FAQ’s
BSAC's public liability insurance sets the minimum at 12 years old before you can start to learn to dive. However, Seahorse Divers has the discretion to allow younger people to take part in a Try Dive. For example, an individual may wish to participate in a Try Dive just prior to their 12th birthday to determine if they wish to learn to dive once they turn 12 years old. If you are too young to learn to dive, you can always learn to snorkel with us. For both children and adults, snorkelling is a great introduction to underwater sports and can be the first step towards scuba diving. Read more about our Try Dives
We strive to make diving as accessible and inclusive as possible. BSAC actively encourages individuals with a physical or mental disability to dive via their Diving For All (DfA) programme.
As a club, we do not currently have any instructors who are DfA qualified, but we are working on it. However, no two people are the same and it may be possible to support your access to diving within the club. The best thing to do is to get in contact via mansfieldseahorses@gmail.com or pop along to have a chat with us in confidence so we can establish what support you require and how we can best facilitate your needs.
If we are unable to provide support within the club, then we will do our very best to make whatever arrangements we can via BSAC.
As a club, we do not currently have any instructors who are DfA qualified, but we are working on it. However, no two people are the same and it may be possible to support your access to diving within the club. The best thing to do is to get in contact via mansfieldseahorses@gmail.com or pop along to have a chat with us in confidence so we can establish what support you require and how we can best facilitate your needs.
If we are unable to provide support within the club, then we will do our very best to make whatever arrangements we can via BSAC.
BSAC limit the number of Try Dives a person can participate into 3. If you wish to continue to dive with the club after this you will need to join both BSAC and Seahorse Divers
You will first need to join BSAC and their fees start from £30.50 for a junior membership and go up to £59.00 for standard adult membership. In addition to this, you will need to also join Seahorse Divers and our current fees are £12.50 per month for junior members and £20.00 per month for adults. The full rates can be found here. Our membership fees include use of the pool, club pool equipment, BSAC insurance, BSAC monthly magazine and BSAC member benefits.
We will provide you with everything you need to participate in a Try Dive, all you need is your swimwear. If you decide to join the club and learn to dive you will be able to use our pool equipment for a small hire fee. However, we always encourage members to begin to purchase their own equipment as soon as possible once they have decided that diving is for them. We can guide and advise you on choosing the right equipment for you. Owning your own equipment is important as it enables you to start to configure your equipment to suit you as a diver and begin to know your own equipment. NOTE - we do not provide any equipment for use in open water. All club equipment is only for use in the pool. You can find more information at BSAC at 'What gear will I need?'
Yes. We welcome existing divers from all other diver training agencies and will look to see where your current level of training can be transferred to an equivalent BSAC qualification. Other agency qualifications are recognised (PADI, SSI, SAA, ScotSAC, NAUI etc) and no further training is necessary unless you’d like further training. As an example, the PADI Open Water and PADI Advanced Open Water is the equivalent to BSAC Ocean Diver. PADI Rescue Diver is the equivalent to BSAC Sports Diver and so your next qualification would be BSAC Dive Leader.
Below is a chronological list of the BSAC diver training courses, starting with Ocean Diver. Each one will take you to further information about them on the BSAC website;
We meet at 7:30pm every Tuesday evening for theory classes at MRS Training & Rescue Leeming Ln S, Mansfield Woodhouse, Mansfield NG19 9AQ.
At 8:45pm we head over the road to the Rebecca Adlington PoolWestdale Rd, Mansfield NG19 7BZ to be poolside by 9pm
At 8:45pm we head over the road to the Rebecca Adlington PoolWestdale Rd, Mansfield NG19 7BZ to be poolside by 9pm
You need to be able to swim 200m and be able to complete the below medical self-declaration.
If you are unable to complete a medical self-declaration you will need a medical certificate from a dive medical referee from the UK Dive Medical Committee. UKDMC is the national network of medical referees with accredited diving medicine expertise who set the standards of fitness required to dive. They use a uniform set of medical standards which are continually reviewed as new research is published.
The UKDMC also list further information about various medical conditions.
If you are unable to complete a medical self-declaration you will need a medical certificate from a dive medical referee from the UK Dive Medical Committee. UKDMC is the national network of medical referees with accredited diving medicine expertise who set the standards of fitness required to dive. They use a uniform set of medical standards which are continually reviewed as new research is published.
The UKDMC also list further information about various medical conditions.
You can find further BSAC medical information here
diver-self-declaration-medical-fitness-form
Yes, providing you dive within BSAC's Safe Diving Guide and have a medical self-declaration or certificate from a UKDMC dive medical referee.
Details of BSAC insurance can be found here
Details of BSAC insurance can be found here
Yes, we love to party.
We are a friendly, sociable club and love to socialise as often as possible.
We are a friendly, sociable club and love to socialise as often as possible.
Drop us an email at mansfieldseahorses@gmail.com and arrange to pop along to see us.
If you have never dived before then we can offer you up to a maximum of 3 Try Dives, after which you will need to join both BSAC and our branch before you can do any more diving.
How to join is all explained here.
If you have never dived before then we can offer you up to a maximum of 3 Try Dives, after which you will need to join both BSAC and our branch before you can do any more diving.
How to join is all explained here.
BSAC offer a range of interesting and exciting 'skills development courses' that you can book independently throughout the year as a BSAC diver. Costs vary, but they typically start from about £35.00
Here is a list of BSAC Skills Development Courses
There are lots to choose from and you will never get bored.
Here is a list of BSAC Skills Development Courses
There are lots to choose from and you will never get bored.
As a member, you will be invited to join our club Facebook group where you can stay in touch will all of our members via the group and Facebook messenger. We find this is the easiest and preferred method to communicate news and information about what we are doing.
If you do not have a Facebook account then you can still join in with the club conversations and stay up to date with what we are doing via the FREE Facebook messenger app that can be downloaded for iPhone and Android devices.
If you do not have a Facebook account then you can still join in with the club conversations and stay up to date with what we are doing via the FREE Facebook messenger app that can be downloaded for iPhone and Android devices.
BSAC takes its safeguarding duty very seriously regarding the safety and well-being of children participating in the activities of snorkelling and diving.
We have worked with leading organisations such as the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA), who helped us prepare this document, and with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Full details of the BSAC Safguarding Policy can be found via this link.
We have worked with leading organisations such as the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA), who helped us prepare this document, and with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Full details of the BSAC Safguarding Policy can be found via this link.
The British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) is the largest and most successful diving club in the world and has trained hundreds of thousands of people to dive since being founded in 1953.
Like many great organisations, BSAC started small, with only a handful of hardy divers and their homemade wetsuits. Over 60 years since it was founded in London by entrepreneur Oscar Gugen and journalist Peter Small, BSAC has become a leader in the safe training and development of amateur scuba diving and snorkelling enthusiasts of all ages.
Like many great organisations, BSAC started small, with only a handful of hardy divers and their homemade wetsuits. Over 60 years since it was founded in London by entrepreneur Oscar Gugen and journalist Peter Small, BSAC has become a leader in the safe training and development of amateur scuba diving and snorkelling enthusiasts of all ages.
Volunteer instructors introduce more than 5,000 people to BSAC diving and snorkelling every year. You will learn to dive under the safe and competent instructor of a qualified BSAC open water instructor (OWI) or an assistant diving instructor (supervised by an OWI)
You will be expected to conduct some self study in your own time and to ensure you are familiar with the BSAC Safe Diving Guide, which is a divers bible. You will be required to;
- Self Study - study the student notes and learning material for which ever dive grade qualification you are pursuing
- Attendance - attend all of the mandatory lectures and practical lessons for the dive grade qualification you are pursuing
- Safe Diving Guide - Learn and understand the BSAC Safe Diving Guide to ensure you always dive within the conditions of this guide as failing to do so may invalidate your BSAC insurance cover
- Up To Date - ensure that you stay up to date with developments and changes to BSAC diving, such as changes or amendments to best practices, policies, safety and training. You can stay informed by subscribing to BSAC email newsletters, following their Facebook and Twitter pages.
Yes, definitely. In fact BSAC has training centres all around the world in Europe, the USA, Middle East, Far East and Australia. See here international BSAC Training Centres BSAC is widely respected around the world for its extremely high standard of diver training and the fact that it is the UK national governing body for scuba diving. As a branch we have receive a great deal of positive feedback from diver charters and other dive instructors around the world regarding the standard of BSAC diver training.