Newbie wants to learn

[Silkynuts]

Hi all

New to this forum and to the world of diving
{truth is i haven't even got my feet wet yet}

My question is this. I live in the east end of London and need help in finding a good club to join or school?

Any help would be great.

 

[kingborris]

Hi Silkynuts,

I am fairly new to diving too (just got my OW and AOW). I cant recommend any clubs in london, as i am not a member of any (although this may change, as i have caught the bug).

What i would recommend, is taking a holiday to learn to dive. Depending on what course you want to take, you could probably get a flight to the red sea (Egypt) and the diving for the same cost as the course alone over here. That way, you get to do your confined dives in the sea, rather than in swimming pool in Hackney (i know what i would prefer!).

Thats how i did mine, and would definately recommend it.

 

[DiverBuoy]

I'd like to encourage you to post an intro of yourself and any background or other interests you care to share with the board members, or your interest in scuba under our Introductions and Greets Section.

 

[Hoppy]

Hi there and welcome,

I can understand the attraction of Red Sea learning, however, one or two things to bear in mind.

IMHO the instructor quality here will be better.

If you do your open water dives in this country you will be prepared and capable of diving virtually anywhere. Providing you can stand the frostbite etc LOL.

I will however bow to the cost element and its true the Red Sea will hook you on diving faster than a muddy puddle somewhere in the middle of England.

You might try getting touch with one of the training agencies / orgs eg. PADI, SSA, BSAC who will gladly give you details of people near you. Spend time checking them out, are they people you feel happy trusting your life to ? Thats the ultimate question, if not then DONT.

Most of these will do try dives, a good way of getting to see if you like it without spending a fortune.

Anymore help we can provide give us a shout on here.

Good luck and happy bubbling.

Hoppy

 

[spottydog]

I'm a member of docklands dive club. We dive regularly during the summer in the UK and normally have at least one trip abroud over the winter. We also have use of St. Georges pool on The Highway twice a week and meet up on the first and third wednesday of each month for a few drinks. We also have links to Docklands Dive School for Training.

For more info check out our website at http://www.docklandsdive.co.uk

HTH

 

[Silkynuts]

Thanks for the help everybody

I've decided to do a try dive at st Georges with the docklands dive school on tuesday evening.

 

[kingborris]

Have a great dive! you will love it.

Happy bubbling

 

[Hoppy]

Hope you enjoy it !

Post and let us know what you thought to it ?

Cheers
Hoppy

 

[Silkynuts]

Right OK did my try dive last night at St Georges,

One thing I wanna know is how all you lot can get so excited about blowing bubbles and moving underwater like an arthritic Manatee?

Only joking, I EEEFFFFing well loved it. It's the longest I've ever stayed underwater without turning blue

Signed up for my OW course & got on so well with the other guys doing their try outs that we're all doing the OW at the same time which is not until mid Feb, so I've made arrangements to do more pool sessions until the course starts

Anyway I think you can all gather that I enjoyed my first taste of scuba and my only bloody regret was not taking it up 15 years earlier

 

[Hoppy]

Great news glad to hear you enjoyed it so much !

Welcome the madhouse, no money, broken relationships, no social life away from the club.

Only joking of course, you'll meet some great people and enjoy some of the best places in the world.

Keep us up to date ?

Cheers
Hoppy