Multi-award-winning TV presenter Steve Backshall – headline speaker at the GO Diving Show in March – will be turning his attentions to two diver-favourites, whales and sharks.
An all-action hero, Steve has explored some of the most-remote places on the planet. This, coupled with his unparalleled knowledge of wildlife and the natural world, make him a fascinating guest speaker.
As one of the busiest presenters on television, perhaps best-known for his phenomenally successful Deadly series, Steve will be appearing on the Main Stage in Sydney alongside the likes of diving luminaries Dawn Kernagis, Monty Halls. Andy Torbet, Rannva Joermundsson and Maria Bollerup.
Steve recently travelled across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans filming Whale for Sky TV, a ground-breaking programme tracking our most-iconic, yet-threatened, species. He has also filmed Expedition and Shark for Sky TV and appeared in Our Changing Planet for the UK’s BBC One – an ambitious seven-year series documenting six of the planet’s most threatened ecosystems.
Prior to this, for Lost Land of the Jaguar, he made the first ascent of Mount Upuigma in Venezuela, slept on the vertical cliff face, and found unknown species of animals on the summit. He also abseiled to the bottom of the Kaiteur Falls in Guyana to the soaked wonderland below.
In Lost Land of the Volcano, Steve was the first outsider to enter the Volcano Mount Bosavi – where the team discovered as many as 40 new species, including the largest rat in the world! Steve also took part in a brutal caving expedition opening-up a new passage in Mageni Cave in New Britain.
Other series include Expedition Alaska, where he was almost swallowed by humpback whales and was swept into the guts of a glacier, and The Venom Hunter, where he endured the stings of hundreds of bullet ants (the world’s most-painful stinging invertebrate) in an initiation ceremony.
Other films he has made include Wilderness St Kilda, Extreme Britain – Caves, Springwatch Trackers, Alaska Live, Blue Planet Live and Undiscovered Worlds with Steve Backshall.
A prolific writer, Steve’s most-recent book, Deep Blue, is a blend of memoir, travel, and marine and environmental science that takes us on a tour of the many worlds of aquatic life: from underwater deserts and rainforests to the evolution of ocean heroes like the sea turtle and the great white shark, to the rapidly declining state of white polar seas and coral reefs. Steve will be signing copies of Deep Blue immediately after his talks both days.
As if that wasn’t enough, in 2023, Steve showed immense resilience, determination, drive, and ambition to break a new world record – for the fastest time to paddle the length of the Thames River in the UK.
Steve's talks on the Main Stage will be:
Learning to speak ‘whale'
We're entering a golden era of understanding the world of the whale, and a near future when we can not only understand whales, but even talk back…
Sharks – older than trees
Nose-to-nose encounters with everything from tiny tasselled wobbegongs to great whites, tigers, bulls and great hammerheads.
The GO Diving Show
The GO Diving Show – the only consumer dive and travel show in the UK – returns to the NAEC Stoneleigh on 1-2 March 2025, just in time to kick off the new season, and promises a weekend full of interactive, educational, inspirational and fun content.
As well as the Main Stage – this time headlined by TV star, author and adventurer Steve Backshall, making a welcome return to the GO Diving Show after a few years away, along with NASA-trained NEEMO Aquanaut and Head of Scientific Research at DEEP Dawn Kernagis, fellow TV presenter, author and perennial favourite Monty Halls, Dr Timmy Gambin, who will be discussing Malta's rich maritime and wartime heritage, and the dynamic duo of explorers Rannva Joermundsson and Maria Bollerup, who will be talking about their recent Expedition Buteng in Indonesia – there are again dedicated stages for UK diving, technical diving, underwater photography and inspirational tales. Andy Torbet will be MCing the Main Stage once again, as well as giving a presentation on the challenges of shooting technical diving for TV shows. A list of all of the speakers, including timings, can be found here.
Along with the stages, there are a host of interactive elements – the ever-popular Cave, the giant trydive pool, the immersive virtual reality tech-wreck dive, breath-hold workshops and lining-out drills, marine biology zone and, new for 2025, your chance to try your hand at wreck mapping with the Nautical Archaeology Society and their ‘shipwreck' – all scattered among an ever-increasing array of stands from tourist boards, manufacturers, training agencies, resorts, liveaboards, dive centres, retailers and much more.
This year also sees the NoTanx Zero2Hero competition taking centre-stage. This competition, aimed at newbie freedivers, will see an initial 12 candidates undergo training with Marcus Greatwood and the NoTanx team in London in late-February. Then five selected finalists will compete at the GO Diving Show over the March weekend, including static apnea sessions in the pool, to find the overall winner, who will get a week-long trip to Marsa Shagra Eco-Village, courtest of Oonasdivers.
Advance tickets now available!
Buy your day ticket now for £17.50 + booking fee and be ready for an educational, exciting and inspirational experience! Or with so many speakers over the two days, plus all the interactive displays and exhibitors to visit, why not make it a weekend, and snap up a two-day ticket for £25 + booking fee?
It will be £25 for a day ticket at the box office on the weekend of the show, so book in advance and save some money!!
Group ticket prices for 10+ people are also available if you are coming with your centre/club members.
Book tickets on Go Diving Show website.
And as always, the ticket price includes complimentary parking. And under-16s go free of charge, so bring the kids along for a fabulous family day out!
