While the lean on this board is decidedly North American it is one of the easiest places to find if you’re looking to research how to dive. In that vein I thought I’d put up a little piece about learning to dive with BSAC in the UK.
A bit of background on my position, I’m in my mid-20s and employed in engineering (the desk based stuff, not the spanner based stuff), I wanted to learn to dive so I could visit the Great Barrier Reef while on holiday with my girlfriend (who was already PADI OW). Since I started I seem to have found a new hobby for when I’m not sailing.
I think the place to start is what is BSAC. BSAC, the British Sub Aqua Club, is a collection of diving clubs, mostly in the UK though there are some in places like Malta and Florida. To join BSAC you become a member of a local club, pay your membership dues and off you go, BSAC membership includes a level of insurance when diving with a BSAC club, and for my club cost was branch fees of £90 p.a. plus a BSAC fee of £57.50, junior membership was about half that.
While the membership fee for BSAC is comparatively high, the cost of training is very low, with instruction being offered by other club members who are all trained to the same kind of standard as other organisations. The first level that most people go to is Ocean Diver, roughly equivalent to PADI Open Water, but with a slightly deeper maximum depth of 20m. The training pack from BSAC is about £45 for Ocean Diver, which includes a course manual, a reference book, and a logbook binder (oddly no actual logbook pages though!).
The actual Ocean Diver programme is based around a number of theory lessons, a set of pool/sheltered water lessons, and a set of (minimum) four Open Water dives. Each stage of the programme is individually signed off, so you can do the equivalent of referrals, with the final certification being signed off by the club Diving Officer (who is accountable for training standards within the club). The basic mask skills are covered, along with buoyancy control, safety, what dive briefings should be like, controlled buoyant lifts, alternative supply ascents, some basics of Nitrox use, and if you are in the UK often the use of drysuits. I came out of my Ocean Diver training qualified to use Nitrox up to 36% (on air tables and computers) and use a drysuit (which was very necessary, as none of my training dives were in water over 4C). If you are more sane than I am you probably wont train in the UK in February/March, but the advantages were quiet dive sites, excellent visibility, and one-to-one lessons, that and things can only get better!
Cost wise for Ocean diver I paid £24 for two days use of a quarry dive site, I bought mask and fins new (before discovering the many second hand groups) for around £120 though the club had ones they could have leant me if I didn’t have funny width feet, I also bought a drysuit second hand for about £100 and had the boots and neck seal replaced for about another £100 (this could have been avoided if I wasn’t built like a rugby player and fit a club suit!), the club also leant me BCD, regs, weights, and anything else I didn’t have (though I love toys and gadgets so that didn’t last long). Total cost of the course (excluding gear) was £75, gear cost more but the club helped me reduce costs wherever possible.
I’ve since moved on to start BSAC Sports Diver, which is roughly equivalent to PADI Rescue Diver (with AOW sitting uncomfortably in the middle), this is more of a usual class this time, with 6 people if we are all available, but as the instructors are volunteers we all work around commitments to make sure that the level of teaching is appropriate. I’ve done one-on-one dives as part of this course too, but some lessons are better with more people to practice rescues with. A BSAC course with a club may be slower than a weekend course but you will meet a lot of new people and hopefully have fun.
I hope that this provides a bit of extra knowledge into the melting pot and is of use. Feel free to add more info or critique, I am still very new at this after all!
A bit of background on my position, I’m in my mid-20s and employed in engineering (the desk based stuff, not the spanner based stuff), I wanted to learn to dive so I could visit the Great Barrier Reef while on holiday with my girlfriend (who was already PADI OW). Since I started I seem to have found a new hobby for when I’m not sailing.
I think the place to start is what is BSAC. BSAC, the British Sub Aqua Club, is a collection of diving clubs, mostly in the UK though there are some in places like Malta and Florida. To join BSAC you become a member of a local club, pay your membership dues and off you go, BSAC membership includes a level of insurance when diving with a BSAC club, and for my club cost was branch fees of £90 p.a. plus a BSAC fee of £57.50, junior membership was about half that.
While the membership fee for BSAC is comparatively high, the cost of training is very low, with instruction being offered by other club members who are all trained to the same kind of standard as other organisations. The first level that most people go to is Ocean Diver, roughly equivalent to PADI Open Water, but with a slightly deeper maximum depth of 20m. The training pack from BSAC is about £45 for Ocean Diver, which includes a course manual, a reference book, and a logbook binder (oddly no actual logbook pages though!).
The actual Ocean Diver programme is based around a number of theory lessons, a set of pool/sheltered water lessons, and a set of (minimum) four Open Water dives. Each stage of the programme is individually signed off, so you can do the equivalent of referrals, with the final certification being signed off by the club Diving Officer (who is accountable for training standards within the club). The basic mask skills are covered, along with buoyancy control, safety, what dive briefings should be like, controlled buoyant lifts, alternative supply ascents, some basics of Nitrox use, and if you are in the UK often the use of drysuits. I came out of my Ocean Diver training qualified to use Nitrox up to 36% (on air tables and computers) and use a drysuit (which was very necessary, as none of my training dives were in water over 4C). If you are more sane than I am you probably wont train in the UK in February/March, but the advantages were quiet dive sites, excellent visibility, and one-to-one lessons, that and things can only get better!
Cost wise for Ocean diver I paid £24 for two days use of a quarry dive site, I bought mask and fins new (before discovering the many second hand groups) for around £120 though the club had ones they could have leant me if I didn’t have funny width feet, I also bought a drysuit second hand for about £100 and had the boots and neck seal replaced for about another £100 (this could have been avoided if I wasn’t built like a rugby player and fit a club suit!), the club also leant me BCD, regs, weights, and anything else I didn’t have (though I love toys and gadgets so that didn’t last long). Total cost of the course (excluding gear) was £75, gear cost more but the club helped me reduce costs wherever possible.
I’ve since moved on to start BSAC Sports Diver, which is roughly equivalent to PADI Rescue Diver (with AOW sitting uncomfortably in the middle), this is more of a usual class this time, with 6 people if we are all available, but as the instructors are volunteers we all work around commitments to make sure that the level of teaching is appropriate. I’ve done one-on-one dives as part of this course too, but some lessons are better with more people to practice rescues with. A BSAC course with a club may be slower than a weekend course but you will meet a lot of new people and hopefully have fun.
I hope that this provides a bit of extra knowledge into the melting pot and is of use. Feel free to add more info or critique, I am still very new at this after all!
