Skuba diving anyone? Info request

KIPAX

KIPAX

Seriously Likeable
Messages
20,980
Name
KIPAX Lancashire UK
Edit My Images
No
Would love to give this a go in the UK

I have googled and it seems to be for groups or for experienced..... To save me reading the same thing over and over again as I seem to be doing... Has anyone gone through the experience of Zero to Diver .. Not as a lifelong thing.. But just to try it out...... Any info appreciated :)
 
Sky said:
The best way to learn would be to join a local club through BSAC.

The quickest way to learn would be by doing a PADI course.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the links.. Going to investigate the second one :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sky
Sky said:
The best way to learn would be to join a local club through BSAC.

The quickest way to learn would be by doing a PADI course.
Click to expand...


Well that was a good starting poiint.. took about 20 clicks into it and now ended up at a wesbite for a club within 10 miles of me where i can learn basics and go on trips... let the adventure begin :)

THANKS @Sky
 
A PADI course is best . Learn here and if affordable once qualified head for one of the reef hot spots , I have dived in Greece,Turkey and the Red Sea the latter being the best ., mike Poole , Pooley on here goes quiet a lot . It gobbles up more money than photography though be forewarned .
Unfortunately now past my sell by date but fun while it lasted
 
Be prepared to spend loads. Dry suit in uk not essential but certainly best way to go.
 
Just pop along to a local club and they'll let you have a try in the pool as a taster.

If you fancy getting qualified then it depends on where you think you'll be diving.

If it's around the UK I'd consider learning with BSAC, if its diving in those lovely clear warm foreign waters I'd go PADI.

If you do fo the PADI route, consider doing the classroom and pool work over here then the open water dives abroad.

Mike
 
Yes it's PADI it seems. But as mentioned in the op I want to do it in the UK and just once so won't be buying all the gear :)

Seen some good places in or just off the UK.

Have contacted my local club who have all the PADI courses and explained :)
 
basic qualification will allow you to dive to 18 meters. With PADI thats 5 open water dives. Not sure what that is with BSAC but doubt its much less. This will be in somewhere like stoney cove or Vobster. Both are flooded gravel pits and have features like sunken helicopters and boats. There isnt much in the Uk at 18m. This means doing an advanced course that will allow you to go to 30 meters.
You are looking at a minimum cost per dive of £50-100 depending on what you need to hire. At 30m your submerged time is likely less than 30 minutes
 
One thing I would highly recommend is getting your own diving mask ,I started off in Rhodes couple of pool dives to start with learning the basics the instructors supplied a decent mask that fitted well ,then I moved on to a open water dive day and the supplied mask was total crap . About 10 metres down it started letting in loads of water ,I panicked and surfaced and refused to go back in again .. the first thing I did when I got back to the u.k was to buy my own mask at a local dive shop and as I wear specs had the glass made to my prescription .. still got it now about 18 years later ,good as new .and been used all over the place .
 
KIPAX said:
Yes it's PADI it seems. But as mentioned in the op I want to do it in the UK and just once so won't be buying all the gear :)

Seen some good places in or just off the UK.

Have contacted my local club who have all the PADI courses and explained :)
Click to expand...
We have all said that :)
Did mine with my son, cost a fortune for 2 lots of kit, 2 lots of gas etc, 2 places on the boat, plus a new kitchen for the wife :)
Worth every penny. Go for it.
 
MatBin said:
We have all said that :)
Did mine with my son, cost a fortune for 2 lots of kit, 2 lots of gas etc, 2 places on the boat, plus a new kitchen for the wife :)
Worth every penny. Go for it.
Click to expand...


I just want a camera to have fun wiht......20 yrs later and................. :)
 
Once upon a recession, some bright chap convinced the government that the UK lacked skilled divers. They provide training funding to learn to dive with PADI. The whole thing cost me about £49.

Then I went to a dive show and spent over a grand on kit...………………….
 
JonathanRyan said:
Once upon a recession, some bright chap convinced the government that the UK lacked skilled divers. They provide training funding to learn to dive with PADI. The whole thing cost me about £49.

Then I went to a dive show and spent over a grand on kit...………………….
Click to expand...

I did that as well. Went on to join the local Bsac club, did nitrox and boat handling ( a big Rib) and they had a lake to dive in twice a week if you wanted to.
My brother managed to learn to fly a helicopter on the same scheme. I guess it would have cost him more than That.
 
I trained with BSAC and would consider their programme more detailed (I'm going back to the late 80's here!)and more appropriate for British waters, which can be the most "challenging" on the planet.
If you're just thinking of warm, pretty dives then PADI's your man. :cool:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sky
Graham W said:
I trained with BSAC and would consider their programme more detailed (I'm going back to the late 80's here!)and more appropriate for British waters, which can be the most "challenging" on the planet.
If you're just thinking of warm, pretty dives then PADI's your man. :cool:
Click to expand...

I wouldn't agree with the last part at all "If you're just thinking of warm, pretty dives then PADI's your man."

I am (was) a BSAC instructor and taught my wife to sports diver level and took her out in to the warm water world.

Her comments after a week on a liveaboard in Egypt included,

1. Wow PADI divers just don't do navigation at all, even 20 mins out and 20 back along a reef seems to much for them, the little rib seems to be for bringing them in?

2. They don't seem to have an experience dealing with even the slightest current? They just abandon and stay on the boat.

3, They seem terrified of night dives, any form of low light or restricted light and they bail, the torches they have are awful.

BSAC all the way for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sky
Mr Bump said:
spot on BSAC will make you a better diver
PADI will make you a poorer diver (in more ways than one)
Click to expand...
Depends on the club and depends where you get taught your PADI course imo.
My son & I learnt through PADI abroad, did a UK conversion course which was good, plus Rescue Diver and Nitrox (through another agency) but found my local BSAC club very poor in respect to their "welcoming" attitude, they considered my son a complete nuisance as they didn't want to train him or take him on any trips (even though I would have always accompanied him and we would have always been a buddy pair).
 
Mr Bump said:
I wouldn't agree with the last part at all "If you're just thinking of warm, pretty dives then PADI's your man."

I am (was) a BSAC instructor and taught my wife to sports diver level and took her out in to the warm water world.

Her comments after a week on a liveaboard in Egypt included,

1. Wow PADI divers just don't do navigation at all, even 20 mins out and 20 back along a reef seems to much for them, the little rib seems to be for bringing them in?

2. They don't seem to have an experience dealing with even the slightest current? They just abandon and stay on the boat.

3, They seem terrified of night dives, any form of low light or restricted light and they bail, the torches they have are awful.

BSAC all the way for me.
Click to expand...
Massive generalization, there's good and there's poor divers regardless of agency.
 
MatBin said:
Massive generalization, there's good and there's poor divers regardless of agency.
Click to expand...

maybe so but as a BSAC 5*diver since 1992 I have seen pretty much all types and I would rather dive solo than dive with an unknown PADI absolutely no chance.

PADI = Put Another Dollar In
 
Whereas BSAC = b******t another customer

We can come out with claptrap like this all day long

There are poor divers whichever way you are trained - I've dived with PADI, BSAC, SSI and a range of tech trained divers. Once you're experienced to a level you're diving in - i.e depth / gas / temperature / visibility, the training agency is pretty much irrelevant.

What you're spouting is the kind of canon v nikon, mac v PC rubbish thats smacks of elitism and turns people away from diving.
 
I have done both BSAC and PADI (some years apart it has to be said). We used the following explanation for the acronyms:

BSAC = Bloody Slow And Costly
PADI = Pay And Die Instantly

For what it’s worth, both are fine. PADI is likely to give you a faster taste of things. Also, if anyone gets the chance, now Saudi is opening up for tourism the Red Sea coast around Jeddah is incredible. I used to live out there (and did the PADI there) and the diving is amazing. Unspoilt (it was then), with every kind of sea life.
 
Not bashing any agency but I had heard of
Put Another Dollar In
Better Send Another Chopper (dive tables seen as being a bit aggressive) :)
 
Mr Bump said:
I wouldn't agree with the last part at all "If you're just thinking of warm, pretty dives then PADI's your man."

I am (was) a BSAC instructor and taught my wife to sports diver level and took her out in to the warm water world.

Her comments after a week on a liveaboard in Egypt included,

1. Wow PADI divers just don't do navigation at all, even 20 mins out and 20 back along a reef seems to much for them, the little rib seems to be for bringing them in?

2. They don't seem to have an experience dealing with even the slightest current? They just abandon and stay on the boat.

3, They seem terrified of night dives, any form of low light or restricted light and they bail, the torches they have are awful.

BSAC all the way for me.
Click to expand...

I was being generous! :) BSAC all the way for me too. (y)
 
I've looked into BSAC since reading this thread.. £250 is very tempting post wedding before we go Indonesia
 
keef32 said:
I've looked into BSAC since reading this thread.. £250 is very tempting post wedding before we go Indonesia
Click to expand...

allow a fair bit of time though, my BSAC club only does 1 day a week and to get you up to sports diver can take about 3 months in total.
 
keef32 said:
I've looked into BSAC since reading this thread.. £250 is very tempting post wedding before we go Indonesia
Click to expand...
Just remember to be a BSAC diver you must have a beard, not sure if your wife to be will have time to grow one :)
 
Mr Bump said:
allow a fair bit of time though, my BSAC club only does 1 day a week and to get you up to sports diver can take about 3 months in total.
Click to expand...

Ah, we have 4 months between the wedding and that honeymoon. Might have to go down for the taster session and see what happens.

MatBin said:
Just remember to be a BSAC diver you must have a beard, not sure if your wife to be will have time to grow one :)
Click to expand...

Was using it as an excuse for some quiet time, so will make sure shes aware of this rule :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top