teaching kids was very evident.
Even after my tails of Viz in Wraysbury the kids chose to qualify with Simon there and despite classic Wraysbury visibility they loved it, in no small part to the training and confidence that Simon gave them. The only real issue was that Gabriel kept wanting to swim into the wrecks in the lake.. (wreck course next me thinks). P Nix Open Water Diver September 2021

My children, William and Sophie, completed the PADI Seal Team course with Simon this week and I just wanted to write to say how outstanding it was.  I honestly thought that they would probably spend the first couple of days just practising swimming underwater and receiving safety talks.  For them to be fully kitted up and completing two 'aqua missions' on the first day was just fantastic.  

 

It is clear that a lot of thought has been put into the course.  It was incredibly stimulating for the kids, moving from one fun mission to the next at a pace which kept their enthusiasm high, whilst teaching them the basic fundamentals of diving and ensuring that the important safety aspects were covered in an appropriate level of detail.

 

Simon was also an excellent instructor.  Clearly an experienced diver, we felt he got the balance just right between keeping the kids engaged and stimulated through fun activities, whilst also imparting his knowledge of the technical and safety related aspects of diving at a level which was appropriate to the age of the trainees. 

 

All in all a fantastic experience that exceeded our expectations.  The kids have learnt a whole new vocabulary (with 'Reg' and 'BCD' now being mentioned frequently around our home!) and are already looking forward to completing the Master Seal course next summer!

PADI Seal Team customer July 2019

I just wanted to say a quick Thank you for the PADI Junior Scuba Diver course my son Rae-Li took part in with you.  As a Diver myself, I have long been looking forward to being able to Dive with my children and it means lot to me personally.  
Thank you to RAAS for this fantastic opportunity and all the organisation that goes into this.
And Thank you to Simon for taking such good care of the children at Wraysbury and in the pool.  I very much appreciate the level of care and tuition my son has received.
Rae-Li thoroughly enjoyed his Dives, and I loved hearing all about it
 
Parent Royal Alexandra and  Albert School. July 2018
"I just wanted to give some feedback on scuba which Joe participated on last term. 
 
Joe thoroughly enjoyed the course which Simon gave... So much so that during half term he and Jamima joined forces and completed their 4 qualifying open water dives at Wraysbury together over the half term break. They are now qualified Padi divers! 
 
Simon was very encouraging and it was a  pleasure to be able to sit in and listen to his instruction, guidance and interaction before and after each dive. 
 
Please forward my thanks and appreciation on to Simon for a well delivered scuba course." 

 

Parent of Open water diver student May 2018

Customer feedback

Thank you so much to both the Simons!!
Brook had an awesome time with you this weekend at Tonbridge sports centre.
Her hi-light "was going down into the deep end of the pool, it was really exciting." She was keen to share with the family what she has learned.
We hope to see you again next year for the master seal team.
Many thanks
Becks
Customer for PADI Seal Team July 2015

“I wanted my teenage children to add to their diving skills through further training and guided leisure dives in a more challenging environment.  A Red Sea live-aboard seemed ideal.  SMG made all arrangements (flights, transfers, on-board PADI training and hire equipment) and accompanied us throughout the trip.   Local representatives in Sharm el Sheikh ensured that passage through immigration and customs on arrival and departure was hassle-free and that coach transfers were comfortable.  The boat was well maintained by a friendly and helpful crew and knowledgeable guides.  SMG’s training was to the expected high standard contributing to a rewarding and safe diving experience.”

H John Parent Caterham School Red Sea August 2014

We have used SMG scuba to run an Open Water Course, initially at school and culminating in the Open Water Dives at Wrasbury Lake.

This ultimately lead to a weeks Liveaboard trip on the Whirlwind in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.

 

Here, pupils completed their Advance Open Water Qualification and their Nitrox Speciality within the stunning setting of the Red Sea.

 

Simon and his team (especially Claire) were superb. They were excellent with the pupils; calm, patient and wholly professional.

 

All pupils (and teachers) had a wonderful time and we will continue to use SMG scuba for more scuba training as well as running a similar trip to Egypt in the near future.

 

Ewan Bramhall, Teacher and trip organiser City of London Freemen's School April 2014

 

 

“We joined the SMG party on board the Cyclone out of Sharm El Sheik for our first live-aboard diving trip in August 2014.  The trip took in some of the best reef and wreck diving in the Red Sea from the comfortable surroundings and superb hospitality of our Egyptian hosts.  We were all impressed with the the quality and cleanliness of the cabins and the communal areas and the excellent facilities for diving.  The girls both completed their AOW and Nitrox course under Simon’s experienced and watchful eye and enjoyed many new experiences including drift, night, deep and wreck diving.  Highlights included three dives on the famous Thistlegorm Wreck and the chance to dive with dolphins near Sha’ab Abu Nuhas/Bluff Point.  All in all a fabulous experience and definitely one to be repeated ... we may even take our (non-diving) Mum next time!

 

Anna (13) Lou (17) and Andy (well over 21!)”

Parents/Students from Caterham School August 2014

During the Easter 2014 break a group of seventeen students, ranging from Year 9-12, from Worth School embarked upon a week long scuba diving expedition to the Red Sea organised and supervised by SMG Scuba. Most of the students had learned to dive with SMG Scuba and this trip enabled them to try out their skills in the wild for the first time. Students were also able to complete their PADI Advanced Open Water certification during the week. The group lived aboard a top of the range dive boat for the duration and were treated to some wonderful hospitality by the local crew. Our experience took in the stunning coral reefs of the Ras Mohammed National Park, a19th century wreck, some exhilarating night dives and a PADI conservation project which entailed us clearing a specific area of rubbish from the sea bed; anything likely to endanger the local marine life. During the week we saw a vast range of marine life and were privileged to swim with Giant Moray Eels, enormous Hawksbill Turtles, rays, and of course ‘Nemo’ himself, not to mention a White-Tipped Reef Shark which some of us were lucky enough to spot. This the first dive expedition for the school and we are already planning another for the future. It was the trip of a lifetime for the students and the whole experience was unforgettable mainly due to the excellent organisation and thorough preparation by SMG Scuba. We were looked after incredibly well throughout and the attention to detail in the dive preparations, courses and general administration was first class. I cannot recommend SMG Scuba highly enough for a school expedition such as this and we shall certainly be asking them to take us again.

 

Julian Williams

Director of the Wider Curriculum

Worth School

 

We took the open water course as a family, the youngest being 13,in preparation for a diving holiday in Borneo. Simon and the team were both patient and incredibly professional, teaching us with safety always as the top priority and adjusting both theory and practical tasks according to our individual learning styles.

 

Pete and Claire were wonderful on the 4 open water dives, taking as much time as we needed to get the technical elements absolutely mastered.

 

Challenging but hugely enjoyable, I would not hesitate to recommend SMG Scuba.

 

P Andrew Open water diver course June 2014

Simon Gray is professional, approachable and a very effective teacher in and out of the pool. He gathered up a group of pupils from different ethnic backgrounds
and with different confidence levels. He patiently gave them the confidence to
succeed. Each and every pupil had a good experience and achieved all he had
assured them they would. 

 

Evelyn Guest (head of senior school) City of London Freemans school

 

 

‘Simon
has run several scuba diving courses for us and the children always come away
from them buzzing! He hits absolutely the right balance between the importance
of safety and the importance of having good old fashioned fun!’

 

Toby Wright, St Edmunds School

 

Simon Gray has run courses at Tonbridge School Centre for the past 18 months, during term-time and
school holidays. The courses have certainly been popular with children and the
feedback received from children and their parents about Simon and the course
content/structure has always been outstanding. Simon is patient, organised and
reliable and the popularity of the courses is a testament to his
professionalism and experience.

Carly Culshaw, Programming & Development Manager Tonbridge School sports centre

Simon,

 

Firstly thank you very much for you tuition last week on
the first part of the PADI Open Water diving course. As I said just before I left I really enjoyed
your style of instruction, it put me at ease and really helped me enjoy stage
one of the course.

 

P Birch Open water referral customer

 

Hi Simon,

 

I just wanted to say thank you again for an excellent
couple of days! I can't believe how much we covered in such short time, and I
think this is something that could become quite addictive.

 

You must have some sort of powers of persuasion, because
I'm actually now considering finishing my Open Water right here in the UK, so I
can get straight to it in warmer waters...... :-)

 

S Ovenstone Open water referral customer

 

Just wanted to say thanks to you and your team for making
the whole learning to dive experience so easy and enjoyable – right from the
referral course to the open water dives. Will definitely be recommending you
guys to any friends who decide they want to learn.

 

Sahloul Fareed OW diver course customer

Hi Simon,

Just a quick note to say many thanks for your encouragement and support this
weekend!!! I have really enjoyed myself and feel much more confident with
my new skills. Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

D Hannah Advanced Open water customer

Hi simon, just wanted to thank you both for all your
efforts during the open water course, the very high standards of tuition and
putting up with my mask problems! looking forward to the advanced course! Kind
regards, Alex

 Open water course customer

 

Hi Simon,

 

Just wanted to thank you for all your support and time that you
gave to me to complete my confined water dive.

 

We are in the Maldives at present and I want to let you know that
I have completed my open water course.

 

What an amazing experience! 

 

Tony and I are going out tomorrow to complete our first dive
together can't wait.

 

Thanks again

 O Austin OW course customers

Hello
Simon,

I
have just completed the four training dives for your student Michael Kitchin. I
just wanted to thank you for sending us such a well prepared student. He
easilly completed all the skills and had execellent bouyancy control on the
dives. We had lots of time for swimming around a looking at fish and corals. If
only all referals were as good as him!

 

A Manis Instructor Asia Divers. Philippines

I wanted to let you know
how much the two courses you ran were appreciated. The bubble maker course was
very good. The PADI Seal Team course was fantastic. Oren engaged really well
with the instructor. The two boys on the course learnt a great deal. They had a
great time. The instructor, who I listened to for some time was patient, kind,
firm and enthusiastic. I feel that this would be an excellent course for the
centre to continue running, even if it gets off to a slow start. There is very
little to compare it with locally, so it could in time be a niche market”.

 

Mother of Bubblemaker student, Tonbridge school soorts centre

Dear Simon

 

Thank you for all your
commitment and time given to me during the DM course, you were always there to
help, advise, inspire as well as motivate.

 

Over the years you have
become an invaluable mentor and friend, London Scuba is very lucky to have such
a great asset.

 

Managed to recover
quickly from the cold swimsuit swim which was a great way to complete.

 

L Ware Divemaster Candidate

Hi guys,

I had a brilliant weekend, itense but brilliant!
Thanks very much Simon and Duncan for insightful knowledge and professionalism
at all times, you 2 are a credit to London Scuba and the dive industry.

 

 

J Gepheart Divemaster candidate

Hi
Simon


Many thanks for a brilliant training course - I'll be recommending it to
my firends.  The best PADI course I have done...loved it !

Thanks

Deirdra

 

D Maloney Rescue diver student

Hi,

 

Just a quickie - thank you so much
for all your help with the Nitrox and Advanced courses - we've just got back
from Yap & being able to use Nitrox and dive that little bit deeper made a
huge difference! The diving was amazing - manta rays, sharks, huge bumpheads
and all sorts ... I've attached a couple of pics!

 

A friend of mine is interested in
learning to dive and I've forwarded him the link to the website
and told him you're the font of all knowledge so he may call you

 

Hope all is good with you &
thank you again

Sam :o)

 

S Vaughan Enriched air and Adavanced Open water Student

Simon

 

Thank you for the excellent tuition provided for my group of young girls on
Sunday.

 

They all enjoyed the experience. You handled their
worries very sympathetically and professionally to make it a happy, memorable party.

 

G Ellis re. Childrens Scuba party

 

Hi Simon,

 

Thanks so much for Saturday,
they all absolutely adored it and Arthur has talked of nothing else all
weekend. Huge, huge success all round!

Many thanks again,

 

W Franks Re. Childrens scuba party

 

Hi Simon

 

Well I have just about recovered from the weekend!  I
really enjoyed it in the end, that's mainly because you were a great instructor
and managed to get me to enjoy something I initially found terrifying! 

B rayner OW referral student

Dear Simon

 

Thanks for your time,encouragement  and patience
on Sat 14th at Wraysbury.

Tired when I got home but reflected on the day and pleased
with my results.Having gained experience in open water this has now given me
the confidence to progress and respect from my kids !!!

 

Regards Linda

 

L Bloomfield OW course student

Hello
Simon,

 

I
just want to inform you as the referring instructor that your students Simon
Bor and Kunthea Ker finished the Open Water Section of their OW course with me.
I certified them on Sept. 4, 2009. I also like to thank you for sending me
students so well-trained.

 

Best
regards,

Shulamit

 

Shulamit Koretz PADI Instructor Eilat Diving Adventures

Hi Simon,

 

Just wanted to say a couple of things, but to recap, I’m one of
your PADI e-learning course students of something like 2002-3.

 

We bumped into each other again on Saturday at Wraysbury, but since
our first chance meeting there several months ago I’ve now passed my BSAC
instructors exams (OWI) and am busy with 2 clubs actively training. I’m having
an absolute blast and loving every minute of it.

 

You may or may not get to hear it, but as a peripatetic music
teacher of 17 odd years I know this to be very true. I wouldn’t be doing this
as a hobby (instructing) if it wasn’t for all the instructors I had encouraging
me along the way, so as my first instructor, thanks a lot!

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Cheers

 

C Higgins OW referral student

Hi Simon

 

I did the one day referral course with you about a month ago and
just wanted to write and say I got my open water in Mozambique last week. Saw a
manta ray and a very friendly whale shark on my second dive!

 

Thanks for your help and tutelage.

 

Regards

Kathy

K Sandler OW referral student

Just
wanted to say thanks again for Saturday and Sunday Simon - was brilliant!!

 

I'll
try my skills next week when in Oz and then hopefully come back to London Scuba
and sign up for some more.

 

Thanks
again

Chris

C Masters OW Course student



Hi,

a big thank you to Simon
for an entertaining and informative talk to 450 ATC Squadron
(Kenley) last Monday.

The 66 Cadets had 'hands
on' experience of some of the diving equipment and listened with interest to
Simon's talk and video presentation.

Judging by the response
there will be the opportunity to get a group of cadets together to do a 'trial
dive' evening, hopefully inspiring them to go further.

 

Steve Slight

CI 450 sqn 

 



Scuba talk feedback