Dive shops vs BSAC-style club diving

[Storker]

BSAC Instructors are not permitted to operate as independent agents. Instruction is provided by a BSAC Branch, Region or a BSAC Centre (school). In each case there should be a 'Lead Instructor' and most students would receive lessons from a variety of instructors.

So... When I see a dive center in e.g. the Canaries advertising as a "PADI and BSAC dive centre", is that a red flag? Or is there a BSAC Branch on Spanish territory?

 

[stuartv]

I would think that issue is dealt with by insurance, paid for by membership dues. Instructors have insurance. Injured parties looking for deep pockets are rarely successful suing dive agencies such as PADI.

Have you ever tried getting insurance for a scuba diving club? Check into it and you may find out why it's not so feasible here. Be sure and ask about the difference in cost of the club offers any kind of instruction versus not.

 

[lowviz]

Who (what authority) makes that a deal breaker? Why?

Legal stuff.

I was getting somewhere with opening up a quarry to solo diving for a more benign place to practice until it got squashed. The owner remains sympathetic. Back to the inlets and bays...

BSAC Instructors are not permitted to operate as independent agents. Instruction is provided by a BSAC Branch, Region or a BSAC Centre (school). In each case there should be a 'Lead Instructor' and most students would receive lessons from a variety of instructors.

I wish BSAC were here in the states. We need a real alternative option. What we get here is variations on vanilla. Not saying it isn't good, just no real difference, no real choice.

I dive strictly for fun and would thoroughly enjoy taking dive instruction from the British/UK viewpoint.

So failing that, my deco reality check (air) is nothing more than 222222 divided by depth squared. I did the conversion to Brit. See below. That is how long I can stray before starting to get concerned...

@Edward3c, It looks like I can't take the course, so please just let me know if I am conservative, ~OK, or just plain crazy with respect to BSAC air tables.

meters NDL in minutes
20 52
25 33
30 23
35 17
40 13
45 10
50 8
55 7
60 6

-use your imagination, this new implementation ignores multiple spaces. I can't format the meters and NDL correctly, but it is obvious....

 

[KenGordon]

So... When I see a dive center in e.g. the Canaries advertising as a "PADI and BSAC dive centre", is that a red flag? Or is there a BSAC Branch on Spanish territory?

No, that is perfectly normal. Many, probably most, BSAC Centres teach the commercial agency courses too. You find that it depends on location. In Malta lots of schools can teach the BSAC courses, in Egypt some do, but in Mexico there is only one.

The point of the BSAC courses is the club though. I think that most of the customers for these Centres are involved with a BSAC branch in some way, maybe speeding things up, or having been recommended to take a BSAC course by friends.

 

[rivers]

This is interesting.

If there is a BSAC instructor who is willing to teach at Willow (Home Page) I'm in for Sport Diver or whatever you call the first level.

I'll need a dive buddy, though. (OMG, does that sound weird...)

Or if you head to Tulum, talk to Lanny and Clare at Underworld Tulum (Prices).

 

[Lorenzoid]

Have you ever tried getting insurance for a scuba diving club? Check into it and you may find out why it's not so feasible here. Be sure and ask about the difference in cost of the club offers any kind of instruction versus not.

No, I have not. But I recall you asking some questions about chartering a boat on behalf of a dive club or something to that effect, so I get the impression you have looked into insurance. And I take it the answer is that it's ridiculously expensive?

I suppose it would be expensive for a single club to buy insurance, yes. However, I'm thinking of a BSAC-like system, where this entity--let's call it ASAC--has thousands of members, all paying membership dues. The ratio of total members to instructor-qualified members would be similar to whatever it is in our current regime, where we have X number of active divers in a region and Y number of instructors. As I understand it, an instructor, such as one affiliated with PADI, is required to buy insurance. Why could that insurance not be covered by membership dues rather than only by individual student fees? To make membership attractive, members would have to receive benefits other than instruction of course, but isn't that how BSAC works? I would think the feasibility of a club-based system depends more on having a critical mass of club members than insurance costs. Insurance generally makes little sense to anyone but actuaries, so take this as a rhetorical question if you wish. Just thinking aloud.

 

[KenGordon]

FYI, BSAC International - British Sub-Aqua Club

One of the things which BSAC membership includes is 3rd party cover while on club dives/business. This makes running a branch much easier as we do not need to obtain cover to run pool sessions, fund raising events etc. However that cover does not extend to the USA.

In the U.K., as well as BSAC there is The Scottish Sub Aqua Club and the Sub Aqua Association. They are similar, but smaller.

 

[Storker]

that is perfectly normal

Thanks.

Being a club diver (not BSAC, but CMAS-affiliated) I prefer club-type diving over the stereotypical PADI resort type diving, also when I'm on on a vacation. So, a dive center advertising that they provide e.g. BSAC type diving makes me more sympathetic towards them.

 

[Lorenzoid]

FYI, BSAC International - British Sub-Aqua Club

One of the things which BSAC membership includes is 3rd party cover while on club dives/business. This makes running a branch much easier as we do not need to obtain cover to run pool sessions, fund raising events etc. However that cover does not extend to the USA.

In the U.K., as well as BSAC there is The Scottish Sub Aqua Club and the Sub Aqua Association. They are similar, but smaller.

Got a WSAC and NISAC, too?

 

[Lorenzoid]

One of the attractions of GUE to me was the clubbiness of it. It's as close as we've got to a BSAC, I think.