Following the completion of filming for his third Great Escapes TV series, Monty will be at ExCeL for the 10th-anniversary show to talk about his experiences on location off the West Coast of Ireland, which included encounters with Atlantic whales and dolphins.
LIDS organisers are delighted to report that Monty will be also be taking part in one of the show's many new features. This is the Project AWARE Charity Auction, where visitors can bid for items of dive gear donated by celebrity divers. Monty will be hosting the auction and, he says, donating a personalised diving item.
Monty joins another of Britain's foremost - and most active - divers in the formidable LIDS 2011 speaker line-up. The irrepressible Paul Rose will also be there, describing his second BBC Oceans series - this time majoring on diving around the British Isles.
Other marine-life experts at the show, which takes place on the weekend of 26/27 March, are two based in southern Africa. Making serious waves in the world of big animals, as indicated by their nicknames, are "Queen of the Mantas" Andrea Marshall, and "Shark Warrior" Lesley Rochat. Both women made a big impact on audiences at DIVE 2010, and are sure to make the same sort of impression in London.
Meanwhile, heading up the technical side of the speaker programme - both at LIDS and at the TEK 2011 Advanced Diving Conference which will run alongside the show - will be one of the world's most experienced divers in the field.
Not only did John Garvin co-write the script for "Sanctum", James Cameron's 3D follow-up to "Avatar", but he was also diving coordinator and acted in the film. LIDS organisers are therefore delighted that he has agreed to be at the show to talk about the making of this eagerly-awaited movie.
Other features at LIDS 2011 will include the British Isles Experience, the Red Sea Zone, the Caribbean Village and the new Asia-Pacific Showcase. There will also be two dive pools - Beginner and Technical - and the New Dive Gear Showcase, which this time will have a technical twist.
The show will also exclusively feature the NoTanx Freedive Simulator, which, offering visitors the chance to test their breath-hold skills, proved a big hit at DIVE 2010.
LIDS organisers have also announced the launch of a new Photo Zone in the show hall. Details of this are currently being finalised but it will, for the first time, include U/W photo courses available free to a dive-show audience.
* See Monty Halls at DIVE 2010 on this video.
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