New from London (equipment advice)

[EvaFin]

Hey, I'm Eva, newly certified DM and so incredibly excited to be in this industry (finally). Love cold water and warm water equally, and care a lot about adapting diving for less able bodied people and dive medicine generally. If anyone has any advice about good spots to practice in the city or close by that would be amazing.

I have most of my own gear but I'm still vacillating over the fins. Been reading through reviews and the equipment board on here but if anyone has two cents about good open foot fins for manoeuvrability or generally reliable fins for guiding and teaching I'd be massively grateful.

 

[Compressor]

Welcome to ScubaBoard. You've come to a great forum you can spend time during your surface intervals.
Don't fret over the fins too much. Buy one that is well made from brands like scubapro, mares and aqualung to name a few.

 

[runsongas]

Jetfins or Hollis f1 for local drysuit diving with bsac

 

[AlvarezLeandro]

I'm not really an experienced diver, but I can't resist suggesting everyone I met the Mares Quattro Plus fins.

The first reason why I considered those is because I've seen everywhere dive masters, instructors and divers in general wearing them (Search the footage of the thai cave rescue divers), so I asked my local Diveshop if i could try them in the pool. At first, what I liked most was the propulsion you get while performing any kicking technique. But later, when I wore them in an open water dive, I found that my buoyancy actually had improved.

Of course, it also depends a lot on your preferences and your diving environment. For instance, I am a skinny dude, so when I decided I wanted a new pair of fins, what I was looking for was something a little soft since when I dove with stiff-blade fins, i felt like i was consuming a lot of air. Also, i'm used to diving in really cold water, so closed heel pairs were not an option (Considering this, bungee strap was indeed a nice feature).

Keep in mind that if you buy split fins, or those new models that comes with vents all over the blade, snorkelling does become an issue.

 

[diversteve]

I'd buy paddle fins bright ones - yellow or orange so students can spot you in a group. ...

Mares. Scubapro and others make them in yellow, Deep6 in orange.

 

[Edward3c]

Hey, I'm Eva, newly certified DM and so incredibly excited to be in this industry (finally). Love cold water and warm water equally, and care a lot about adapting diving for less able bodied people and dive medicine generally. If anyone has any advice about good spots to practice in the city or close by that would be amazing.

I have most of my own gear but I'm still vacillating over the fins. Been reading through reviews and the equipment board on here but if anyone has two cents about good open foot fins for manoeuvrability or generally reliable fins for guiding and teaching I'd be massively grateful.

If your going to teach in the UK you need a HSE medical and follow the Diving at Work Regulations. As for fins use whatever make/model works for you with your configuration

 

[KenGordon]

For London clubs see here: Find a club or centre

There are several inland sites vaguely close, which is best depends on where you live and whether you have a car. Wraysbury and Buckland are ok for shallow stuff. Then Gildenburgh which is a longer drive, Stoney and NDAC but all a significant drive, but if you need depth inland that is what you need.

There is a lot of diving along the South Coast, We do a fair amount out of Brighton, that is doable for a day of diving,

I am a member of Bermondsey, our pool is handy for Canary Wharf.

 

[johnohuk]

If your on FB, checkout the following groups..

Buy and Sell scuba uk
UK Scuba stuff for sale
UK Viz Reports
UK Dive Spaces Offered/Wanted