Club views

[MrMojo]

Hi all,
In my plight to find a decent club near me in the uk i visited a SAA club(sub aqua association).As all the ones near me are PADI iwas very impressed with there ways and training.With them you pay a joining fee/training fee and a yearly subscription(equal price as padi aow) from then all your training is free up to dive Master.ther idea is that as you progress and become experienced you then pass back the knowlege to new divers.They also believe in teaching medic and rescue at ow level as one instuctor explained"If i take you out diving for training and i get into trouble i want to know you can get me out of the water alive".This made perfect sense to me and they also teach smb from the start.Most of the divers use wings and twins,at sport level they allow you to go down to 50 m.They also had different people who specialised in different field of training,Upon talking to the equipment officer he told me they do not advise getting their regs serviced after two years but instead just buy new ones as after the service they never come back any better.i was about to purchase apex atx200 and 40 octo which will be expencive but worth it but the thought of having to buy again in two years time has given me second thoughts .
They seem very professional any i will probably join the club as the padi seems to cost me money every time i sneeze and i have no intrest in making a living out of diving but to become the best diver my ability allows.
Any thoughts on the above info would be grateful.

Regards,


MAL..

 

[JDostal]

That sounds like a very decent deal...wish I had scuba clubs around here that offered that sort of thing.

As far as padi costing money....yeah. My instructor defines PADI as "Put Another Dollar In". They have classes for everything it seems..."How to pee in a wetsuit"...half of 'em are pointless.

 

[art.chick]

There is a nifty club similar to the one you have described in Southern California with lots of history in that type of safety philosophy. The local associations that prepare divers to be safe in local conditions are a blessing to the diving world in that they keep more people in the water consistanly. Not all of us are blessed with pristine conditions or a budget that can include boat trips every week, but if you know how to take care of yourself & a buddy in local waters, you become a better diver simply by virtue of the fact that you are in the water more often.

I also love the historical aspect you describe, the passing on of knowledge from one generation to the next one diver at a time. There are lots of ways to do every skill, & the codification of methodology has its place in the large associations that have to train instructors uniformly by a set of standards, but if instructors who really know the lay of the land have alternate methods to pull from & are allowed the freedom to teach thusly, people like me have a better opportunity to learn stuff that i could not if I was made to learn by the only method offered.

In our local association, there is a warm feeling that you get at the annual banquets & graduations because you feel like part of a family that goes back to the first guy out here who made his own fins. We benefit greatly from the traditions of learning from the failures & successes of the original California divers. So pleased that there are still others out there who understand this sentiment.

 

[Ian Wigg]

Hi

I joined a BSAC club which I think works out a little cheaper but that really does sound like a great deal. Good Luck

Ian

 

[Ian Wigg]

I meant to type ... works out a little cheaper initially ...

Ian