Diving
Type of diving we do
This tends to be standard club diving, a mixture of Reef/Wreck in the 20-30m. All diving grades are catered for in the club and dives are arranged with this in mind.
How often we go
Some members will dive throughout the year, but for most, the dive season starts around Easter time and finishes around November.
At the start of each year we normally plan for long weekend trips on each Bank Holiday weekend, a one week holiday during the summer, with day trips running every other weekend in-between these.
Where we go
For day trips we tend to frequent the South Devon and Dorset coastline. Longer weekend trips tend to venture further a field to Cornwall and South/South West Wales.
We organise at least a one-week holiday each summer in the U.K, normally in Cornwall. Most people take their families along and it tends to be quite a sociable event.
Most years, depending on demand, we will also organise a weeks holiday somewhere a bit warmer!
The Red Sea is a Club favourite, giving a good balance between decent diving and cost.
In recent years we’ve also had trips to Gozo, Malta and further a field to places like the Maldives, the Caribbean and Mauritius!
Dive Trips
All club dives are advertised in advance on a notice board in the clubhouse. There are no “Private” dive trips and every member is given an equal opportunity.
On most dive trips we try to cater for all experience levels and will take extra boats to accommodate the number of people who wish to dive.
After all, there’s no point joining a dive club and finding you can’t get a dive in because the trips are always full!
Sometimes though, we have to limit a dive trip to a specific number or grade of diver. When the list is put up it’s “first come first served” with a reserve list.
Because we own our own boat most diving within the club is RIB based. This means we can be a lot more flexible as to when and where we dive.
If the weather is looking good it’s not uncommon to arrange a dive on a Club night for the forthcoming weekend. Some club members work shift patterns so the chance to slip away for a quiet mid-week dive is sometimes on the cards!
Safety
We recognise that Scuba Diving can sometimes be a challenging sport and as a club we take active steps to ensure all dives are carried out within the current BSAC safety guidelines. In addition to these rules, we also require that all club dives contain a safety stop, regardless of depth or no stop time remaining.
We do support decompression diving in line with current BSAC thinking. All we ask is that it's planned for, before the dive.
Costs
We all realise that diving can be an expensive sport, so as a club, we always try to keep the costs to a minimum. Diving is basically charged at cost plus a nominal fee towards boat maintenance.