British Sub Aqua Club

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The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC is the governing body of recreational diving in Britain.

The club was founded in 1953 and has over 50,000 members. It is a diver training organization that operates through its associated network of around 1600 local, independent diving clubs and around 400 diving schools worldwide.

BSAC is unusual for a diver training agency in that most BSAC instructors are amateurs operating in diving clubs as opposed to professionals operating in diving schools.

Given that UK waters are relatively cold and have restricted visibility, BSAC training is more comprehensive than some. Specifically it places emphasis on rescue training very early in the programme. This has led to the SAC in BSAC being jokingly referred to as Slow And Careful.

Compared to PADI, BSAC doesn't have as many dive centers worldwide and is not as widely recognised.

Science writer and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was a famous member of BSAC [1]

Contents

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Qualifications

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Diving

BSAC currently has five diver qualifications. These are:

  • Ocean Diver - Basic skills, non-decompression diving (depth limit 20 m)
  • Sports Diver - Rescue and decompression diving (depth limit 35 m)
  • Dive Leader - Dive leading, marshalling and rescue management (depth limit 50 m)
  • Advanced Diver - Fully trained diver capable of leading a group of divers in normal club activities
  • First Class Diver - Trained to lead a group of dives carrying out a project. This is nationally examined with a two day practical test
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Instructing

BSAC has six instructor qualifications:

  • Assistant Instructor - Trained but unqualified. Must be supervised when instructing
  • Theory Instructor - Qualified to instruct unsupervised in the classroom
  • Practical Instructor - Qualified to instruct unsupervised in open water
  • Open Water Instructor - Qualified to supervise other instructors in classroom and open water training
  • Advanced Instructor - Trained to teach advanced skills such as instructor training, boat based skills and group diving techniques
  • National Instructor - Leads Instructor Training courses and BSAC National exams
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Grades previously awarded

Some qualifications which are no longer awarded may be encountered:

  • Novice I - A diver who has completed the extensive sheltered-water (ie pool) training of the BSAC syllabus of the time, but has not yet dived in open water.
  • Novice II - A Novice I diver who has completed two open-water assessment dives.

The distinction between Novice I and Novice II was mostly for practical reasons to do with the difference between hiring a pool and travelling to the coast. A Novice I diver would normally complete the two open-water dives as soon as possible, but if this were not possible straight away (perhaps over winter) they would at least have a specific grade within the club.

The lengthy and club-oriented (not to mention demeaningly-named) Novice syllabus was replaced with the Club Diver and Ocean Diver syllabi in the late 1990s. (However, some argue the Novice description was usefully accurate and aided diver safety because nobody with such a qualification would attempt dives beyond their capabilities.)

  • Club Diver - This is more or less the same as Ocean Diver; originally the two were operated in parallel with Ocean Diver awarded at schools and Club Diver at clubs.
  • Club Instructor - An instructor grade junior to Open Water Instructor, but allowing the holder to instruct practical and theory lessons without supervision.
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Skill Development / Specialities

BSAC has a range of skill development courses:

  • Diving Skills courses:
  • Rebreather Courses:
    • SCR Dolphin/CCR Inspiration/Evolution and CCR Inspiration/Evolution.
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External links

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BSAC club and school web sites

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