After a year away, popular speaker Monty Halls is making a welcome return to the Main Stage at the GO Diving Show in March.
The TV presenter, author and adventurer has been busy travelling around the coastline of the UK in his sailing boat, capturing tales for his web series Generation Sea Change, and he has some big projects focused on our waters coming up, which he will be talking about during his stint on stage.
Monty will be joining a host of star names on the Main Stage, including fellow TV presenters Andy Torbet and Miranda Krestovnikoff (herself making a welcome return after a two-year hiatus from the show), world-record technical diver Jarrod Jablonski, freediving guru and DEEP team member Kirk Krack and underwater photography master Alex Mustard.
Monty Halls
Monty is an ex-Royal Marines Officer who worked for Nelson Mandela during the peace process in the early 1990s. He left the Marines to pursue a career in expeditions, travel journalism and biology, achieving a First Class Honours Degree and becoming qualified as a marine biologist.
His degree was funded by running expeditions, the most notable of which was leading a multi-national team to the discovery of a sunken city off the Indian coast in 2002. During this period he also led four expeditions to Southern Africa, three to Malawi to explore the ecosystem of the lake and investigate poaching activity on the Nyika Plateau, and one to South Africa to dive looking for evidence of prehistoric settlements in cave systems off the Cape. For his work he was awarded the Bish Medal for services to exploration by the Scientific Exploration Society.
In 2003, Monty formed his own expedition company, completing four circumnavigations of the globe over the next four years, seeking out the greatest encounters in the ocean. This brought him to the attention of television producers, being head-hunted as a competitor in the flagship Channel 4 show Superhumans, a test of elite performers, competing in a series of challenges devised by the QinetiQ testing centre. Monty won this competition, and was in demand to present further series for Channel 4, National Geographic, the History Channel, Channel 5, and the BBC.
He is best known for his three BBC2 series Great Escapes, where he lived on the west coast of Scotland and Ireland with his dog Reuben. He also presented the multi-award-winning series Great Barrier Reef.
Monty has written several books, and is a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers, many of them communicating his enthusiasm for the natural world. He is also an Ambassador for various conservation groups and was awarded an honorary Doctorate by Plymouth University.
The GO Diving Show
The GO Diving Show returns to the NAEC at Stoneleigh Park, near Kenilworth, on 2-3 March, this time taking in all three halls and expanding to 10,000 sq metres of exhibition space.
As well as the Main Stage, there are also dedicated stages for UK diving, technical diving, underwater photography and inspirational tales, plus the ever-popular Cave, the giant trydive pool. and, new for 2024, an interactive bouldering wall and a dual VR diving simulator so you and your ‘buddy' can venture off ‘underwater' together, all scattered among an ever-increasing array of stands from tourist boards, manufacturers, training agencies, resorts, liveaboards, dive centres, retailers and much more.
Tickets, which are valid for the entire weekend and include complementary parking, are available now, priced at £25.
Scuba Diver magazine subscribers receive a special discounted rate (£11.68), and those who have completed a Discover Scuba Diver session, or an open water/advanced open water (or equivalent – see website for full list of relevant courses from PADI, BSAC, NAUI, RAID, SAA, SSI and SDI) since 1 April 2023, are eligible for FREE tickets. Verification of subscription or course completion is required for these special offers.
BSAC, PADI, SDI, NAUI, RAID, SAA or SSI diver? Get in touch with your training agency for special member discounts on tickets!
The 2024 show also sees the Ocean Film Festival taking place on the Saturday evening – settle in and watch a host of award-winning films on our giant screen on the Main Stage. Entrance to the Ocean Film Festival is included in a weekend show ticket, meaning it represents even better value for money! (A ticket to just the Ocean Film Festival on the Saturday evening is £14.94).
