Who should sign up for Ocean Diver?
To sign up to Ocean Diver you must be (or plan to be) a club member who does not hold a SCUBA qualification currently and has dived at least once before (either a try dive in the pool (more info here) or a discovery dive abroad).
You must be able to swim 200 metres without stopping (8 lengths of a standard pool) and be able to pass a diving medical.
If you are affected by one of the conditions outlined here, the club can support you in getting a medical assessment and still being able to dive. If you think you would like to do Ocean Diver and require a medical assessment, you should contact us sooner rather than later.
When can I sign-up?
There will be an intro to the club talk on Thursday of welcome week (2nd Oct) where you can meet the exec and find out all you need to know about Ocean Diver. Following this, the sign-up form will be released on our WhatsApp and Instagram. An expression of interest form can be found at the bottom of this page, all who complete this will be sent an email reminder when sign-ups open.
There are limited places in our cohort. If we are overbooked, everybody who signs up before the Term 1 deadline (13th Oct) will be entered into a raffle for spaces in our Term 1 cohort. Everyone who is not successful will automatically be placed into our Term 2 cohort, and will be asked to pay a small deposit if they wish to guarantee a space so nobody misses out. We really would like to train everybody, but we have to limit cohort size due to instructor availability and for everyone’s safety.
When is training?
Our pool and theory training takes place on Wednesdays or Sundays each week, depending on trainee/instructor availability. Our term 1 cohort will be split into a Wednesday group and a Sunday group. Training typically takes around 4 hours a week, and is run starting in week 2 up until the training trips.
Term 1 will have 2 training trips, one leaving the evening of the 13th Nov and returning on the 16th, and the other leaving the evening of the 27th Nov and returning on the 30th. The Ocean Diver sign-up form will ask you which trip(s) you are available for, being available for both does increase your chance of being able to train in term 1.
Where is training?
Our pool and theory training will take place on campus, in classrooms and at the Sports and Wellness Hub. Our term 1 training trips are to Pembrokeshire (South Wales), where we will shore dive some famous UK sites (weather permitting). The backup site is Stoney Cove, the UK’s national dive centre, which is located just a few miles from campus.
What does the cost include?
Firstly, you need to be a member of the club. This costs £6 + Students’ Union Sports Federation Fee (£24) and On-campus Warwick Sport Club Pass (£82). These fees are set by our Students Union but must only be paid once per academic year and allow you to join any sports club.
The cost of doing Ocean Diver with WUSAC in 25/26 is £350. We know this is a lot of money, but BSAC’s volunteer instructor system means this under half what you would pay with another agency. Ocean Diver qualifies you internationally, for life.
This money is used to cover the cost of kit repairs, air fills, accommodation, vehicle hire, fuel, a year of BSAC membership and the qualification pack itself. Any profit is invested straight back into the club to buy and service equipment.
Express interest in Ocean Diver here