Getting Started - BSAC Ocean Diver

For those joining the club with no previous diving experience, we start off with our entry level course of the Internationally recognized grade of BSAC Ocean Diver.This certifies you to dive to a maximum depth of 20m and includes drysuit training.

Every Tuesday for 6 weeks, we have a lecture, followed by a practical session in the pool at Andark.

Once you've mastered some basic skills we switch to a shallow open water site, usually Vobster in Somerset for the two days of practical, although some prefer to do that bit in Lanzarote.

We expect a committed student starting in October, to finish Ocean Diver by January at the very latest. When you take into account the Christmas recess this translates to an 8 week course.

Intermediate - BSAC Sport Diver

Ocean Diver is a good place to be for basic skills and to get you wet, but the patch of water we call our home, The Solent, is in the main just that bit deeper.

It's not just here though, the vast majority of the worlds recreational dives are in the 25-30m range. This means that we need to boost that existing skillbase and eventually increase your depth to a maximum of 35m, with the second grade of BSAC Sport Diver.

Training takes place in a similar fashion to Ocean Diver on Tuesday nights, but the course starts to introduce other concepts such as redundancy, decompression, first aid, rescue and Nitrox.

Training for Divers from Other Agencies
While we encourage education, their is no requirement for any divers joining us to do so. SUCS are happy for you to dive to the level of any of your existing diving qualifications.

SUCS Top-Up Skills

You might be happy at 30mts, but that's was in a wetsuit. You could do a course or you could do a quick "top-up" session.

SUCS stand alone courses include
First Aid, Delayed Surface Marker Buoy, Drysuit & Buoyancy Workshop.

Many of these courses/skills can be integrated into general diving.

Advanced Levels

BSAC Dive Leader
Due to the 50m maximum depth and complexities of this third level grade of Dive Leader, we classify this as an advanced level grade, however the grade itself needs a fair number of dives, so unlike the faster to achieve Ocean/Sport, this necessarily takes a fair bit longer.

It includes O2 Administration, First Aid, Practical Rescue Management and Dive Planning and Management.

BSAC Advanced Diver
Very much a management role, with hands on experience of dive planning and control of large diving groups. Although no actual increase in diving depth (same 50m as Dive Leader) the achievement of this level is highly regarded and is requirement for supervisors of scientific diving projects.

Advanced Diver is our highest non-technical/Instructor grade.

Technical Diving

SUCS Nitrox Workshop
For those with existing non-BSAC qualifications who wish to gain a Nitrox qualification equal to their existing diver grade.

SUCS Twinset Workshop
A stand alone SUCS course, which covers general use of twins, including trim, with safety drills, redundancy & gas planning.

BSAC Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures (ANDP)
Building on your existing Nitrox and decompression training, this course introduces the concept of using a stage with a higher % of O2 to accelerate decompression.

BSAC Sports MIxed Gas (SMG)
Entry Level normoxic Trimix with a maximum depth of 50m. Entry level ANDP.

SUCS Instructor Scheme

SUCS has an enviable record of producing it's own Instructors and in 2010 even managed to put no less than 10 of it's students on the Instructor Foundation Course. Even more enviable that once they became full Instructors, they ended up working in the Cayman Islands!!!!.

BSAC Assistant Diving Instructor (ADI)
Sports Divers (or equivalent) can go on an Instructor Foundation course (IFC) and start the first rung of Instructor Training. This is very much a hands on experience, with mentoring and assisting experienced Instructors in theory and practical sessions.

BSAC Open Water Instructor (OWI)
Building on your ADI and on completion of your Dive Leader grade, you can run for the BSAC Instructor exams. Again the club facilitate and mentor its Instructor candidates towards this goal.

PADI Divemaster and Instructor Internships

As a club we have many alumni who have taken BSAC training and turned it into a full career. Some have gone onto work as Divemasters in some amazing tropical locations, while others have became professional Instructors. The odd one or two are even now managers of diving centers and holiday companies specialising in diving trips.

SUCS works with a number of overseas and UK PADI centers, to prepare it's students fully prior to working as an Intern. This is undoubtably the best way of learning about the professional world of diving..