USSAC University of Sussex Sub Aqua Club

Will I have to be super-fit to dive?
Will I need to buy any special equipment?
Where can I get the gear I need?
I qualified with PADI (or another agency) - can I join the club and dive with you?
I qualified with PADI - can I carry on training with you?
I'm qualified, but did the course ages ago and have forgotten a lot of it!
I've only dived abroad, will that be a problem?
What's the difference between BSAC and PADI training?
Will my qualifications be recognised around the world?
I am a member of staff at Sussex / Brighton Uni, can I join?
I am no longer a student, can I still join USSAC?
Where can I find out more?
When do you meet?
Where do you dive?
What does it cost?
What's it like diving in the UK?

Q: Will I have to be super-fit to dive?
A: Not at all. You do need to be medically fit and a reasonable swimmer, but you don't have to be an athlete to dive.

Q: Will I need to buy any special equipment?
A: The club has the whole range of scuba gear for you to use, but we recommend that you get your own mask, fins and snorkel though as these really need to fit you properly.

Q: Where can I get the gear I need?
A: We'll be organising a trip to Ocean View, a dive shop in Lancing, where you can get a mask, fins and a snorkel. Otherwise good deals can be found online or on ebay for second hand gear. If you want advice on any of these, or want to know it what you're looking at is a good deal, just ask.

Q: I qualified with PADI (or another agency) - can I join the club and dive with you?
A: You certainly can. You can dive with us to the level (depth) that your qualification allows. Depending on when you did your last dive, we may ask you to do a refresher dive with us in the pool though. There are a couple of skills and bits of equipment that we use that you may not have come across before, but we can easily teach you these as and when you dive with us. Some of our senior members only have PADI qualifications.

Q: I qualified with PADI - can I carry on training with you?
A: Yes. You can 'cross-over' from one training level to another. Just ask and we'll let you know which is appropriate, but you can find more information at the following link (in the documents on the right-hand side of the page): http://www.bsac.com/page.asp?section=1629

Q: I'm qualified, but did the course ages ago and have forgotten a lot of it!
A: Not a problem. You can quickly get back into the swing of things at one of our regular pool sessions (every other Tuesday during term time). You might also consider sitting in on the lectures we hold for new trainees too (one Saturday in November). Then when you're ready to get back into the open water you can take it as easy as you like with some shallow diving first.

Q: I've only dived abroad, will that be a problem?
A: Not at all. For your first few dives with us we'll buddy you up with an experienced diver so both you and we can make sure your first few dives go smoothly. We can arrange trips to in-land sheltered water sites for open-water re-freshers if necessary too.

Q: What's the difference between BSAC and PADI training?
A: In as much as they are both professionally run organisations that offer well proven training programmes there isn't that much of a difference. The BSAC training programme, however, is better suited for both UK diving and particularly developing your skills in a club, amongst the reasons for this are these:

PADI is a commercial operation - most instructors will be paid for their time - with BSAC (as a club) all instructors are volunteers. This helps to keep costs to a minimum. Also, being members of BSAC we benefit from access to a national network of courses and materials that a single club might not usually be able to provide.

As far as the content of the training is concerned, perhaps the main advantage of the BSAC approach is that it incorporates the skills needed to use Nitrox from the very beginning.  Put simply, in nitrox diving the diver uses a mix of gas that is more rich in oxygen than 'normal' air (usually 32% or 36% rather than 21%). This allows you to stay down longer and to get back into the water sooner after each dive. In PADI Nitrox diving is offered as an extra speciality course (which will usually cost around £100 to complete).

BSAC training also includes the skills you will need to perform decompressions stops - which can allow you to stay longer at depth (although there's no obligation to do so).

Q: Will my qualifications be recognised around the world?
A: Yes they will. BSAC qualifications are recognised (and well respected) all over the world.

Q: I am a member of staff at Sussex / Brighton Uni, can I join?
A: Yes you can, although our non-student fees are more than those for students, they're still very reasonable. Please ask email sussexsubaqua@gmail.com for more information.

Q: I am no longer a student, can I still join USSAC?
A: Yes you can. We accept non-student members, especially those looking to extend their diving skills and want to progress as instructors.

Q: Where can I find out more?
A: Keep an eye on our website (www.sussexsubaqua.co.uk) and also check out www.BSAC.com for more general information.
You can sign up to our mailing list here: https://lists.sussex.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/ussu_subaqua-members

Q: When do you meet?
A: We meet every Tuesday either at the *** room or at the swimming pool at Roedean School (meet at our 'kit room' behind the Sports Centre 7pm.

Q: Where do you dive?
A: All over the place. Until the end of October we'll be diving from our 6m RIB (boat) from Brighton Marina - come and join us if you like! We also organise trips all along the south coast - in the last year we've organised trips to Devon & Cornwall. Last New Year we were diving in the Sound of Mull and can easily organise another trip up there.
In previous years we've organised trips to Malta and Egypt and are looking at one to the Canary Islands next year.
Otherwise, the world really is your oyster. Members of our club have, this year alone, been diving in Indonesia, South America, Egypt and New Zealand.

Q: What does it cost?
A: It's a little complicated as it depends on what you want to do and whether or not your a student - so read on for full details of what it costs, and what you get for your money - we're afraid that diving isn't cheap, but we're absolutely certain that you won't be able to do it any cheaper anywhere else! Breaking up the costs like this also means that you won't have to pay all at once (although you're more than welcome to do so if you like!).

Membership:

Student Membership (with BSAC) - £80.

Club membership is £20, which covers general maintenance of our equipment. You will also have to be a member of the Students Union Sport Fed, which costs £35 (although you will already have this if you have joined any other Sports / Outdoor Activity Clubs). You will then be covered by their insurance during club diving activities. You will also need to become a (student) member of BSAC (which gives you their third party dive insurance and access to their online magazine and databases of information) - this costs £25.

So if you want to just join so you can come diving with us (and be fully insured to do so) it will cost £20 + £35 + £25 = £80.

Non-Student Membership - £130 (£80 if you are already a member of BSAC).

Club Membership fees for non students are £35. Sports Fed membership for non-students is £35 (which covers you with their insurance), but you will also have to pay an Associate Membership of Sussex Students Union, which is £10 (£4 for unwaged). BSAC Membership for non- students is £50 and includes their third party liability insurance and a years subscription to the excellent Dive Magazine.

So a non-student member, who wants to dive with us and is not already a member of BSAC, will pay £35 + £35 + £10 + £50 = £130.

Diving Costs.

We try to keep all of our diving costs to an absolute minimum. We have a small charge to cover the eventual replacement of the equipment, which for students is £5 for a day up to a maximum of £15 for a longer trip. So a typical shore-dive could cost at little as £8.50 (kit + an air fill, or £12 for two). Costs of diving from our boat will depend on how far we are travelling to the site, with the cost of the fuel being shared evenly, but generally a student would expect to pay less than £20 for two dives.

Training.

Ocean Diver - £100 + some dive expenses.

We charge a flat fee of £100 for the Ocean diver training which includes the pool fees, air, kit hire for the pool training and the BSAC Training Pack. It also includes kit-hire for the open water dives that you do to complete the qualification.  The cost of these open water dives will depend on where and when you do them.  If you are in a hurry, we could organise a trip to an inland site, but this would necessarily cost more (with transport and entrance fees for you and the instructors) and would likely be very chilly.  A much more leisurely (and enjoyable route) would be to join us for a weekend of shore-diving somewhere sheltered along the South Coast when things start to warm up in the Spring.

So a student who joins us and does the Ocean Diver course, will pay £180 in membership and course fees (£80 for the membership + £100 for the course), plus between around £30 and £100 depending on how you choose to do the open water portion of the course. 

For non-students this will be £230 + the open water expenses (as the club membership and BSAC fees are higher).

This compares very favourably with the typical cost of £375+ for a commercial PADI Open Water course in the UK. Getting a BSAC Ocean Diver qualification also has the huge advantage of including Nitrox Diving from the outset - adding this with PADI requires a speciality course that typically costs an extra £100.

Sports Diver - £55 + dive expenses. 

Sports Diver training costs £55 and includes the training pack and kit and access to the pool for all pool sessions. The open water parts of the qualification are generally done during club dives, so cost as much (or as little!) as they would cost if not training.

So a student joining us already as a BSAC Ocean Diver, PADI Open Water or Advance Open Water diver who wants to become a Sports Diver (and in the process a Nitrox Diver too!) would pay £135 (£55 for the course and £80 for membership) and then pick up the skills 'as and when' - usually during club dives early in the dive season. 

For a non-student this would be £185 (£130 + £55), plus the expenses. 

It's a little trickier to compare these costs directly to PADI as the qualification is closer to Rescue Diver than it is to Advanced Open Water (Sports Diver contains a lot of the rescue skills and basic life support techniques of the PADI Rescue course).  So for PADI you would have to first do the £250 Advanced, before you could approach the £280ish Rescue Diver Course.  Again neither of the PADI courses include Nitrox or Decompression diving. 

Pool (for other training, refreshers & swimming) - £20.

A one off payment of £20 will give access to all of our ten pool sessions (with air if required). This is essential if you want to try out some kit, do a dry-suit orientation, practice some skills, or just to go for a swim and play some Octopush before joining us in the pub.  Obviously paying this earlier will give you access to more sessions and more time to mess around.  This fee will be knocked off the cost of a course if you subsequently choose to do one with us this year.

Q: What's it like diving in the UK?
A: F##king brilliant!