When you planned out your scuba diving activities for the year, I am certain, you planned a diving trip somewhere, likely another training class or two, but, did you add a scuba dive show? Whether you are a new diver or a core diver with decades of experience, adding a scuba dive show to your annual activities is a smart move.
Scuba diving shows allow the scuba diver access to information on new equipment, travel destinations, and often additional training. Many scuba diving shows will offer seminars and multimedia presentations on equipment, new skills, and far-flung destinations. They may also help connect you with local organizations and potential new dive buddies.
There are a few well-known scuba diving shows that attract thousands of visitors from all over the world. There are also small local shows that may be put on by a local dive center or dive club. Both provide benefits to those that visit.
Major US Dive Shows
While scuba diving is very popular around the world, the United States has more scuba divers than any other country. One aspect of this is that in many countries, scuba diving is more of an occupational skill as opposed to a recreational one. Also, when compared to local income, learning to scuba dive in some countries is very expensive. While scuba divers on average are not as dedicated today as they were a few decades ago, there are many who hold diving as an important portion of their life. Let me expand on that last statement. New divers today often treat it as another activity, while those that learned it years ago saw it as a focus. New divers today may consider diving as one of the activities of a vacation. Divers who learned years ago, see diving as the purpose of a vacation.
There are many regional and local scuba dive shows, with some small ones gathering national and even international attention. Let's start by looking at some of the largest most important dive shows in the US.
DEMA - New Orleans
The Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) is the trade association for the international scuba diving industry with over 1,400 members. The annual DEMA Show is the largest trade-only event in the world for companies doing business in the scuba diving, ocean water sports, and adventure/dive travel industries. The four-day event attracts hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of dive and travel industry professionals from around the world each year. This is not a consumer show, if not employed in the diving industry, the diver must be dive master or instructor.
COVID concerns and international travel restrictions prevented the DEMA show last year to have the number they had in the past. Attendance in 2019, saw over 600 vendors occupying over 1,200 booths, each 10 feet by 10 feet. Many consider the show as the industry showing off. Most equipment companies in the industry will use the event to introduce new products. You will also find that there are many show specials, many of which can also be found on a company's website. One of my local dive centers closes for the week so the entire staff can attend the DEMA show. The staff gets to see new equipment and attend seminars. The owners visit exhibitors representing liveaboards, destinations, and resorts. By the end of the show, they will have booked three or four trips for the following year. Each with an outstanding price that they can offer to their divers.
The DEMA show has over 250 educational sessions. Some sessions are open to any attendee, while others require the purchase of a special series pass. There are a few that are restricted to dealers or certified technicians. The open sessions are normally general interest topics and new product talks. The special passes are generally marketing training for the dive industry. On my visits to the DEMA show, I have had the opportunity to see a presentation on the shipwrecks in the Atlantic Graveyard, as well as talk to the NOAA researchers with that project, attended seminars on topics of the lionfish invasion and coral reef restoration, as well as having lunch with two members of the Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. Two members that I have admired for years. The biggest problem with DEMA, other than the attendee restrictions, is finding enough time to see the seminars you want and the booths you want to visit.
The show changes locations each year. November 14-17, 2023 will mark the 47th Annual Industry Trade Show and will be in New Orleans.
Scuba Show Long Beach, CA
One of the largest consumer scuba diving shows in the US. The two-day Scuba Show has over 300 exhibitors showing in 76,000 square feet of exhibit space They have seminars starting every hour on a range of diving topics. You will also find clinics hosted by industry experts. If you want to learn more about diving equipment or diving destinations, this is a great place to visit. There will be a number of seminars that will help you improve your underwater photography. Seminars in 2022 covered a range of underwater photography sessions, coral reef conservation topics, kelp forest conservation, diving with large marine life, blackwater diving, and many more.
Those of us that are a little older may remember the Sea Hunt television program (reruns count). Mike Bridges, played by Lloyd Bridges, was often on his yacht. The boat used in the show's 4th season was custom-built for the show. A Sea Breeze Express Cruiser built by Trojan Yachts became the FIVE SEA SONS aka ARGONAUT. This boat has been restored and will be on display at the show. The show Sea Hunt introduced scuba diving to many viewers, at a time when scuba diving was just being developed as a sport. The show's cast also included Zale Parry who was instrumental in women becoming involved in scuba diving.
She was inducted into the Women's Divers Hall of Fame as an Actress, Underwater Photographer, Producer/Director, Dive Equipment Tester, Hyperbaric Chamber Operator, Historian, Author, and Pioneer. A final Sea Hunt trivia point, Leonard Nimoy appeared in 8 episodes early in his acting career.
The 34th Annual Consumer Scuba Show will be held on June 3-4, 2023 at the Long Beach Convention Center,
Beneath The Sea New Jersey Meadowlands Expo Center
Beneath The Sea, Inc. is a nonprofit, volunteer, membership organization, recognized nationally and Internationally as a source of education about the ocean environment. In March of each year, they hold a 3-day seminar and scuba dive show. The seminars start on a Friday. These are for professionals in the field of diving science, however, anyone can attend. Also, Friday is a career day for students. Saturday & Sunday is a consumer show with hundreds of exhibitors and seminars for divers. This show competes with the Long Beach show as the largest consumer dive show in the US. The 45th Annual International Oceans Exposition was held March 25-26, 2023
Boston Sea Rovers Show
The Boston Sea Rovers show is the longest continuously running dive show in the world. A portion of their program is an underwater film festival. Because of COVID, the 2022 symposium was delayed. This led to reducing the 2023 schedule to just the Film Festival. The 70th International Ocean Symposium and Film Festival will be on March 16 & 17, 2024 in Danvers, MA.
Some International Events You May Hear About
There are a few international shows that you might want to know about.
Scenes from ADEX 2022
Singapore Ocean Week/ ADEX Asia Dive Expo – The largest and longest-running dive consumer and trade show in Asia is held in Singapore each year. Each year the keyword theme is changed.
ADEX Ocean Mission 2023 returned to an end-of-March schedule. (COVID restrictions caused the 2020 and 2021 shows to be canceled and the 2022 show held later in the year.) The Mission theme centered on all of the inspiring and wonderful women in the dive industry.
I will admit, after DEMA, this is my favorite dive show. Years ago, I did a destination talk as a guest speaker and was involved with a conservation panel at a ADEX show. While I am not a good underwater photographer, the photo seminars are outstanding. If you love underwater photography, they display some of the best images in the world.
Ocean Gallery 2022
The annual ADEX Voice of the Ocean Photo/Video/Art Competition celebrates visual representations of the ocean and its many creatures. The best works by underwater photographers and videographers are presented and judged live by a celebrated panel of distinguished experts.
If you have some underwater images taken with your ProShot case, you can submit them online and have them displayed before the visitors and judges of this amazing underwater imaging competition. ADEX has a few smaller events over the course of the year.
The Düsseldorf International Boat Show, more commonly known as boot Düsseldorf or just boot is one of the world's premier boat shows. It is the benchmark for the international boat and water sports industry. Among the luxury yachts, you will find most of the dive industry represented as well. The show has 16 halls covering over 220,000 square meters, which is over 54 acres. The 2023 event was the first after a COVID “pause” and was attended by 237,000 visitors from over 100 countries. The scuba diving industry has a dedicated hall that includes a dive tower. The tower consists of slim steel struts and large acrylic glass surfaces. Its capacity is 200,000 liters (almost 53,000 gallons) of water. The round construction allows spectators a 360-degree view of what is happening in the water. Held in January of each year the 54th International Boat Show will be held 20 - 28 January 2024. Dusseldorf, Germany
While not a dive show, I want to mention Cathy Church’s 12th Annual Underwater Photo Fest 2023 which will be held May 6-13, 2023 on Grand Cayman Island at Sunset House. I have mentioned Cathy Church in a previous article. She is another pioneer in underwater photography and women in diving.
Expand your Scuba Diving Knowledge
Attending dive shows can give you an insight into the industry, sport, and hobby that we know as recreational scuba diving. Over the years, I have learned a great deal at different events. If you make it to DEMA or the Scuba Show this year, drop in at the ProShot & Tidal Sports booth and let them know you read their blogs. It is a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have as well as look over the different products.
