Diving Holidays

Specialist Reports Activity Holidays Diving Holidays Learning 

Whatever course you do you should cover health and safety, dealing with pressure, buoyancy, equipment, marine life, weather and water conditions, and the meanings of various hand signals.

Ideally you would select a qualification that has a CMAS rating (‘Confederation Mondial des Activites Subaquatiques'). For example a PADI Divemaster is equivalent to CMAS 5 Star, which is the same as a BSAC Advanced Diver qualification. With a CMAS equivalent qualification your skills should be accepted anywhere.

Basic open water diving courses are run in local swimming pools. This saves on sitting in a classroom when you could be out in the water on holiday. On the other hand, a swimming pool is not the most attractive place to be diving so some people decide to do the full course at the resort where it will also be a little cheaper (around £150 as opposed to £200 nearer home).

If you have already trained you will still be expected to take a check-out dive at most resorts.

In addition to training the following offer accreditation to diving centres. This is important as there have been cases of dive centres using old or damaged equipment and employing under-qualified instructors.

Both BSAC and PADI accredited centres offer one-off taster dives for beginners.

BSAC (British Sub Aqua Club)
Telford's Quay, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH65 4FL
tel: 0151 3506200

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The UK governing body of underwater swimming, a largely club based system, focusing on safe training, developing techniques and teaching respect for the sea, geared towards UK waters with more focus on safety and rescue skills for example. The BSAC operates through a network of more than 2,000 branches worldwide which usually meet weekly to practise skills and learn the programme, generally at local swimming pools. Branches also organise dive trips and social events and most will own diving equipment for communal use, though members are eventually expected to obtain their own scuba gear. The Club Diver Course teaches the basic skills needed for diving in open water. Courses generally take between 10 and 12 weeks to complete but most will allow members to follow the course at a pace to suit. The course starts with lessons on theory, including safe diving practice, sheltered water lessons include the essential practical skills, before testing these in open water dives. The organisation publishes a list of its schools and resort diving centres, including some in the Arabian Gulf, Greece, Kenya, Spain, Malta, Turkey and the US.

PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors)
Unit 7, St Philips Centre, Albert Road, St Philips, Bristol BS2 0PD
tel: 0117 3007200

PADI International and PADI UK both run websites in conjunction with the Online Travel Corporation (OTC), selling dive holiday packages. A commercial operation started in the US, which aims to be the world's leading recreational scuba training organisation. It is commented by outsider that training is geared to practice in warm/tropical waters. Founded in 1967, it reports that it currently issues certificates to around 65% of all recreational divers. It also reports that in 2001 it certified more than 28,000 new divers from the UK and that a further 23,000-plus took further PADI courses. There are currently more than 270 PADI dive centres in the UK.