Here are a few of the more common questions we are asked. Please contact us if you have additional questions
How much does it cost to learn to dive: Annual membership of BSAC is about £60/annum. iDive membership is about £130/annum. If you are a novice diver, we loan you most of your dive kit and train you which costs about £120/annum. So, say about £310/annum, initially. After you have gained your initial diving qualification, we provide further training for free but you are expected to provide your own diving equipment and cover any extra costs (like dive site entrance fees etc).
Can you dive if you have a medical condition: All divers need to complete a medical declaration annually and, if you have a medical condition, you may need to see a BSAC registered doctor before being passed fit to dive.
How old do you have to be to learn to dive: We train divers from the age of 12, providing their parent/guardian are also club members. You can train with us from the age of 18.
Is diving equipment heavy: The cylinders and weight belt are heavy but there is usually a helping hand to help you carry and move dive equipment around the pool or dive site. In the water you are neutrally buoyant so you don’t notice the weight of the diving equipment, although it can still feel quite bulky and cumbersome until you get used to it.
Is it cold in the water: We dive in the UK all year round and it can be quite cold (~8C) during the winter. We all wear wet suits (good in the summer) or dry suits (good all year round). In a good dry suit, you will feel quite comfortable, even in the winter. Oversea, we dive in warm waters (e.g. the Red Sea) where water temperatures are 25C+ and a shortie wetsuit is perfectly adequate.
Are their loos on the dive boats: All the commercial dive boats that I’ve dived on have toilets. These can be quite basic but they are functional and private. Our own boats do not have toilets so it is either a pee in the sea or a bucket (and we’ll turn our backs and be discreet). If we are diving from our own boats, you are typically out at sea for 2 to 3 hours.
What is it like diving underwater: Once you get used to the different environment and over your, understandable, nerves, it is fantastic. It is like flying as you are neutrally buoyant. The sea life around the UK is fantastic from friendly seals around the Farne Islands to crabs and lobsters all around the coast line and many different types of fish and other sea creatures. We dive on reefs and the many wrecks around the UK. Sometimes the water visibility can be quite poor (say 2m visibility) but it can be up to 25m.
Overseas there are equally fantastic dive sites. The water can be clearer (40m+) and warmer and you can sometimes see larger sea life (manta rays, sharks, turtles etc).
Do you dive on wrecks: We frequently dive on wrecks around the UK and overseas. Many vessels were sunk during the two world wars but the UK coastline has claimed many vessels over the years and we have dived wrecks which foundered in the 1800s onwards. Wrecks overseas can be covered in beautiful marine corals and other life and attract large shoals of fish.
Is diving dangerous: Like all active sports, diving can be dangerous if you don’t respect the conditions and if you push yourself too far beyond your training and experience. We train divers to BSAC standards which are well respected globally. We are careful to tailor the dives we organise to the skills and experience of our divers and we maintain the appropriate safety equipment on our dive boats.
Further Information: The news section of our website News – iDive describes some of our diving holidays, some of the training we do and some of the non-diving social activities that we organise. You can also find details of how to contact us on our website.
