Equipment

If you are new to diving and starting out on the Ocean Diver course, you can hire the majority of your kit from the club. We have twenty sets of scuba equipment available for hire.

Initially, for your sheltered water training which takes place in the club swimming pool, you will only need to purchase the basic kit (a dive mask and snorkel) to supplement the hired scuba kit. There are a wide choice of masks and snorkels available, so we advise you not to buy anything until after the first introductory lesson when advice will be offered about the different types and how you can test your mask to ensure you have the correct fitting.

Following successful completion of theory lessons and pool work you will progress to open water lessons starting in a training lake. At this point you will need to obtain protective equipment. Most trainees opt to complete open water training in a drysuit which can be hired from local dive shops. Hood, gloves and sea fins will need to be purchased at this point.

Your final qualifying dives usually take place on a weekend day boat so you will need to hire a second cylinder from the club or a dive shop.

Don’t worry if you do not understand all the equipment terminology at this stage as you will learn about this on your training course.

Kit hire costs for trainees (optional) 

Kit pack hire fee            £75.00
Refundable deposit        £50.00
Initial cost                   £125.00
Total (after refund)      £75.00

The kit hire pack includes everything you need for initial sheltered water training except personal items (mask and snorkel). Please see the costs section of Ocean Diver training page for more details.

Members kit hire

Equipment sets or individual items may also be hired for occasional use by club members when not needed for trainees. Club air cylinders are also available to all members for hire for a small fee on a weekly basis. Club members should contact the Equipment Officer for more details on hire costs and availability.

Buying your own kit

Advice and guidance is given regarding kit during training sessions and also informally just by talking to dive members in the bar! Diving can be an expensive sport, but you don’t need to rush out and buy everything up front - in fact it is better to wait until a little nearer the time when you will have more knowledge about what you are buying and may have had chance to try out some different pieces of kit in the club pool. Members often decide to upgrade their kit as they advance in their diving so there is also the opportunity to purchase second hand kit within the club.