UNDERWATER ADVENTURES
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Scuba diving in Bedford
 
Underwater adventures is a scuba diving club with meeting in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Cambridgeshire and on Thursday evenings we have our Bedford club night at the Park Pub just after our pool session at the Robinson swimming pool which starts at 7:30 pm and is free to members. The Bedford club nights are a chance for club members and anyone who might be interested in scuba diving to come along for a drink and a chat with likeminded people.
The Bedford pool sessions at the Robinson swimming pool, just outside of Bedford park and with ample free parking for the first 2 hours, are a chance for dive club members to practice their skills or maybe try a bit of new equipment they have bought, don’t worry if you don’t have all of your own equipment as the dive club can provide that for you to practice with and the hire of this equipment is included in the membership fee.
We also have use of the Polam swim school pool on Lansdown Road in Bedford which we use for children’s scuba diving classes and for those people who can’t make the Thursday evenings, giving us the flexibility to fit scuba diving classes around your needs.
After the pool sessions at the Robinson pool in Bedford we head down to the Park pub, which is just down the road from the Robinson pool where we meet up with club members who have not been to the pool for a drink and a chat plus maybe a bit of food from their lovely menu which always goes down well after a bit of scuba diving. Here we have the chance to chat about the dive trips we have just been on, the dive trips we have planned and just scuba diving in general, plus this is a great place for new members or people who are thinking of joining the club, to meet up and get to know each other. Don’t worry if you don’t already know how to scuba dive as we will be happy to talk to you about that as well.


                              
 
Learning to scuba dive in Bedford
 
Learning to scuba dive in Bedford couldn’t be easier with our new on-line dive theory, local swimming pool in the centre of the town and specialist scuba diving lake just up the A1 motorway. Booking on your PADI open water course couldn’t be simpler, just clicking on this link to pay online or you can contact us through our Contact page. So why not book on to the PADI open water course today and learn to scuba dive?
The PADI open water course is the most wildly known scuba diving course in the world teaching thousands of new scuba divers each year both here in the UK and all around the world. Some people only think of scuba diving as a warm water sport to be done when on Holiday, but nothing could be further from the truth. The waters around the UK are full of the most wonderful wildlife, check out this video taken from one of our trips to scuba dive with the grey seals of the Farne Islands, and hundreds of years of historic wrecks to explore. We also have several inland training lakes where you can not only learn to scuba dive throughout the year but also gives you a safe place to practice your scuba diving skills.
The PADI open water course offered by Underwater adventures uses the most advanced learning materials with the PADI open water touch which can be completed online in your own time or downloaded to a tablet or phone and completed when is convenient for you, so none of this being stuck in a classroom for hours which is what you will find in other more old fashioned scuba diving schools. We also offer unlimited pool sessions so that you can learn at your own pace without being rushed through the core skills by your instructor who has to get you through the confined water part of the course in under 5 hours, with us you can take the time you need and learn at your own pace without the time pressure offered by other scuba diving schools so if you need 10 or 12 hours to feel comfortable in the water with the new equipment and skills you can, just take as long as you need.
Finally, when you feel ready you can move on to your 4 open water dives which will take place at a specialist scuba diving lake just outside Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire, which has a number of purposely sunken wrecks for you to explore and load of different fish for you to see while completing your scuba diving course. At the end of this, congratulations, you are now a PADI open water scuba diver, you will be awarded the PADI open water scuba divers’ grade which will allow you to scuba dive anywhere in the world to a maximum depth of 18 metres.
Once you have completed this grade you can move up through the scuba diving ratings with the PADI advanced open water diver, the PADI rescue diver to the highest non- professional rating, the PADI master scuba diver or if you prefer you can start to make your way down the professional route with the PADI Divemaster course, an intensive course designed to build your scuba diving knowledge and skill levels to where you can then help teach others to scuba dive, or if you prefer you can just stay at the open water scuba diver level and just enjoy scuba diving for a while and make all your friends jealous of all your stories from the trips you have been on and the awesome things you have seen and experienced

                              
 
About underwater adventures dive club

The underwater adventures dive club was set up in 2008 as a place for like-minded scuba divers to meet up and go scuba diving with none of the politics you often find at other clubs, we are a friendly and social group where everyone is made to feel welcome which is why we have a higher than average percentage of female club members as the underwater adventures dive club doesn’t feel like the “old men’s club” you’ll find elsewhere. We also don’t care who you have learned to scuba dive with before, be it BSAC, SSI, NAUI, SAA, CMAS, we don’t care as everyone is welcome at the underwater adventures dive club
The dive club was formed on the idea of not being tied to a shop so there is no pressure to sell dive equipment to you that you don’t need just because it is in stock but we do have a deal with a dive shop so that you get a discount when buying equipment although you can shop around for the best deal and because we don’t gain anything from it we will always give you unbiased advice when it comes to buying new dive equipment. Another benefit to this is that the dive club members have all different sorts of equipment of their own, not just one or two brands which come from one shop so there is lots of experience for you to draw on when buying dive equipment and if you ask nicely they might even let you try it so you can feel what it is like before you buy the dive equipment.
The club itself has 3 meeting nights, Tuesday’s at the Orange tree pub in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, Wednesday’s at the Red Bull pub in Cambridge and Thursday’s at the Park Pub in Bedford and as a member you are welcome at all of them so even if you can’t make one of the nights you can always come along to another night, in fact, we actually encourage it as it gives you a chance to meet the other members and get to know them before going on a dive trip with them.
Has well as the dive club meeting we have pool nights in Cambridge, the obvious dive club trips and dive club socials which are evens for the members to get together for special events.

                              
 
Dive club socials

The underwater adventures dive club run’s social events throughout the year to give club members a chance to socialize outside of scuba diving and give any non-diving partners a chance to meet your fellow divers. Apart from the obvious Christmas party at the end of the year, we arrange trips to comedy nights, the Cambridge and Bedford beers festivals and even paintballing and other random stuff like that just to help build friendships between the club members and scuba diving is always better with friends.

                              
 
Dive club trips

We run dive trips all around the UK as well as a number of foreign trips each year. To give you an idea this year we have run dive trips around the UK from St Abbs in Scotland to Porthkerris in Cornwall for a total of 14 dive trips in the UK this year and we have already run dive trips to Lanzarote and Ibiza with trips planned to Malta and the Maldives coming up plus a trip to Brussels just before Christmas to dive at Nemo 33 and Todi for a bit of warm water diving plus the world-famous Christmas market where you can pick up last-minute gift ideas for Christmas.
We will also sometimes run dive courses on these dive trips so that you have the chance to learn things like deep diving in the warmer water rather then having to practice emergency safety stops here in the UK, you can do it in the waters of the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean.
For next year we are already planning trips to the Caribbean and the Red Sea with more to come. If this sounds like the sort of thing that would appeal to you why not come along and join the underwater adventures dive club?

                              
 
How to join the dive club and the benefits that include

Joining the underwater adventures dive club couldn’t be easier. It’s just £9.50 a month paid by standing order so that you have full control over the payments and for that you get full access to the dive club pool nights, club nights, social events and dive trips plus you will receive discounts at our partner dive store (Planet scuba) or recommendations from us as to what dive equipment to buy and our advice is always impartial as we don’t sell the dive equipment ourselves and so don’t make any money from it, we will only recommend dive equipment we like.
To join you can check out the dive club page linked here or contact us directly from our contact us page by clicking here or just download the forms, bring them along to the next club night and say Hi.

Dive club benefits

Dive club membership form

Dive club standing order form
 

Scuba diving in Cambridge


 
Underwater adventures dive is a PADI based dive club with club night in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire with club nights at the Red Bull pub, Barton Road in Cambridge running every Wednesday night from 8 pm for club members and anyone interested in scuba diving coming down for a chat over a drink and maybe one of the Red bull’s lovely pizzas. We have Sunday evening pool nights at the Aweswim pool just south of Cambridge. Underwater adventures also run dive trips all around the UK as well as numinous trip abroad each year and have a very active social scene.
The underwater adventures dive club has been teaching the residents of Cambridge to scuba dive since 2015, first at the pool at Bourn Golf club and now at the pool at Aweswim swimming club around 10 minutes south of Cambridge.
Now we have moved to this new pool we will have the flexibility to run Children’s scuba diving courses during the school holiday’s as well as offering private weekday courses for those who are in more of a limited time scale when learning to scuba dive before heading off on holidays.
Underwater adventures offer a full range of PADI scuba diving courses from the discover scuba diving program, where you can try scuba diving for the first time and see if it’s the sport for you, all the way through to professional level courses such as the PADI Divemaster course.



                                          



Learning to scuba dive in Cambridge.
Learning to scuba dive in Cambridge couldn’t be easier with our new on-line dive theory, local swimming pool just south of Cambridge and specialist scuba diving lake just up the A1 motorway. Booking on your PADI open water course couldn’t be more simple, just clicking on this link to pay online or you can contact us through our Contact page. So why not book on to the PADI open water course today and learn to scuba dive?
The PADI open water course is the most wildly known scuba diving course in the world teaching thousands of new scuba divers each year both here in the UK and all around the world. Some people only think of scuba diving as a warm water sport to be done when on Holiday, but nothing could be further from the truth. The waters around the UK are full of the most wonderful wildlife and hundreds of years of historic wrecks to explore. We also have several inland training lakes where you can not only learn to scuba dive throughout the year but also gives you a safe place to practice your scuba diving skills.
The PADI open water course offered by Underwater adventures uses the most advanced learning materials with the PADI open water touch which can be completed online in your own time or downloaded to a tablet or phone and completed when is convenient for you, so none of this being stuck in a classroom for hours which is what you will find in other, more old fashioned scuba diving schools. We also offer unlimited pool sessions so that you can learn at your own pace without being rushed through the core skills by your instructor who has to get you through the confined water part of the course in under 5 hours, with us you can take the time you need and learn at your own pace without the time pressure offered by other scuba diving schools so if you need 10 or 12 hours to feel comfortable in the water with the new equipment you can, just take as long as you need.
Finally, when you feel ready you can move on to your 4 open water dives which will take place at a specialist scuba diving lake just outside Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire, which has a number of purposely sunken wrecks for you to explore and load of different fish for you to see while completing your scuba diving course. At the end of this, congratulations, you are now a scuba diver, you will be awarded the PADI open water scuba divers’ grade which will allow you to scuba dive anywhere in the world to a maximum depth of 18 metres.
Once you have completed this grade you can move up through the scuba diving ratings with the PADI advanced open water diver, the PADI rescue diver to the highest non- professional rating, the PADI master scuba diver or if you prefer you can start to make your way down the professional route with the PADI Divemaster course, an intensive course designed to build your scuba diving knowledge and skill levels to where you can then help teach others to scuba dive, or if you prefer you can just stay at the open water scuba diver level and just enjoy scuba diving for a while and make all your friends jealous of all your stories from the trips you have been on and the awesome things you have seen.


                                      


Dive club meetings
We have dive club meetings every Wednesday evening at the Red Bull pub, Barton road in Cambridge from 8 pm where we chat about upcoming events over a drink and some of the pubs, very tasty pizzas. The club nights are open to everyone who would like to come along, whether you are an experienced diver, or you have never done it before but might like to give it a go. Why not just pop along and join us for a drink and a chat so we will be happy to tell you all about the dive club, what we get up to and how you can join us?
We are an open dive club and welcome members from all training agencies, we don’t care who you learned to scuba dive with, whether its BSAC, SSI, NAUI, SSA, we don’t care and you will be made to feel welcome at our club.
We are normally at the big table in the corner by the fireplace but depending on how many of us turn up that night we might move up to the private room upstairs so if you want to find us you can either give Steve a call on the number on the Contact Us page or ask at the bar and the staff will be happy to point you in our direction.


                                             

 
Dive club events in Cambridge
Has a dive club we also run social events throughout the year as a chance to meet each other and bring our non-scuba diving other half’s along to enjoy getting to meet each other in a non-scuba diving related capacity. Because we also have another dive club around the area, Bedford and Hitchin, these social events allow everyone from all of the different area’s of the dive club to meet up and allow us all to get to know each other before going off for a weekend away on a scuba diving trip.
We have run social nights to the Cambridge comedy festival and the Cambridge beer festival is always a good night out and is very popular with the club members, so from these yearly special events to a night out at a curry house, we will always find something fun and interesting to do on our social nights. We are always looking for other interesting things to do on our social nights so if you have any ideas for us, please feel free to make suggestions for any social night out.


                                       

 
Dive club trips
Scuba diving trips are an important part of any scuba diving club, obviously, and as such, we run dive trips throughout the year all around the UK and abroad. This year (2019) we have organized 16 UK dive trips including dive trips to 3 different locations around the UK to scuba dive with seals which are always fun and engaging, just like little underwater puppies, and 5 Foreign dive trips including a liveaboard to the Maldives in November and you can check out some of the videos from these trips on our YouTube channel.
You can check out the events calendar by clicking here, it is also a google calendar so you can link it to your phone and always keep updated with eh latest events and dive trips.
Because we are such a large dive club, both geographically and in number of scuba divers, all of these trips are full of club members you will have meet during the year at club nights and social events so that you will always feel like you are joining a weekend away in the UK with friends or you will be going on holiday to somewhere nice with a group of fun people you already know and get along with which is one of the main benefits of joining a scuba diving club, getting to enjoy your hobby with like-minded friends who you know you get along with.


                                        

 
How to join the dive club
Joining the underwater adventures dive club couldn’t be easier. It’s just £9.50 a month paid by standing order so that you have full control over the payments and for that you get full access to the dive club pool nights, club nights, social events and dive trips plus you will receive discounts at our partner dive store (Planet scuba) or recommendations from us as to what dive equipment to buy and our advice is always impartial as we don’t sell the dive equipment ourselves and so don’t make any money from it, we will only recommend dive equipment we like.
To join you can check out the dive club page linked here or contact us directly from our contact us page by clicking here or just download the forms, bring them along to the next club night and say Hi.

Dive club membership form

Dive club standing order form
 

What is the PADI rescue diver course?




Scuba divers describe the PADI Rescue Diver course as the most challenging, yet most rewarding course they’ve ever taken. Why? Because you learn to prevent and manage problems in the water, becoming more confident in your skills as a diver, knowing that you can help others if needed.

The PADI rescue diver course is the third core course is the PADI system and the highest-level scuba diver you can reach before deciding if you which you move down the professional or tech routes or to stay as non-professional and aim for your master scuba diver award. The PADI rescue diver course is designed to allow you to learn a wide range of rescue skills, both for yourself and to help rescue other divers, through some basic skill practice in a real environment followed by a lot of scenario practice where you will be able to use the skill’s you have learned in this course and your previous courses to, along with your fellow students, deal with a number of set problems that may occur during your time on the course, so you must be ready to deal with anything that might happen at any time, stay alert.

The PADI rescue diver course is said by those who complete it to be one of the most enjoyable courses they have done while still being incredibly challenging and when asked, a new PADI rescue diver will tell you that it is a very worthwhile course and they would recommend it to anyone thinking of taking the course.



    



How long is the PADI rescue diver course?

The PADI standards state that the PADI rescue diver course should be at least two open water sessions and the minimum recommended time the course should take is at least 25 hours including the dive theory part of the course so if someone offers you a course that is less then any of these please stay well away.
During the Underwater adventures PADI rescue diver course, on top of the two open water sessions and dive theory parts of the course we offer at least one but normally two or three extra hours in the pool beforehand so that you can refresh the basic self-rescue skill’s you learned in the PADI open water course and start to get comfortable with the new rescue skill’s you will learn on this course before you go to open water. While at the open water site you will spend full days on site going over the skills in a real scuba diving environment and dealing with any and all the scenarios your instructors have planned for you. These scenarios can be anything for dealing with a lot of divers to someone having a small cut on their hand, so you should be prepared for anything to happen.



    



What happens during the PADI rescue diver course?

As mentioned above, you will start with your dive theory and pool sessions. The dive theory is completed online with the support of your instructor if you need it. This way you can fit it in around your life, maybe complete a section on the train commute to work, or just by doing a little bit each night once the children have gone to bed. The idea is to make it as easy for your, the student, to fit it around your life as possible all the while you will have the support of your instructor who is just a phone call away anytime you should need it. 
The pool sessions take place at the deep pool in Bedford, where the 4-metre depth gives us plenty of room to work and practice in. First of all, you will practice the basic self-rescue skill’s you learned in your PADI open water course such as cramp removal and tired diver tows, before moving on to learn the best way to raise an unconscious diver from the bottom while keeping yourself safe. You will also practice skill’s like how to perform rescue breaths int eh water on a non-breathing diver and how to deal with a panicking diver among other things and you will be given plenty of time to practice these skills.
During the open water weekend, you will start with simple things like doing a site risk assessment, the thing most divers do every time they go to a dive site but don’t even think about. This time we will get you to write it down and go through it with your course mates and instructors so you have a chance to really think about any risks you might come across and how to minimize them. You will also come up with a plan of what to do in an emergency, if you are at an inland site, what to the procedures already in place if this goes wrong, if you are on a boat, what are the rules of the boat and how do they deal with something happening?
You will then be given time in the water to practice the skills you learned in the pool and maybe learn a few new ones, all the while staying alert for any emergency scenario that might happen, just in case your instructors have something planned for you. This will be the makeup of your two full days at the site and the scenarios will test all of the skills you have learned and give you a chance to practice them in different ways but I can’t go into more detail as that might ruin the surprise.




    




How much does the PADI rescue diver course cost?

The PADI rescue diver course is a very in-depth course which can run over a number of weeks but is still very reasonable at just £499 per person and if you are a member of the dive club it is just £449, plus we do offer monthly payment options if you prefer? If you would like to find out more about joining the Underwater Adventures dive club, please follow this link (CLICK HERE)


What’s the Minimum age for the PADI rescue diver course?

The minimum age for the full PADI rescue diver is 15 but divers from the age of 12 can complete the Junior rescue diver course as long as the instructor feels the diver is strong enough and mentally capable of completing the course requirements.


Do I need a first aid certificate?

Yes, you will need a first aid certificate from a course you have taken within the past two years and you will need to keep your first aid certificate valid with only a 2-year window between first aid courses. 
Most standard first aid certificates are OK for this, just check with your instructor beforehand but we suggest the EFR primary and secondary care course, not only because it is the one we offer but also because it covers a number of things scuba diving related that you won’t normally find on a standard first aid course. You can find out more about the first aid courses we offer by following this link (CLICK HERE)
 



     
  


What’s next after the PADI rescue diver course?

Once you have completed the PADI rescue diver course you can then decide to move on to the PADI Divemaster course, which is the first level of professional scuba diving PADI offer and is the gateway to a career in recreational scuba diving. You also have the option to move into technical scuba diving with rebreathers (one of the oldest forms of diving and has been around before SCUBA systems were invented) or trimix gas blends and extended range scuba diving.
The more technical side of things will allow you to explore deeper and stay under for longer but this does also increase the risks you are taking which is why most people don’t head down this route but it can open up the possibilities for you to explore cave systems no one has ever entered before or dive a sunken wreck no other divers have dived and no other human being has ever seen since it sank.
With the PADI Divemaster course, you learn the basics of looking after students as they learn to scuba dive and move through their scuba diving careers. This also opens up the opportunity for you to progress to instructor level and then up through the instructor levels possibly even aiming for PADI course director, which is the highest level in the PADI system and is the level at which you are teaching new PADI instructors.
Of course, you can still stay at the very respectable level of PADI Rescue diver and once you have reached this level you can look into doing a few specialties in areas of scuba diving that interest you such as Photography or marine ecology and with 5 specialties and once you have completed 50 dives you can apply to become a PADI master scuba diver, which is the highest non-professional level in the PADI recreational system. At underwater adventures we have found this option is very popular, so much so that we have agreed with PADI to extend this and add a couple of extra levels to master scuba diver for those people who have reached this goal but still would like something to aim for without going in to technical or professional diving and you can read more about those options which are only open the member of the underwater adventures dive club by following the link here (CLICK HERE)

If you would like to find out when the next rescue diver course and would like to sign up please contact us by following this link (CLICK HERE)



 

How do I learn to scuba dive?

Learning to scuba dive is a dream for most people and it really is rather easy to learn. The PADI open water course, which is the most wildly recognized and most used entry level scuba diving course, is made up of three-part (dive theory, pool sessions, and 4 open water dives) and can be completed over the space of a few weeks. You can learn to scuba dive anywhere in the world and with our PADI open water course, we can tailor it to be flexible and fit around your needs and time restrictions. If you are not sure about learning to scuba dive here in the UK can do have the option of a PADI referral which is where you complete the first two parts of the course here in the UK and then finish the course with your open water dives while on holiday somewhere hot but I will talk about that a little later

What does learning to scuba dive involve?

The PADI open water course is designed to teach you in a step by step process using some of the latest teaching techniques making it fun and enjoyable so you learn without feeling like you are learning. The first part of the course is the dive theory where you will learn about the effects water pressure might have on you and the air you are breathing, how your equipment works and the basic safety rules you need to follow. This is followed by a series of pool session where you learn the basic dive skills you need to scuba dive safely and be able to enjoy your scuba diving experiences while  third part of the course is where you will be taken to an open water dive site and actually do 4 open water dives under the close eye of your instructor and dive team. Once you have completed these 3 stages of your course you will be qualified as a full PADI open water diver and be able to scuba dive anywhere in the world.

                               

Dive theory

You have a lot of new and exciting equipment to use and ideas to understand and this part of the course is where we start introducing you to these new things. Designed by teaching professionals and constantly improved over the past 50+ years, there is a reason the PADI open water course is the way the world learns to scuba dive and with the introduction of the new online dive theory products, you can start your course in the comfort of your own home and in your own time. You can fit it around your work and home life, be it on your commute to work or while waiting for the children to come out of school. You can make it fit around your needs. 
If you prefer we do also offer 1-2-1 dive theory session with one of our instructors where we will arrange a date and time for one of our instructors to come round to your home and go through it with you at your own pace once you have completed the home study part of the course which uses books and DVDs to take you step by step through the theory.
The materials themselves are made up of 5 chapters each covering a different topic and at the end of each of these chapters is a knowledge review, a small self-assessment if you like, where you can check to make sure you have understood everything and then at the end of the five chapters is the final test, but don’t worry too much about it as it is just going over the stuff you have just read and tested yourself within the knowledge reviews and even if you don’t pass, one of our PADI instructors will go over the things you didn’t quite understand and make sure you are comfortable with it before letting you re-sit the test.

Pool sessions

During the pool sessions, called confined water in the PADI materials, you will start in shallow water which you can stand up in where you will go through the equipment you will be using and take your first breath underwater and yes you will sound a little like Darth Vader when breathing through your regulator (the bit you put in your mouth to breath) on the surface. You will then go for a swim to start to get a feel for the equipment and breathing underwater so that you feel comfortable with it and then to finish your first session you will be shown the first couple of skills such as how to clear your mask underwater and how to take your regulator out and put it back in underwater.
During your subsequent pool sessions, you will be given the chance to develop your buoyancy skills so you don’t bounce along the bottom of the pool and have the chance to practice all of the safety skills. Now with most other dive schools you come across you will only have 5 pool sessions to learn these skill’s but here at underwater adventures we offer unlimited weekly pool sessions so that you can learn at your own pace and have plenty of time to practice the skills you have learned so that you are completely comfortable with them before you move on to your next skill and if you like to can go back over skills you are not sure about during the next couple of weeks. We want you to be the best divers you can be, which is why we give you all the support and time you need to learn.

PADI Referral

This is the point in the PADI system where if you don’t fancy completing your PADI open water course here in the UK you can finish the course while on holiday abroad in a nice warm country. Although the UK does have a lot to offer scuba divers, it is not for everyone and this option does give you the chance to get the bulk of the course out of the way here in the UK so that you are not wasting any of your valuable holidays stuck in classrooms or swimming pools when you can be out diving amazing reefs.
With the referral system, we will take you through the first two parts of your course and sign the certificates to show you have completed them which you will then take with you to your holiday destination and give them to the dive centre over there. They will then give you a quick pool session just in case it has been a while since your last pool session and to give you and the instructor a chance to get to know each other before taking you out to sea for your 4 open water dives over two days. This is a great option for those of you who will only scuba dive when on holiday but the main drawback to this is that it often works out a lot more expensive as you are having to pay two different dive centres. This option doesn’t exclude you from scuba diving in the UK though as even if you have taken this option we are happy to have to join our dive club when you get back and ease you in to scuba diving in the UK and teach you the extra skills you may need such as how to dive in a dry suit or use a delayed surface marker buoy.

Open water dives

The final part of your course is your 4 open water dives. This will take place over a weekend, or two if you prefer, and you will complete 2 dives a day. During these dives you will demonstrate a few of the skills you have mastered in the pool mostly just to confirm to yourself that you can do them anywhere, and you will have a nice little swim around and enjoy the fish and marine life you see, all while under the close eye of your instructor and the dive team who are there to guide you and make sure you are safe and relaxed.
At underwater adventures, we use a specialist scuba diving lake where has been cleared on dangers, stocked fish loads of different fish and even had a few wrecks especially sunken for you to investigate including a London double Decker bus and a jet airplane which you can sit in the cockpit of. It is a friendly site with loads of other divers for you to chat to, a fully stocked dive shop and a cafe for the obligatory bacon butty and cup of tea after the dive.
Once you have completed your forth open water dive you will be a fully qualified PADI open water diver who is confident and relaxed enough to scuba dive anywhere in the world and explore some truly amazing places while on holiday or you can join the underwater adventures dive club which will give you access to all of our dive trips around the UK and aboard plus you’ll get to meet some great people who love diving and will be able to guide you through any area of scuba diving you wish to pursue.

                                   

 What’s next?

Learning to scuba dive opens up a whole new world for you with many different things and places to explore, be your interests in a wreck, of which we have loads around the UK coast, or wildlife, either just seeing them or taking pictures of them. The most important thing to do once you have learned to scuba dive is to keep diving.
As a new scuba diver you can take the option of starting some specialty courses to learn more about an area that interests you or you can take the option most other divers do which is the PADI advanced open water course where you will experience 5 different areas of diving, from wreck diving to search and recovery diving, so that you can better get an idea of what sort of diving appeals you to. Or you can just carry on as an open water diver and join dive trips to explore your new skills and all the cool things most other people never will get a chance to.
If you are still not sure if scuba diving is for you then why not do a taster session beforehand? This is just an hour long pool session where we will take you through the basics of scuba diving and give you a chance to try it out. The PADI version of this is called Discover Scuba Diving and we run these sessions monthly at out pools.
If you still have questions about learning to scuba dive we also have an FAQ’s page which you can check out by clicking here.
So if you have whetted your appetite for scuba diving and would like to book on a course or you just have some questions which weren’t covered in the FAQs page please feel free to give Steve a call on 07805045867 or drop us an email at info@underwateradventures.co.uk

 

Learning to scuba dive, FAQ’s 

 

Having spent the past 15 years as a scuba diving instructor, 11 of which running underwater adventures, I have been asked every scuba diving related question you can think of, so to help you with deciding if you want to learn to scuba dive I thought I would write out a list of the top frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) I have been asked in all of my years in teaching people of all ages to learn to scuba dive. 


                   



How long does it take to learn to scuba dive? 

The standard PADI open water course consists of dive theory, 5 confined water (pool) dives and 4 open water dives and it is the same with most other training agency’s including SSI and BSAC courses and these should take you at least a week to complete the full course although you might find shorter courses in holiday resorts which can last as little as 3 days. 

At underwater adventures, we want you to learn to scuba dive at your own pace so instead of limiting you to just 5 confined (pool) dives, we offer you unlimited access to our pool sessions so if you feel you need longer to learn a skills you can take your time and only move on when you feel ready. We have found that this leads to more confident and relaxed divers who enjoy their first few dive a lot more. We do obviously charge a little more for this but we feel you will enjoy it more and make you a better diver; this leads me on to my next FAQ 

How much does it cost to learn to scuba dive? 

The standard price as of writing this here in the UK is around £500 for the full PADI open water course and as I mentioned above we do charge a little more at £549 due to us offering the unlimited confined water (pool) sessions. The price will vary from country to country with the dive centres in tropical holiday spots tending to be the cheapest option due to the high numbers of students they allow on each course, the more people on each course the cheaper it is to run the course, but you will still be looking at around £300-£350 in these holiday resorts. If you find one that is much cheaper than this I would strongly recommend you ask yourself why it is that much cheaper as in scuba diving, as in most things, you get what you pay for and going with the cheapest is not always the best idea. 

How deep can you scuba dive down too? 

The deepest scuba dive ever was in Egypt in 2005 by Ahmed Gabr who got down to 332.35 metres. This dive took him over 14 hours to complete due to the amount of time he had to spend decompressing on his way back up but most of us will never go anywhere near that depth as we are mostly all recreational divers. 

The PADI recreational dive limits, I’m using PADI as that is the agency I teach with so I know the most about but most agencies are the same or at least very close, are for an open water diver (entry level) 18 metre’s which increases to 30 metre’s once you complete your advanced open water course and then it goes up to the maximum recreational limit of 40 metre’s with the deep diver course.  

These are the recreational diver limits and you can go deeper if you wish by completing technical diving courses which slowly build up your limited with time and experience as the deeper you go the more things can go wrong so you want to be as prepared as possible before going really deep. 

The thing I always tell my students who ask me this is that most of the cool fish and stuff like that tend to be around the 15-25 metre range so sticking with those depth means you will be able to see most things and not miss out on too much. 

How long will my air last? 

This is one of those “how long is a piece of string” questions as it will depend on a number of different factors such as how much experience you have, how relaxed you are, how deep you plan to dive to, how much work you have to put in any currents there are, and a whole range of other things. Generally speaking, all thing being considered, a relaxed, experienced diver with good trim who is staying around the 20-metre mark will stay down for around an hour. But Like I said, there are a number of factors that will affect your air consumption and one of the best things you can do is learn to scuba dive properly, with proper weighting and good buoyancy control and you will find that you will be able to stay under the water for as long as you need for the dive you are planning. 

Which agency should I learn to scuba dive with? 

PADI, SSI, CMAS, BSAC, NAUI, SDI, SSA, PDA, It’s like alphabet soup when you look at all the names of the different training agencies you can learn to scuba dive with and it can seem a little daunting to choose the right training agency to go with but in all honesty, they will all teach you to scuba dive safely and they will all cover the same basic skill’s during the course, just with some of the extra skill’s within the course is slightly different. 

Obviously, the larger agencies such as PADI and SSI are better known around the world but even the smaller agencies are recognized in most countries, although the dive centre you go with may have to do a little research to check the limits a qualification from a smaller agency has. So ultimately it doesn’t highly matter which agency you go with, what really matters is that the dive centre teaching you sticks to the standards and the instructors who are teaching you do a good job and make you feel comfortable so it is important to do a bit of research before booking looking for good recommendations for divers who have done courses with them before. 

Do I need to be able to swim? 

Yes, but you don’t have to be an Olympic swimmer, you just need to be comfortable in the water so you don’t panic when you are in water too deep to stand in. For the PADI open water course, you do need to be able to swim 200 metres but there is no time limit and you don’t have to do a certain type of stoke while swimming, you can doggy paddle if you like and take an hour to complete it. As I said, it is more about making sure you are comfortable in the water while you learn to scuba dive. 

If you can’t swim already or would like to improve we do have a number of contacts at swim schools who can help you and we are happy to put you in contact with them.  

Can my children learn to scuba dive? 

We can start children’s scuba diving courses from the age of 8 with the PADI Bubblemaker, PADI Seal Team, and PADI master seal team courses which are designed to get children accustomed to scuba diving in the safety of a swimming pool before they are old enough to move up to the full PADI junior open water course at the age of 10. From the age of 10 to 12 there are limits on what children can do with their open water qualification like only being able to go to 12 metres rather than the 18 metres you can with the full PADI open water course for safety reasons but it is great to get children into the water early in life as they learn so quickly at this age and from my point of view, children are a pleasure to teach. 

                                



I have a medical condition, can I still learn to scuba dive? 

I have added a link here to the padi medical statement so you can take a look through it and if you tick yes to any of these questions you will need to speak to a scuba diving doctor before we can allow you in the water but generally, as long as the medical issue to under control, there is not normally a reason why you can scuba dive with most medical condition. But do read through the PADI medical statement first and if you have any questions please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to put you in contact with a specialist scuba diving doctor who will be able to help you. 

Do I have to have all my own equipment before I learn to scuba dive? 

Generally speaking, No. Like most dive centres we offer rental equipment for the course which is included in the price of the course although we don’t hire out wetsuit boots as here in the UK it is very hard to get them completely dry between dives so if you are sharing wet boots nasty things can spread. Some dive centre may ask you to buy your own mask, snorkel, and fins but this is the exception to the rule as most dive centre will be able to provide you with everything you need. 

Once you have learned to scuba dive you may wish to start investing in your own equipment which is fine but I would suggest starting slow and just picking up a few basics to start with so that you have time to dive with other equipment and learn more about it before buying the big things as it can start to get expensive and you don’t want to rush out and buy a load of kit only to find out it doesn’t feel right for you or you decide to want to move into another type of scuba dive where you need slightly different kit setups like underwater photography or wreck penetrations.  

I’m afraid of being eaten by sharks 

This is probably one of the most asked questions I get, or at least something similar. Don’t worry, despite what Hollywood is telling you, sharks have no interest in eating a scuba diving. We are covered in think rubber and have a large lump of steal on our backs which makes us not very tasty and a lot of hard work for any shark big enough to take a bite. In fact, once you have started scuba diving you are the one most likely to be chasing sharks just so you can get a good picture of them to show everyone just how cool sharks are. 

I’m nervous about scuba diving, is that a problem? 

Have a few nerves is totally normal, you are about to breath underwater which is something you have never done before. So don’t worry if you are a bit nervous before you start to scuba dive as this is to be expected and as such, your instructor will be ready for it and take their time with you to make you feel comfortable in the water and won’t push you to do anything you are not ready for. If you are really nervous about scuba diving then why not do a discover scuba diving session first, where we will take you in the pool with the equipment so you can have a go and see if you like it before signing up to the full course?

So why not take the plunge and contact us to book you try dive or full PADI open water course? 

Dive trip to Ibiza
 
We are arranging a dive trip to Ibiza for May of this year as a little warm-up for the dive season. Ibiza is one of those “hardly known” gems in the scuba diving world with some great diving just over a couple of hours flight from the UK. It also boasts the largest wreck in the Mediterranean called the Dom Pedro, a giant container ship which is just outside the port of Ibiza town along with some lovely reefs and swim-throughs. To top it all off, Ibiza some the best fish life I have seen in the Mediterranean.


           


We will be staying in Es Cana, a town to the north of Ibiza so we are far enough away from the party places so that we won’t be kept up to all hours but there is still a number of bars and restaurants in walking distance to have s good time in the evenings. Es Cana is also close to the dive centre which is situated on a lovely golden sand beach with a couple of cafes nearby for Lunch on your breaks between diving.
The scuba diving in Ibiza is, as I mentioned, some of the best all-round scuba diving in the Med, with great wrecks and reefs but the thing I most enjoy about scuba diving in Ibiza is the amount and size of the fish. As we all know the biggest problem with scuba diving in the Mediterranean is the overfishing, but this hasn’t happened around Ibiza so whenever I have been there before I have always found huge numbers of fish including large fish which is so rare in the Mediterranean these days. Plus, if you needed another reason to join us on this trip, the government there introduced marine reserves around the Island so the health and diversity in the waters around Ibiza has improved from what was already good levels.


           


The Dive clubs trip is being arranged by Stuart so if you would like to book on the dive trip or to find out more details about scuba diving in Ibiza please contact Stuart on Stuart@underwateradventures.co.uk
The plan for the dive trip is to Fly out of Stansted airport on the evening of the 9^th May and fly home again on the evening of the 16^th May giving everyone plenty of time to explore the amazing underwater world that can be found just offshore of Ibiza.
The package includes all transfers, accommodation and a 10 boat dive pack with tanks and weights all for only £619 per person, plus flights. We will also have a rest day in the middle of the dive trip so you can explore the Island if you like or just book a couple of extra dives with Punta dive, the dive company we will be scuba diving with. There will also be an option for a night dive or two if you like so you can check out the Ibiza nightlife, under the water as well as on top of it.


       


We will just need a £100 deposit to book your place and we suggest you book your flights as soon as possible as the longer you leave it the more they will cost.
This is such a great deal to do some amazing scuba diving on an Island not normally known for scuba diving but has some really cool treasures hidden just under the surface and this trip will give you a chance to see a side of Ibiza very few scuba divers get to see.
 
 

Rekindle your love for scuba diving


 
For some people, learning to scuba dive is the first step in a part-time or full-time scuba career. For others, scuba diving is an activity they are passionate about but haven’t enjoyed for some time. Whether you don’t dive very often due to limited free time, a bad experience, or total burnout, here are a few tips to help you (or a dive buddy) rekindle their love of scuba diving.



       


 
Remember Why You Fell in Love with Scuba Diving

What attracted you to diving in the first place? Was it the chance to travel? See interesting creatures? Meet new people? Explore historic Wrecks? Remind yourself what it was that left you grinning from ear to ear after your early dives. Whatever it was we have a way you can find it again at your local Underwater Adventures dive club.
Go for a fun dive – It’s common for scuba diving professionals to dive every weekend, but rarely dive just for fun. Teaching scuba is very rewarding, but it’s also a big responsibility. Many instructors and divemasters can reignite their passion for diving by taking time out to fun dive, shoot underwater images, or visit an exotic destination they have never seen before
Try something new – Both recreational divers and PADI Pros can benefit from trying something new: a new dive site, or a new diving skill. Night diving, rebreather diving, and free diving are just a few options.
Go diving with someone new – As any PADI Pro can attest, there’s nothing like experiencing the underwater world with someone for the first time. If you’re not a PADI Pro, discover how rewarding this feeling can be. Show people your favourite underwater nooks and crannies and introduce them to the local marine life. As part of the underwater adventures dive club, there is always someone new to dive with
 
If you have young people in your life, find out if they’re interested in learning to scuba dive, We have PADI Bubblemaker, seal team and master seal team course for children from the age of 8 years old, and once they reach the age of 10 they can start to complete their full PADI open water course and then join you on some of the dive club trips.
 
Put Scuba Diving on Your Calendar
If you’re like most people, if something isn’t scheduled in your mobile device, it isn’t really happening. The underwater adventures dive club hosts regular diving trips both here in the UK and aboard and with our websites Google calendar, you can link straight to the Calendar on your phone so that you are always kept up to date as to when the next dive or social event is happening.
 
Share your plans with others by posting to social media, telling co-workers and family members, “I’m going diving this weekend.” By sharing your plans with others, even non-divers, you’re more likely to stay committed. If you don’t go, what will you say Monday morning when asked, “how was your dive?”
 
Just say, “Yes”

If you’ve been diving for a while, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut: scuba diving the same sites or saying “no” to activities you’re unfamiliar with. Try saying “yes” to the next three diving opportunities that come your way whether it’s taking part in a beach clean-up, posing for an underwater photo, or planning a trip to a new dive site. The experiences may reinforce things you knew to be true, or you might just find a new passion or friend.


    



Set a Goal, Choose a Reward

Runners have marathons, cyclists have centuries, divers have their logbook. Tally up all the hours you’ve spent diving and find out if you’re close to a milestone. Imagine the look on someone’s face when you say, “I’ve spent a month underwater.”
If you’re not close to a week or month of time logged underwater, that’s okay, aim for 100 dives and plan something special for when you reach your goal. It could be an outing with all your dive buddies along the way, or a gear purchase to commemorate your accomplishment.
If you’re not into bragging rights, here are a few alternative goals:
Find a female friend and commit to participating in PADI Women’s Dive Day 2019 (20 July 2019) and plan a fun day together.
Commit to taking 12 great underwater photos you can use to make a calendar and give it as a gift to your friends.
Do Something Nice for Yourself
If the list of things you don’t like about diving has gotten longer than the list of things that you DO like, consider how a few small changes can improve your enjoyment of diving immensely. The right gear can go a long way to making diving more comfortable and enjoyable.
Upgrading to spring straps on your fins can make getting in and out of the water surprisingly easier.
If you find you’re often cold after diving, don’t tough it out, get a new wetsuit or try diving a dry suit.
Feeling in a photography rut? Try macro photography or switch to video.

Nervous about getting back in the water?

If it’s been a few years since you last went diving, or if your initial scuba class didn’t give you the confidence to continue diving, try PADI ReActivate. ReActivate is designed to help divers gain confidence before jumping back into the water.

– First, you’ll review key safety procedures and basic scuba concepts at your convenience using a desktop or mobile device. You can move quickly through topics that are familiar, and spend more time reviewing things you may have forgotten.
 
– Then you’ll jump in a pool with a PADI Professional for two pool sessions designed to build your confidence and help you remember the basic skills you learned in your open water course

– ReActivate also includes a new certification card with your ReActivated date on it.
Not sure if ReActivate is right for you? Read the Top 7 Signs You Need a Scuba Refresher

Do you Need a little scuba diving refresher course?

Sure, you have a certification card, but that doesn’t always mean you’re feeling ready to dive. If it has been a while since your last dive, you may be in need of a PADI ReActivate scuba refresher program. Here are Five signs to look for.


You can’t find your C-card.

Sure, we can call PADI to confirm you’re certified, but if you can’t find the card, that’s a sign that perhaps too much time has passed since your last scuba dive so it might be time to do your PADI reactivate

        

You finally have a vacation planned and you want to dive.

You could spend precious time at your holiday destination catching up on skills — or you could do that work here in the UK with us at one of our pools in Bedfordshire or just outside Cambridge which would saving you wasting some of your valuable holiday time that you’ve paid a lot of money for stuck in a classroom and pool doing a refresher course

Six to 12 months have elapsed since your last dive.

 “When is the last time you were in the water?” will be one of the first questions you are asked when looking to book a bit of scuba diving anywhere in the world (if they don’t ask you this you might want to look for a different dive centre) and if you answer more then 6 months you will probably be asked to do some sort of refresher training before they let you in the open water as it’s not just your safety they need to consider but also the safety of those you will be scuba diving with

The thought of putting your gear together makes you nervous.

If you’re struggling to remember just how the scuba diving equipment goes together, keep in mind that the divemaster can assist you — but it might also be time for a refresher course. Plus, you will feel more confident in the water while scuba diving if you are confident in your own scuba diving equipment

    

You can’t remember when your last dive was.

If your last dive was more than a decade ago, you may need more than just a refresher course. As with any skill, the longer you go without scuba diving the more you will forget so if you are not regularly scuba diving you might need the PADI reactivate and just think about how much more comfortable you will feel in the water having spent some time beforehand going over the basic theory and skills with a PADI professional.
Remember, Scuba diving is meant to be fun and relaxing and you will find it so much more enjoyable if you are comfortable in your own scuba diving skills
Once you have done your PADI Reactivate, why not think about joining the Underwater adventures dive club so that you can keep diving all year round, even during the winter we head off to warmer place so we can keep diving and some of them are not too far away such as Aquarium scuba diving or very deep scuba diving pools like Nemo 33 and enclosed scuba diving lakes like Todi. You can see the videos from these trips through the links below to our YouTube channel

Aquarium scuba diving
Nemo 33
Todi

Maldives liveaboard 2019

For the Underwater adventures dive club’s big trip next year we’re literately off to paradise with a dive trip to the Maldives to check out the best diving this Island nation in the Indian Ocean has to offer.
We will be flying out on the 15th November to Male before catching a seaplane transfer to the island where we will be picking up our amazing liveaboard ship which will be our home for the following week while we scuba dive some amazing coral gardens and dive deep down drop-offs and into currents to find the abundance of sharks and other pelagics which call the Maldives home.
We are hoping to see manta rays and whale sharks along with the reef sharks and hammerhead congregations which some of these Island are known for.

  

Itinerary includes;

DEPART FROM LONDON – HEATHROW                   21:30 15/11/2019             ARRIVE AT COLOMBO INTERNATIONAL 12:45 16/11/2019     Baggage allowance of 30kgs per person  
SRI LANKAN AIRLINES UL504 ECONOMY

DEPART FROM COLOMBO INTERNATIONAL          13:35 16/11/2019             ARRIVE AT MALE INTERNATIONAL            14:30 16/11/2019       
SRI LANKAN AIRLINES UL115 ECONOMY

•             7 nights onboard Emperor Voyager for 20 people in 8 x lower deck and 4 upper deck shared cabins with 3 meals a day, afternoon snacks, unlimited drinking water, tea & coffee, 6 days diving with a total of 17 dives (inc 1 night dive), guide, tanks & weights, free Nitrox, 1 BBQ dinner on uninhabited island (weather allowing), Male city tour (on request), all local taxes.

•             Return airport transfers.

•             ATOL (once flights are booked) and full financial protection.

Not included: Diving equipment, alcohol, soft drinks & juices, crew gratuities. 

 The trip we are doing is the ‘Best of the Maldives’

Rasdhoo Atoll:                   Hammerhead Dive, Beautiful Reef with Pelagics

North Ari Atoll:                  Grey Reef Sharks, Maaya Thila Night Dive, Multiple Manta Cleaning Stations

South Ari Atoll:                  Whale Sharks, Beautiful Pinnacles

South Male Atoll:             Grey Reef Sharks, Eagle Rays, Other Pelagics, Beautiful Macro Wreck.

Vaavu Atoll:                        Beautiful channels with magical soft corals and pelagic delights. Action packed night dive with Nurse Sharks and others.

North Male Atoll:             Beautiful Pinnacles.
DEPART FROM MALE – INTERNATIONAL                 09:25  23/11/2019             ARRIVE AT COLOMBO INTERNATIONAL  11:20 23/11/2019
SRI LANKAN AIRLINES UL102 ECONOMY

 DEPART FROM COLOMBO INTERNATIONAL          13:05 23/11/2019             ARRIVE AT LONDON – HEATHROW            20:00 23/11/2019
SRI LANKAN AIRLINES UL503 ECONOMY

The cost for this once in a lifetime trip is just £2385 for club members and £2495 for non-members. (if you would like to join the underwater adventures dive click and take advantage of this trip discount which is almost a years dive club subscriptions anyway please click here for details)

To confirm your booking we will need £100 deposit now with another £400 to be paid in February with the remainder due 12 weeks before we go. If you would like more details of this trip or you would like to book your place, please contact Steve at underwater adventures on 07805045867 or use the contact us page by clicking here.

  

 

Dive trip to Cyprus
 
This Year the Underwater Adventures end of Season dive trip was to Cyprus to dive the wreck of the Zenobia which is said by many to be one of the best wreck dives in the world and it didn’t disappoint.

               

Our trip didn’t start off brilliantly with a delayed flight and a mix up with the transfers from the airport to our accommodation in Pissouri which lead to a bit of fun sorting out taxis for all 14 of us at 01:00 after a really long day but fortunately, that was the only thing to go wrong on what turned out to be a great holiday.
Out first days diving was spent doing a couple of shore dive at Cynthiana, a lovely little bay a short car ride from our accommodation, a couple of shallow dives just so everyone can get used to the conditions and how everything was working. The next days we had a bit further of a drive to the other side of the Island for another couple of lovely dives, this time a little deeper around the Island of St Georges which was surrounded by loads of life.

Our third day's dive was our first on the wreck of the Zenobia, the main reason we had traveled here. The boat ride was at most a 10-minute boat ride out from Larnaca and it was a big boat which was good seeing as we were sharing it with 4 other groups but good planning by our guides meant we dived the wreck without the hassle of being surrounded by the other groups.

               

First impressions of the wreck were literally “WOW”. This is truly an impressive wreck. Laying on its side in just over 40 metres of water and with its highest point at around 16 metres, you can see it as soon as you enter the water. We dropped down on to the stern section by the prop and made our way around the stern to check out the loading ramps and it was all full of life, and maybe a few too many divers.
Our second dive of the day was on the bow of the wreck from where we headed in through the cafeteria and on through a hallway to end up just above the cargo decks. Two excellent dives enjoyed by everyone.

Our penultimate days diving we went out of Limassol to dive two especially sunken wrecks put there in 2015 to attract more divers to the Island. These were the wrecks of the Costandis, a Russian trawler, and the Lady Thetis, a German Pleasure boat, both just over 20 metres in length and sitting in just over 20 metres of water and on our first dive we came across a very large grouper, proof that the Mediterranean still does have large fish.
You can check out the videos of these wreck dives by clicking on the links below (don’t forget to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel while you are there.
Video of the wreck dive on the Constandis
Video of the wreck dive on the Lady Thetis
 
               

For our final day's scuba diving, we were back at the Wreck of the Zenobia. Again the boat was busy but because the wreck is so large it seemed like we had the place to ourselves most of the time. Has a bonus on our first dive we came across a turtle who gave us the pleasure of a swim by at the end of our first dive.
Check out the Video of the Turtle here

Our second dive of the day and our last dive of the holiday was a penetration of the lift shaft and down into the cargo bay and to be honest, if I tried to explain what it was like here I wouldn’t be able to do it justice so please just take a look at these two videos from that one dive and enjoy the immenseness of the Zenobia Wreck 

Through the lift shaft
Into the hold



A big thank you to everyone who made the trip so enjoyable :-)


 

Swimming with blue sharks off the coast of Cornwall.

At the beginning of August 2018 a few of us from the dive club, we were limited by numbers allowed on the boat, headed down to Penzance in Cornwall for a very special day out.

We were on a large Rib with Charles Hood Shark adventures and we were lucky enough to have the man himself with us, a famous author and marine life advocate, it was a please to have his company and knowledge on this trip. Where were we going, I hear you ask? About 20 miles out to swim with blue sharks and boy1 were we in for a treat.

We had traveled down the night before to be fresh for the day’s activities and we all meet up at Penzance boat club to load our equipment and launch the RIB. The journey out only took around an hour, but it didn’t seem like it as we were joined along to way at different times by pods of dolphins either crossing our path or ride the bow waves as they love to do.

Once we had reached the spot the captain had decided would be best for blue shark activity, he started out the chum and “O my God” did it smell. I know that’s what is needed to attract the blue sharks, but it really doesn’t do your stomach any good. I was really glad I had taken the sea sickness tablets. The chum may have smell rank, but it did the job and within 5 minutes the first blue shark turned up and she was gorgeous, 5-foot-long at least and something I didn’t know about them is they have a gold tint to their noses and pectoral fins, which you could really make out the bright English summer sunlight.

                              

After around 20 minutes of allowing the shark to get comfortable around the boat I was the first in, the captain said to get in the water gently which I planned to do but unfortunately, I lost my balance putting on a fin and landed in the water with a big enough splash to have scared anything away. I climbed back out and went to the back of the Que and waited for the blue shark to return. Fortunately, it did within a couple of minutes and Simon was next to jump in the water. You can water the video of Simon in the water by clicking the link below

Simon with the blue sharks.

 With Simon in the water a second blue shark made an appearance, this one slightly bigger then the first and they both loved the smell coming from the rotting fish which slowly being released into the water. The second shark was a little more wary and kept her distance for a while.
After Simonhadstart to chill it was Sonia’s turn in the with the blue sharks. She was a little more cautious which is understandable when you are getting in the water with sharks given their portrayal in Films and Media but after a couple of minutes, she started to relax and really enjoy it. You can watch her video by clicking the link below.

Sonia in the water with blue sharks

Next, it was my turn and “wow” it was worth the wait and I had the added bonus of having the second shark come in close to the Rib while I was in the water. What an amazing experience and it is something I would suggest that if you ever have the opportunity to swim with these amazing fish you jump on it and it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Click here to watch the video I took while in the water.

We rotated in and out of the water for the next couple of hours and the sharks stayed with us all day until it was time to head back to shore, all of us with beaming smiles, buzzing from such an amazing experience.

                              

 

22 things your Scuba diving instructor didn't tell you (but probably wanted to...) 
 

                               



1) Everyone pees in their wetsuit – everyone, eventually (except your instructor of course!)

 

2) Yes, you have tan lines on your neck and hands from your suit but as long as that’s all that people can see when you are back at work it’ll look like you’ve been on Holiday, and don’t worry, those odd lines on your face will disappear in time but you wouldn’t get them if you didn’t overtighten your mask.

 

3) Waterproof makeup was intended to withstand a good cry and not scuba diving in a cold lake in the middle of England.

 

4) The person on the boat flashing the most certification cards and the newest equipment is usually that biggest **** on board.

 

5) You will be buddied with them, and they will be a nightmare.

 

6) Going on your first open water dive is scary, but it’s OK, your instructor and the rest of the dive team are there for you and they have done this a lot of times before and know what they are doing, well, most of the time anyway.

 

7) ‘This is my favourite site,' translates as ‘we come here ALL THE TIME because it’s close and easy.’

 

8) You won’t always see the shark/barracuda/scary marine inhabitant approach; but when it does have your camera ready otherwise, we won’t believe you.


                              


 
9) I do love night diving, but please don’t point your torch in my face when talking to me.

 
10) You should do the deep/navigation/DSMB course just so that I can have a break and do something different.


11) if you touch the wildlife you will be in my bad books for a very long time!
 

12) No, I don’t have a boyfriend/girlfriend.

 

13) ‘The last time I was here I saw a whale shark.’ translates as ‘I’ve scuba dived here hundreds of times, and my mate on the other dive boat new some who once said he saw a whale shark here.’

 

14) You are going to, at some point, flood a dive camera, drop a flashlight, get blisters from your fins, buy a leaky mask, it happens.

 

15) Diving is not for everyone; some people should remain on land yet some slip through the cracks, and…

 

16) See point five.

 
                              



17) If you do not listen to dive briefings and then mess up because of it, or repeatedly ask questions whose answers were in the briefing, then I will be very tempted to turn your air off.

 

18) Interfering in my dive course will get you thrown back in the water without your wetsuit; at least in my evil fantasies.

 

19) At some point you are going to have ear issues; equalization problems, ear infections, and burst eardrums are in your future.



20) The only way to guarantee you'll see a shark is to leave your camera on the dive boat.

 

21) Fish really are attracted to shiny jewellery.

 

22) I don’t care about your video clip from the last dive, but I will happily come to the bar and watch it if the beers are on you.

                              

 

 

 

 

Dive trip to Buckland Lake,
 
Just south of the Dartford crossing is Buckland Nature reserve which is home to southern scuba, a small dive centre on a big lake and last Sunday a number of the dive club’s members headed down there to check out what the scuba diving was like in the lake.
With the centre opening at 10 am it was a relatively late start for us, which I think was appreciated by most of us heading down there on a Sunday Morning, and bot, what a lovely day we picked. There were only around 6 other divers there for the day which was good as even with the group from underwater adventures dive club, there was plenty of room in the small kitting up area for everyone.

                                                                 

We split into two groups with the first group arriving a little earlier for breakfast and being able to get in the water around 10:30 am. The Viz was pretty good at around 4metres and the surface temp around 13 degrees which is not bad for this time of year especially with the cold winter we had. Once in they headed west and followed the ropes around some of the sunken wrecks specially placed int eh lake for us to take a look around. Just as they finished their scuba dive, the second group went in and this time they went east to look for the fabled Great White Shark this lake is famous for. We found just after we jumped in and despite being covered in growth, you could still make out the shape of the plastic Shark. They carried on around to the large boat wreck and airplane on that side of the lake. Even with the water warming up nicely most of the fish life we still resting at the bottom as they do over winter, so we didn’t get to see much fish life but the wrecks and the good viz ability made up for that.

                                                                      

For the second dives of the day, the two groups swapped directions. So, after a lovely cup of tea and a bit of a sit in the sun enjoying the weather, we jumped in for out second scuba dives. The Viz was just as good as the first dives and there is a lot of really interesting wrecks in the lake which I’m sure will be made all the better when the fish wake up and come and join us for our scuba dives. This is a really nice setup and being so close and easy to get too, I’m sure we will be popping down there again for another scuba dive at some point this year.

                                                         
 
If you would like to know more about scuba diving with the underwater adventures dive club, please click here.
 

Dive club trip to Porthkerris, Cornwall
 
Last weekend 8 members of the dive club headed down to Porthkerris in Cornwall for a weekends diving with Porthkerris divers and the wonderful facilities they have on offer.
On Friday 11^th May we set off just after 9 am with the plan to stop at Vobster Quay inland dive site for a couple of scuba dives to help break up the long journey. Vobster is a well set out dive site with excellent facilities and although the water temp dropped down to single figures below 10 metres it was still a bearable 11 degrees in the shallows which is not bad for this time of year and with viz of between 3 and 4 metres, it was a really pleasant couple of scuba dives and a good chance to wash off the cobwebs from the winter season for those who’ve not dived in a while.
That evening we arrived at Porthkerris, at least most of us didn’t as without phone signals a few of us had a little trouble finding the log cabin we were staying in. The log cabin itself is a nice set up with plenty of room for all 8 of us and a log burner in the corner of the living room to add to the comfort. After a lovely meal of chili and jackets prepared by Steve and washed down with a couple of beers, we all had a relatively early night to be ready for the next morning’s diving.

                                                                                                   

Saturday arrived and with 5 scuba divers booked to head out on the Celtic Kitten, one of the dive boats which launch from the cove and the remaining 3 scuba divers choosing to start the day scuba diving the local reef, we were up bright and early and with a nice fry up inside of us we headed down the 200 metres to the beach from which we would be diving.
The visibility on both dives down to around 3 metres with the plankton bloom starting, it took a little while to get settled but the water was calm and there was loads of life both on the reef and the wreck on which the dive boat had dropped the scuba divers on top off. With both dives done it was time for refills at the air filling station and a bite of lunch and with the café and air filling station both just off the beach, the set up here for scuba divers is excellent.
With both scuba divers and the dive tanks refilled, it was time for the second dive of the day. Everyone was diving as two groups off the beach this time with the plan to swim around the rocks to the Drawna reef, keeping an eye out for all the local fish life with finger crossed we might come across some of the giant cuttlefish which come in close this time of year to breed. We saw loads of life including some beautiful jellies and loads of fish but unfortunately, no cuttlefish this time. With the scuba diving finished for the day, 8 happy divers headed back up to the log cabin for a chat about everything we had seen over another lovely meal and a couple of beers.

                                                                    

Sunday arrived with some lovely looking sun outside and after breakfast, we headed down to the beach for another days diving. Although the diving was really good the biggest talking point was the 3 basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) which came in close to the shore. The second largest fish in the sea, this is truly an amazing experience. These gentle giants which can reach up to 8 metres in length are a sight to behold and the UK coastline is one of the best places in the world to see them and swim with them. All in all, this topped off a great weekends scuba diving with a great bunch of people. I would just like to take this chance to thank all my dive buddies on this trip for making it memorable.

                                                                                    
 
If you would like to learn more about the underwater adventures scuba diving club please click here. 
 

Swanage scuba diving trip

Over the May Day Bank Holiday, we headed down to Swanage in Dorset to run a couple of courses and to give some of the newest dive club members some UK sea diving experience and boy, did we pick a lovely weekend for it.
Most of us headed down Friday after work with only one of our group braving the very early start to head down Saturday morning and we all made it to the pier in time to park there with it’s reduced car parking spaces due to the works going on to the pier, which to be honest I was a little concerned about as it might have affected the viz under the pier where we were planning on completing most of our training dives. Fortunately, a quick look over the side of the pier gave us a very pleasant surprise with what looks like pretty amazing visibility in the water. 
This weekend we would be starting off with a trip out on the Mary Jo with skipper Brian to dive the Wreck of the Fleur De Lyes, a nice shallow wreck just across the bay from Swanage Pier. With air fills done and all our scuba diving equipment loaded on the dive boat we headed off on the 5-minute dive boat trip and kitted up on the way. Giant stride entries from the divers lift we proceeded down the shot line for the first of both our PADI junior advanced open water dives for the first dive of their course, the wreck dive.



The Fleur De Lyes isn’t the biggest of wrecks but in 14metres of water, it is a nice introduction to wreck diving and UK sea diving. The viz was better than expected at between 4 and 6 metres and although it’s still early in the season, we still found plenty of fish life heading around the shelter of the wreck. A comfortable 25 minutes later and with a full inspection of the wreck later we were back on the dive boat with hot drink’s in our hands and chatting about all the cool things we had seen in the surprisingly good visibility.
The rest of the day was spent under the pier completing the peak performance buoyancy and DSMB dives of the PADI junior advanced open water course and going through the basic skills of the PADI Rescue diver’s skill’s including lifts of unconscious divers from underwater and kit stripping while giving rescue breathes to an uncurious, non-breathing diver.



Once we had finished our dives and all of the skills for the PADI junior advanced open water diver and PADI rescue divers course we got changed and headed down the pub to debrief over a well-deserved drink before heading back to our hotel to shower and get changed and head out for dinner and by this time, we were all very hungry, funny how a day in the sea can bring on an appetite lol.
Sunday was an early start to make sure we got on the pier and after a quick chat with some of the members of Stevenage SSA who were also down there running courses we got in the water under the pier again to finish off the PADI rescue diver skill’s and do the PADI junior advanced open water Navigation dive as we wanted to get these dive completed before our last boat dive of the weekend, which was again from Mary jo but this time was a drift dive which gave the boys a chance the demonstrate their newly acquired DSMB skill’s while experiencing a nice gentle (relatively speaking for that area) drift dive, the easiest type of dive as you just lay there and let the current move you along and give you a great view of everything as you float by. 



We finished the weekend with some rescue scenarios for the guys doing their PADI rescue diver course. Unfortunately, we trained them so well they stopped most of the problems before they started, keeping a very close eye on everyone so not one of the dive team got lost without the new PADI rescue divers know exactly where to find them, great work guys but it would have been more fun if you’d let us get lost LOL.
We ended the day with a bunch of very happy, and well-tanned, scuba divers, and two new PADI junior advanced open water divers and two new PADI rescue divers.

Well done guys :-)

If you would like to know more about our trips or courses, please contact us by clicking here.

 

Dive trip to Cyprus
 
For this year’s end of season trip, we have arranged to go to Cyprus from 5^th to the 12^th October. Has a club we’ve not been there before and although Cyprus is not renowned for its scuba diving it is home to a world-famous wreck, the roll on roll off ferry, Zenobia. With depth’s ranging from 16 to 42 metres and great viability, this is a wreck which all levels of scuba diver can dive, from open water through to divemaster. This wreck offers the opportunity, for those qualified with the wreck diver specialty, to take a look inside the car decks at the 104 lorry’s that went down with the ship
Cyprus is also home to a number of marine protected areas where sea life can grow in safety and help repair the damage caused by overfishing so commonly found in the Mediterranean, so along with a world-famous wreck, Cyprus offers a lot for your all scuba divers.

    

Our trip is flying out from Gatwick on the 5^th October and once there we will be picked up by the dive center and taken to our apartments where we will be given the chance to settle in before starting the first of our 5 days of scuba diving the next morning. Our scuba diving package includes 2 days diving the wreck of the Zenobia so that we have a great chance to get to know the wreck and appreciate it in all its splendor. We will have the option to add extra scuba dive if we wish and do a night dive, but we can arrange that for those once we are over there.

  

Cyprus has a lot to offer above the water as well. With thousands of years of history to explore along with thriving shopping area’s and some of the best beaches in the Mediterranean so it is a great please to bring your non-diving partner or if you just want a day off during our week there.
Has this is an off-season dive trip we have managed to get a really good deal with this dive trip coming in at just £389 plus flight for dive club members and only £429 plus flights for non-club members plus we can offer extra discounts for your non-diving partners. If you would like more details about this trip, please follow this link to the contact us page and drop us a message or give us a call and we can send you over all the details.

           
 

Master Scuba Diver Challenge
 
A number of the dive club members have asked “what can we do once we’ve reached master scuba diver level?” The normal response is to move into Tech diving or start on the professional ladder with the Divemaster course, but some people don’t want to take these routes and are happy at the high level of PADI Master scuba diver but would still like some sort of challenge to give themselves something to aim for has their scuba diving career progresses. With this in mind and having spoken to PADI, we have come up with the master scuba diver challenge.

This is open to Master Scuba Divers within the underwater adventures dive club and is a way of pushing yourselves a little further and giving you goals to aim for. It is made up of 4 extra level’s, each level having its own goals and rewards which come from both the club and PADI directly.
Each person who completes a master scuba diver level will have their name placed on a special plaque to show date and level achieved plus receive special recognition at a special dive club awards night on top of the awards specific to each level listed below.

                                                                  
 
Bronze Master Scuba Diver Level
            To reach this level of Master Scuba Diver you will need to show that you have completed 250 dives and attained 10 specialty ratings. Upon reaching this level you will receive a personalized bronze trophy from the dive club and a special certificate from PADI plus an article posted on the website and across social media about your achievement.

                                               
 
Silver Master Scuba Diver Level
            To reach this level of Master Scuba Diver you will need to have completed 400 dives and attained 12 PADI specialty ratings. Upon reaching this level you will receive a personalized silver trophy from the dive club and a special certificate from PADI plus an article posted on the website and across social media about your achievement, plus two free specialty courses to help you on your way to the next level.

                                                                
 
Gold Master Scuba Diver Level
            To reach this level of Master Scuba Diver you will need to have completed 650 dives and attained 15 PADI specialty ratings. Upon reaching this level you will receive a personalized Gold trophy from the dive club and a special certificate from PADI plus an article posted on the website and across social media about your achievement, plus you will receive free club membership for life.

                                                                
 
Platinum Master Scuba Diver Level
            To reach this level of Master Scuba Diver you will need to have completed 1000 dives and attained 20 PADI specialty ratings. Upon reaching this level you will receive a personalized Gold trophy from the dive club and a special certificate from PADI plus an article posted on the website and across social media about your achievement, plus you will receive a free Divemaster course should you wish to take it.
 

Swanage Scuba Diving Trip - 01/04/18


The first dive club trip of the season to Swanage took place on the 1st April. Five of us (Steve Groves, Jamie, Josh, Stephan and myself) began a 3-hour journey down to the south coast at the crack of dawn. Anticipating a busy day and previous experience queueing at the pier we were surprised to find we were the only ones. We had a bit of time to kill before we could gain access to the pier and get ready so it was a good chance for a chat a quick dive briefing and orientation of the days diving. Being April the air temperature was only 7 Degrees. We all anticipated a cold days scuba diving. Our main focus would be to keep ourselves as warm as possible, as only one of the group was in a drysuit.


                                                


Eventually, someone finally arrived to let us onto the pier. Time to get ready for our first scuba dive ‘Fleur de Lys’. We got our gear together, tanks filled and boarded the dive boat looking forward to a cold but good days scuba diving. The ‘Fleur de Lys’ was only a short dive boat ride, we kitted up ready to go. We buddied up and got into the water in pairs, straight down the shot line to the wreck. At first, the temperature of the water doesn’t seem to have an effect but with a bottom temperature of 7 degrees and scuba diving in a 5mm wetsuit you soon start to feel it.


                   


This wasn’t too much a concern though for now and we descended to 10metres. At the wreck, the visibility was not great at <1m. Luckily we’d packed our torches which would assist us navigating the wreck. Even with torches, we had to stay close our buddies as the visibility was that bad and paired with a swirling undercurrent we were blown about quite a bit. We had to take control of our buoyancy and close contact at all times. After about 15mins in the water Jamie signaled to me he was cold I was the same. We agreed to continue the dive for a little while. Battling the current, cold and poor visibility we decided to end the scuba dive after 23mins. With the conditions, it was very easy to lose each other which is what happened. As Jamie was preparing to deploy his DSMB we were separated. So the thing for us to do would be to look for one minute then meet on the surface. That’s what we did, a slow ascent with a 3-minute safety stop. As happens I surfaced first a fair distance from the boat, no problem I just signaled to the boat and they picked me up. Getting out the water was easy as the boat is fitted with a lift. Once on the boat, it was time to warm up. After a minute I saw Jamie’s DSMB and he surfaced and boarded the boat. Followed closely by the other 3 scuba divers. We were all offered a selection of hot drinks to warm up and discussed the events of the dive we’d just done. Based on everyone’s responses it was clear we were all very cold. During the short trip back to shore Jamie decided that he did not want to do the second dive. This was quickly followed by the rest of us unanimously agreeing that was the sensible option based on the facts. We arrived at the pier quickly and it was time to get dry and warm as quickly as possible. We paid the captain and decided what we were going to do next. Once we were dressed some of the group decided to go get some food before the long journey home, while others got a head start on the journey home.

Written by
Phil Denmen

What is the PADI rescue diver course?

​
I’ve been asked a number of times over the past couple of month about the PADI rescue diver course, what’s it about, what will I learn, why should I take this course. So, I thought I’d write a little blog about the PADI rescue diver course to try and answer some of these questions.
The PADI rescue diver course is said by most who take it to be the most challenging but also the most enjoyable of the PADI core courses. It will push you to think about and how best to deal with problems before they happen and how best to avoid them in the first place. Through a number of scenarios which will take place over a weekend, you will be asked to deal with situations that you might come across on any day while scuba diving, from a missing diver to something as simple as a diver going into the water having forgotten something they need to complete their scuba dive like a weight belt or forgetting to turn their air on fully. Simple things but you will learn that even a simple thing can cause problems later on in a dive.



     


 
But the PADI rescue divers course is more than just scenario practice. You will start the course with the PADI Rescue diver online theory, the codes for this will be sent to you as soon as you sign up for the course, so you can get started straight away. The PADI rescue dive online theory will take you through how to recognize problems before they happen, the stressors you might be able to see in a person before they dive which might lead to that scuba diver having problems on the dive, you’ll be surprised at how little changes in how a person is acting can show you that this person is not comfortable and a little stressed and even a little bit of stress can lead to perceptual narrowing causing a scuba diver to focus one little thing thus allowing a scuba diver to miss other things that might be going wrong.
You will learn that it is OK to say that you don’t want to dive. Be it at this location, in this weather or because you’re just not feeling right today.
On top of the phycology of scuba diving, the PADI rescue diver theory will take you through the most common problems people will come across with their scuba diving equipment which can lead to problems on a dive and it will talk about how important it can be to have something as simple as a spares box, how having access to a new fin strap or a cable tie can solve a problem that is stressing a diver out and by solving this problem for them now will save possible extra problems later in a dive.


                                          


 
Also, during the PADI rescue diver online theory you will be guided through how best to deal with problems once they have happened in a safe and calm manner. Like how to deal with someone who is panicking both on the surface and underwater. This part of the course we will also go over in the Deep swimming pool at the Robinson Swimming pool in Bedford which is deep enough to actually practice the safety skills before we go into open water, and this is where the fun begins. You, along with the rest of the students on your course will get to practice the basic safety skills using fun games designed to help you learn. By using games and making it fun, we use the latest teaching theory on how to reinforce skill learning in a way that is easy for your mind to recall when it needs to allow you to act faster and better in a situation.
The basic skills we go over in the pool will be gone over again when we go to open water to help refresh your mind and again reinforce these actions in your mind.

 
                                        


Once at the open water site, you will be put in change as safety divers for the weekend. You will be asked to do a risk assessment of the site so that you and your fellow students start to think clearly about what might go wrong. You will be shown how to use our emergency O2 kit which is always stowed in the van in case of a diving emergency, you will be asked to complete an emergency assistance plan so that you know what you will do in an emergency, and you will be asked to keep an eye on everyone just in case something “Goes Wrong”. The dive team have a list of scenarios we can use to test your response. The important thing is to act and to do so with a clear mind. The scenarios could be anything, from a missing diver to someone having a heart attack (which is actually the most common reason behind deaths in scuba diving in this country) and how you deal with these scenarios will be assessed by the dive team so that at the end of the weekends we will all sit down for a chat about what we did. This allows you to think about everything that has happened and how you have dealt with it and most importantly, what you might do differently to make it easier should you ever be in a similar situation again. It’s this reflection at the end of the weekend which helps you reinforce everything you have learned and makes you the best PADI rescue diver you can be.
 
So if you would like to take your scuba diving to the next level and become a PADI rescue diver, give us a call on 07805045867 or drop us an email by clicking here.
 

What is the PADI advanced open water course?



I keep getting asked what is the PADI advanced open water course and why should people take it? Basically, the PADI advanced open water course is the next step to take once you have learned to scuba dive with the PADI open water course. It allows you to gain more experience and confidence under the supervision of a PADI professional to help you move your scuba diving skills forward. The course is made up of the first dive of any 5 specialty courses so that you get to experience different types of scuba dive which will hopefully help you find areas that you are interested in, from fish identification, though underwater photography to wreck diving, there are so many different things you can do with you scuba diving and the PADI advanced course will help you find the things you really enjoy.



       


During the scuba course, you will complete 5 dives, a deep dive, a navigation dive, and 3 of your own choice from any of the specialty courses we offer. We would normally suggest including the wreck diver course as wrecks hold a lot of interest for most scuba divers and the PADI DSMB course where you will learn to send up a large inflatable maker buoy so that everyone can see where you are, which when scuba diving in a big ocean is probably a really good thing, but the choice is yours.


        


The two required scuba dives, the deep dive, and the navigation dive, are on the course so that you can experience deeper diving then you can with the PADI open water course while your instructor can take you through some of the safety aspects of scuba diving deeper and its effect on you and your scuba diving equipment, and with the navigation dive you will work on your natural navigation and how to use the compass to navigate something other than the straight line you did on your PADI open water course. All the time building your confidence and improving your scuba diving skills.


        


We run these PADI advanced open water courses most qualifying weekends at Gildenburgh water in Cambridgeshire and we also run special advanced weekends at the coast so that we can add dives such as PADI boat diver and the PADI drift diver course and we have one of these weekends coming up at the beginning of May, where we will be heading down to Swanage in Dorset for a weekend of scuba diving. So if you would like more details of this PADI advanced open water course or any of our PADI courses, please feel free to contact us anytime by clicking here.

 

Reef safe sun protection for your scuba diving holidays.
 
We all know that we need to put on some form of protection from the Sun while scuba diving, even here in the UK we run the risk of sunburn while we are out on a boat between dives and although our dry suits and wetsuits protect most of us, our hand and face can be at particular risk of sunburn during a day out scuba diving. So it makes sense to use a sun cream while we are on the dive boat or chilling on shore between dives and I know I always keep some sun cream in the van. But something we are only just starting to think about is what are these chemicals we are putting on our skin to protect ourselves doing to the environment and the delicate ecosystems we enjoy visiting during our scuba diving trips.

      

I know what you are thinking. It’s only a small bit of cream and the oceans are so vast, but what we must remember is that there are so many of us suing the water know that it soon builds up.

Say you have 15 divers on a boat using sun cream, and then look at a place like Sharm el shak which has around 50 boats heading out a day, that’s 750 people where sun cream going into the water each day just from that one location and doing that one sport. If you expand that to look at it globally and include all other sports like surfing, kayaking, and snorkeling, plus add all the people who just go to the beach for a day’s fun, you have thousands upon thousands of people going into the sea with sun cream on each day, 365 days a year. That’s a lot of sun cream and the chemicals its made up from, being washed into the ocean each day and these levels soon build up.
But what can we do? We can’t go without sun protection!
It’s actually quite simple. We just need to start using reef safe sun creams. The sun creams which protect us but don’t contain harmful chemicals, and let’s face it, putting less harmful chemicals into our own body systems is a good idea anyway.

OK, so what do we need to avoid if possible?

The big one is Oxybenzone, which has been shown to increase coral bleaching, (click here for an interesting video on its effect ) but we also need to look out for Titanium dioxide and zinc dioxide Nanoparticle which, when introduced into the ocean can change into hydrogen peroxide, you know, that stuff you use to bleach your hair blond. At least we used to but now we use a chemical that isn’t so damaging to our hair and if hydrogen peroxide does that to our hair, just imagine what it's doing to the reef life. I must be clear here, with these we are looking at the Nanoparticle titanium dioxide and zinc dioxide which you will find in clear sprays, uncoated titanium dioxide and zinc dioxide which is safe for reefs as it doesn’t change into hydrogen peroxide in the water, just because life’s not confusing enough anyway.
We should also avoid Octinoxate, Butylparaben, 4-Methylbenzylidene Camphor. A recent study shows that these chemicals which are commonly found in sun creams do cause significate damage to reef systems (click here for a link to the paper)
Unfortunately, those chemicals do seem to be in most of today’s sun creams but there is a populist movement away from these chemicals and towards reef safe sun creams with place like Hawaii looking at banning sun creams which aren’t reef safe altogether and you can do your part too just by making sure you buy reef safe sun creams and encouraging others to do the same. If we stop buying the stuff that’s damaging the environment we love to visit while scuba diving, the companies will stop making it, people power at its best ????
 
Here are some links to help you find reef safe sun creams ready for your next holiday

Badger Sunscreen SPF 30         

Lovera Natural sunscreen SPF 30           

Jasons Natural sunbrella sunscreen SPF 20      

Bio Solis Melt-on Sun Cream - SPF 30 (100ml)       

Although we want to protect the reefs and all the fishes we also want to look after ourselves, so if you do spend a lot of time outside like us scuba divers do and you find something you are not sure about on your skin, please don't just shrug it off, follow this link for some more information from the NHS.
                                                                                    Click here 

An early season scuba diving trip to Stoney Cove

As a suitable antidote to the club trip to Lanzarote at the end of February beginning of March, Steve Groves and myself thought a bracing scuba diving trip to Stoney Cove near Leicester would be in order, for some strange reason there were no other takers in the dive club, then we realised that we had chosen "Mothering Sunday" so assumed that all the other club members were being dutiful children and the icy water was not a factor.
 
 I don't know, the youngsters today (Gratuitous old G*T comment)
 
We arrived at 7:10 after a misty journey up and virtually drove straight in with plenty of parking available, and cheery staff to welcome us in. With reported visibility of 4-6 meters and 5 degrees water temperature, Steve and I were happy that we could show the dive club flag amongst the training scuba schools in wetsuits, free divers in swimming costumes with their rubber ducks, and the weighed down tec divers. We were wanting to practice our dry suit skills, in particular with many layers of insulation, this proved to be a suitable challenge for the day.


 
Using the wonderfully heated changing rooms we were ready to scuba dive before the schools had finished their briefing, however, a false start dealing with the effect of the low temperature on regulators, even low temp rated ones, meant that we had to fine tune our buoyancy skills in pretty murky water. Keeping a constant depth with no datum other than your buddy and a dive computer was an educational experience but one we had experienced before and we descended down to 18 m, our computers registered 4.7 C. Steve reckoned he saw the Viscount cockpit but I was a bit preoccupied as I found a combination of balancing squeeze with depth and the detrimental effect of the squeeze on my insulation added another variable by needing more air in the suit than on previous scuba dives, but then that was why we were there! Eventually, the Bacon Cobs beckoned, and we enthusiastically ended the dive.


 
Having achieved our objective, it was felt the second scuba dive would be a shallow one with some exploration for both of us, we chose to go round the quarry in a clockwise direction going no deeper than 8 m. Our first encounter was the Nautilus submarine where we had to wait at imaginary traffic lights to lets dozens of youngers in wetsuits pass by, the trip had to include a visit to the monster, I had to hold Steve's hand as he was terrified. Visibility did improve as we moved away from the student activity areas, the highlight of the scuba dive came for me as we reached the "Gresham" a genuine Elizabethan wreck. This wreck is being held at Stony Cove for preservation purposes and is fascinating for anyone who has visited the Mary Rose exhibition in Portsmouth Dockyard. This scuba dive lasted 36 minutes and I left the water with over 100Bar in my tank, a real achievement for me and combined with my 50th dive made for a memorable day for me.


 
In conclusion, an enjoyable day for both Steve and I, the challenge being, in part, the weather and temperature but all the more satisfying because of that, we learnt and experienced new things not least the" third scuba dive" which was in "Nemo’s Bar" where the fire was burning, and good food and drink was experienced. Well, we needed somewhere to update our logbooks!
 
 
 
Simon
 

Why should you choose to do your PADI open water course with underwater adventures?

The PADI open water course is the world most widely used and recognized entry-level course in the world, you have even probably heard people talking about “getting their PADI” in relation to learning to scuba dive, well this is the course they are talking about. PADI is one of the largest teaching organizations in the world, teaching thousands of scuba divers year with the latest teaching techniques and teaching philosophies and innovations, leading the way in how people learn to scuba dive for over 50 years.

     

The PADI open water course is designed to get you in the water and learn through experience as soon as possible with the first pool session available as a “Discover Scuba Diving” try dive before you’ve even signed up to the full course do that you can see if you enjoy it before signing up to the full PADI open water course for only £45 per person and if you sign up to the PADI open water course once you have completed your Discover Scuba Diving session, the cost of the session is deducted from the cost of the full course.

   

The full PADI open water course is made up of three sections, the dive theory part where you learn the how’s and why's of scuba diving giving you an understanding of how scuba diving works. The confined water section where you will become familiar with the equipment and learn the skills you need to become a confidence scuba diver and the four open water dives where you will experience the thrills and excitement of scuba diving while under the guidance of our highly trained and experienced dive team.

   


The main difference between underwater adventures and most other scuba diving schools is that we focus on the Students learning experience, which is why our dive theory can either be completed online at your own pace or in a one to one session with one of our instructors and it is also why we offer unlimited sessions in any of our swimming pools located in Cambridge, Bedfordshire, and Hertfordshire. This allows you to learn to scuba dive at your own pace. If you want to can learn to scuba dive in a couple of weeks or a few months. We want you to have the best learning experience as possible, so you will never be pushed to learn quicker then you feel comfortable. It is important for us for you to learn to scuba dive at your own pace. Even with our open water dives, which take place at a specialist scuba diving lake just south of Peterborough, are completed with a maximum group size of four students and at least two PADI professionals on each dive.

   

Because we fit the PADI open water course around your needs and requirements and because we are as flexible as possible, you can start and finish your PADI open water course whenever you like and take as long as you like to finish. It is all about you and your learning experience.
So why should you learn to scuba dive with us? Because we will endeavor to give you the best scuba diving education as possible while allowing you to learn to scuba dive at your own pace in a fun and friendly environment.

If you would like to book your PADI open water course or would like more information about the PADI open water course, the Dive club, or any of the other PADI course we run? Please contact us by clicking here.

 

Scuba diving trip to Porthkerris, Cornwall.

Over the weekend of the 11th-13th May, we have our annual scuba diving trip to Porthkerris. This is a lovely setting with the log cabin we will be staying in only a couple of hundred metres from the beach with some excellent scuba diving on the reefs just offshore.

      


Porthkerris is a little cover on the lizard in Cornwall which has been set up for scuba divers. It has the log cabin accommodation which we will be staying in along with a clean air filling station, café, and dive shop just off the beach, so it has everything we need for a great weekends scuba diving. Because the reefs run from shallow to 20+ metres and with access to the manacles Marine Conservation Zone, MCZ, dive site offshore through one to the two dive boats available which lunch from the beach, the scuba diving is open to all levels of scuba diver, from PADI open water diver all the way up to those with the PADI deep diver qualification and as always with our club trips, we are open to scuba divers from all agencies, including BSAC, SSI, TDI, and SSA.

   


The plan for our scuba diving trip is to head down on Friday 11th May so that we are ready to jump in the water first thing Saturday morning and get as many dives in as possible. The good thing about scuba diving in Cornwall is that if the weather is bad in one place we can normally take a short drive over to the other coast and still get some great dives in there. On Saturday night and after a load of great dives we will normally head out to one of the amazing restaurant’s in the area for a nice meal and a couple of drinks while we chat about the great scuba diving we have done and the cool fish we have seen. On Sunday we can get another dive or two in before heading home. On the way home, we have been thinking about stopping off at Babbacombe Beach in Devon for a dive and maybe a bit of an underwater beach clean to work towards our PADI divers against Debris scuba divers award.

If you would like some more information about this trip or any of the other trips or courses, we run please click here

 

Sea scuba diving in the UK

The 1st April is the first UK sea scuba diving trip of the year with our trip down to Swanage for a bit of wreck diving on the Betsy Anna and a couple of dives under the pier. We may also pop out for a drift dive later in the afternoon depending on how good the weather is to us.
With a depth of 23 metres, the wreck dive on the Betsy Anna is only open to PADI advanced open water divers ( or BSAC and SSI equivalent ) or those of a higher scuba diving qualification, but the rest of the planned scuba diving is open to all levels including PADI open water divers.

A little more about the Betsy Anna

The Betsy Anna was an 880-ton steel steamer, built on the banks of the river Tyne in 1892. She struck Prawle Point in Devon in October 1926 but was re-floated and taken under tow towards Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, for major repairs. She sank, in her current position, after beginning to take on water and breaking her tow. She is lying upright in 24m of water, approximately 5 miles East of Swanage. The top of the bow section, in around 18 metres as the bow collapsed backward, so now stands 4m high pointing upwards.

   


Scuba diving Swanage pier

Swanage Pier is the perfect introductory to scuba diving in the water around the UK coast. It is shallow with easy access and loads of life. You would start the scuba dive by kitting up on the pier and heading down the steps straight into the sea water. It is well sheltered so it is easy to put on your fins before swimming on your back to the pier itself where you will drop down into around 2.5 meters of water. It is easy to navigate as you will just stay under the pier itself where you will find a selection of fish include different types of wrasse, with the odd pollock cursing around the schools of white fish and if you look closer in to the small nooks and crannies, you’ll stand a good chance of seeing Tompot Blenny’s and groups of shrimps.
With a max depth of 5 metres out towards the end of the pier and the relatively sheltered conditions in the bay, this is a great first experience for anyone new to scuba diving in the UK.
     

If you would like to know more about this scuba diving trip or any of the others we have planned throughout the year, please feel free to contact us by clicking here. 

 

For this year's Underwater Adventures dive club Christmas party we headed down to London for a cruise up and down the river on board MV Jewel of London for a few drinks, a bit of dancing all while taking in the amazing views London has to offer over the Christmas period.
The dress code was smart, so with all of us in our best clothes, we meet up at a pub just up from the embarkation point for a quick drink before heading down to the river to board our boat for the night. We found our table, got a couple of drinks in and we didn't have to wait long for the food to be served which was good although lacking in turkey for a Christmas meal, but that's just my point of view as everyone else really enjoyed it. Bellies full and drinks topped up we proceeded to dance the night away while enjoying the lights of London.

The boat docked at 12 pm and for those of us who wanted to carry on we had the option of free entry into the Opal nightclub just down the embankment and although most of us headed home and intrepid 6 of us headed down to the club for another couple of hours of dancing, with the odd Jager bomb thrown in for good measure, before heading back home to North Herts in the early hours of the morning. A great time was had by all and it is something we would definitely consider arranging again.







The Underwater adventures scuba diving club does a whole lot more than just scuba dive as we believe the social side of club membership is just as important as the scuba diving because it adds tot he scuba diving experience to scuba dive with people who are your friends. So if you would like to learn more about our scuba diving club and how to join, please click here 

On the 24th November, 14 of us jetted off to El Gouna in Egypt to work on our suntans ready for Christmas and maybe get a little diving in as we had heard it's not too bad around this area, and boy, were we in for a treat. The Flight from Gatwick to Hurghada allowed us to catch up with the sleep we had lost due tot eh early start so we were ready to explore El Gouna once we had arrived as none of us had visited this place before  and it is a lovely little tourist town with a load of bars and restaurants within a couple of minutes walk from our hotel. A lovely meal was had followed by an early night so we would be ready for the following day's scuba diving. The next morning we were picked up and taken to the dive centre where we filled in the necessary paperwork and got our kit onto the dive boat, ready to check out what the water off El Gouna had to offer and boy, were we in for a treat.





Not only did we enjoy the beautifully clear, warm water, amazing coral and fish life but as you can see from above, we were treated to a visit from a pod of Dolphins. To be honest, the place we were diving was called dolphin house should we had an idea but having the chance to scuba dive with these amazing animals is an experience of a lifetime and yet another reason, if you needed one, to learn to scuba dive. It was such an amazing experience and if you follow the link below you can see what it was like as I luckily had my camera on and catch the whole event.

Underwater Adventures Dive Club YouTube channel 

Amazing as that was it wasn't the only thing we saw on that trip with a number of the Girls spotting a very large Eagle ray in the blue, unfortunately, no video of this one, and a hugh amount of amazing coral which fortunately had not been badly effected by the coral bleaching a lot of the other parts of the red sea had experience over the past couple of years and because el gouna is a little off the beaten track we were treated to laods of fish life, from humphead wrasse bigger then a scuba diver to amazingly beutifully coloured nudibranch not much bigger than your little finger nail. Plus we also did a trip to scuba dive the Thistlegorm wreck, one of the world most famous wrecks, a wreck very popular with scuba divers from all over the world due to the ease of penetration and the huge amount of supplies still in its hold, from motorbikes to artillery shells.



With the amazing scuba diving with a friendly and fun group of people, all in all, it was a get week away with the added bonus of all of us having a great sun suntan for Christmas and if you would like to take a look at some of the pictures taken by the others who came on the trip please check out the album on our facebook page

Underwater adventures Facebook Picture album

And if you fancy joining us on one of our other scuba diving trips please keep an eye on our events calendar and our facebook page for further information, FYI we do have a scuba diving trip to Lanzarote at the End of February ;-)

Diving in November? When the question was put to the group as to who wanted to visit Stoney Cove on Saturday 11th November there was silence. Traditionally the month when people start to hang up their dive kit there was only Simon (who the week before had completed his Dry suit course) who volunteered. Being a November Dive Simon and myself decided that Stoney Cove couldn’t possibly be that busy so we agreed to meet at 9 am. After all, with the numerous divers who are going into hibernation for the winter months, we would probably even get down to the waterfront car park – Wrong!

That Saturday morning as we traveled through the rain we began to question what we were doing. 7 am on a cold Saturday morning and we are driving towards a cold quarry to jump into the equally cold water. As we arrived at Stoney Cove we were pleasantly surprised. The rain that we had been driving through had passed and we were greeted by a glistening lake. Although we had to park on the top carpark due to the number of visitors it didn’t dampen our spirits! After lugging our kit down to the waterside we rewarded ourselves with Bacon Sandwiches and copious amounts of Tea. The plan was to swim down to the Wessex Helicopter and then navigate out to the Stangarth, then moving to the left-hand side of the quarry swim past the Belinda and then onto the Tug Boat defiant. All good in theory, however, our bearing was slightly off and after leaving the Wessex Helicopter we reached the Belinda (Probably need to brush up on my navigation skills!!). We then swam to the left-hand side of the quarry visiting the blockhouse and a Nautilus that was engulfed in a shoal of Fish. 




After refueling on yet more Tea and food, we decided to Try again. This time to make sure we reached the Stangarth we decided to follow the anchor chain, within a matter of minutes we found the Chain and was swimming out into the centre of the quarry. As we swam a looming structure began to appear out of the murk, we had finally found the Stangarth! After swimming around the ship we navigated to the Belinda and then the Tug Boat Defiant. This time upon ascending to the shallows we were greeted by an extremely aggressive Cray Fish and a large Pike that just floated in the water; wearily watching us as we made our way to the exit.

All in all two fantastic dives with a water temperature of 14 degrees and 7 meters visibility– Not bad for this time of year!! I wouldn’t recommend it in a wetsuit however for those Drysuit divers out there the question is ‘Will you be joining us at Stoney Cove for another dive on the 17th November?’

Will

PADI Drysuit course.

On Thursday evening and a couple of the club members came along to the pool night that we have every Thursday evening at the Robinson Pool, Bedford, with their nice and shiny new drysuit's ready to start the practical part of their PADI dry suit course. After a bit of time complaining about how hot they were at the side of the pool, it was time to jump in and try out their drysuits for the first time. This is always a little bit of a tense moment when you wonder if you will actually be dry and what do you know, both of them were. After a little play around with their weight's and a buoyancy check, it was time to go for a play around underwater to learn about how diving in a drysuit differs from scuba diving in a wetsuit. After they had got comfortable in their drysuit's it was time for some safety skill and how to act should something not go right with the drysuit whilst scuba diving. All done and all happy with their new drysuits it was time to move to open water.





Sunday the 5th November came around and it was a beautiful day with the sun coming out and hardly any other divers around, plus at this time of year, the temperature in the water was much warmer than the air temperature. Jo and Simon under the guidance of Derek and Stuart put their kit on and went for their first open water dives in their drysuits. just a nice little bibble around the training platform's to work on their buoyancy with their new piece of equipment and a chance to perform a couple of safety skill's which their learned int he pool. Half an hour later and has everyone was getting out of the water after the first dive the general consensus was "how warm are we". 
After a bit of time on the surface for a nice cup of tea, while the cylinders were filled, it was time for dive two. this time a trip around the eastern side of the lake to look for fish in the sunken forest. 40 mins later and everyone was back on shore having completed all the necessary skill's and more importantly, feeling a lot more confident in their drysuits, plus everyone was still warm even given the time of year. Another cup of tea during the debrief before heading home with two new and very happy PADI drysuit divers. 

On the 17th November, we will be running an Emergency first response primary and secondary care first aid course at the Willian village hall, Hertfordshire. Although this is primarily for scuba divers, the course is the same as we would give to the general public going over exactly the same skill's as you would find on a general First Aid Course and is open to everyone.
Has with all of our course's, we will make it fun and enjoyable as well as educational as we believe that you will learn more if you are having fun at the same time so why not come along and learn something that just might save someone's life while having a fun evening out.



The course will start 7:00 pm on Friday 17th November and if you would like to book on the course please let us know beforehand so we can provide you with the training manual so you can have a look through and familiarize yourself with it beforehand, allowing you to get the most out of the course on the night. The cost of this course is £25 to a member of Underwater Adventures or £55 to non-members and for this price, you get your own training manual which you will get to keep, the Full first aid course and full certification from emergency First Response upon completion of the course.
 

 

On the 30th September at Gildenburgh water, a Scuba Diving site just south of Peterborough, BRoW4 held a charity event in aid of the RNLI, a charity very close to all divers hearts and Underwater Adventures were happy to send a team along to take part. 


The event had bouncy castles and stalls all around the dive site and a competition for scuba divers where we could test our scuba diving skill's while having loads of fun. Team Underwater adventures were made up, from left to right, Kirstie, Steph, Steve, Heather, and Simon and I am so proud of how well they all did in coming first in the competition even though we were a diver down in only having 5 diver's in our team.

The event's included an underwater navigation test, an underwater treasure hunt, an Underwater Photography competition and an Underwater Pool game on a pool table at 6 metres (Please click here to watch a video of the underwater pool game) which was won comfortably by Steph and Kirstie.

Despite the poor Viz underwater on the day both teams did really well in both the underwater navigation and the underwater treasure hunt and were the only team to complete both task's to the full but unfortunately due to the poor viz the underwater photography didn't so so well otherwise we would have had a load of pictures to show you on here.

The day was a success, raising money for a worthy cause in the RNLI as well as allowing everyone to have loads of fun while doing it and I would like to say a huge well done to team Underwater Adventures for coming first and showing how good our scuba diving skills are.

The Winners with the huge banana we won for kicking arse at Underwater pool.

Click here to download our Newsletter - January 2016 Edition. Here you will find a run down of our ventures in the Farne Islands, Egypt, Plymouth. 

January-Newsletter.pdf

In April 2018 we will be heading the Egypt for a red sea liveaboard diving the best the red sea has
to offer. The trip includes flights, transfers, Egyptian visa with a guide to help us through immigration
plus all the diving, food and drink while on this amazing vessel. The cost of the trip
is £1328 and if you are a member of the underwater adventures dive club you will getting a refund
of at least £70 of the full price once the trip is over, dropping the overall price to just £1258.



Itinerary Highlights:
 
Brother Islands
The northernmost part of Egypt's offshore marine park is made up of two islands 60km away from the coast and 140km south of Hurghada. The larger island (complete with a lighthouse from 1883) is 400 metres long with a spectacular plateau on the south-east corner which is dotted with coral mountains and famous for thresher and grey reef shark sightings. The western side of the island has two impressive wrecks which both lie almost vertical on the side of the reef. The most spectacular are the Numidia, a large cargo steamer which sank in 1901 and now lies on the tip of the island between 10 and 80 metres covered in soft corals and frequented by large pelagic predators. The smaller wreck of the Aida (sitting between 30 and 65 metres) was a lighthouse authority supply vessel which sank in bad weather in 1957.
The smaller island, whilst only a little over 200 metres long, hosts an incredible concentration and variety of marine life. There is a pristine fan coral forest, a massive collection of hard and soft corals and compelling overhangs to explore. The highlight is the fish life; with regular seasonal sightings of hammerhead, thresher, grey reef, and oceanic whitetip sharks.

Daedalus
This huge tear-drop shaped reef rises from the seabed in the middle of the Red Sea, 80km offshore and more than 300km south of Hurghada. Easily recognized by its zebra-striped lighthouse, this reef offers some of the most amazing dives in the Red Sea. The sheer walls are covered in over-grown hard coral formations and a variety of reef fish. Napoleon wrasses and turtles are often cruising by, but make sure you keep your eyes open in the blue! Daedalus is one of those places where anything can happen... oceanic whitetip, grey reef, and thresher sharks are often sighted, but Daedalus is most famous for its scalloped hammerhead sharks which can often be seen in large schools out in the blue during the summer months. The sheer size of this reef means that you can do several dives here and never get bored!

Elphinstone Reef
A Red Sea legend; a finger-shaped reef, with north and south plateaus covered in hard and soft corals, unpredictable and exciting this truly is an awesome reef where hammerhead sharks are regularly spotted in the summer and oceanic whitetip sharks often congregate in large numbers during late autumn.
 

The PADI adventure diver course is based on the completion of 3 adventure dives from the following, night dive, surface maker buoy dive, wreck dive, deep dive, navigation dive, naturalist dive and the peak performance buoyancy dive. These dives will take place over one day at the openwater site. Once you have chosen your 3 scuba dives you will receive your Padi adventures in diving pack for you to complete the relavent chapters to the dive you will be doing.