A CARPENTER by trade, Bermuda Bell Diving owner Paul Pike never expected to have his own dive operation. But his love of working outdoors, coupled with his fondness for water sports, eventually lured him into the business.

Of his start in the industry, he said: "I actually got dragged in to work here one day because the (prior) owner's wife was friends with my uncle, and none of his employees had shown up for work that day. They needed someone to fill in."

Mr. Pike went on to spend several summers working at the shop and became a full-time employee in 1986 at which time he also became trained in scuba diving.

And the 34-year-old dive instructor took over the business via a rent-to-buy agreement about six years ago.

Opened back in the 1940s by Bronson Hartley, who sold the business to Mr. Pike, the Flatts Village helmet diving operation was originally located just a few yards west of its present location - at the Coral Island Hotel, now the site of St. James Court condominiums.

And while there are now two additional helmet diving companies on the island, Bermuda Bell Diving was the first to offer helmet diving following the initial helmet dive tours provided by the Bermuda Aquarium back in the 1930s, according to Mr. Pike. Believe it or not, bell or helmet diving was introduced long before scuba diving. Similar to sponge diving but without the heavy shoes and thick suits, a bell helmet is a heavily constructed helmet that fits over one's head.

The helmet is designed to keep divers in an upright position so that they can walk on the sea floor, says Mr. Pike, who notes that Bermuda Bell Diving provides customers with an undersea walking experience. The helmets are heavy enough to make even the heaviest person sink. Yet while underwater, the diver cannot feel the helmet's weight. And divers are able to breathe normally through fresh ocean air that is filtered and pumped into each helmet through a hose. The dive boat is equipped with a platform and an attached ten-foot ladder.

"We have the divers slowly walk down the ladder (to the sea floor) and then they slowly walk back up once we are finished," said Mr. Pike, adding that divers do not need to be able to swim. Bermuda Bell Diving operates one boat, which was brought in about three years ago and refitted by Mr. Pike in his spare time.

While the boat can accommodate 24 people, groups of no more than six are taken helmet diving at a time, says Mr. Pike. But the remaining passengers are free to swim, snorkel and sunbathe.

"We can accommodate quite a few people. But unfortunately these days, we're having a problem filling the boat," said Mr. Pike. "Usually in the high season - July and August - we'll make two trips a day, five days a week.

"But there are times now when I only make one trip per week - depending on the business and the weather."

With the decline in tourism, business has dropped significantly since Mr. Pike purchased Bermuda Bell Diving in the mid-1990s. "Business is down anywhere from 50 to 60 per cent over the last six years," he said.

A seasonal business by nature, the dive shop is open from mid-May until the end of October, says Mr. Pike, who refits the dive boat and repairs helmets and equipment in the off-season.

"We only have the season to make our money," said Mr. Pike. "I would run tours seven days a week if we had the business. But it's just not there. We have only made maybe three or four weekend trips all summer," he said, explaining that cruise ship passengers make up 90 per cent of his business and there are currently no weekend ships in port.

"We are really hoping that the weekend ships scheduled to come in next year will help the business," said Mr. Pike. "It has been a major disappointment for me with tourism going down. Five or six years ago, we were really holding our own. But things have changed.

"I hope the situation improves. If tourism does not improve, the business won't be able to survive and I'll have to go back to carpentry," said Mr. Pike. "But I much prefer to work on the water."

He added: "I'm going to give it a year to see what happens. But there is simply not enough business to go around for three companies offering the same water sport (activity) while catering to fewer people.

"Hopefully, things will pick up next year," he said.

q Bermuda Bell Diving can be reached at 292-4434.