New to scuba diving and have a few questions

[David74]

Hi all.
Me and the wife are seriously thinking of starting scuba diving.
Apart from all the gear that cost a fortune, what certificates do we have to take, eg PADI, to be able to dive to different depths and how many meters, as ive studied the Internet for the last 2 weeks looking into scuba diving and what it all entails and its mind blowing.
How long does it take to get our certificates and what certificates are they.
Just to say we will more than likely only be diving in and around the British isle's.
Thanks.

[Polly]

If you're going to be diving in the UK then you do have the option of training with PADI or BSAC. I'll leave someone else to explaing BSAC to you.

For PADI you can simply start with a try-dive where they'll strap some gear on you, teach you a few basic things you need to know, drop you in the local pool (in a gentle, friendly way, of course) and let you have a bimble around to see if you like it. If you do, you can sign up for an Open Water course. Once you have passed this you will be qualified to dive with a buddy to 18m...which is plenty deep enough to be starting out in the UK for now anyway. The course consists of theory, skills in the pool and skills in open water. It will probably be spread out over a few weekends and can sometimes take a while in the UK cos of our crappy weather. If you do it abroad it normally takes around 4-5 days. They might recommend for you to buy your own fins and mask but you don't actually need to...I think most places include equipment hire in their course fees.

After that you can get some more experience and do the Advanced Open Water course if you want to be able to dive to 30m. This course allows you to find out and experience deeper diving and its affects, as well as improving your navigation skills. You also get the chance to choose another 3 'modules' that you are interested in - wreck diving, peak performance buoyancy, fish ID...but it really depends where you are learning as to how limited your choice might be.

BSAC is a slightly different set up but I don't know so much about that.
Take your time with buying equipment though - do some research, ask questions on here and do your best to try before you buy.

Good luck with it!

[kc86sting]

Most good dive shops will also hire out kit at a reasonable cost, ask if there is a dive club associated with the shop and do they cater for novice divers etc. When we were newly qualified we had a couple of dives with the Dive Masters it just helped build up our experience as low vis in inland lake can be a bit of a struggle. I have had lots of opportunities to dive with the club with my buddy or even finding a buddy. My PADI open water course was one evening then 2 weekends, 10-3pm in the classroom and 6-9pm in the pool and then the following weekend 9-4pm doing the open water part of the course. Find a school that will answer your questions and take time to explain what they can offer. Good luck.

[O2 Steve]

Welcome to UKD

Picking up on Polly's post...

The BSAC perspective:

The British Sub Aqua Club is a non-profit organisation and runs by having lots of local clubs that are branches. The clubs are self governing working under the BSAC banner and guidlines.

Training is offered by the local club to its members by its members and becomes self supporting - as you gain experiance you will be asked to help out until such time you can decide to take the instructor exams (if you want to) and can then train other new people in your branch. As all the instructors do it volunterily it does mean that training can take longer, but conversly it makes it a damn sight cheaper! Club membership costs vary from branch to branch but generally its about £150 a year and that INCLUDES YOUR TRAINING.

BSAC's entry grade is Ocean Diver - generally this is similar to the PADI Open Water but the training has been structured around the rigors of diving in UK waters and so has some notible differences:
1) Drysuit training is included - this is a PADI "speciality course" and they charge extra
2) Nitrox diving is included - this is a PADI "speciality course" and they charge extra
3) Basic rescue skills are included - this is not covered until the PDAI Rescue Diver course and they charge extra
4) Depth limit is 20m - not 18m as per PADI

The main benefit of the club structure is the local club - if you find one that you fit into well then you instantly have a whole load of new mates who love diving too. The experianced ones will help you develop your skills just like someone did for them and let you try out there kit (and should somebody be upgrading there kit its normal to offer it round the club before Ebaying). Clubs will arrange dive trips both home and abroad for the members and generally this means you get group discounts. As an example my own club have the following trips planned (not including weekends to North Wales):
2009 -
Weymouth
Pembrokeshire
Farne Islands
St Abbs
Gozo
Dahab
2010 -
Liveaboard, Southern Red Sea

Hope that helps - if you would like any further info please feel free to PM me

[Dougalsdad01]

Hi David, welcome to UKD.

I've dived with both the BSAC and PADI organisations and can recommend both but for different reasons.

PADI is good at getting you qualified quickly, but at a price, BSAC in my experience gets you in the water just as quickly but takes a bit longer to get you qualified, the advantage being that it costs considerably less.

PADI is not so good if you've not got someone to dive with, BSAC will almost always find someone for you to dive with as it is a club of like-minded people, many of which do not have a regular dive buddy.

Many BSAC branches have their own RIBS to dive from which helps to keep the costs down, PADI centres do organise diving on a less frequent basis using professional dive boats which obviously cost more.

Again this is just my experience but BSAC clubs I have used have had less loan/rental equipment (but of a good standard), PADI centres seem to have more but again it costs more.

I have my own regular circle of buddies including my other half (Bones), my son and his wife (we have our own family club) so PADI suits me. I even dive with some of the people on here (they're not a bad bunch with the exception of Badknees who is just about the most obnoxious person in the world but for some odd reason we love him- lol).

The certification route seems mind-blowing but it's easy with both organisations.

As to cost, well there's always the rental route but if you have your own kit you'll dive more often.

First of all though do a 'Try-dive', it'll be well worth the effort to see if you'll like diving, it's in a pool and obviously very safe.

As to diving in the UK, it's cheap, easily accessed and there's fantastic life and wrecks around the UK coast.

[sira]

(27-11-2008 11:20 AM)Dougalsdad01 Wrote:  Hi David, welcome to UKD.

I've dived with both the BSAC and PADI organisations and can recommend both but for different reasons.

PADI is good at getting you qualified quickly, but at a price, BSAC in my experience gets you in the water just as quickly but takes a bit longer to get you qualified, the advantage being that it costs considerably less.

PADI is not so good if you've not got someone to dive with, BSAC will almost always find someone for you to dive with as it is a club of like-minded people, many of which do not have a regular dive buddy.

Many BSAC branches have their own RIBS to dive from which helps to keep the costs down, PADI centres do organise diving on a less frequent basis using professional dive boats which obviously cost more.

Again this is just my experience but BSAC clubs I have used have had less loan/rental equipment (but of a good standard), PADI centres seem to have more but again it costs more.

I have my own regular circle of buddies including my other half (Bones), my son and his wife (we have our own family club) so PADI suits me. I even dive with some of the people on here (they're not a bad bunch with the exception of Badknees who is just about the most obnoxious person in the world but for some odd reason we love him- lol).

The certification route seems mind-blowing but it's easy with both organisations.

As to cost, well there's always the rental route but if you have your own kit you'll dive more often.

First of all though do a 'Try-dive', it'll be well worth the effort to see if you'll like diving, it's in a pool and obviously very safe.

As to diving in the UK, it's cheap, easily accessed and there's fantastic life and wrecks around the UK coast.

I got missed out of that one! but I guess you just forgot to be rude to me i guess thats your age!

Oh and to answer the post What DD said

[Dougalsdad01]

David, just in case Sira lost you, there's a lot of friendly banter on here and everyone is welcome to join in, so repeat after me 'Sira, Sira who?'

Feel free to ask any questions on here with regard to diving, nobody here will 'flame' you, everyone has to start somewhere and we're all happy to help.

[CRAZY FINS!!]

to echo what the others have said, do a try dive,( you'll love it) then slowly buy your own gear or just hire the gear from most dive site's i like to dive(shallow, yes) off the east coast as often as i can so having my own gear is cheaper convinient and i know the history of them.enjoy, keep us all informed. i did the padi course by the way and enjoyed every min.

[Jenkins]

I think Polly has done a good job of sumarising PADI for you.

My advice would be to find a local club/school and do a try dive - most centres will subsequently deduct the cost of a try dive off your Open Water qualification so you efectively get it for free. Yes the bottom of a swimming pool is incredibly dull but seeing the kit and actually breathing underwater will give you an idea of what you are letting yourself in for, also chat to club members and let them inspire you.

If you plan to dive in the UK I would strongly suggest learning over here, although possibly delay untill late spring when the water has warmed up abit (yes some hardy soles do dive year round in British waters, but it's far more pleasant in the summer).

As Polly says your dive school/club or LDS (local dive shop) might offer hire kit although in the long term it is probably actually cheaper to get your own. Learning together is handy as you have a buddy already sorted and I know afew posters on here who are envious of those of us who dive with our partners.

Where exactly are you based? Someone on here can possibly recommend a local club/school. I know where we are in Sheffield there are several clubs so it's worth choosing one with convenient pool nights and trips targeted at your level of experience (that was our mistake as beginners, joining a dive club which was allergic to salt water!).

[DaveS]

There's a club in Blackburn who will do a try dive for £15 and then take that off your Open Water course if you decide to do the OW course. Then, once qualified, if you decide you want to, there's a £50 per year club joining fee and you can get 4 full equipment hires free of charge or 20 (or is it 25) free air fills if you've got your kit already. Also as a club member you get 10% off most of the kit (Suunto computers excluded). PM me if you want more details.

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(27-11-2008 09:43 AM)O2 Steve Wrote:  BSAC's entry grade is Ocean Diver - generally this is similar to the PADI Open Water but the training has been structured around the rigors of diving in UK waters and so has some notible differences:
1) Drysuit training is included - this is a PADI "speciality course" and they charge extra

Just to clarify that point: PADI centers will also include a dry suit orientation dive if you want one so that you can complete your open water dives in a dry suit and use one thereafter. You don't need to do the speciality to undertake it - most don't even charge extra for it. If you then go on to do the dry suit speciality then there would be an extra cost as mentioned in the original post.

No axe to grind here - I've done both BSAC and PADI systems so just want to clarify that one.