“Because of their popularity, you can only book on my forthcoming workshops once they are officially opened for bookings. At that point, places are offered on a simple first come first served basis,” continues Alex. “I do not organise my own workshops and they are not booked with me. They are typically organised by a travel agent, most commonly Scuba Travel in the UK, who handle this process. Other workshops, like the Cayman ones, are booked direct with the dive centre, in that case Ocean Frontiers., while Dumaguete With Marty is booked direct with the resort in the Philippines, Atlantis.”

“I plan workshops several years in advance to ensure getting the best resorts and boats at the absolute best time of year. I will then open a trip for bookings at a much closer time with an email from my Travel Newsletter (operated by MailChimp and sent to all email addresses simultaneously). I try not to open workshops too early, to save you having the deposit money tied up for longer than necessary (none of it comes to me!). As a rule the workshops I run annually, like Cayman and Red Sea, open 10-11 months out, other destinations 12-18 months ahead of time. I am not going to open workshops for bookings while I am away on workshops myself (I am too busy and it not fair to the guys on that workshop as they will be busy too). And I usually try and send out the announcement email in the afternoon (UK time) of a week day, never at a weekend.”

“We use a first come, first served system because it is fairest. But if there is a downside is that it creates a rush for places,” says Alex. “Experienced workshoppers know the drill and they email for a place first and to ask questions later. That means trips can be filled within minutes of announcement. But the rush for places does mean that places often open up again when people actually check their diaries etc. And regularly, plenty of people who were originally not offered a place get offered places in the following days! If you are late to the party and fancy joining one of the trips already marked as full on my website, do join the no-obligation wait list for that trip – as places regularly open back up and you simply get first call on places. Scuba Travel have recently made a system for easy sign up, trip specific wait-lists.”

1) Don’t send multiple emails!

These can stack in my email programme (even when I turn that function off!) and can you end up moving backwards on the list because your spot in the queue could be defined your most recent email, not your first email.

2) Don’t forward the original email without any request!

These often get treated as spam by the email programme and I don’t check my junk email box during a launch!

3) Make sure to tell me what you want!

This might sound weird but I get plenty of “I’m in” or “me please” emails. Or sometimes empty emails just forwarding the launch newsletter. All these run the risk of the spam filter. In your request let me know briefly which workshop you are interested in and how many places you would like and if there are room/cabin options, please indicate (eg single, double, beach view, main deck etc etc). For example – “My husband and I would like to book on the October Lembeh workshop, for the full time. Our preference would be for a Hillside cottage.” One word, or short replies are particularly confusing when Alex launches more than one workshop in the same email.

This really helps me working out where we have spaces and allows me to allocate workshop spaces more quickly.

Everyone is always super keen for response to their request and I do try my best to get back to everyone as soon as possible, but we can stall if I need to wait for responses to find out exactly what people want.

4) Check your email server settings

It is not uncommon for people to say they have responded immediately after receiving the launch newsletter, but being frustrated they missed out on a space.

When we dig into the timings, it becomes clear that their email program has not collected Alex’s email from the server at the same time as it was sent. Many people have one email program which reads from multiple email addresses, and some address only check every 10 minutes or so. It’s worth checking your own email settings to stop your email program/server from delaying the email.

Alex adds, “That said, please do not sign up with multiple email addresses on my mailing list. MailChimp limits the size of my mailing list and where I spot multiple email address for the same person I have to delete some to keep the list within the size limit. So please just subscribe with your most reliable, fastest email address and please unsubscribe other addresses – otherwise you might find that I have unsubscribed the wrong one!”

5) Unfortunately due to the demand on places, we cannot hold spots without deposits.

Please be ready to settle the deposit promptly, either by card payment on a secure link or by wire/bank transfer.

“I know a lot of people get frustrated at not being able to get onto workshops,” says Caroline. “It’s something Alex and I have discussed many times over the years, and the timed email list still remains the fairest way. Although I totally understand life and time zones make it challenging. Alex works hard to time launches to give the most people the best chance of being awake! But given that people are all over the globe, there is never going to be a perfect time. With small, bespoke workshop groups of sometimes only 10 or 14 people, spaces do fill quickly. Most fill in 10mins or under from the launch time and I can receive over 60 requests for a 12 person workshop.”