Frequently Asked Questions
Joining the club
The chances are we do. BSAC accepts qualifications from pretty much every other training agency in the world!
You’ll just need to book onto one of our crossover courses and then you can continue your training with us.
Or, just keep diving on your current qualification! You’ll need to have a quick dive with one of our instructors but then you’re free to come along on one of our club trips.
Get in touch if you want to discuss the crossover course and what diver grade your current qualification is equivalent to.
Yes you can!
We don’t compete in BUCS so we’re one of the few clubs where you can access all our activity.
Absolutely you can!
Get in touch with us to discuss the process but it’s very easy.
It depends on which course you book onto. The main diver training courses cost from between £170-£175.
You can also join as an affiliate diver for £25 meaning you can come on club trips but won’t be training with us.
Our club is a not-for-profit organisation and so every single penny you spend with the club goes to running and equipment costs.
It does cost a pretty penny to maintain the club equipment to the correct standards and make sure it’s safe for everyone to use. Every now and again we also like to treat our members with new equipment…
Even our instructors are volunteers!
Definitely! A good portion of our joiners each year have never dived before so you won’t be alone!
Unlike many Loughborough University sports clubs, we don’t have trials to join the club. We believe people shouldn’t be prevented from doing a sport they love because they’re deemed ‘not good enough’.
Unfortunately, we only have so many instructors so do need to limit spaces. The fairest way to do this is to offer membership on a first come, first serve basis.
Although the point of Scuba Diving is not to stay afloat, we do require you to be able to complete a basic swim test to join our club.
You’ll need to show us that you can swim a total of 200m unassisted. There’s no time limit for this.
We require this for safety in case your buoyancy device fails in the real world and you need to be able to swim (although this is incredibly rare).
No you won’t, we do not include BSAC membership in our club membership prices for this very reason!
Before getting in the water, everyone is asked to complete a self-certification medical form. You can view this form on the BSAC website.
This form covers common medical conditions which may impair your ability to dive safely. If you do have any of the medical conditions listed, you’ll be asked to attend a ‘dive medical’ with a specialist doctor who will make a judgement on whether it’s safe for you to dive.
We usually have a few people each year with medical conditions and most of them get signed off to dive with no issues.
If you’re concerned about anything, get in touch with us and we’ll walk you through the process.
BSAC runs the ‘Diving for all’ program which is specifically designed to encourage people with disabilities to get into Scuba Diving.
Sometimes a disability requires a specially trained ‘DFA Instructor’, unfortunately at the moment the club doesn’t have a DFA instructor in-house but we’ll make every effort to put you in touch with one if required.
Every disability is different so it’s difficult to answer this question without speaking to the individual first. Please do get in touch with if you want to discuss this!
There is a waiting list in case anyone drops out however as the courses take the full academic year sometimes we can’t offer that space to a new member as there wouldn’t be enough time for them to catchup.
Qualifications and training
This is entirely dependent on how committed you are to the training. Most training courses take at least an academic year to complete, although the higher levels like Dive Leader can take longer.
It’s very unlikely you’ll complete your training course long before the end of the academic year. However, if you do we take a case-by-case basis for starting on the next course.
Currently we’re planning on delivering a large portion of our theory training through online meetings. These meetings are usually recorded so if you miss one you will be able to catch up by watching the recording.
Practical, Pool and Open water training is dependant on instructor availability. If you miss training sessions we cannot guarantee catch up sessions.
We currently plan on delivering most of the theory training online.
There are some practical elements (such as teaching CPR) which we must teach in person.
Does that answer your question?
If not, the answer is a resounding YES.
99% of the worlds population won’t see what you’ll get to see when diving.
Equipment
Theoretically nothing as the club has all the equipment you’ll need to get in the water.
However, we do strongly reccomend that divers buy their own mask, fins, hood, gloves and boots due to the custom fit of these items.
The total cost of these items depends on how fancy you go but can be as little as £30 all the way up to hundreds of pounds.
Like with most sports, some is, some isnt.
Unlike a lot of sports, Scuba Diving equipment can last for decades if maintained properly.
Ultimately, it comes down to how much you are willing to spend. But we’ve listed some typical prices of equipment below to give you an idea.
- Drysuit – £200-300
- BCD – £70
- Regulators – £150
- Computer – £80
- Masks, Fins, Gloves etc – £20 each
As a new diver, you’ll be taught how to use, identify, assemble and maintain Scuba Diving equipment in our Ocean Diver course.
You’ll receive practical instruction from an instructor so don’t worry about making a mistake. The equipment is relatively sturdy and has lasted countless students before you so we’ll be impressed if you actually manage to damage it…
Unfortunately our equipment store is already bursting at the seems with club kit. This combined with the risk of spreading Covid-19 means we cannot store personal kit of members in the kit store.
Statistically, you’re 3x more likely to be injured driving to the dive site than you are actually doing the diving.
Scuba Diving has a proven track record of safety which is achieved through rigorous training of divers alongside regular equipment servicing.
All club equipment is serviced in-line with manufacturer recommendations and our equipment officers are dedicated to maintaining our kit to the highest standard.
Trips
All over the UK!
We’ve had trips from Swanage on the south coast to the Farne Islands near the Scottish border.
We also have an annual trip abroad, usually to somewhere in the Mediterranean.
Go to our trips section to find out a bit more!
Every year we have an abroad trip.
We’ve been to places like Malta, Cyprus and Croatia.
The abroad trip is usually run during the Easter holiday period.
It depends on the trip.
Shorter trips like the welcome trip can be around £100 for a full weekend diving while the abroad trip will cost closer to £600.
We try to put on a range of trips so everyone can go on at least one throughout the year.
Yes this is included in your club membership.
Covid-19
Try Dives will look very different this year. There’s an extensive list of precautions we’re taking, many out of view of our trainees, that ensure our Try Dive event is as safe as possible.
These precautions include:
- Introducing a booking system to stagger the number of people attending the Try Dive at any one time.
- Using the details from the booking system as a track and trace system
- Significantly restricting the number of available slots
- Sterilising all equipment before and after use
- Treating regulators (the bit that goes in your mouth) as a one-time-use item. (i.e. you won’t be breathing from a regulator that someone else used)
- Ensuring the chlorine content in the swimming pool water is sufficient to kill Covid instantly.
- Club staff working as surface cover wearing PPE
- Maintaining social distancing
If you have any concerns please get in touch and we’ll do our best to explain.
Due to the nature of the sport, it’s inevitable that some equipment will be used by multiple divers. We’re doing everything we can to ensure this sharing poses no risk of Covid-19 transmission. These measures include:
- Sterilising all equipment before and after use with an industrial steriliser proven to be effective against Covid.
- Quarantining equipment for 72 hours after use where possible.
- Limiting access to our equipment stores to a limited number of people.
- Implementing restrictions on kit store operations inline with our risk assessments.
BSAC has released extensive guidance on making training safe for those involved.
It’s simply too detailed to list here so if you are interested in the details head over to their website and have a read of their documents.
We’ve been in direct contact with BSAC HQ to discuss the safe return to diving as well as working with our Athletic Union to ensure the nessaccery measures are in place. This includes extensive risk assessments which are reviewed and updated regularly.