Qualified divers

In a hurry? Here’s the summary
– We welcome women and men over 18 years of age as members, and children of members aged 14+
– Join the club for £90 per annum plus BSAC membership (discounted to £80 for direct debit members)
– We welcome all divers regardless of training agency and recognise existing qualifications
– Free air fills and discounted mixed gas for qualified members
– Further your training (if you like) on Thursday evenings 8pm-10pm from £180 plus course pack fee

Dive with us!

If you are already qualified (certified) with any diver training agency, you can join Marlin Sub-Aqua Club and dive with us without doing any further training.

We welcome women and men and aim to help you achieve your diving goals and have fun!

The club meets every week and you’ll find a warm and sociable welcome at our bar in the Griff and Coton Sports Club. You will have free of charge access to the pool at Pingles Leisure Centre every other week for testing new kit, or simply going for a swim.

We have equipment for members to rent.

Our dive management team arranges diving around the coast of the British Isles and abroad. Diving with the club provides you with a cohort of like-minded people to dive with – no more pairing up with an ‘instabuddy’ on the dive boat!

Technical diving

Marlin Sub-Aqua Club is setup to welcome and support technical divers on open or closed circuit. We promote team diving and are especially keen to integrate GUE divers into the club environment.

We promote safe, adventurous diving, with efficient decompression strategies. The practical result of this is that our open circuit divers (for example) favour a standardised manifolded twinset/primary donate configuration, with helium containing breathing gases (trimix) below 40 metres, and 50% or oxygen during decompression. Uniquely in the midlands our Gas Shed can provide nitrox and trimix to members at affordable prices making this philosophy extremely easy to implement.

We do not allow solo diving within the club.

Project diving

Diving projects allows teams of divers to accomplish tasks together, and give purpose to a sequence of dives. Projects may be exploratory in nature, or may aim to monitor a site (such as a wreck) over time, or to collect marine life data through surveys.

Marlin Sub-Aqua Club flagship project:

Members have also volunteered with the following projects:

I am currently working towards my Dive Leader and Open Water Instructor qualifications. I started diving in 2018 having never considered it before, but the company I work for was offering grants to employees to take up a sport and diver training with Marlin Sub-Aqua Club was an option. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and so I signed up and have never looked back!
I qualified as an Ocean Diver and Sports Diver in 2019 and built up my skills with a single cylinder setup before Covid hit and everyone went on a diving hiatus. Once diving resumed, I switched my configuration to a twinset (double cylinders instead of one) so I could do longer and deeper dives, as well as be more self reliant.
I have dived mostly inland in places such as Stoney Cove and Capernwray but also in several coastal areas around the UK such as the Farne Islands, Portland and Lundy Island. I want to continue to dive at more UK coastal locations and also dive abroad. Diving makes me feel free and alive! Being able to experience a completely different world and the feeling of weightlessness you get whilst diving is pretty much incomparable to any other activity on the planet!

JAKE FORSTER
Club Member, April 2023

Furthering your training

Our instructors can teach the complete British Sub-Aqua Club Diver Training Programme including Advanced Ocean Diver, Sports Diver, Dive Leader (Dive Master) and Advanced Diver qualifications. If your current qualification is not from BSAC you will be able to cross-over and continue your training at the next level up without repeating a course.

We can support your diving goals through Skills Development Courses (SDCs), including Buoyancy & Trim Workshop, Drysuit Diver, Nitrox Workshop, Wreck Diver, photography etc. We have specialist instructors who can teach courses such as Twin-set Diver, Primary Donate Workshop, Advanced Wreck Diver, Compressor Operator and Mixed Gas Blender that are not routinely offered in diving clubs.

We have written a pair of blog articles, here and here, that provide more information about our thoughts on diver progression.

This is an optional intermediate course between the Ocean Diver and Sports Diver courses, which qualifies divers to thirty metres. It includes nitrox and drysuit qualifications. If you complete this course you can upgrade to Sports Diver later on without repeating the modules you have already done. A typical training schedule is shown below:

IDTitleTypeLocation
AORRefresher/orientation (optional)Open waterStoney Cove
AOT1Introduction to deep divingClassroomGriff & Coton
AOT2Equipment and techniquesClassroomGriff & Coton
AOO1Use of SMBOpen waterStoney Cove
AOO2DSMB deploymentOpen waterStoney Cove
AOO3Compass navigationOpen waterStoney Cove
AOT4Breathing gas systemsClassroomGriff & Coton
AOX25Depth progression to 22-25mOpen waterStoney Cove
AOX30Depth progression to 27-30mOpen waterStoney Cove

This course qualifies divers to thirty-five metres with mandatory decompression stops. It includes nitrox and drysuit qualifications. A typical training schedule is shown below, after which experience dives are required:

IDTitleTypeLocation
ST1Sport divingClassroomGriff & Coton
ST2Diver rescueClassroomGriff & Coton
SP1Basic life support (BLS)Dry practicalGriff & Coton
SS1Rescue skillsSheltered waterPingles
ST3Equipment and techniquesClassroomGriff & Coton
ST4Deeper divingClassroomGriff & Coton
ST5Breathing gas systemsClassroomGriff & Coton
ST6Going divingClassroomGriff & Coton
SP2Assistant dive managerDry practicalGriff & Coton
SO1Diver rescueSheltered waterPingles
SO1Use of SMBOpen waterStoney Cove
SO2Simulated decompression diveOpen waterStoney Cove
SO3Compass navigation / DSMB deploymentOpen waterStoney Cove
SO4Dive leading / basic skills reviewOpen waterStoney Cove

This course qualifies divers to manage groups of divers at sites that are well known to the club or unknown sites if using a professional boat skipper. It includes oxygen administration and practical rescue management qualifications. A typical training schedule is shown below, after which experience dives are required:

IDTitleTypeLocation
DT1The role of the Dive LeaderClassroomGriff & Coton
DO1DSMB useOpen waterStoney Cove
DO1Dive leading demonstrationOpen waterStoney Cove
DO3Dive leading practiceOpen waterStoney Cove
DT2Basic life supportClassroomGriff & Coton
DT3Oxygen and diving incidentsClassroomGriff & Coton
DT4Casualty assessmentClassroomGriff & Coton
DT5Oxygen administration equipmentClassroomGriff & Coton
DT6Oxygen administration in practiceClassroomGriff & Coton
DT7Use of oxygen administration equipmentClassroomGriff & Coton
DT8Dive planningClassroomGriff & Coton
DO4Shot recovery by simple liftOpen waterStoney Cove
DT9Rescue management – part 1ClassroomGriff & Coton
DO5Rescue management scenariosOpen waterStoney Cove
DT10Helicopter operationsClassroomGriff & Coton
DT11Rescue management – part 2ClassroomGriff & Coton
DO6Diving and rescue skills reviewOpen waterStoney Cove
DO7Rescue skills reviewOpen waterStoney Cove
DT12Dive managementClassroomGriff & Coton
DP1aDive managementDry practicalGriff & Coton
DP1bDive managementDry practicalBoat dive

This course qualifies divers to manage groups of divers at unknown sites. A typical training schedule is shown below, after which experience dives are required:

IDTitleTypeLocation
AT1The role of the Advanced DiverClassroomGriff & Coton
AT2Advanced divingClassroomGriff & Coton
AT3Organising diving from different platformsClassroomGriff & Coton
AP1Expedition planningDry practicalGriff & Coton
AT4Review of diving conditions and on-site first aidClassroomGriff & Coton
AO1Diving and rescue skills reviewOpen waterStoney Cove
AO2Rescue skills and management reviewOpen waterStoney Cove
AP2Dive planning and managementDry practicalGriff & Coton

Frequently asked questions

Where does training take place?

Courses are a mixture of:

How much does further training cost?

During your training the club provides almost all of the scuba equipment you need so there is no need to buy kit yourself. The cost to get you started on the Advanced Ocean Diver or Sports Diver courses after you join the club is:

  • Training fee £180 (includes equipment loan and two days open water instruction)
  • Course pack fee (£20-£73 depending on course / format)

Once you move to the open water part of the course there are additional costs that are charged per day and are not included in the above fee. We suggest you budget for two days of open water training:

  • Your entry into Stoney Cove (per day) £27
  • Hire of a wetsuit or drysuit from Stoney Cove (per day) £18-£40 (correct as of March 2023)
How old do I need to be to start?

Marlin Sub-Aqua Club is currently able to offer training to new members from 18 years of age.

Children aged 14+ are able to undertake training providing that a relative is a diving member of the club.

Do I need to be fit to dive?

Diving is a physical activity but you don’t need to be super fit to dive. Women and men of all shapes and sizes enjoy scuba diving! The equipment you start off with is relatively lightweight and teenagers should be able to lift it – in the water you are weightless.

In order to start diver training you need to be able to answer No to the questions on the BSAC Medical Form. If you have answered Yes to any questions that doesn’t mean you cannot dive, but that you will need to get a certificate from a specialist diving doctor.

The most cost effective way of obtaining a fit to dive certificate is to book a telephone consultation with DDRC Healthcare, who are a charity that run the hyperbaric chamber in Plymouth. They may sign you off over the phone, but if you require a face to face consultation the nearest facility is at the Midland Dive Chamber in Rugby.

We encourage you to join the club first and we can assist with answering any questions – if it turns out you aren’t fit to dive your membership fee will be refunded.

How do I book?

We have courses running through-out the year and will provide training in response to people joining the club and needing to advance their qualifications.

Scuba diving is a great way to make new friends! You are assured of a warm welcome whether you are male or female, and join on your own or with a friend or relative.

Contact us with questions or join the club online at bsac.com.