Scuba diving - Surrey Hampshire

[RacerMDR]

does anyone know where I can do a crash course in Scuba diving.......I live in Hampshire......work in London........so anywhere around there would be useful......

also - how good a swimmer does one have to be?

[BaronVonVTEC]

You dont need to be a good swimmer, but it helps. Where in Hampshire are you? There are many dive centres in Portsmouth and Southampton. Are you looking at doing a PADI course or joining a BSAC club?

[Mr Gear]

There is a huge scuba centre in Southampton. Can't remember the name of it, but it's good. You can also do a course in Dorset near Lulworth Cove. I bet the diving is good there too.

Personally, I wouldn't change the fact that I did my PADI course on the Great Barrier Reef...

[RacerMDR]

i don't know much about it as yet. I have the opportunity to go on a diving holiday - so I guess i need whatever would be required for that......

I live in Liphook - so 20 minutes from Portsmouth.........

[mechsympathy]

RacerMDR said:

also - how good a swimmer does one have to be?

IIRC you're meant to be able to swim 200m and tread water for a couple of minutes.

It's worth doing the theory and pool work in this country as it takes a couple of days which seems like a waste of good holiday time. You're bound to have a dive club local to you who will probaby run something. And without wanting to get into a big argument PADI is probably the most useful in this respect as most foreign dive centres use it.

ETA Where's the holiday?

Edited by mechsympathy on Tuesday 3rd March 10:57

[davido140]

http://www.divecrew.co.uk/


ETA I think you can do PADI in a day with them.

Edited by davido140 on Tuesday 3rd March 10:58

[Lost soul]

RacerMDR said:

also - how good a swimmer does one have to be?

Not very , dont worry about that part of it

[Lost soul]

RacerMDR said:

does anyone know where I can do a crash course in Scuba diving.......I live in Hampshire......work in London........so anywhere around there would be useful......

also - how good a swimmer does one have to be?

I did my Padi in 4 days do the course on the holiday , there is a lot of reading to be done but you will enjoy the dives much more in the warm water

[davido140]

Lost soul said:

RacerMDR said:

also - how good a swimmer does one have to be?

Not very , dont worry about that part of it

I had to do 10 lengths of the pool when I did mine ('twas donkeys years ago now though).

I nearly had a heart attack!

[schmalex]

www.andark.co.uk

Pretty much all you need in one place (training pool, kit, instructors etc).

ETA. Located in Swanwick between Southampton & Portsmouth

[

Edited by schmalex on Tuesday 3rd March 11:48

[Lost soul]

davido140 said:

Lost soul said:

RacerMDR said:

also - how good a swimmer does one have to be?

Not very , dont worry about that part of it

I had to do 10 lengths of the pool when I did mine ('twas donkeys years ago now though).

I nearly had a heart attack!

We had to swim around the boat 4 times or so , in the end the instructor got bored and called us out of the water

[RacerMDR]

thanks all - those links look excellent.

So PADI it is.......and i'm thinking Southampton

Bill, tHe holiday will be Egypt - but i'm thinking of taking a year off and going from Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, NZ then hopefully do some crewing around the Carribean etc......so I figured it would be good to get qualified whilst i'm still working in Londonshire

[fadeaway]

Here's a list of BSAC clubs in your region:

BSAC Clubs in Southern region

Don't know exactly where you are, but there's 4 pages of BSAC clubs in the Southern region, which includes Hampshire. Quick look though showed:

Andover Sub Aqua Club
Basingstoke
Several in Southampton (including Southampton BSAC)
Eastleigh BSAC
Newbury Sub Aqua Club

[3sixty]

200m? I did mine in Greece, we did 10 lengths of the pool and I nearly died. Ended up being sick as I ate before I did it... genius.

Also had to tread water for 10mins.

I'm by far the worst swimmer ever, yet am going for my Advanced next year. Been on 2 dive holidays, to Greece and Malaysia and fully enjoyed it. Being a great swimmer isnt necessary...

Definitely agree with above to do your pool work at home. I did it on 'holiday' in Greece, we did 5 day crash course there. 3 days of it was in pool and the rest of our time was spent doing exams. Last 2 days were great when we finally got out there though!

[Lost soul]

3sixty said:

Definitely agree with above to do your pool work at home. I did it on 'holiday' in Greece, we did 5 day crash course there. 3 days of it was in pool and the rest of our time was spent doing exams. Last 2 days were great when we finally got out there though!

I did all my dives and tests in open sea i would have hated to waste so much time in a pool

[3sixty]

Lost soul said:

3sixty said:

Definitely agree with above to do your pool work at home. I did it on 'holiday' in Greece, we did 5 day crash course there. 3 days of it was in pool and the rest of our time was spent doing exams. Last 2 days were great when we finally got out there though!

I did all my dives and tests in open sea i would have hated to waste so much time in a pool

tests were in open sea, just the learning that we did in pool as it was 'controlled environment'. We then went out to sea to perform what we'd learnt, flood mask, etc. etc.

[mechsympathy]

RacerMDR said:

Bill, tHe holiday will be Egypt - but i'm thinking of taking a year off and going from Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, NZ then hopefully do some crewing around the Carribean etc......so I figured it would be good to get qualified whilst i'm still working in Londonshire

Git

Where in Egypt? I did my Advanced with a school in Dahab that I'd recommend.

[Incorrigible]

RacerMDR said:

thanks all - those links look excellent.

So PADI it is.......and i'm thinking Southampton

Bill, tHe holiday will be Egypt - but i'm thinking of taking a year off and going from Japan, China, Thailand, Australia, NZ then hopefully do some crewing around the Carribean etc......so I figured it would be good to get qualified whilst i'm still working in Londonshire

Any idea what car you'll be buying to get there

[Mr Gear]

fadeaway said:

Here's a list of BSAC clubs in your region:

BSAC Clubs in Southern region

Don't know exactly where you are, but there's 4 pages of BSAC clubs in the Southern region, which includes Hampshire. Quick look though showed:

Andover Sub Aqua Club
Basingstoke
Several in Southampton (including Southampton BSAC)
Eastleigh BSAC
Newbury Sub Aqua Club

BSAC is no less worthy than PADI, but PADI is recognised in more countries, so bear that in mind when getting qualified.

[BaronVonVTEC]

I would say BSAC produces a better standard of diver as it teaches a more all round knowledge of diving (i.e. first aid, boat handling) and I say this as a PADI Divemaster.

For a first course, I would recommend doing all the dives in the UK. Yes, conditions are crap, but the standards of the dive centres are pretty good and speaking of crap conditions, if you can dive safely in Britain, you can dive safely anywhere. Plus you'll be able to just enjoy the rest of your holiday without having to worry about getting qualified. Good luck anyway, Egypt is a great place to dive, there are some excellent wrecks out there.