Benefits of club diving?

[JamieG]

Just wondering if many people belong to a diving 'club'?

I rejoined my old BSAC one after my long time out of the water and it has been good to be able to get some pool time to check kit etc but thats about it really.

Too be honest if you don't want to prgress through the training ranks, have all your own kit, have mates to dive with etc is the club now a redundant beast? (I'm pretty anti social so I don't do the club-pub thing either)

Would the £100 a year subs be better spent on other diving things?

Just wondering what the general consensus on here is really?

[Scuby]

Was very closely involved with my uni dive club - it's where I learnt, where I later taught, and where I did most of my diving for the first 3ish years.

I was also a member of a very good club up in the North East (Bishop Auckland) during the summer, which kept me diving outside of term time.

Since leaving uni though i've tried other clubs and just don't find them useful anymore. They want a lot of money, and I didn't feel I got anything out of it - I now just book myself on a boat and turn up, or fill spaces on other people's boats, where the diving is just as good (or often better, as I can choose to do whatever I like whenever I like) and avoids spending £150/year.

Main thing I'd say with clubs though is they're good as long as they match your kind of diving - for me the one I tried down here didn't. They needed me to commit to diving trips 12+ months before they happen, which I don't want to do - I much prefer my current situation where I decide on a Thursday if I want to dive that weekend. My old club up north made much better use of their RIB, and so on a Monday night (club night) asked who wanted to go that weekend - much more flexible, always filled the boat, was out every weekend, did what I wanted, etc.

So yeah, if you find a good club they're good, if you don't then they're not. And remember, what's "good" for one person may be very different for another.

David

[nigelH]

I guess it really depends on what sort of diving you want to do.
We are a sea-side club so diving is easy and cheap with the club as we pile into the RIBs and blat out a few miles (so the water isn't waist deep) and dive.
Six quid for an inshore dive so the boats about break even on fuel with something in the pot for the servicing of big fat 130bph outboards.

Some people can go further out on a RIB but my sea-sickness demands a hard boat for serious deco diving but I still think I get VFM out of my £180 a year as it includes all my air fills, use of a pool in the winter and a BSAC sub so I can whinge about the magazine.

Actually coxing the RIB without diving is probably worth it as it keep my sea-legs together or most of my diving would be lost to the dreaded mal-de-mere.

[Captain Calamity]

I crossed over to BSAC from PADI and joined my local club earlier this year.

Last year I did 80 odd dives with the same couple of buddies. Since joining the club I am pretty sure that I will beat that this year - I seem to be out diving the club rib or hardboat twice a week. I've barely had the chance to dive with the same buddy twice, and have met loads more divers.

I'd say joining a club has been good for my diving, guess you just have to pick the right club.

CC

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by JamieG

Just wondering if many people belong to a diving 'club'?

I rejoined my old BSAC one after my long time out of the water and it has been good to be able to get some pool time to check kit etc but thats about it really.

Too be honest if you don't want to prgress through the training ranks, have all your own kit, have mates to dive with etc is the club now a redundant beast? (I'm pretty anti social so I don't do the club-pub thing either)

Would the £100 a year subs be better spent on other diving things?

Just wondering what the general consensus on here is really?

Ah, I think I've found your problem.

If true, then yes you are probably wasting your time and money. Chances are you will also upset people or be easily upset (on the way already?) if you cannot mix and match in the way that most of the rest will be.

Adrian

[JamieG]

Originally Posted by Adrian Kelland

Ah, I think I've found your problem.

If true, then yes you are probably wasting your time and money. Chances are you will also upset people or be easily upset (on the way already?) if you cannot mix and match in the way that most of the rest will be.

Adrian

I was joking about being anti-social but I just dont get the time for club piss ups etc.

We don't have a club rib though.

[Justin Owen]

At the end of the day it depends what you want and the nature of the club.

We're a very active club at Chester, we have lots of groups interested in different things - Seaseach, NAS, Video, Photography, Wrecks, Marine Biology - there's something for everyone. Two RHIBS, weekends away around the UK, holidays abroad...

Over the last few years we have probably taken on more qualified divers than we've trained - because people want to join us for the diving that we're doing.

A trip out on our boats with your mates costs us on average about £15 each in fuel and costs. RHIB charter for the day will cost you about £45. No brainer for us!

[ray]

Hi.

Just turn up, don't get involved in any way in running a club, don't organise any dives, just take and never give, the average club will love you.

Do it the other way round, and you will pay the price!.

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by JamieG

I was joking about being anti-social but I just dont get the time for club piss ups etc.

We don't have a club rib though.

Ah, I took your comment at face value. Apologies.

We have two RIBs, so that's an average of 1 between us. Does that help?

Seriously though, if you don't have the time for the social bit, would you have the time for getting the RIB out, washing it down and all the other bits? I tend to find the socialilsing bit to be the payoff, in the same way that the evening banter pays off for having to spend the day on a boat with 11 other twats - I mean YDers

Adrian

Adrian

[JamieG]

Originally Posted by Adrian Kelland

Ah, I took your comment at face value. Apologies.

We have two RIBs, so that's an average of 1 between us. Does that help?

Seriously though, if you don't have the time for the social bit, would you have the time for getting the RIB out, washing it down and all the other bits? I tend to find the socialilsing bit to be the payoff, in the same way that the evening banter pays off for having to spend the day on a boat with 11 other twats - I mean YDers

Adrian

Adrian

Dunno to be honest I like to go diving then go for dinner with who I have dived with then go home. I don't know about washing a rib etc as we don't have one and pay full commercial rates for the ones we use.

Hmm sounds like some of you guys have a very different club to the one I belong to.