Hunting for a local club! Can you Help?

[Jo Gibson]

Hi Guys!

Can anyone help?

We are hoping 2003 will bring us a new challenge and would love to turn our hands to scuba diving! We live in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Does anyone know of any clubs within our area - the largest local cities are Bournemouth and Southampton.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks

Jo and Emma

 

[Epinephelus]

Uh, what continent?

E. itajara

 

[Tibbs]

Salisbury does have a couple of BSAC Clubs, and they can be found on this page:

BSAC Clubs

Alternatively, the SAA may have one near you:

SAA Website

If you have any questions or anything, don't be afraid to ask - we're a pretty friendly bunch around here!

Chris (Based in Christchurch)

 

[dc4bs]

I'd say England (the U.K.)

I've been to visit Salisbury Cathedral (got to go on the full tour up into the tower during the renovations about 5 years ago). It's the tallest spire in Europe.

 

[budgy]

Hi Jo,
A club is a very good place to train in the long term. A pro shop will get most people certificated in a couple of weekends, where as expect at least 3 to 6 months at a club. Clubs are sometimes very slow and can be difficult places to get basic training particularly for the non certified diver. After basic training clubs offer a regular diving programme and companionship to give you the in water experience you need to become competant. IMO a padi crossover or a pro trained BSAC diver will find less problems in getting opportunities to go diving with a club than as an uncertified new member, though it does depend on the club. Pro training here gets you into the water within weeks and shows what its like and what equipment you need to dive in U.K. waters. Pro instructors generally have more pratice than the amatuer volunteer.

 

[Tibbs]

Good point Budgy - meant to mention that!

I was quite lucky in my novice days as I was involved with 2 clubs, and I knew another instructor as well, which meant I could push in on three lots of instructors! Outwith that, I think I would recommend that people get qualified with a school, and then join a club to get experience. It's probably more expensive that way, but you make sure that you get trained in a reasonable length of time!

A good place to have a look at for Professional Training is Andark Diving in Southampton. My regular buddy trained there and he's turned out pretty much ok... (Do you read this board Rob!?)

On an agency level I'd personally go for BSAC Schools training, purely because they teach diver rescue earlier in the syllabus than PADI. This means that it gets repeated more often too, as you usually wind up doing the same drills, just deeper, as you move up the qualification ladder...

When you do get qualified, and you need people to go diving with give me a shout! I'm sure I'm not the only South Coast resident on the board. Personally, any excuse to get in the water is good enough for me...

Let us know how you get on,

Chris

 

[budgy]

If you total up what a trainee spends before qualifing and factor in time, I think you'll find its cheaper to go professional.
Looking at several branch budgets in terms of cash spent, people qualified, they would be better off sponsoring new members through a professional school. Looking at it logicaly, clubs could even have more training money available or half their expediture by applying for cash matching training grants. Of course you risk changing a branch from a local pool social, that organises low attended outdoor trips, into an association for active open water divers.

 

[Jo Gibson]

Hay Guys!
Thankyou so much for your advice, you have given me a good place to start. The training school in Southampton sounds like a good possibilty. It's great to know of helpful people on the South Coast! I will let you know how I get on.

Jo

 

[ScubaBaby]

The closest dive club/centre I could find is actually in Salisbury.

Trident Diving

They are SSI. The dont give any details of courses on the site, but if the other clubs you've been given come up with nothing - it may be worth a call.