The inaugural GO Diving Show ANZ, which takes place on 28/29 September at the Sydney Showground at the Olympic Park, aims to showcase the very best of the underwater world to everyone – from those who have completed their entry-level courses or are still thinking about it, through advanced to the most experienced technical and rebreather divers.
The UK’s GO Diving Show attracted more than 10,000 attendees and covered 10,000sq m of exhibition space in its fifth year in March 2024. The new Australia and New Zealand version aspires to reach this level over the next few years and looks set to get off to a flying start. What’s more, admission is completely free.
Among the many attractions are 31 diving presenters – all well worth hearing for those visitors able to be everywhere at once. On the MAIN STAGE you’ll find some of the biggest names in the business: Steve Backshall, Jill Heinerth, Richard Harris, Liz Parkinson, Pete Mesley and, as master of ceremonies, Anthony Gordon.
Steve Backshall
All-action hero Steve has explored some of the most remote places on the planet, wears his unparalleled knowledge of wildlife and the natural world lightly, and is one of the busiest presenters on TV, perhaps best-known for his phenomenally successful Deadly series.
He recently travelled across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans filming Whale, having already made Expedition and Shark for Sky TV, and appeared in Our Changing Planet for the BBC – an ambitious seven-year series documenting six of the planet’s most threatened ecosystems.
Past films include Wilderness St Kilda, Extreme Britain – Caves, Alaska Live, Blue Planet Live and Undiscovered Worlds. A prolific writer, Steve’s most recent book is Deep Blue – and he recently set a world record for time taken to paddle the length of the Thames.
Jill Heinerth
More people have walked on the Moon than have visited many of the places Jill Heinerth has explored on Earth. From dangerous technical dives deep inside caves to swimming through giant Antarctic icebergs, she frequently applies her skills in collaboration with climatologists, archaeologists, biologists and engineers worldwide.
Jill has made award-winning TV programmes for CBC, National Geographic and the BBC, consulted on movies, produced independent documentaries and advocates for exploration, underwater conservation and climate-change and water resource protection.
The first Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, she was inaugural recipient of the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration and has won fellowships from numerous prestigious institutions including the Explorers Club, which bestowed the William Beebe Award for ocean exploration.
Jill’s best-selling memoir is called Into the Planet and the new documentary Diving Into The Darkness: Never Cave Into Fear sheds further light on her remarkable life – as will her appearance at Go Diving ANZ.
Dr Richard ‘Harry’ Harris
Richard ‘Harry’ Harris has worked in anaesthesia, diving and aeromedical medicine around the world, and his passion for cave-diving, which goes back to the 1980s, has taken him all over the world.
An interest in accident investigation and search and rescue activities has been a recurring theme – and he famously played a key role in extracting the Thai junior football team from the Tham Luang system in 2018.
Harry has a particular interest in the planning, logistics and physiology underpinning the safe exploration of deep caves and wrecks. An enthusiastic underwater photographer and videographer, he is now also building a career in documentary films.
Liz Parkinson
A PADI IDC staff instructor, freediver instructor-trainer, cave-diver and underwater stunt woman, Liz grew up in South Africa and moved to the USA on a swimming scholarship.
When her swimming career ended she got into scuba and freediving, focusing on shark work and conservation. Based in Los Angeles, she works with bodies such as Shark Angels and PADI Aware, raising funds and educating people about shark and ocean conservation.
For film and TV work she works both in front of and behind the camera, doubling for actors and training them for underwater performance.
Pete Mesley
Pete started diving in 1990, went full-time in 1991 and has dedicated himself to researching, finding, diving and photographing wrecks around the world, with more than 6,000 hours’ in-water experience across some 30 countries. A PADI course director, he is one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most experienced technical-diving instructor-trainers.
Pete has led and participated in numerous deep-wreck expeditions, runs a dive-travel business that takes experienced divers to specialised dive locations and has spent the past three decades perfecting his long-exposure light-painting imagery. He has also been actively involved with dive-science research.
Anthony ‘Gordo’ Gordon
Gordo is a documentary film-maker with more than two decades of professional experience in producing and filming everything from the world’s first sherpa rescue team on Mt Everest through ultra-long-distance cycling to ocean exploration by new scuba divers.
He is also the driving force behind an Aliquam and Next Generation campaign to promote diving to younger people. As well as talking about his own work, Gordo’s MC skills will be in the spotlight as he heads up the Main Stage at Go Diving ANZ.
+ 3 more stages
Apart from the Main Stage, three other stages will be hosting a further 25 highly rated speakers from around the world, discussing inspirational and specifically Australian and New Zealand diving themes, technical diving and underwater photography. Here is the line-up as it currently stands:
ANZ / INSPIRATION STAGE: Nays Bagai, Rohni Ben-Ahron, Danny Charlton, Terry Cummins, Deborah Dickson-Smith, James Hunter, Torrey Klett, Matias Nochetto, Holly Wakeley
TECH STAGE: Kerrie Burrow, Dr Matt Carter, John Garvin, Jill Heinerth, John Kendall, Mike Mason, Yana Stashkevich, David Strike, Patrick Widmann
PHOTO STAGE: Talia Greis, Brett Lobwein, Nigel Marsh, Craig Parry, Nicolas Remy, Mike Scotland, Don Silcock, Matty Smith
Interactive features + displays
Visitors to the show will also find a range of interactive features designed to suit young and old, from VR diving experiences to try-dives; a demo pool for a range of equipment from side-mounts to underwater drones and rebreathers; freedivers, mermaids and more.
Surrounding the stages and features will be a wide range of exhibitors, from tourist boards and tour operators to resorts, liveaboards, training agencies, retailers, manufacturers and conservation organisations.
Register for free tickets
There is plenty of parking onsite and the Sydney Showground is easy to access, with plenty of transport options.
Entry to the inaugural Go Diving Show is completely free, so if you’re likely to be in the area over the 28/29 September weekend, register here to get your tickets for Australia’s undoubted diving event of 2024!
Also on Divernet: GO DIVING: YOU DIDN’T EVEN NEED TO BE A DIVER, GO DIVING SHOWS SCUBA IN HEARTENING RECOVERY
