• The club were formed in 1966 and were recognized by the British Sub-Aqua Club as Branch Number 302 in 1973.

• We have around 25 members whose qualifications range from new trainees to Advanced Divers and Instructors.
   
• The BSAC has some 45,000 members in more than 1,000 branches which makes it the largest single diving Club in the world

• From January 2004, we have made a temporary change to our normal venue and we shall be meeting on Wednesday evenings between 9pm-10pm at Ripley Leisure Centre, in Derbyshire.
• This is for a temporary period of about a year while building works are in progress at Alfreton Leisure Centre

• We meet on Thursday evenings from 8pm onwards at The Amber Hotel - Oakerthorpe.
  
  
• Many other social events take place throughout the year including Ten Pin Bowling, BBQ's, annual award presentation nights and Christmas meals.

The minimum age for learning to dive with the BSAC is 14.

Members below 18 year old should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Full Diving membership fees include:-

• BS-AC Membership
• Access to BS-AC Coaching scheme
• Extensive liability insurance
• 12 Monthly copies of DIVE Magazine
• All swimming pool fees
• All training by nationally qualified instructors
• Use of pool SCUBA training equipment
• 6.5m Humber Destroyer Rigid Inflatable Boat fully kitted for offshore diving

Please contact us to find out the more details of current membership fees.

The first year membership is normally slightly higher than a re-newing member, since training packs are provided for the complete diver training programme.

Learning to dive is easy. The only requirements are to pass a basic sports medical questionnaire and a minimum age limit is 14 years.

Our training scheme follows the qualification structure published by the British Sub-Aqua Club and we have divers with the following grades.

• Trainee
• Ocean Diver
• Sports Diver
• Dive Leader
• Advanced Diver
• Assistant Instructor
• Club Instructor
• Open Water Instructor

All training courses are backed up with comprehensive training manuals.

Gaining more advanced diving skills and techniques are extremely important and members are encouraged to continue with their development and training outside of the branch system.

Additional qualifications are held my most members and there are many skill development courses that are available to attend throughout the year. Some of these include:-

• Oxygen Administration
• First Aid for Divers
• Practical Rescue Management
• Decompression workshops
• Dive Marshalling
• Basic & Advanced Nitrox Diving
• Boat Handling
• Engine Maintenance
• VHF Marine Radio Operation
• Chartwork and Navigation
• Underwater Photography
• Extended Range Diving

Crossover Training

We are able to provide crossover training courses for divers already qualified with other diver training agencies such as PADI or SAA.

We are able to provide all new trainee members with a full set of personal diving equipment for use throughout the whole of the Ocean Diver course.

We own 4 full sets of SCUBA training equipment. These sets include:-

• 10 litre cylinders
• Buoyancy Compensators
• US Divers Conshelf 21 Regulators, Contents Gauges
• US Divers Conshelf Octopus Alternative Air Supplies
• Masks, Snorkels & fins (Various sizes)
• Weight belts

Find out more about the equipment used by divers.

Most of our diving takes place at sea and mainly at offshore dive sites.

We have recently purchased a new rigid hull inflatable boat. This has been fitted with safety equipment and a GPS navigation system to enable us to visit offshore dive sites with speed and in safety.

Our dive boat equipment includes:-

• 6.5m Humber Destroyer Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat & Trailer
• Yamaha 150hp high pressure direct injection outboard engine
• Digital fuel and power gauges
• Navigation safety lights
• Garmin GPS Satellite Navigation system with chart plotter and sonar
• ICOM VHF Radio
• SOS Emergency Oxygen & Resuscitation Equipment
• Emergency First Aid Kit
• Distress Flares
• Anchor and shot lines

The boat has a 91 litre fuel tank which allows us to travel a maximum range of around 80miles.