Steph Leaman, InDepth Dive Club Vice-Chairwoman.

Steph Leaman - Vice-Chair

Steph is a PADI Open Water Instructor.

Her first experience of the aquatic realm was in Jamaica, where she undertook a 'try dive' back in 1999. Her experience wasn't as positive as she had hoped, she felt that the dive centre was lacking and that she was just another number in the endless stream of tourists being paraded through the centre.

As a result, she decided not to learn to scuba dive overseas and opted, deliberately, to learn back at home in the UK. She is a firm believer in the old adage that:

"If you can dive in the UK, you can dive anywhere in World!"

Steph gained a significant amount of scuba experience in the UK before venturing over to the Red Sea for her first real dive trip. Whilst she was there she completed her PADI Advanced Open water and it was on this trip that her passion for the ocean's flora and fauna was cemented. Steph is very much a 'squidge' diver, she loves the critters and the squidgy things! Looking out for the smallest of nudibranch to the larger, more exotic species that inhabit our oceans.

She finds scuba diving relaxing and the escapism it offers from the hustle & bustle of everyday life is a welcome break, she loves to watch the aquatic life go about their daily lives as she then forgets about her own!

And whilst Steph is firmly in the 'squidge' camp, she is still partial to a bit of 'spidge' in the form of some wreck diving. Not only because the hulks of rusting ships harbour an array of life, but also because she enjoys researching the history behind these once mighty vessels.

Steph is also a fully initiated member of the MARU Diving Club, her given MARU name is 'Long Time MARU' after the immortal line in the 1987 Stanley Kubrick film 'Full Metal Jacket'.

PADI Instructor #262012

Steph's Story

Steph's scuba diving journey continued with her completing her PADI Rescue Diver course, again back in the UK. She would recommend doing the same as she feels that, aside from the great fun that can be had on this particular course, it also better prepares you for the type of diving that UK divers will be doing. Coping with heavier kit, bulky dry suits and the more unique dive sites, from quarries to the rugged, and often remote, UK coastline.

After completing her Rescue Diver course Steph really developed a thirst for continuing to gain new scuba diving skills and knowledge, the obvious next step was to take on the challenge of completing her Divemaster course, her Assistant Instructor and then Open Water Instructor!

Whilst on a hardboat trip out of Plymouth, Steph met fellow club member, Dan Nurse, whom she knew from other trips and he introduced her to Neal Breeden, and through them she ended up joining Cheltenham Sub-Aqua Club, this was at the time when all the founders of InDepth Dive Club were loyal members of CSAC; before two other CSAC club members, 'Laurel & Hardy', caused significant upset by repeatedly sneaking off on private 'invite only' trips for a select 'clique' and that weren't open to all club members. (That is the reason why InDepth came into existence, everyone just walked away and wanted nothing to do with them!)

Steph and fellow InDepth club members at Hodge Close.

Since learning to scuba dive Steph has enjoyed not only diving in the ocean, but various inland sites also, a favourite being Hodge Close (also known as 'Skull Quarry' and one that isn't for the faint hearted!)

She also likes to play the joker and was featured in DIVE magazine once after placing an inflatable skeleton in the cockpit of the plane that sits on the 12 metre shelf in Vobster Quay for halloween in 2004.

Steph has also been fortunate enough to experience scuba diving at various locations around the World, including Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Perth Western Australia, Tasmania, Cuba, Dominican, Thailand, Tenerife, Red Sea, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Scillies and the Orkneys to name but a few.

In 2016, whilst on dive a trip to Cornwall, Steph suffered a skin bend which, unfortunately, resulted in her being diagnosed with a PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale), which has sadly resulted in her being restricted to one nitrox dive per day, and depth limited to 20 metres. But what it does mean is, that despite her disability, she can still take part in the sport that she loves, both here in the UK and abroad. Steph was able to dive on the InDepth Egypt and Jordan trip in 2023 and had an amazing time, despite the restrictions that she now faces.

Steph is a carpenter by trade and enjoys the camaraderie of her fellow workmates.

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