The inaugural meeting of the Hong Kong Underwater Club was held on 8th March 1954, with the first ever dive outing (to Duck Rocks) taking place in May that year. By coincidence, the Club was officially registered in the same month and year (May 1954) as the first branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club. It is, therefore, the oldest diving club in Asia - and still going strong!!

In the early days of diving, many Club members saw spear fishing as the main motivation for scuba diving. Notes from the Chairman's Report of 1956 highlight the very different emphasis placed on finding underwater life in those days;

"During the summer sharks and barracuda were sighted on several occasions, but none came near enough to be harpooned!"

Some of the techniques and equipment used in the early days might bring a smile to a modern diver's face;

"To resist cold by prolonged immersion, it has been found that long-sleeved, high-necked woollen jerseys, by keeping the flow of water off one's skin, keep the body heat in."

Popular dive sites in the fifties and sixties included Duck Rocks, The Ninepins, Waglan Island, Lamma Island, Clear Water Bay and Port Shelter. Those familiar with the Hong Kong of yesteryear might remember the abundance of coral and variety of fish, much of which has since fallen victim to pollution of one sort or another.

The early success of the Club encouraged new members to join but there was some conflict between the spearfishers and recreational divers;

"The increased number of members on launch outings results on many occasions, we fear, in the disappearance of fish and other marine animals. Consequently some members, who are keen to hunt fish, prefer to go out alone or in small groups. The main function of the Club in the future lies, therefore, in training members in the use of underwater equipment and the safe methods of descending and surfacing."

In 1967 the Club purchased a new boat - ‘Sea Urchin’ - to enable the more experienced divers to get further afield. A 16ft clinker, it proved expensive to repair and was underutilised. It was damaged in a typhoon and had to be scrapped. The next few years saw the Club falling into the doldrums a little, with dive outings poorly supported.

However, 1972 saw the start of a new era for the club, with more emphasis on diving skills and less on ‘swimming outings.’ In addition, the opening up of roads over the Sai Kung peninsula and improvement of the Clear Water Bay Rd, made it more realistic to use small boats for diving groups.

There was both good news and bad news for the Club in 1978 - the membership doubled, but the Club lost one of its members in a tragic diving accident. The death of Clive Brocklebank occurred on a Club diving trip to the Philippines. According to the then Chairman's Report: "It is not known for sure how the accident happened, but our best guess is that a gastric upset, coupled with late nights and alcohol, reduced his ability to cope, and perhaps sparked off illness underwater. It is something that most of us have done at one time or another, but reinforces the textbook law that if you don't feel up to it then don't dive." Clive had been an active member of the committee who was due to become a Club Instructor, and the membership felt that some kind of memorial in his name would be fitting. The Clive Brocklebank Memorial Trophy is still awarded annually to the member who has contributed the most to the Club during the year.

There were rumblings of discontent from some members in the early eighties about the issue of training - i.e. too much of it. It was felt that this was putting off those who were more interested in diving for fun than worrying about trainees. The current Club policy of focusing on recreational diving rather than regular training dates from this time.

Dive outings over the years have been affected by riots (a car outing in 1956 had to be abandoned due to ‘civil disturbances in Kowloon’), typhoons (the forerunner of ‘Sea Urchin’, the ‘King Six’ was sunk during Typhoon Wanda in 1962) and, of course, poor visibility. But a core of enthusiastic members remains.

What can account for the ongoing success of oldest dive club in Asia? Perhaps Keith Cumming, Club Chairman in 1978, put it best when he said in his Annual Report;

"A spirit of camaraderie will overcome many a disappointment when diving conditions in HK are less than ideal. The faces on the dive boats become people with names - and the people become friends - and a friend usually makes a better dive buddy than a stranger."