Intensive Snorkelling Course

[rick stevens]

I've seen a couple of BSAC dive centres in the UK offering the ocean diver course in an intensive course (6 evenings + 1 weekend or 2 weekends). Since I'm struggling to find a BSAC snorkelling club local to me, does anyone kknow of any BSAC centres that will cover the snorkelling ocean diver course in an intensive course?

cheers

Rick

[Ben Panter]

Hi Rick,

I would expect that if you ring any of them they will be able to provide you with snorkel training. Have you tried any yet?

Ben

[rick stevens]

Not for the intensive stuff Ben

I've emailed or rung all of the BSAC clubs in my area and only managed to find 1 club willing to do the snorkelling syllabus (1hr session per week), but it means an 80 mile round trip each week for the sessions. If I have no other choice then I will have to go down that route, but I thought if I could do them on an intensive basis it would cut down on the travelling.

The centres I've seen offering the intensive scuba courses don't even mention the snorkelling courses on their website, so I thought I would ask on here first, as I suspect the majority of people on here will be involved with a club or centre and may be able to point me in the right direction.

[Ben Panter]

Ah, no - I did not mean clubs/branches, rather 'centres' the new BSAC-speak for diveshops. I doubt any branch would have the resources to do such training, but I daresay a shop (who can hear the till bell ringing and the VISA machine beeping) will be more than willing to help.

Good luck,

Ben

[rick stevens]

Thanks Ben

I'll try a few of them tomorrow

Rick

[Nigel Hewitt]

I've seen a couple of BSAC dive centres in the UK offering the ocean diver course in an intensive course (6 evenings + 1 weekend or 2 weekends). Since I'm struggling to find a BSAC snorkelling club local to me, does anyone know of any BSAC centres that will cover the snorkelling ocean diver course in an intensive course?If you're going for a commercial course why not consider one of the AIDA courses?
I certainly found their take on buddying and rescue very interesting and they made me work hard. (Diver recovery from 10 meters, Samba drills, accompany through the critical zone).

I have no idea how these courses compare to the BSAC levels but in the new welcoming BSAC model we probably have a position on it buried somewhere in the system. Sadly there seems to be nothing on my 2007 CD on snorkeling.

[rick stevens]

Thanks for that Nigel - do you know if they have a presence on the internet. I just googled IADA and got nothing diving related back.

I dont necesserily want to do a commercial course, it just seems the only option as apposed to travelling so far every week. Are there any other associations/federations worth looking at? I've had a brief look at the PADI skindiver course but it doesnt seem as in depth as the BSAC ones

Rick

[Nigel Hewitt]

Thanks for that Nigel - do you know if they have a presence on the internet. I just googled IADA and got nothing diving related back.The people I used were all South Coast so maybe not so good for you.

Try googling for: Freediving UK AIDA

Freediving being the trendy new buzzword for breath-hold diving.
It's only us crusty old BSACees that talk about snorkeling any more.

[rick stevens]

Thanks Nigel, I've found it now

Looks a bit more extreme than I'd planned on though.

[Tina M]

Rick,

I've posted a reply on another of your threads... there's a new BSAC snorkelling club that's just being set up in Goole, not far from you. You will be able to do your training there.

Kind Regards,


Tina

[ChristianG]

Freediving being the trendy new buzzword for breath-hold diving.
It's only us crusty old BSACees that talk about snorkeling any more.
It's also only us crusty old farts that wouldn't know a snorkelling course from a bar of soap.

Bah! We simply went and did it, hyperventilation and all. Now that last is also a buzzword unknown in those days.

[DRW]

>We simply went and did it<

Indeed! That's what I did as a youngster in the late 1950s, before the health and safety police decreed that anybody equipped with a mask, a snorkel and a pair of fins constituted a mortal danger to other swimmers in public swimming pools.

And if I remember rightly, back then we called snorkelling "underwater swimming" or "sub aqua". Freediving had a different meaning back in the fifties and sixties. Freediving today with its specialised, overpriced and overpowered equipment always seems to have connotations of competitiveness and record-breaking. I'm a lifelong snorkeller who enjoys the pursuit as a relaxing, recreational activity that doesn't have to be a precursor to any other activity such as scuba or monofinning but can be appreciated in its own right.

[Odin]

Some of us oldies hold the Snorkel diver qualification. Tests A, B, C and finally D inc. a snorkel dive to 20 feet!

Bloody good for water confidence!