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This site is aimed at anyone interested in Scuba Diving, who may wish to join our club; as well as offering a means of communication to our members, new and old.

Copyright Notice: The photos and images are Copyright to their respective owners. The rest of this site is Copyright to Hackney Diving. All rights reserved.

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Learn to Dive

Where do I start?

Contact Rob Wilkins, Tel: 07932 663 737, or the committee Email: committee @ hackneydiving.org (please delete the spaces in the email address)and ask about a Try Dive.

Alternatively you can email one of the committee members listed on our Contacts page, or you can approach us at the pool or the Approach Tavern on Monday evenings. We will arrange a try dive for you if you have never dived before. If you are a qualified diver we will be more than happy to welcome you to the club and discuss the benefits of membership.

How fit should I be?

You need to be able to swim and be reasonably fit. To become a member of the club and BSAC you will need to fill out a medical 'self-cert' form; or if you have answered yes to any of the medical questions, you will need to have a medical with a qualified doctor; for which you may have to pay a small fee.

What does a Try Dive involve?

 One of our qualified members will go through the basics of scuba, with an introduction to the scuba kit and how it works. You will then try on the kit and get into the shallow end of the pool for a short lesson with your instructor – if you enjoy the experience of weightlessness and the ability to breathe under water and can’t wait to learn more, then talk to us about membership.


A try-diver with one of our instructors
York Hall Pool

How much does it cost?

We have a range of dive fees according to the level you join us at. We hope that you’ll find our fees excellent value compared to other dive courses. The beauty of becoming a member is that the more you learn, the more you save.

Our fees include membership of BSAC, free subscription to DIVE Magazine, lectures, training and course material.

What other information might I need?

 We have a welcome pack (MS Word format) which contains much of the information from these pages in a convenient form.

For New Divers (those without a diving qualification)

Try Dive £ 10 (refund when you join)
Joining the Hackney Club £ 140.00
Books   £ 35
Joining BSAC       £ 50.00  
TOTAL     £ 225

Renewal For Existing Members and crossover divers from PADI etc

Qualification

Joining HSAC

Joining BSAC*

TOTAL

Ocean/Trainee

£ 130

£ 50.00

£ 180.00

Sports

£ 115

£ 50.00

£ 165.00

Dive Leader

£ 90

£ 50.00

£ 140.00

AD

£ 90

£ 45.00

£ 135.00

OWI

£ 75

£ 45.00

  £ 120.00

AI/First Class Diver

£ 75

£ 40.00

  £ 115.00

PADI OW Conversion

£ 130

£ 50.00

£ 180.00

* Abated BSAC membership is £32pa and is for the second membership of a household. The abated member does not receive a separate BSAC magazine.

What is BSAC?

 BSAC is the British Sub-Aqua Club. As a member of HSAC, you automatically join BSAC, the biggest dive club in the world. The difference between BSAC and PADI is that with BSAC you join a club environment and train at a pace that suits you. You are led through the various stages of training and go on dive trips that the club organises PADI is a commercial training qualification. Both qualifications are universally recognised. Your PADI qualifications are recognised by BSAC.

For further details on BSAC go to http://www.bsac.com

What does training involve?

 Your training will include a combination of lectures, pool sessions, open water sessions (usually at Stoney Cove in Leicestershire, Gildenburgh near Peterborough, or in the sea at Swanage in Dorset) and a theory exam.
 

Practice your rescue skills with our trained instructors

Below are the details of the following course programmes to give you an overview of what is involved (see http://www.bsac.org/page/83/bsac-diver-grades.htm for more information):

Ocean Diver http://www.bsac.org/page/277/ocean-diver.htm
Sport Diver http://www.bsac.org/page/276/sports-diver.htm
Dive Leader http://www.bsac.org/page/275/dive-leader.htm

And Equipment?

The club will loan equipment to you throughout your training. We recommend that you purchase the minimum of a mask, fins and snorkel to begin with, and your own weight belt together with weights when you begin open water diving. You can buy or hire the rest, but will be expected to gradually buy most of the essential kit over the first year or two. Buying new can be expensive, but there are always dive members willing to sell off second hand gear as they "trade up".