Diving Questions
- Is it cold in the UK?
- What can you see in UK waters?
- Do you dive abroad?
- What is the difference between PADI and BSAC?
- What qualifications do you accept?
- Do you organise diving holidays?
- How safe is recreational diving?
- Do you ever see any sharks, do they come near you?
Answers
Is it cold in the UK?
It could not be said that UK waters are warm. Obviously the temperature in summer goes up. The maximum is likely to be around 16 degrees, though on the east coast it is cooler, as the gulf stream has no effect. A thermal protective diving suit is required, some people dive in wet suits, but drysuits are now more common.
What can you see in UK waters?
Many people think of our waters as dark and murky. They can often be quite clear and bright, even at some depth in places. Our waters are teaming with life some really colourful, have a look at some of the pictures in the picture galleries.
Do you dive abroad?
We quite frequently dive abroad, sometimes in really exotic locations such as, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Galapagos. We also dive closer to home, Egypt, Croatia, Spain.
What is the difference between PADI and BSAC?
There is not much difference in the diving skills you learn. PADI is a worldwide commercial organisation, the BSAC, whilst a worldwide organisation, is much more club focused. You can pay similar amounts to learn to dive with both organisation's following the commercial route, but learning to dive in a branch though will take longer, will be considerably cheaper.
The BSAC also teach self help and rescue skills applicable to the qualification, where PADI don't teach rescue skills until later in their training program.
What qualifications do you accept?
We accept all qualifications, we have cross over tables that denote the equivalent BSAC grades.
Do you organise diving holidays?
We do organise diving holidays, in the UK and abroad. Some trips are for long weekends through to several weeks. We also look for new and exiting locations. Your budget is the only deciding factor.
How safe is recreational diving?
If you learn to dive properly, follow the rules of diving and water safety, diving is a safe sport. It does not rate in the top ten of dangerous sports.
Do you ever see any sharks, do they come near you?
We do see sharks, and sometimes they come quite close. Unfortunately encounters with sharks are getting fewer, they are a persecuted species. They are very rarely a threat to divers, despite their reputation. Like all creatures, we need to respect them, most things will bite if they are aggravated.
We are as big as most sharks, and though they might get a bit nosey, they will normally swim off when you get close. The media don't help, they tend to portray any diving related incident with some drama. Statements like "man-eating shark" and "shark infested waters", all add a dramatic effect. Many divers never see a shark throughout their whole diving career.