New Divers

No idea where to start?  Hopefully this guide will give you an honest taste of what you can expect when starting to learn to dive.

BSAC is the governing body for scuba diving in the UK and is run on a branch system where experienced club instructors teach and develop new or less experienced divers.  Our club is one of these branches and we train divers from total beginner through to dive leader. 

To start diving with our club, you need to join BSAC, which is currently £56.50 a year but for that you get a monthly subscription to a national magazine, 3rd party insurance, discounts and offers from BSAC and a few other bits and bobs.  There is then the club membership which is £10 a month and covers the cost of the pool, boat maintenance, bills and the upkeep of club kit.  The final initial cost is for the Ocean Diver training pack which is currently about £47.  This total cost is fairly comparable to the cost of a PADI qualification but you get to train at your own pace, go over things you may not be comfortable with and generally become better, safer divers.  All of our instructors do it for free, none of the cost that you pay goes on instructor fees.

The benefit of joining a branch is the support you receive from the other members, opportunities to go diving and pooled resources that allow us access to facilities that would otherwise unobtainable. The club uses a pool every week where initial training takes place and where the snorkel club is run for the younger members. We also have our own boat which get used regularly throughout the summer.  We usually arrange at least one club trip abroad each year as well as others closer to home and have 5 or 6 social events throughout the year.

The Ocean Diver course comprises of 5 sheltered water (Pool) and 5 open water Lessons this can  be completed  5-7 pool sessions if you're comfortable with the tasks in the lessons, some people take longer if there's an aspect they'd like to practise over and over again and a few people can really race through.  Alongside the pool sessions there are theory lessons which cover the basic science behind diving and help to make you aware of things like what equipment options there are, the different types of diving and the effects of diving on the body.  Again there are about 8 theory lessons to complete.  You would then move onto open water at a site such as Ellerton park or a calm day in the sea.  This adds an extra element to the pool sessions because either a wet or drysuit is required and the water is never quite as warm!  The open water lessons involve going over the skills learnt in the pool and experiencing different diving conditions.  5 or 6 open water lessons, a couple of experience dives and you get signed off as a qualified diver!

It might sound daunting and you're thinking it'll take ages but the benefits of are that you learn gradually at your own pace and nearly all of the open water lessons are just like going for a dive anyway with a few skills demonstrations at the end.  Experience will be built from the start and you'll end up comfortable and safe in the water.

If you're still interested, first thing for you to do is to pop down to the club on a Tuesday night, have a chat with a couple of us, see how the club is set up and operates. We can answer any questions about joining, costs, the lessons and what to expect.  If you like the idea of giving it a go, you can organise a try-dive to see how you cope being underwater and we can take it from there.
Hope to see you soon!

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