The North Canterbury Dive Club Inc. (NCDC) is turning 50, and it is gearing up to celebrate a half-century of underwater trips, community involvement, and good times with great mates.

What started out as a simple newspaper notice has turned into a legendary local fixture with a history the members are incredibly proud of.

Back in 1976, Rob Stanley, who ran the local sports shop in Kaiapoi, and Steve Ryder put an advertisement in the paper looking for people to go diving with.

Five divers answered the call, met up for a beer, and decided to form a casual group. Those original five were Steve Ryder, Sherryl Blakeley, Rob Stanley, Gary Skerten, and Trevor Scott.

In the early days, there was nothing complex about it—just a telephone tree list to organise weekend trips.

The first club dive was at Oaro in the late 70s. This dive and others were from the shore as there were no boats at this stage.

The group eventually grew, hosting its first official club dive in 1980 and formally incorporating on March 22, 1982.

To keep the mood light during monthly meetings, in 1987, they introduced a "Sheriff" to the committee, fining members a gold coin if they did something funny or silly on a dive.

"We just wanted to get out, meet some good sorts, and do a bit more diving," Steve Ryder, co-founder and life member says.

"Back then, not many people could afford their own boats, so mucking in together was the best way to get out on the coast. Seeing that basic phone list grow into a 50-year legacy is pretty special."

Building it From Scratch

Over the decades, the club has built up an impressive array of gear through sheer hard work. They started with a second-hand and new inflatable boats in the 1980s, eventually working their way up through a Kiwi Craft and now the boats they use today, a 6.5 metre Ramco and a smaller aluminium pontoon boat.

Their proudest achievement on land is the club bach at Motunau.

In 1991, they bought a classic family bach belonging to a member's uncle for $31,000 using fundraising and a small bank loan.

Steve recalls that when the wind blew, the carpet lifted like a hovercraft.

A crew of local club tradies got stuck in, knocked the old place down, and hand-built a proper new structure over two weeks. Extended in 1999, the two-storey facility now sleeps over 20 people and was largely built using leftover materials from local job sites.

Stepping Up in the Community

NCDC has always been about more than just diving for crayfish and Paua in the Marlborough Sounds.

They have previously supported the Kaiapoi community at carnivals and host the semi-annual Motunau Fishing Competition.

Crucially, the club has always stepped up when local communities called for help. Club divers have consistently volunteered their time and skills, including assisting the Coastguard and Police, from searching for stolen vehicles lost in rivers, to sadly helping with a couple of body recoveries.