Scuba Diving

cleanbluesky said:
What form does PADI diving in UK take? I can understand how such things are operated abroad off of dive boats on holiday, but I have also seen at least one PADI club over here. It may have had its own lake, but one that alony went down about 5m.
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Every town has a club :)

well most do.

It's a few lessons in the pool then a couple of trips in wetsuits to open water, normaly inland such as stoney cove or carpenwray.



Another good point is that PADI will teach UK diving in a wetsuit, BSAC in a dry suit.

I wouldn't touch british water in a wetsuit :(

PADI will teach drysuit usage but of course at a extra cost ;)
 
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I just did a PADI try dive in the Aegean on Friday, it was great fun. I am a very strong swimmer and have been snorkelling for years, however they did manage to get a woman in who had never even wore goggles, so I can see what some have said about PADI's "every man and his dog" approach.

I ended up at a maximum depth of 9m on my first time, it was excellent. I'm considering taking it up properly, and having looked at our local clubs the BSAC seems to be the best, if not longest, option.

al
 
Hmm a lot of negative opinions towards PADI here. There does seem to be a kind of elitist mentality from BSAC towards padi who are seen as unqualified most of the time it seems. While I agree BSAC training is more thorough and comprehensive PADI is by no means dangerous. The extra courses might cost money but what sport doesnt? I've found that every PADI instructor I've had has been very responsable and qualified for the task in hand.

One thing to consider when choosing your training course is where you will mostly be intending to dive. If its in the UK then BSAC will suit fine because everyone in the UK knows about them. However I have run into occasions abroad where divers have been complaining the centre was unwilling to take them out because they weren't PADI qualified. This normally seemed to result in the divers in question having to take a short refresher course in the pool, maybe 10 minutes out of their day but a hastle im sure most would do without. PADI is recognised all over the world (as BSAC is for the most part i must say but not 100%)

In my opinion if you are looking for a bit of fun and something to dip in an out of then PADI makes more sense. If you are looking for a new hobby which will become a big part of your life BSAC.

I wouldnt consider PADI any less safe from a recreational point of view. In fact I would say if more accidents do occur its due to the individual PADI attracts over BSAC. Due to it being more casual people might see it as an easy choice and not pay as much attention. This goes with a point made in this thread about not wanting a PADI buddy. The training itself is safe enough though imo.
 
Some good comments on this thread, thanks for all the advice.

I think as someone said as its a try dive it doesnt really matter so will just go for one and see if I like it.

Budget wise I probably cant afford to go away to all the trips abroad that a lot of clubs arrange so I would be a very occasional diver anyway.

Still undecided on which route to take but I really want a "sea scooter" :p
 
I did the PADI open water in Cyprus and couldn't fault it, it was amazing.

Did a dive in England and I couldn't see my arms!

My advice, if you want a good first time diving. Do it in the caribean.

But I honestly couldn't fault it, you learn so much in the week, plus you get a free dive of your choice aswell! who hasn't done it. Should, you will appreciate Water dwellers a lot more!
 
Phate said:
I did the PADI open water in Cyprus and couldn't fault it, it was amazing.

Did a dive in England and I couldn't see my arms!

My advice, if you want a good first time diving. Do it in the caribean.

But I honestly couldn't fault it, you learn so much in the week, plus you get a free dive of your choice aswell! who hasn't done it. Should, you will appreciate Water dwellers a lot more!
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its ok in cornwall etc.
 
I qualified first ages ago when I was 14 as a PADI open water diver within 3 days whilst in Kenya in a hotel swimming pool. It was a joke however we never dived deeper than 8m on a reef just off the hotels beach.
Having got the love of diving I wanted to do it more in the UK. If you want to do UK diving then I would emphasize you go with BSAC.
I’m qualified now to both PADI Advanced Open Water and BSAC sports diver so I have an equal qualification in both and if you can put in the time, the BSAC qualif is a much safer approach.
We share our pool with PADI and from what we see is a production line process of families coming, doing the course and leaving. Our club we join for life and its great social atmos with permanent members who you can bond with and trust to be your buddy.
We often go diving just off the coast of Littlehampton and see hugely kitted out hard bottomed boats loaded with PADI clubs heading out. We often hear of PADI fatalities with maybe 2-3 dieing a year just around our little stretch of coast.
BSAC is much more recognised internationally now but just decided to bring my PADI up to scratch on a visit to Malta but it is still not a patch on BSAC safety training.
 
I just got back from a trip to Malta where a group of us qualified as open water divers. We did the PADI course over several months so its wasnt rushed at all and the instructor was extremely good.

We're off to the Red Sea in Nov/Dec to do the advanced course :)

Can anyone offer any advice on equipment in as much as makes to avoid or not?
 
Having done my training in the UK, I don't think I'd bother diving again over here.
For example when doing my first sea dives in Mull over 5 dives I saw the grand total of one fish, whereas when you go abroad you'll be seeing masses of life the moment your head goes under the water.

Diving in the UK is also blooming cold and the visibility is worse. My first open water dive was Stony Cove in February (best time of year for the visibility) but at a water temp of about 2 degrees if I remember rightly gaaawd it was cold.
 
my mum,dad and brother have been diving for over 5 years now my dad and brother have past almost every exam with padi now except rebreathers which most divers won't touch and have nicknamed it death in a box. any padi seem really good they've dived malta,egypt spain going australia soon aswell .
 
Do not bother with Paying Another Dollar In...they are crap! Go to a proper BSAC club, if you are close to a university and they have a scuba club, try to join them as that way is dirt cheap.

But why not try apnea, aka free diving? Sure, you don't get to spend an hour down, but you need no equipment at all, and do not listen to what the bubble blowers say, that it's dangerous and all that crap. :)

All you need is some practice holding your breath, it doesn't matter if you are really bad at it, with enough training anyone can pass the four minute mark, easily going to -20m in depth. And hey, if you add a spearsfish to the equation you get free food, too :D
 
Elmer said:
Having done my training in the UK, I don't think I'd bother diving again over here.
For example when doing my first sea dives in Mull over 5 dives I saw the grand total of one fish, whereas when you go abroad you'll be seeing masses of life the moment your head goes under the water.
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The sound of Mull is usually a good region to dive with some excellent wrecks such as the Hisapania and the Rhonda. Anyways on wrecks like the Bretagne (south coast) you can't see it for the fish. Though personally as a wreck diver thats not such a good thing IMO ;)
Diving in the UK is also blooming cold and the visibility is worse. My first open water dive was Stony Cove in February (best time of year for the visibility) but at a water temp of about 2 degrees if I remember rightly gaaawd it was cold.
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You dived inland at the coldest time of year then moaned its cold, water temps in summer on the south coast are typically 18C, I've spent hours, literally, decompressing in that water without a problem. If you don't like the cold then dive when its warmer and most importantly wear the right kit, a dry suit with a proper wicking thinsulate and for extremes an argon bottle for suit inflation.
 
philstanbridge said:
I would love to do this too, but.. I tried it in the local pool and have major problems with fins and my feet! I get serious cramp almost straight away and find I'm better off without the fins - but this defeats the object under the water as you need the propulsion (even though my feet are natural flippers) is there anyway round this?
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Closed "slipper" type fins always give me cramp, if you can, get diving "boots" and open heeled fins, much better and zero cramp :)


Do a try dive, but try and learn abroad, it is much cheaper.

PADI are good, but it is recreational only, no deco, no lower than 30mtrs.
BSAC is more geared to deeper and deco diving, the courses are harder, but more rewarding. If you fancy going technical, go BSAC. If you want to dive the UK, BSAC is better suited imho.

But do it.
 
cleanbluesky said:
PADI is often nicknamed "Pay and Dive Instantly" because it is more intense and its syllabus is more aimed around people who want to dive in 'installments' whereas BSAC is more of a gradual process. With BSAC there is a lot more emphasis on basics and you work through an almost complete syllabus including theory education (very, very important as it is not merely a physical sport) - this includes rescue techniques and dive leading, all sorts of equipment etc. etc.

One of the most valuable things that BSAC teach (I think I learnt this before I even got into open water) was the things that you have to do in the event that your own equipment fails. There is a lot of emphasis on that, as well as buoyancy work.
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I agree that most people who have learned with PADI are not suitable to dive, I have dived with some muppets.. But I am PADI AOW qualified, and the instructor I had in Turkey for both certs was from the UK, and was a brilliant instructor, and taught a lot more than PADI recommended. Even though I haven't dived for 10 months, it is still second nature to me :)

Saying that, I have dived with some appalling BSAC divers..
 
Baz said:
I agree that most people who have learned with PADI are not suitable to dive, I have dived with some muppets.. But I am PADI AOW qualified, and the instructor I had in Turkey for both certs was from the UK, and was a brilliant instructor, and taught a lot more than PADI recommended. Even though I haven't dived for 10 months, it is still second nature to me :)

Saying that, I have dived with some appalling BSAC divers..
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they do all that in padi as i said all my family except me dives and they were studying text books for weeks do pass there exams dad and bro done rescue diving and nitro diving. my bro was recently offered a job in australia teaching diving he's only 17 coming up 18.
 
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