new to scuba

Very new in fact I havn't tried it at all yet but I want to do it early next
year any tips on where a good place to learn in the UK is ?

I've heard that there is a 4 day course I can take for about £225 but I'm
having trouble finding any decent web sites on it.

Is there a forum you all use or just this newsgroup because unless I can
find a good beginners guide I'm going to have quite a few basic questions in
the next couple of months ?

Any pointers would be really helpful,
Cheers,
Steve.

"worto03" <worto03@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8_1zb.17455$%74.146885729@news-text.cableinet.net...
> Very new in fact I havn't tried it at all yet but I want to do it early
next
> year any tips on where a good place to learn in the UK is ?
>
> I've heard that there is a 4 day course I can take for about £225 but I'm
> having trouble finding any decent web sites on it.
>
> Is there a forum you all use or just this newsgroup because unless I can
> find a good beginners guide I'm going to have quite a few basic questions
in
> the next couple of months ?
>
> Any pointers would be really helpful,

Hi Steve - welcome to the group!

May I start by pointing you to the following website...

http://www.ukrs.org.uk

You'll find that it'll probably answer quite a few of the basic questions
you have regarding scuba as a hobby. If, after checking the website, you
find that there are questions that you still have or points that you simply
do not understand, feel free to post 'em up - we're a fairly helpful lot in
here most of the time...

BTW - in what part of the country do you live? I might help us to recommend
a suitable dive school/instructor...

"Bardo" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:bqiae7$22fv4a$1@ID-115313.news.uni-berlin.de...
>
> "worto03" <worto03@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:8_1zb.17455$%74.146885729@news-text.cableinet.net...
> > Very new in fact I havn't tried it at all yet but I want to do it early
> next
> > year any tips on where a good place to learn in the UK is ?
> >
> > I've heard that there is a 4 day course I can take for about £225 but
I'm
> > having trouble finding any decent web sites on it.
> >
> > Is there a forum you all use or just this newsgroup because unless I can
> > find a good beginners guide I'm going to have quite a few basic
questions
> in
> > the next couple of months ?
> >
> > Any pointers would be really helpful,
>
> Hi Steve - welcome to the group!
>
> May I start by pointing you to the following website...
>
> http://www.ukrs.org.uk
>
> You'll find that it'll probably answer quite a few of the basic questions
> you have regarding scuba as a hobby. If, after checking the website, you
> find that there are questions that you still have or points that you
simply
> do not understand, feel free to post 'em up - we're a fairly helpful lot
in
> here most of the time...
>
> BTW - in what part of the country do you live? I might help us to
recommend
> a suitable dive school/instructor...
>
>

Thanks I'll go and check out that site, I'm in the West Midlands in
Stourbridge (near Dudley), probably should have put that in my post!

Bardo wrote:

>>Is there a forum you all use or just this newsgroup because unless I can
>>find a good beginners guide I'm going to have quite a few basic questions
>> in
>>the next couple of months ?
>>
>>Any pointers would be really helpful,
>
>
> Hi Steve - welcome to the group!
>
> May I start by pointing you to the following website...
>
> http://www.ukrs.org.uk
>
And another fantastic tool is the google groups tool which you can use
to search our archive - most things have come up at one time or another...


http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl...p=uk.rec.scuba

Ben


--
Ben Panter, Edinburgh
My name (no spaces)@bigfoot which is a com.

"worto03" <worto03@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8_1zb.17455$%74.146885729@news-text.cableinet.net...
> Very new in fact I havn't tried it at all yet but I want to do it early
next
> year any tips on where a good place to learn in the UK is ?
>
> I've heard that there is a 4 day course I can take for about £225 but I'm
> having trouble finding any decent web sites on it.

That is almost certainly the PADI Open Water course you are talking about.
That is what I started with (only I did mine out in Tenerife cos I was a
wimp back then...). It involves a small pile of self study, read the book,
there are quizzes in there to complete, knowledge review questions to
complete, learn how to use the dive tables etc. This will all be backed up
with videos and discussion on the first two of your "theory and pool" days.
You will generally complete 4 dives in the pool during your first weekend
session, practising basic skills including regulator recovery, mask
clearing, bouyancy control and others. Your second weekend will then be
spent at a dive site somewhere completing 4 Open Water dives. You also have
a multiple choice exam to pass.

There is also the "club" way and someone who knows more than me (i.e.
something!) will be along shortly to explain how it works...

> Is there a forum you all use or just this newsgroup because unless I can
> find a good beginners guide I'm going to have quite a few basic questions
in
> the next couple of months ?

Go ahead and ask - we won't bite (too hard...)

> Any pointers would be really helpful,

As others have said - the UKRS website is a great resource!


CAS
--
PADI AOW? Get Rescue Training on UKRS Course #1 -
http://divesite.calumscott.me.uk/ukrs/rescue_diver_2004
Temperature @ Stoney? Find it or share it @
http://stoneytemps.calumscott.me.uk/

"CAS" <calumscottTAKETHISBITOUT@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bqidp5$233sdo$1@ID-193985.news.uni-berlin.de...
> "worto03" <worto03@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:8_1zb.17455$%74.146885729@news-text.cableinet.net...
> > Very new in fact I havn't tried it at all yet but I want to do it early
> next
> > year any tips on where a good place to learn in the UK is ?
> >
> > I've heard that there is a 4 day course I can take for about £225 but
I'm
> > having trouble finding any decent web sites on it.
>
> That is almost certainly the PADI Open Water course you are talking about.
> That is what I started with (only I did mine out in Tenerife cos I was a
> wimp back then...). It involves a small pile of self study, read the
book,
> there are quizzes in there to complete, knowledge review questions to
> complete, learn how to use the dive tables etc. This will all be backed
up
> with videos and discussion on the first two of your "theory and pool"
days.
> You will generally complete 4 dives in the pool during your first weekend
> session, practising basic skills including regulator recovery, mask
> clearing, bouyancy control and others. Your second weekend will then be
> spent at a dive site somewhere completing 4 Open Water dives. You also
have
> a multiple choice exam to pass.
>
> There is also the "club" way and someone who knows more than me (i.e.
> something!) will be along shortly to explain how it works...
>
> > Is there a forum you all use or just this newsgroup because unless I can
> > find a good beginners guide I'm going to have quite a few basic
questions
> in
> > the next couple of months ?
>
> Go ahead and ask - we won't bite (too hard...)
>
> > Any pointers would be really helpful,
>
> As others have said - the UKRS website is a great resource!
>
>
> CAS
> --
> PADI AOW? Get Rescue Training on UKRS Course #1 -
> http://divesite.calumscott.me.uk/ukrs/rescue_diver_2004
> Temperature @ Stoney? Find it or share it @
> http://stoneytemps.calumscott.me.uk/
>
>

If you use a BSAC club if its anything like ours you will do roughly 15
dives before you qualify,around £120.

Two suggestions:
1) Look in the phone book for a diving school. Most are PADI, (see
www.padi.co.uk) and will start you off with the Open Water course. You can
even do the classroom/pool stuff in the UK and finish off the open water
dives somewhere exotic. Suits those who want the convenience of a business
geared up to serve you as a client. Standards of training and safety are
high in the UK.

2) Consider joining a BSAC Club. For significantly less than £225 you will
become a full member of an active diving club who will train you more slowly
(but also more surely) included in the membership fee. Our club
www.WFSAC.info would be glad to see you if you live nearby. Otherwise, see
http://www.bsac.org/branches/branchlist.htm The BSAC club system
(www.bsac.org) suits those looking to achieve a bit more self-reliance, as
(almost) all involved are amateurs. You're probably more likely to end up
coxing the boat if you join a BSAC club, as the members will own it!
Standards are every bit as high. Many clubs start training after the new
year so that new members are ready to join expeditions in the spring.


--
######################
## PH, London ##
######################


worto03 wrote:
> Very new in fact I havn't tried it at all yet but I want to do it
> early next year any tips on where a good place to learn in the UK is ?
>
> I've heard that there is a 4 day course I can take for about £225 but
> I'm having trouble finding any decent web sites on it.
>
> Is there a forum you all use or just this newsgroup because unless I
> can find a good beginners guide I'm going to have quite a few basic
> questions in the next couple of months ?
>
> Any pointers would be really helpful,
> Cheers,
> Steve.

"Philip Herlihy" <foof8500@REMOVEherlihy.eu.com> wrote ...

> 1) Look in the phone book for a diving school.

Comes back and ask us as well, somebody on here may well know the school
having trained with them in the past.

> Most are PADI, (see www.padi.co.uk) and will start you off with
> the Open Water course.

You can also mix 'n match and do BSAC courses at some schools. Exactly the
same training as done in the clubs (ver similar to SAA training as well).
But who who train with doesn't really matter that much, it's the QUALITY of
the training and the instructor that really counts.

> You can even do the classroom/pool stuff in the UK and
> finish off the open water dives somewhere exotic.

Or even cheap and less exotic like the Red Sea. That's a good way to learn,
it's called a referral course. To finish the course off you go on holida and
get your first diving experience after training whilst it's all still in
your mind.

BEWARE OVER-SELL! There's loads of courses you can do, people want to sell
you them. IMHO the best way is to do a course, then do some diving for
experience, then do another course. The basic training you have been looking
at is just that - basic. It will get you started but there's loads more to
learn if you want to.

> 2) Consider joining a BSAC Club. For significantly less than £225
> you will become a full member of an active diving club who will
> train you more slowly (but also more surely) included in the
> membership fee.

It's not always significantl less, when you start adding it all up it often
works out about the same. But it's slower, much more liesurly, no "we've GOT
to finish this today" presssure plus you get club membership and insurance
for a year and a ready made supply of diving buddies.

A lot of us on here mix the two, we use some commercial training, some club
training, we're club members, but we also go on commercial trips.

Plus of course...

3) Consider joining a SAA Club. Very similar to the BSAC, the two
organisations work very closely together. The SAA are smaller than the BSAC
but if there's a club near you then they are worth a look. Their web site is
on http://www.saa.org.uk/.


If you're thinking of going the club route then visit a few in our area, you
should be made very welcome! All clubs have a different 'character', find
one that you like.

HTH

Keith L

All good advice. The "Peak Performance Buoyancy" course was excellent,
but I have my doubts about the "Underwater Poetry" course...

--
######################
## PH, London ##
######################


Keith Lawrence wrote:
> BEWARE OVER-SELL! There's loads of courses you can do, people want to
> sell you them. IMHO the best way is to do a course, then do some
> diving for experience, then do another course.

Just a quick one to say thanks to everyone who posted, it's going to take me
a while to take it all in & look at the various options availiable.

Club vs PADI seems to be the first decision to make.

Many-thanks for the pointers & advice.
Steve.

"Philip Herlihy" <foof8500@REMOVEherlihy.eu.com> wrote in message
news:bqjcrq$hqv$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
> All good advice. The "Peak Performance Buoyancy" course was excellent,
> but I have my doubts about the "Underwater Poetry" course...
>
> --
> ######################
> ## PH, London ##
> ######################
>
>
> Keith Lawrence wrote:
> > BEWARE OVER-SELL! There's loads of courses you can do, people want to
> > sell you them. IMHO the best way is to do a course, then do some
> > diving for experience, then do another course.
>
>