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PADI Dive courses and trips

Underwater Adventures is a scuba diving club offering scuba diving trips in the UK and abroad and PADI Dive school with meetings in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Cambridge. We have meetings at the Orange Tree pub in Hitchin, the Park Pub in Bedford, and the Red Bull pub in Cambridge, plus pool session at the Robinson pool in Bedford and the Bourn golf club just outside Cambridge. Offering PADI scuba diving courses for all levels from beginner to instructor, UK scuba diving trips all year round plus many foreign dive trips. We offer full equipment servicing and compressed air or nitrox fills delivered right to your door as well as scuba diving equipment rental and servicing plus discounts on courses and dive trips for club members.
Contact us for more info
Scuba diving training Bedfordshire

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

Humongous thanks to the most tolerant and supportive instructor I could ever have wished for! Today's dive in the Lake was awesome and I loved every minute! Next dive - Hikkaduwa in Sri Lanka in 3 weeks!!!
Underwater Adventures have blessed me with a whole new world. Please ensure you contact them for all your scuba inquiries! Stephen is an exceptional instructor and the otherdivemasters involved really have been outstanding throughout my 6 months of training and preparation... it has been a long road but I am over the moon. I am now a PADI open water scuba diver and immensely proud of myself!

Aiden Lunnon, Hertfordshire 5 out of 5 stars
padi scuba diving courses in hertfordshire bedfordshire and cambridge
PADI Scuba diving training Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridge

LATEST EVENTS

16thFebruary

Dive club trips


 
Below are a list of the dive club current dive trips with spaces available and a little bit about the trip but if you would like full details about the trips please contact us and just so you know space go to club members first so if you would like to find out more about the underwater adventures dive club please check out this link.
 
12th-12th April Qualifying weekend
 
The first qualifying weekend of the year at Gildenburgh water where we will be completing the qualifying dives for the courses we run and this weekend we will be doing PADI open water course, PADI advanced open water, and the PADI drysuit course but divers who are not on courses are, as always, welcome to come along for a dive and we will happily find you a buddy if you want one.
 
19th-26th April Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt  £499 plus flights per person
 
With Sharm airport opening up to direct flight from the UK again after 3 years this is the perfect time to pop over for a visit to one of the most popular diving holiday destinations in the world.
We have booked a trip from the 19th-26th April with Camel divers which includes 5 days diving off the local wrecks and reefs plus an extra day diving the Thistlegorm, said to be one of the best wreck dives in the world
out: London Gatwick Sun 19 Apr 2020.
dep 09:40 arr 15:55. TUI Airways
rtn: Sharm El Sheikh Sun 26 Apr 2020.
dep 16:55 arr 21:40. TUI Airways
The price is £499 plus flights and this includes transfer to and from the airport, 7 night B&B accommodation and the camel hotel in Sharm, 5 days diving the local wrecks and reefs plus a day trip out to do two dives on the World famous wreck of the Thistlegorm (check out the video here)
 
2nd May Vobster inland dive site  £22 per diver entry fee
 
Vobster is my personal favorite inland dive site but that is mostly for the warm showers and wrist band payment system which allows you to buy all the tea you want during the day without having to carry a load of change around with you which as a diver can be an issue. It is also a large dive site with many attractions sunk in the lake especially for the divers and these are at different depths which means it’s a great dive site for divers of all levels and qualification.
 
16th 17th May Qualifying weekend
 
The second qualifying weekend of the year which also tends to be one of the busiest with PADI open water and PADI rescue diver courses running plus a few specialties. If there is a specialty course you would like to do please drop us a line and we can see if we can fit it in over this weekend.
 
23rd May Dosthill inland dive site   £15 per diver
 
Dosthill inland dive site is the little sister site to Gildenburgh where we do our qualifying weekends but offers some really good diving with loads of wildlife and some friendly staff. You can check out the videos of some of our previous dives there in the links below.
Diving the wreck of the plane at Dosthill
The fish of Dosthill dive Site
 
6th June Chepstow inland dive site   £20 per diver
 
The National Diving and Activities Centre (NDAC) at Chepstow is always a popular dive site with loads to see and do there plus with a couple of converted transit vans to run you for the carpark down to the water's edge and back again with your kit, it is an easy and relaxing bit of diving with something to see at all the different depths. Plus, with it being at the end of the M4 motorway it is nice and easy for everyone to get to.
 
13th-14th June Swanage dive trip £3 to dive the pier for a day £26-£34 per boat dive depending on the wreck
 
The dive club's first trip to Swanage of the year. We normally head down there as the Shuttle service run Swanage boat charters from the pier to any of the large wrecks just off the coast makes diving easy and fun with great diving for those of all levels. I will be taking a group of children down for their first sea dives under the pier and out to a couple of wrecks but I can also organize some deeper diving for those who want to do it and if anyone is interested I will be running a PADI wreck diver course over this weekend?
 
20th-21st June Qualifying weekend
 
The third qualifying weekend of the year at Gildenburgh and we will be running courses and arranging the normal fun dives.
 
3rd 5th July Plymouth dive trip with In Deep diving £310pp
 
This is a 3-day dive trip offered by In Deep Diving is an absolute steal at just £310 per person for 3 days diving and 3 nights B&B accommodation. The wrecks diving out of Plymouth is some of the best in the world with my personal favorite, the James Egan Lane, a world war 2 liberty ship (click here for a blog post about the history of some of the wrecks you can find out of Plymouth) which was sunk in 1945 just outside Plymouth harbor by a German U-boat.
So this package includes:
• Free on-site car parking
• Six dives from one of our two hard boats
• Six single cylinder air fills or upgrades to Nitrox 32% only £10.00/per day.
• Free Hot drinks & light lunch on-board
• Three nights accommodation at the Mount Batten Watersports centre 20m from the pontoon & the dive centre with Waterside views!
• Cooked or continental breakfast
• Three days full use of the Mount Batten Watersports facilities including of course the bar where you will receive 10% discount!
Spaces on this trip are limited some please let me know if you want to come asap.
 
17th-19th July Pembrokeshire  £48 per day diving plus £130 for the blue shark trip accommodation to be arranged through Trudi
 
Pembrokeshire has some of the best wildlife diving in the UK with the gulf steam bringing warm water and wildlife all the way across the Atlantic from the Caribbean. This is the best place to sea turtles in UK waters along with so much other life. Trudi, who is arranging this trip has also sorted out a chance to go out and spend a day swimming with Blue sharks for those who are interested, the blue shark trip also gives you a chance to spot whales and dolphins. This is also a lovely part of the country with some beautiful scenery.
 
25th-26th July qualifying weekend
 
Another qualifying weekend at Gildenburgh which is open to all club members who wish to come down for a dive or learn something new by taking a new course.
 
1st-2nd August north trip to Capenwary   £17 per day for dive site entry accommodation to be arranged once I know the numbers who would like to join us on this trip.
 
Capenwary is an inland dive site we first visited two years ago and we were amazed by the visibility and wildlife including Sturgeon and Brown Trout just swimming around the entry ramp. We will be spending two days at this dive site as it is a bit of a treck up there but it is worth it for the diving, check out the video here from last years trip to Capenwary.
 
7th-9th August Porthkerris cabin, Cornwall.  £110 each for the 3 nights which includes unlimited shore diving, £60 for 2 boat dives on Celtic cat. Blue Shark trips are £110 each for the day.
 
Porthkerris is a dive site in south Cornwall which we normally visit at the beginning of the year due to the sheltered location and the fact that if the weather blows up, it is an easy drive to the other coast. Last year we got to see basking sharks in the bay and each year they are visited by whales and dolphins. The shore diving is either a kelp forest or one of the two reefs which are just offshore (check out the video here) or you have the option to join the big boat to head offshore and dive the Manicals, a reef system which is covered in jewel anemones giving it a colour as good as if not better then you will find on any tropical reef.
Cornwall as some amazing diving all around eh coast with at this time of the year the water temp is normally around the 20 degrees C mark so it is nice and warm.
We will be staying at the log cabin which is a 200-metre walk from the sea edge and we will be in a little cove surrounded by nature which gives you a very relaxed atmosphere. In the cove is a dive shop, air filling station, and a café so everything we need as divers. Places are limited to just 8 places in the cabin so please don’t hesitate to book your spot.
click here for a video from one of our trips to porthkerris to see what the diving is like
 
15th-16th August qualifying weekend

Another qualifying weekend at Gildenburgh which is open to all club members who wish to come down for a dive or learn something new by taking a new course.
 
21st-24th St Abbs and the Farne Islands

                 The St Abbs area is well known among the diving community as some truly great diving and the Farne Islands is home to a colony of friendly grey seals (check out the video here) who love to come out and play with divers. Simon Turnbull is arranging this trip and I have added a link here to the information sheet about the dive trip he has made up for us. Click here for the information sheet.
 
5th-6th September Swanage   £3 to dive the pier for a day £26-£34 per boat dive depending on the wreck

The dive club final trip to Swanage and on this trip we will be diving some of the deeper wrecks Swanage has to offer. Although we haven’t picked them yet as we will decide what wrecks we would like to do a little closer to the time and when we have an idea of who would like to join us so that we can all help make the decision of what we would like to dive.
 
19th-20th September Qualifying weekend

Second to last qualifying weekend of the year and one which is normally very busy with the people who have tried scuba diving while on holiday and come back and want to learn.
 
17th-18th October qualifying weekend

                Last qualifying of the year (probably) due to the water temp starting to get a little chilly.
 
25th October to 1st November Ibiza dive trip?

                 The details of this trip are yet to be finalized as the flight has not become available yet but the plan is to flight out and catch a bit of sun before the winter sets in and to take part in some of the awesome diving Ibiza has to offer. Before you ask, we will be staying in the north of the island away from all of the big clubs but there is still plenty to do in the evenings and the plan is to stay until Halloween and all get dressed up and going out on our last night for a bit of fun.
The diving in Ibiza itself is excellent with huge amounts of marine life for the Mediterranean like Ibiza, unlike the other Islands, hasn’t depended so much on fishing over the past 50/60 years due to the hippy invasion followed by the party scene being where the Island gets most of its wealth from. Add this to the Mediterranean largest wreck in the Dom Pedro and some great reefs, Ibiza is a hidden gem for scuba divers and well worth a visit. So if you are interested in this trip please let me know and I can keep you informed as to the details when they become available.
 
 
Although this list does cover most weekends through the summer I have left a few free so that we can add other trips when they become available so please also keep an eye on our calendar (click here) which is also a google calendar so you can link it to your own and stay updated.
 
15thFebruary

underwater games for scuba divers


During the winter season, most of us are a little reluctant to venture out to our normal dive sites and let's be honest, swimming around and around in a pool can get a let boring so I have come up with a list of possible underwater games we can play in the pool which will help us keep our scuba diving skills up while still in the nice warm pool while it's raining outside.


                                                           


Egg and Spoon Race
There are a few variations on the spoon race, but the basic premise is balancing an object, egg or probably more practical golf ball on (or under) a spoon and swim as fast as you can without losing it. Another option is to use an upside-down spoon to keep a ping pong ball from escaping to the surface. For an added challenge, divers can try to hand off the egg or ping pong ball to a partner – relay race style.
Underwater darts
We have a number of toy torpedoes which I bring along to every pool night and with these and after fashioning some rings which we could place on the floor of the pool we should be able to sort out an would be an exciting game of darts by throwing the torpedoes through the rings, each of which will be of a different valve.
Obstacle Course
Swimming through a suspended hula hoop is one of the fun activities we do with the children on the master seal team course, and it’s also a great component to an underwater obstacle course. Swimming through a web of bungee cords or crisscrossing PVC pipe can also be a fun challenge. For advanced divers, create a passageway that requires the scuba unit to be removed and push it in front of them. We could set this up at the Polam swim school one evening because that is a private pool with a number of hoops and toys we can use and has a deep end of over 2 metres.


                                                     


Night dive practice
Another one from the children’s master seal team course is the night dive. Again, at the Polam swim school as we can switch the lights off and have a bit of a laugh with our torches in the dark.
Underwater Running
As divers, we like to feel as though we’re one with the fish – gliding along effortlessly and moving with the current. But have you ever tried propelling yourself underwater the same way you do on land? Hand your fins to a buddy and try “running” along the bottom of a pool. It’s even harder (and funnier) than you might imagine. For added hahas, challenge another buddy pair to a race across the pool.
 
15thFebruary

The different types of scuba diving buddy you’ll come across



Finding a good dive buddy can take time as all divers are different and finding someone with the same style, pace and interests as you can be difficult. Dive buddies come in all shapes and sizes. Some are amazing divers and become lifelong friends, others make you wonder – did this person forge their certification card? The only real way you can find a buddy who works for you is to dive with them so there is a lot of trial and error until you find the dive buddy with whom you work best with but that prefect dive buddy is out there so it is just a case of just keep diving and you will eventually find the buddy who works with you. One way to speed this up is to first know what sort of diver you are so below I have put together a list of the different types of diver out they so that you can work out which type of diver you are and start looking for a similar type of diver as a buddy.

                                                             



The Nature Guide

The Nature Guide has both the PADI Fish Identification and Underwater Naturalist specialty certifications or maybe even some sort of marine biology qualification, and a library of Fish ID books in their car. Throughout the dive s/he will regularly signal for your attention to point out juvenile fish, camouflaged cephalopods, and interesting rock formations. The Nature Guide is an ideal buddy for the photographer/videographer or someone who just loves looking at the fishes.

The Photographer/Videographer

There are pros and cons to having The Photographer/Videographer as your dive buddy. You’ll get great photos of your dive, but your buddy’s attention may be behind the lens a lot of the time. This is why it is good for divers who are into underwater photography to buddy together as you can both take turns in setting up your pictures and then chat about them when you are back on the boat allowing you both to learn for each other's experiences. But, the problem with underwater photographers is that their attention may not always be with their buddy so if you are going to buddy with a photographer or are one yourself, please, please, do try and keep an eye on each other so you don’t get separated.


The Swimmer

Ever have a dive buddy who wanted to explore the entire ocean floor on one dive? If so, you were likely paired up with The Swimmer. This type of buddy tends to run out of air quickly and utilizes a dangerous “same ocean same dive” philosophy. The reason they go through their air so quickly is that they tend to swim at 100 miles per hour trying to see everything. This is not always a bad thing and if the two of you are looking to do the same sort of diving that fine, you’ll probably get to the best bits first just please don’t kick up the bottom before the rest of us have a chance to catch up.

The Slow Poke

The Slow Poke can spend thirty minutes looking at a rock. If it weren’t for the occasional bubbles, you might wonder if a Slow Poke is still alive. This type of buddy isn’t for everyone (they drive Swimmers crazy) but are well-suited for photographers/videographers and Nature Guides. These type of divers tend to also be down for a long time and will get to see the things most of us would never even notice so if you are not one of these divers it can be an idea to let them go first so that you catch up with them when they find something awesome.

The Bragger

No matter where you’ve been diving s/he was there years ago – before other divers ruined it. The Bragger has never peed in their wetsuit ever and can make a three-hour dive on a single tank.

Don’t worry about bringing your compass, The Bragger once gave directions to a dolphin and know where all the cool stuff is. This is probably one of those types of buddy you don’t want to be with unless you are like them and then you will normally get along well with them.


                                                            


Captain Shiny 

Another less-than-ideal dive buddy is Captain Shiny unless you are the patient and meticulous (has to be perfect) type of diver as these two tend to work well together as they will compensate for each other while bringing out the best in each other. These divers are easily distracted by marine life, their camera, shiny objects, etc. You may look up to find Captain Shiny diving right on top of you, or swimming away in the opposite direction. 

The “has to be perfect” diver

This is the type of diver who will spend ages making sure they equipment set up is just right and that they know exactly what the plan is and will dive the plan and be back on the boat at the exact time the plan stated. That is why they work really well with the Captain Shiny diver above.

The Tec Diver

When your dive buddy is a Tec Diver, you never have to worry about forgetting a piece of equipment – the Tec Diver has two backups…of everything. The Tec Diver gives great gear-buying advice and will follow you through any swim-through, no matter how small.

Just be prepared for this buddy to continually tell you why you should try rebreather diving.

The Time Capsule Diver

The opposite of The Tech Diver is The Time Capsule Diver. This diver hasn’t purchased new equipment since they started diving. Their BC leaks, their computer only syncs with their transmitter half the time and their faded wetsuit is one dive away from dissolving into the ocean. This dive buddy typically can afford new gear, but takes pride in diving their original equipment even if it has seen better days. Although the scuba equipment may be old it is normally well looked after, well it has to be otherwise how did it last this long.

The bottom crawler.

This diver is always at the bottom of the group, not normally because they went to be able to say they were the deepest but they normally will end up with that accolade. They will always be spotted below you and as such make it easy for buddies to know where they are, just look down.

The Castaway

You probably won’t know The Castaway is your dive buddy until the dive is almost over. After diligently following them and keeping close contact like good buddies should, The Castaway will turn to you and signal “where’s the boat?” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ At this point, you’ll both be wishing you’d taken the PADI Underwater Navigator specialty.

The Newbie

Being buddied up with a new diver has its pros and cons. Their air consumption might not be great, but their enthusiasm is often contagious. If you get a new diver as your buddy, do your best to be a good role model by staying off the reef and doing regular air checks. Avoid tight swim-throughs, and point out any hazards they might not be aware of (fire coral, titan triggerfish, electric rays, etc).

The Best Type of Dive Buddy?
A PADI Rescue Diver. Who would you rather have as a buddy? An Open Water Diver or a PADI® Rescue Diver?  The Rescue Diver course is “serious fun,” a rewarding way to learn safe diving skills and gain confidence.

Whether you’re a newly certified diver or PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, you can start the Rescue Diver program. You’ll start by learning to identify potential problems before they happen and, working with a PADI Instructor, you’ll role play emergency situations and practice how to respond. Along the way you’ll familiarize yourself with your buddy’s gear so you’ll be better prepared in case of a problem.

Divers who take the PADI Rescue Diver course frequently say it’s the best course they’ve ever taken, and many instructors say Rescue is their favorite class to teach because of the transformation they see in their students. To get started, follow this link or get in contact with us here at Underwater adventures