With a bare miss from Hurricane Gustav, lots of reservation changes, flights cancelled and the unknown of what things would look like after Gustav passed Grand Cayman, Tek Week 2008 (Aug 31 - Sept 6) still managed to come together. Thirty-three 'Gustav divers', as we have come to affectionately call them, arrived late Saturday, Sunday or Monday to partake in a week of technical diving in Grand Cayman. "We cannot say enough to our customers and the diving community for the wonderful support that we have had from them. We communicated daily updates to everyone about our expectations on Gustav, and the trust that this group has placed in us by coming the day after the passing of Gustav has been amazing" said Nancy Easterbrook of Divetech.

Hosted by Divetech at Cobalt Coast Dive Resort, Tek Week is an annual event where both open circuit and closed circuit rebreathers (CCR) divers, from the recreational level to the advanced trimix level, come to dive the deep walls and shallow reefs off the North wall of Grand Cayman.

Tek Week is widely supported by the diving industry with representatives from around the world coming to show their products, new technologies, CCR's, computer software, accessories, electronics and more. "It's great to get together with the actual manufacturer's and talk to engineers about new developments, industry trends and special design features. It's rare that our customers get a chance to meet such an esteemed group of individuals and to see real life applications of such diversified equipment" noted Eric Keibler from Oceanic Ventures in Houston, TX.

The line-up for presentations this year that came to share their knowledge and trends in technical diving, conduct pool demos to test out new Rebreathers (CCR) and present evening seminars on topics of interest to technical divers includes:

• Web Jessup and Dr. Randy Gross/Titan Dive Gear
• Peter DenHaan/Silent Diving Systems
• Paul Raymaekers/rEvo Rebreathers from Belgium
• Kim Smith/Jetsam Technologies
• Curt Bowen/Advanced Diver Magazine
• Vince Suddard/MicroPore/Extend Air Cartridges
• Wayne Miller/Laguna Research
• Bruce Partridge/Shearwater Research
• Peter Sotis/Add Helium
• Eric Keibler/Oceanic Ventures
• Ryan Canon/Reef Photo and Video

Other sponsors that could not make the trip but sent goodies and raffle items for the guests include Xtreme Scuba, VR Technologies, IANTD and Divers Alert Network (DAN).

Technology that will be on display for guests to test out include many CCR's including the Evo+, Inspiration Vision, Sport Kiss, Classic Kiss, Megalodon, Optima, Titan, rEvo, Drager and the Sentinel CCR units along with the new HD VR3, Liquivision X1, and Pursuit computers and Hydro LED lights.

"The visibility was excellent on the walls, with none of the silt or run-off that can be experienced in some islands. I'm really enjoying the diving. On our first dive, we saw 2 sharks, 2 eagle rays, a stingray and lots of turtles" commented Robert Hew of Jamaica, a veteran CCR diver of both Tek Week and Inner Space events in Cayman for many years. "There is nowhere else I know of that could possibly host such a mammoth event like this, with all the supplies, tanks, gas fills, transportation, boat departure twice daily, meals - and all on time and as promised. The staff at Divetech and Cobalt Coast go the extra mile to make you feel completely at home here."

Grand Cayman offers some of the most spectacular wall diving in the world. The warm waters and crystal clear visibility allow divers to see the colorful sponges, healthy corals and abundant marine life in comfort. Dive sites are only a short distance by boat, and shore diving 24/7 allows divers to keep on diving.

To find out more about Tek Week contact Divetech at [email protected] or visit http://www.divetech.com/Events.htm