BSAC Trainee Frustrations

[Suebea]

HI All

I just wanted to air a trainee frustration into the cosmos

I am currently a BSAC Ocean Diver Trainee and have been for almost 3 years now .... yes 3 years. I know that Covid and lockdown had an effect on this but still .... 3 years !!!!

I am getting my training from a local club so it is all volunteer based, because of this i don't feel like i can really complain hense my posting today.


Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey time

Back in the good old days before Covid was a thing circa October 2018 my hubby and I came to the realisation that there was no reason why we coudn't start scuba diving ..... hubby wanted to take off abroad and do a course somewhere hot but silly me said we should do it here in sunny England so we can dive all year round. As Hubby is very well trained he agreed (yes i have had a lot of I told you so's) so we contacted a local club and set off for a test dive and LOVED it and so our adventure into Scuba started.

Little did i know that 3 years on, instead of loading up the car on a weekend and going and diving any muddy puddle we can find - Hubby is Ocean Diver trained but with no further experience diving and I am still a trainee.

I have completed all the "classroom stuff" and have 98% of the skills signed off but i have found that our local club isn't taking tranees out enough (2-3 time this year) and i do not forsee any more trainee dives in the near furture.

So cosmos here is my quandry..... do I
A. Search for a new club and hope it is better there - next nearest one is 1hr and 30 min (ish) away
B. Search for a BSAC instructor who will do a intensive trainee course with me
C. Dump BSAC all together and switch to SSI or PADI
(I have been in touch with a SSI/PADI instructor who will take me but would be starting from scratch and i am so damn close)

Ok that is it - frustration released and calm has once again assended

 

[lowviz]

Interesting quandary.

I'm not BSAC certified, no clubs anywhere near me, but I have the charts and a fair bit of inside information. I like their basic idea and love that they introduce altitude diving right up front.

So your issue is whether to remain faithful to your club or go renegade on them?

I have a somewhat different focus after being instructed by many different agencies. It took me a while but I lost the agency-centric approach and became self-centric. Stay in BSAC for what they offer and pick an 'off-the-shelf' agency as nothing more than furthering your education. I took Basic OW twice, once with NAUI and once with PADI. Neither one was 'better', they were both quite similar but with different instructors' twists and tricks.

 

[Searcaigh]

My advice is:

1. Don't give up in BSAC, you've paid your annual membership fees I assume so don't throw that away.
2. Do a PADI or SSI OW course, I'm sure your experience with BSAC will help you fly through it.
3. Finish off your BSAC qualifications whenever the BSAC instructors have time off from going to the pub.

 

[lowviz]

#3 !! ROFL

 

[tridacna]

HI All

I just wanted to air a trainee frustration into the cosmos

I am currently a BSAC Ocean Diver Trainee and have been for almost 3 years now .... yes 3 years. I know that Covid and lockdown had an effect on this but still .... 3 years !!!!

I am getting my training from a local club so it is all volunteer based, because of this i don't feel like i can really complain hense my posting today.


Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey time

Back in the good old days before Covid was a thing circa October 2018 my hubby and I came to the realisation that there was no reason why we coudn't start scuba diving ..... hubby wanted to take off abroad and do a course somewhere hot but silly me said we should do it here in sunny England so we can dive all year round. As Hubby is very well trained he agreed (yes i have had a lot of I told you so's) so we contacted a local club and set off for a test dive and LOVED it and so our adventure into Scuba started.

Little did i know that 3 years on, instead of loading up the car on a weekend and going and diving any muddy puddle we can find - Hubby is Ocean Diver trained but with no further experience diving and I am still a trainee.

I have completed all the "classroom stuff" and have 98% of the skills signed off but i have found that our local club isn't taking tranees out enough (2-3 time this year) and i do not forsee any more trainee dives in the near furture.

So cosmos here is my quandry..... do I
A. Search for a new club and hope it is better there - next nearest one is 1hr and 30 min (ish) away
B. Search for a BSAC instructor who will do a intensive trainee course with me
C. Dump BSAC all together and switch to SSI or PADI
(I have been in touch with a SSI/PADI instructor who will take me but would be starting from scratch and i am so damn close)

Ok that is it - frustration released and calm has once again assended

Go on holiday to Bermuda. Get it finished there! Warm water - good BSAC instructors. Easy peasy!

 

[lowviz]

@tridacna, What??

I was led to believe that BSAC was a local thing that focused on the club, members, and regular local diving...

 

[Searcaigh]

I was led to believe that BSAC was a local thing that focused on the club, members, and regular local diving...

Several BSAC clubs out here in the Middle East too.

@Suebea you could arrange a similar training here in UAE

@Diving Dubai wanna provide some information?

 

[tridacna]

@tridacna, What??

I was led to believe that BSAC was a local thing that focused on the club, members, and regular local diving...

@Suebea is a BSAC member. They provide excellent training to members. Some of the best divers I ever dived with are BSAC trained. Geography is no limit.

 

[SmashMonkey]

I have completed all the "classroom stuff" and have 98% of the skills signed off but i have found that our local club isn't taking tranees out enough (2-3 time this year) and i do not forsee any more trainee dives in the near furture.

Thanks for the memories! This was me in 1985 after training but never attaining BSAC Third Class Diver (what is now known as Sports Diver) for about 2 years. I moved to a warmer climate and breezed through NAUI OW I. Never went back to dive in the UK and became a tropical warm water diver.

Maybe go somewhere and take an OW cert. If you already have skills and experience, maybe take AOW + nitrox too. Preferably on holiday somewhere sunny and warm. Then go back and continue with your club and dive whenever or wherever you want.

 

[lowwall]

It looks like you can pay for BSAC training at commercial ops to speed things up.

Find a BSAC Training Centre

If you are thinking about doing this on holidays, maybe Malta (or Cyprus or Spain)?

Overseas BSAC Centres