Hello from London, UK

[Sìan48]

Hi all, I’m kinda new here, been ghosting about reading peoples posts and chatting to some members. I’m based in London and planning to start diving once I get my medical form back.

I was originally going to go with PADI to start my OW however I have learned here that they are about the money and not necessarily teaching you all you need to be competent. Which has lead me to search other options available to me and BSAC is local to me so am also enquiring with them.

I’m interested to go into commercial diving and potentially Saturation Diving after I have gotten more dives under my belt and had some fun with my new certificates (if I can get there) and learning not many women are in that field makes me want to push harder to achieve it .

I’m really interested to learn from other divers, old and new, take on any advice from anyone also in commercial or Sat diving and hear peoples opinions on who is worthy of getting qualified with.

I’m happy a place like this exists and hope to converse with more likeminded people

 

[Edward3c]

Hi all, I’m kinda new here, been ghosting about reading peoples posts and chatting to some members. I’m based in London and planning to start diving once I get my medical form back.

I was originally going to go with PADI to start my OW however I have learned here that they are about the money and not necessarily teaching you all you need to be competent. Which has lead me to search other options available to me and BSAC is local to me so am also enquiring with them.

I’m interested to go into commercial diving and potentially Saturation Diving after I have gotten more dives under my belt and had some fun with my new certificates (if I can get there) and learning not many women are in that field makes me want to push harder to achieve it .

I’m really interested to learn from other divers, old and new, take on any advice from anyone also in commercial or Sat diving and hear peoples opinions on who is worthy of getting qualified with.

I’m happy a place like this exists and hope to converse with more likeminded people

Hi @Sìan48,

Commercial diving is nothing like recreational diving. It can cost well over £10k to do the initial course with no guarantee of a job afterwards. My son did the course 3 years ago, the school discourages recreational divers from doing the course as they often can’t adapt to surface supply. If you want to be a commercial diver, then go straight into it.

There are a few BSAC clubs in London, they’re not all the same as BSAC covers everything from snorkelling to trimix rebreather.

 

[Sìan48]

Thank you for your reply. Yeah I saw the cost and it was eye watering and even more so that it was just to give you the qualifications with no guarantee of a job.. but then I could look worldwide after the course right?

Also they ask for OW or AOW to even start which is why I decided to go this route

 

[drrich2]

Welcome. It's not uncommon for the experience of doing something for recreation and doing 'it' (albeit in a much different way) for a vocation to be very different experiences. If you wish to do well at both, I hope you are blessed to do well at both.

Richard.

 

[Thunder Struck]

Don't worry so much about the agency. It's the instructor that matters.

 

[Edward3c]

Thank you for your reply. Yeah I saw the cost and it was eye watering and even more so that it was just to give you the qualifications with no guarantee of a job.. but then I could look worldwide after the course right?

Also they ask for OW or AOW to even start which is why I decided to go this route

It depends on what you mean by commercial.

If all you want is to teach recreational diving, then work through any agency (in the U.K. if you teach for PADI et al it’s classed as commercial). From the number of new instructors produced by some of the ‘zero to hero’ factories, less than one in ten thousand will earn a decent living.

if you want to earn your primary income from commercial diving, then you need to do one of the specialist courses so you can weld, paint, etc underwater (this is what my son does). The oil industry is going to decline, but marine based wind turbines still need the anchorage and foundations checked.

 

[happy-diver]

If you want uncomplicated go the PADI route get qualified and go diving

Becoming proficient is always up to you

I was originally going to go with PADI to start my OW however I have learned here that they are about the money and not necessarily teaching you all you need to be competent.

Is that info emanating from those that have similar features to this one

and happy diving

 

[Searcaigh]

Welcome to SB @Sìan48

When I was in the commercial diving business back in the 80s the place to train was at Fort William in Scotland.

Finding a job once qualified was my biggest challenge as I had no experience and only through people that I knew in the business did I manage to get offshore.

Sat diving is a means of getting to work, you'll need other skills besides being able to live in a Sat chamber for a month.

 

[Edward3c]

Welcome to SB @Sìan48

When I was in the commercial diving business back in the 80s the place to train was at Fort William in Scotland.

Finding a job once qualified was my biggest challenge as I had no experience and only through people that I knew in the business did I manage to get offshore.

Sat diving is a means of getting to work, you'll need other skills besides being able to live in a Sat chamber for a month.

Unfortunately the Fort William school went out of business a few years back. There is one in Dunoon and another on the East coast. Plus, nearer to @Sìan48, I think Portsmouth and Plymouth might have commercial colleges.

 

[Searcaigh]

Unfortunately the Fort William school went out of business a few years back.

Yea, I was very sad to hear about that as I have very fond memories of my various visits there.