JOINING BSAC for a DIVING ADVENTURE
I joined BSAC in November of 2004 and have completed all of my pool training and most of the theory for the qualification of Ocean Diver. This has all been done since last November and has included a very busy ski season on my part and the club has been very helpful in arranging this.
The immediate reason for joining the club and getting Ocean Diver status was that my partner and I are planning to go to Australia/New Zealand for an extended holiday. I decided it would be a good idea to have the qualification prior to going to enable me to get some diving off the Great Barrier Reef without having to “waste time” getting qualified while in Australia.
Once flights were booked, I investigated the possibilities of diving off the Great Barrier Reef by visiting various websites. One of the problems to my mind of the web is that a website can be wonderful but it could have been constructed by someone who was just after one’s money and it is difficult to know whether to trust, in this case, the dive company. I contacted various BSAC branches in Australia and had useful information pointing to a couple of different outfits so that, at least I felt that I was dealing with companies that had a good reputation with local people.
It was also good to find that virtually all of the dive companies accepted BSAC qualifications and also that they would be able to team me up with someone as a dive buddy.
We have now booked the diving with Pro-Dive, Cairns and I look forward to a memorable trip and probably many more diving adventures.