About Steve Weinman

Get in touch

Steve Weinman is editor of Divernet.com, responsible for writing as well as procuring and editing its content. He was formerly editor of the Diver monthly magazine, which until its closure in 2021 was the longest-running UK scuba-diving print title. The Divernet website was based on the magazine’s content from the time it was launched in 1996 – the year he joined the magazine.

Steve has been a scuba diver since 1992, initially as a member of the BBC Ariel club. Born in central London, he was educated at Latymer Upper School and gained a 2:1 BA degree in history at Reading University.

He has worked as a journalist constantly since 1975, initially for three years on the  magazine Fire Prevention with the Fire Protection Association, then with IPC (later Reed) on the weekly newspaper Motor Transport as layout sub-editor, chief sub-editor and production editor for 10 years.
During this time he was also editor of the pioneering but short-lived Which Van?, and a regular freelance contributor and vehicle tester for Car Fleet Management and Company Car.

In 1986 he joined BBC World Service as editor of its long-established monthly listener magazine London Calling. After seven years, with TV joining radio in the BBC’s international output, he launched the magazine BBC Worldwide in its place.

For many years Steve also worked regularly as a freelance PR writer for a number of major car manufacturers (including Toyota, VW, Ford, Chrysler, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and BMW) through the agency Immediate Network. He was also a partner in two contract publishing companies producing in-house titles for companies such as Logica.

Working for IPC included an in-house journalism training programme and at the BBC he underwent comprehensive management and business training. London Calling was one of the early titles to be produced digitally in the 1980s, and he learnt to use Quark Xpress on Mac to produce the layouts.

On leaving the BBC Steve worked as chief sub editor of the weekly New Statesman during a relaunch period before becoming managing editor and subsequently editor of the monthly Diver magazine for 25 years. He started there with a large staff, though in its later years as the market shifted away from print he found himself increasingly handling the design side as well as the editing and much of the writing.

In terms of philosophy Steve has always emphasised the importance of editorial accuracy, integrity and balance. From early on he enjoyed feature-writing and interviewing, and the finding and shaping of work by talented writers, especially new ones. Later he became increasingly engaged in the news-gathering process.

Steve has relished the challenge of learning the intricacies of online presentation since moving to Divernet. He works part-time but aims to provide a flow of fresh news and feature content for Divernet readers every day of the year, ensuring that the site is a reliable and entertaining source of reference and record.

He monitors incoming messages constantly and aims to deal with outstanding business as rapidly as possible. But he does have spare time for hobbies that include scuba-diving, reading, walking, travelling and supporting Arsenal FC.

Articles

Freediver Bob Croft set world depth records in the 1960s
Freediving

US freediving pioneer Bob Croft dies at 91

Bob Croft, who was hailed as the “father of American freediving” following his breath-hold world record exploits in the 1960s, died on 9 January at

Wide-Angle category winner: Synchronised Humpback Whales, by Yuka Takahashi. Taken with a Sony A7R Mk IV + FE 16-35mm f/2.8, SeaFrogs housing. f/4.5, 1/500th, ISO 320 (© Yuka Takahashi / UnderwaterCompetition.com)
Competitions

Synced whales win photographer Grand Master title

The winners of the 2025 DPG Masters Underwater Imaging Competition have been announced today (16 January), with the successful underwater photographers and videographers bringing home

Descent into Guam’s Blue Hole dive-site to retrieve ARMS placed 50m and 100m deep (Susanne Baehr © California Academy of Sciences)
Australia & Oceania

CCR dives into Twilight Zone reveal new life-forms

A “major milestone” for underwater research on the ocean’s deeper coral reefs has been claimed by the San Francisco-based California Academy of Sciences dive-team. This

Dumont d'Urville research station in the Antarctic (Samuel Blanc)
Accidents

Scientific diver goes missing in Antarctica

A scuba diver working at a French Polar Institute research station has gone missing, following a planned scientific dive beneath Antarctic sea ice. The institute

Elaine & Macolm Richmond on holiday in the Maldives
Death

Pensioners die after Maldives scuba incident

A retired British couple have died following a scuba-diving incident while on holiday at their favourite Maldives dive resort – a location they were said

Dorsch Beach, St Croix where a snorkeller died (Google Maps)
Death

Snorkeller dies after losing arm to shark

A 56‑year‑old female snorkeller on holiday from the USA on the Caribbean island of St Croix has died following a suspected shark bite. The fatal

Divers can do their bit for the planet by not eating fish this February (Simon Hilbourne)
Conservation

Divers, who’s up for a fish-free February?

Could you get by without eating seafood through the shortest month of the year? Marine-conservation charity 71blue is encouraging participation in the sixth Fish Free

Segara Beach, Tulamben
Death

Australian scuba diver dies in Bali incident

An Australian national died following a recreational scuba-diving incident off Segara Beach, Tulamben in eastern Bali yesterday (30 December). The diver was identified by police

(ChatGPT)
Scuba Diving

What does AI regard as a typical scuba diver?

We asked ChatGPT to define the archetypal scuba diver of 2025/26 – does its perception ring true for you? Demographics Experience Level Motivations Behaviours &

Richard 'Harry' Harris
Scuba Diving

Deeper: Don’t miss inspiring cave-diving doc

If you haven’t seen it already, one of the best diving-related documentary films of recent times started streaming in the UK and elsewhere towards the

Octopus (Kirsty Andrews / Cornwall Wildlife Trust)
United Kingdom

Why 2025 was UK Year of the Blooming Octopus

UK marine conservationists have been “flabbergasted” by the sheer numbers of octopuses recorded in 2025, according to The Wildlife Trusts. The movement is made up

PADI's 2026 world tour
Training

World tour: PADI lines up 30 dive shows

Diver training agency PADI has shared its 2026 PADI On Tour dive show schedule as it limbers up to attend no fewer than 30 events

Tim Bennett (Cairns Marine)
Death

Search for fish-collector CCR diver called off

A two-day air and sea search for a fish-collecting rebreather diver missing in the remote Coral Sea off Australia’s north-west coast has been suspended. Tim

Conservation

Massive coral-restoration testing on GBR

What is said to have been one of the world’s largest restoration tests on a coral reef ecosystem has been carried out by the Australian

Elwyn Gates at work (Gates Underwater Systems)
Death

Diver and camera pioneer Elwyn Gates dies

Elwyn Gates, the US underwater-imaging technologist who founded Gates Underwater Products, has died two days after his 89th birthday. Describing Gates as not only a

Two large vertical wall slabs with an aligned monolith to the left and another in the background (SAMM)
Archaeology

French divers hit wall that’s 7,000 years old

Marine archaeologists have confirmed the presence of a long submerged Stone Age wall and associated man-made structures off the coast of Brittany in western France. 

Letterkenny Courthouse, County Donegal (Max Pride)
Death

Irish diver’s death down to natural causes

An inquest has concluded that 49-year-old scuba diver Patrick Doran, who died during a dive off the coast of County Donegal in north-western Ireland last

Blacktip reef shark (Charles J Sharp)
Health & Safety

Trapped shark bites diver trying to help it

A diver has been bitten while trying to release a blacktip reef shark from ghost-fishing gear at a site in Hawaii. Hawaii Island Police responded

Tracking deep-sea activities (NOAA / DEA)
Conservation

Public eye: Deep-sea mining tracker launched

An open-access tracker designed to scrutinise the actions of vessels engaged in mineral exploitation of the ocean’s deepest seabeds has been unveiled by the non-profit

Greek graffiti on a plank on the ancient Egyptian boat (Christoph Gerigk / ©Franck Goddio / Hilti Foundation)
Archaeology

Divers discover ancient Egyptian party boat

When the ancient Greek philosopher, geographer and historian Strabo visited Alexandria around 29-25 BC, he wrote that the Egyptians liked to use royal barges for

VRAK diver exploring a Baltic wreck (Jim Hansson, Vrak / SMTM)
Wrecks

War Log maps out 1,000+ Baltic shipwrecks

A new open-access database called the War Log has been released, recording the many forgotten but often well-preserved historic Swedish warships that sank in storms

The Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus
Accessories

Garmin inReach: Now for scuba divers

Its tagline might be “built for the backcountry”, but Garmin says that with the launch of its inReach Mini 3 Plus it has expanded the

Alexey Molchanov claims another CWTB world record
Freediving

Ace freedivers claim further world records

Russian freediver Alexey Molchanov has claimed yet another absolute world record in a discipline he has made his own, Constant Weight With Bifins (CWTB), while

Approach to Tank Cave entrance (Google Maps)
Death

Diver dies in South Australia’s Tank Cave

UPDATED A 65-year-old diver has died while exploring one of South Australia’s best-known submerged cave systems. At about 10:30am today (30 November), emergency services responded

Diver with the wheel-headed stone slab (Bournemouth University)
Archaeology

Divers’ Mortar Wreck discoveries go on show

Purbeck limestone grave slabs, stone mortars and other finds from the earliest designated wreck-site with preserved timbers in English waters have gone on display at

Whale shark and ray (Sharm Heinrichs)
World Dives

Historic vote brings fresh hope for sharks and rays

Shark and ray conservationists are celebrating today (28 November) as sweeping new international trade protection measures for diver-favourite species such as oceanic whitetips, whale sharks

World record holder Kateryna Sadurska
Freediving

Sadurska dives deeper still without fins

Ukrainian freediver Kateryna Sadurska has claimed yet another women’s world record in the Constant Weight No Fins (CNF) discipline, with a dive to 86m at