New PADI DM seeks friendly UK club.

[Kerpowski]

Hi all,

I just completed my Divemaster training in the Red Sea and looking for a friendly, active PADI dive club in the Hertfordshire/North London/Central London area where I can keep my hard-earned skills up to snuff.

My log currently boasts a total of 2 UK dives, so I'll need a bit of experience first, but frankly I need to break this habit of not diving anywhere I can't see palm trees! And to get a drysuit. I'd ask for advice on which one, but that's really a whole other thread - and that thread has been written several times on this forum alone.

Nice to be on here - maybe I'll see some of you down the reservoir!

 

[KenGordon]

Go to Welcome to the home of UK Scuba Diving - to dive and train with friends - join us! and use the branch finder. In town you have a choice of Hellfins, Clidive and London no. 1 at least. These are all large active clubs. You may also find one more local to where you live.

BSAC clubs should be happy diving with you to the limit of your existing qualifications so ought to be no need for further training although you might want to take advantage of it as it is essentially free.

You don't need to dive in lakes, especially at this time of year. Brighton is an easy drive for a day, then places like Swanage, Portland and so forth are good for a weekend.

For Palm trees you need to head up the west coast of Scotland.

Ken

 

[drmwc]

Hi

I am a member of Hellfins. It's a brilliant club - we're based near Victoria. I can' t comment on other clubs, since Hellfins is the only one I know (cue Charlatans song. )

Let me know if you want to know more. It's worth checking our a few clubs near you to find one that gels.

UK diving can be properly awesome.

 

[Kerpowski]

Many thanks KenGordon and drmwc - those are some great suggestions. I'll certainly check out Hellfins. As far as BSAC goes, we do actually have a BSAC branch here in St Albans - I've been in contact with them once or twice and they seem a nice and well-organised bunch. I have to say also that the club ethos of BSAC appeals to me more than PADI's more, er, commercially-focused approach.

Nonetheless, given that I have the PADI qualification I would ideally like to use it, initially at least. My understanding is that active DMs, even if unpaid, tend to get perks such as discounts on gear or sort of scuba nectar points for use in dive shops, and I'm hoping I could use those to make a drysuit a little more affordable for me.

 

[KenGordon]

Many thanks KenGordon and drmwc - those are some great suggestions. I'll certainly check out Hellfins. As far as BSAC goes, we do actually have a BSAC branch here in St Albans - I've been in contact with them once or twice and they seem a nice and well-organised bunch. I have to say also that the club ethos of BSAC appeals to me more than PADI's more, er, commercially-focused approach.

Nonetheless, given that I have the PADI qualification I would ideally like to use it, initially at least. My understanding is that active DMs, even if unpaid, tend to get perks such as discounts on gear or sort of scuba nectar points for use in dive shops, and I'm hoping I could use those to make a drysuit a little more affordable for me.

A BSAC club will let you dive to the limit of your existing qualifications, so 30m or 40m depending on what PADI stuff you have done. There is an equivalence table in the depths of the BSAC web site, you might want to look at that if you want to go on to instruct.

 

[RJP]

Welcome to ScubaBoard - hopefully you'll join in the conversation!

Ray