Frequently asked questions
Membership
SSAC accepts members all year round. To join, simply visit the club on a Thursday evening, complete some paperwork and pay the appropriate fee(s). If you are already qualified, please remember to bring along your qualification details.
BSAC membership is paid annually, and gives you access to internationally recognised diver and instructor training courses, third party limited public liability insurance to £10 million and 12 monthly issues of SCUBA Magazine as well as a range of diving and lifestyle discounts.
SSAC publishes a list of fees which can be found here
Medical Requirements
There is an option to complete a BSAC ‘Self Certification’ medical declaration form and providing you have can answer all the questions about your medical history and whether you have had certain medical conditions as ‘No’ you can dive with the Club without completing any other medicals
If you have any doubts or if you must answer 'Yes' to any of the questions you should seek the advice of a medical referee who can give specific advice about diving and medical conditions. More information and a list of referees can be found on the UKDMC website.
No, the UK Diving Medical Committee provides advice for recreational diving within the UK. The BSAC, SAA, SSAC and PADI all refer to their advice. In turn, they approve a number of specialist doctors who are based around the UK for referrals.
Divers from Other Agencies
Yes! You will be required to have SSAC and BSAC membership, but there is no need to convert or retrain, you can simply pay your fees and come diving with us. Many of our members learned to dive with other agencies but have subsequently joined the club and BSAC and enjoy the club diving environment.
There are several differences; the main difference is that BSAC is a member owned diving club, run by volunteers in a network of branches throughout the UK and abroad wheras PADI is a commercial organisation that generates revenue from selling diving courses.
BSAC diver training is geared to UK recreational diving with the support of members within a branch. However, as UK diving might be some of the most challenging, BSAC training sets you up well to dive anywhere. For this reason, BSAC include both drysuit and nitrox training in their entry level course.
Learning To Dive
Yes, we can arrange a try dive - providing you are relatively fit and well. The try dive is a great way to see if you like the experience of diving underwater and breathing from scuba equipment.
Try dives can also be arranged for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. Try dives cost £50 (a contribution to pool/equipment hire and insurance).
Simply contact the club, or pop in to see us and we can book you onto a session.
Children must be at least 10 years old to do a try dive.
No. SSAC is a British Sub-Aqua Club affiliated club and therefore we only offer BSAC courses. BSAC courses are fully compliant with international standards and recognised worldwide.
SSAC can offer try dives from the age of 10, however we cannot train anyone under the age of 12.
Many of our instructors hold Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates to ensure we can offer the ability to teach children.
There is no upper limit providing you are fit and healthy. A medical examination by a diving doctor/medical referee may be required in certain circumstances.
Yes. All BSAC training is carried out by qualified instructors to internationally recognised standards and is valid worldwide. Your qualification will be recognised by dive operators abroad if you wish to dive on holiday etc. and is valid for life.
You can also continue your training with other agencies, who will recognise your existing BSAC qualifications.
There is no set time limit and it will depend on several factors – your own confidence and ability, your availability and instructor availability, access to a pool and sheltered water sites, and ultimately the time of year and weather, when finishing your training in the sea.
BSAC training is more progressive than other agencies and covers, even at the basic Ocean Diver level subjects such as diving using Nitrox, rescue training and use of a dry suit. All this additional training is designed to prepare divers for UK diving within a club environment.
Already Qualified Divers
SSAC dive all year, weather permitting. We are happy to take our RHIB, Southsea Explorer, out at any time of year but naturally weather precludes extensive winter use. However, the club makes sure to stay diving over winter with regular shore dives, quarry dives and more training being run, as well as hard boat dives if available.
SSAC has a number of closed-circuit rebreather divers in the club, who make good use of the club's mixed gas blending facilities. As well as this, Southsea Explorer is a large and capable RHIB, suitable for deep exploratory wreck diving.
If you're a CCR diver who's interested in joining, come and visit us and let us know and we'll introduce you to some of the club's CCR divers.
We have our own clubhouse which provides an excellent venue for theory training.
For larger training groups we are equipped with a projector and screen and whiteboards.
We have some Resusci Anne and O2 kits as well as an AED for first aid/practical training and plenty of other equipment which can be used to support training delivery. Our RHIB can also be used for practical training.
We frequently run SDCs for our own branch and also host SDCs for the BSAC Southern Region. SSAC has very high qualified instructors, and nearly every BSAC SDC can be taught in house.
If you wish to continue developing your teaching skills and learning new skills you can ‘crossover’ to a BSAC instructor grade.
There are several options available – as set out on the BSAC website or you can come along and chat it over with our Diving Officer or Training Officer.
Facilities and Equipment
Yes, the club has a very capable 6.3m Humber Ocean Pro (RHIB) called ‘Southsea Explorer’.
It has a 175hp engine and can comfortably take 8 divers (plus coxswain and crew) dependent on the nature of the diving planned. The RHIB is equipped with GPS, echo sounder, side-scan sonar and VHF/DSC radio along with safety equipment such as radar reflector, lifejackets, first aid kit and a supply of Oxygen.
Yes. SSAC has one of the most comprehensive gas facilities of any UK club. SSAC owns 2 compressors – an Alkin Air compressor and a Coltri-Sub Nitrox (membrane) compressor producing up to 38% nitrox.
Subject to the appropriate training and qualifications, members can gain access to the compressors 24/7 to fill their diving cylinders. The air compressor is capable of filling to a pressure of 300 bar. The system includes both an air and a nitrox bank.
A mixed gas blending / trimix facility is also available including a booster pump for those qualified to use it enabling you to fill your cylinders with any mix for any dive, including all CCR dives. We keep O2 and He in stock at all times.
Yes, we have many sets of scuba equipment (BCD, regulators, fins, mask, snorkel, weights etc) that are available to trainees or full diving members.
Unfortunately, we are unable to supply wetsuits or drysuits though these can be hired or purchased from several local dive shops and or from some of the facilities we use for open water training. The hire of diving suits normally needs to be arranged in advance.