Thurrock Aqualung Club (TAC) is a branch of the British Sub Aqua Club (‘BSAC’) which means we are affiliated to one of the best known and popular diver training organisations in the country. We train divers of all abilities from complete beginners to experienced divers, from the age of 12 upwards. Training takes place weekly from 8pm until 9pm in the Impulse Leisure pool at Belhus park in Aveley, Essex. In addition to the pool, we use the adjacent ‘Capability Brown’ bar, where we undertake theory training to supplement the in-water training. The club has plenty of equipment which is free for members to use, meaning that all you need to start is a swimming costume and towel!
At TAC we teach all the BSAC diver training courses which start for beginners with the Ocean Diver course. This is the entry level qualification which will teach you about SCUBA equipment and how to use it. You will learn basic skills like buoyancy and rescue in the safety of the swimming pool before progressing to open water lessons, usually undertaken in local diving lakes. On completion of the theory lessons which accompany the practical training, you will be qualified to dive to 20 metres, and can join in with many of the diving trips organised by the club.
Ocean Diver is followed by the Sports Diver qualification. This builds on the skills learnt previously, teaching and preparing you for more adventurous diving, including dives with decompression stops. Sports Diver involves further rescue training, and teaches you how to plan and organise dives such as wreck dives, wall dives, reef dives, drift dives and night dives. It also allows you to progress to do dives down to 35 metres.
The next grade is the Dive Leader qualification and this enables you to further develop you diving skills. The course teaches you how to organise groups of divers to plan organise and undertake trips and holidays for the club. Many Dive Leaders also choose to get involved in training with the club, both in the pool and open water as well as on the theory side. Qualified Dive Leaders can progress to 50 meters.
The highest qualification we can teach at TAC Advanced Diver, at this level, divers have developed a great deal of experience of diving in a wide range of conditions and depths. Advanced Divers can plan and organise expeditions for the club to new and often challenging locations.
Please see here or a link to the BSAC website to find out more about the courses on offer:
Instructor Foundation Course (IFC) Training Dates Can be found from Here
Besides the qualifications described above, the BSAC also offers a huge range of skill development courses including
amongst others: boat handling, marine life identification, wreck diving, photography and instructing – there is always something new to learn!
What does it cost and how long will it take?
When learning to dive with a BSAC club like TAC, you need first to join the BSAC. This is all arranged through the club and costs £60.50 for a single membership for the year. This gives you access to all the courses available, provides third party insurance and a subscription to the monthly diving magazine ‘Scuba’. (subsidised rates are available for couples / students etc.). In addition to this the membership for TAC itself costs £144 per year, and this covers the use of the pool as well as any of the diving equipment the club owns. There is no additional charge for the training as this is provided by our volunteer qualified instructors in the club.
The training is very much done at your own pace, we want to make sure that you feel comfortable in the water and with the theory lessons. The average person who attends regularly might expect to reach Ocean Diver level in a couple of months.