• Home
  • Safety First
  • Our Philosiphy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Statement
• Meet The Team
• Try Scuba Diving
  • Introducing Scuba Diving
  • Diving in Colchester
  • Try Dives
• PADI Diving Courses
• PADI Scuba Review
• PADI Basic Diving Courses
  • Discover Scuba Diving
  • Open Water Course
    • Express Holiday Referral course
    • Confined Water Referral course
    • Full UK Open Water Course
  • Adventure Diving
• PADI Advanced Diving Courses
  • Advanced Open Water
  • Rescue Diver Course
  • EFR Course
  • Master Scuba Diver
• PADI Speciality Courses
  • Speciality Course Information
  • boat diver
  • Deep Diver
  • Dry suit
  • Underwater Photography
  • Dive Propulsion Vehicle
  • Wreck Diver
  • Undewater Navigation
  • Drift Diver
  • Night Diver
  • Multi Level Diver
  • Equipment Specialist
  • Nitrox
  • Peak Performance Bouyancy
  • Search & Recovery
• PADI Professionals
  • Divemaster Course
  • Assistant Instructor
  • PADI Instructor
• Rebreather Courses
• Scuba Qualifying
  • Dates & Venues
  • Stoney Cove Photos
  • Guildy Photos
• Scuba Holidays
• Photo Gallery
• Our Dive SItes
  • Stoney Cove
  • Guildenburgh
  • Capernwray

SCUBA Diving in Colchester in Essex Course Basics

Frequently Asked Questions about Scuba Diving

Q 1. What is Scuba and what does SCUBA mean? A. SCUBA is an acronym for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. This unit along with other diving equipment makes breathing underwater possible. Q 2. What does PADI mean? A. PADI stands for Professional Association of Diving Instructors and is the world-wide leader in scuba diver education and tuition. Essex School of Diving instructors are all PADI trained and fully qualified to teach PADI courses. For full list of the PADI courses we teach click Here.

Q 3. Is SCUBA diving safe? A. Scuba diving is not without its risks, Proper training plays a big part. Provided you are trained correctly, are reasonably fit and can successfully complete the PADI medical questionnaire, you should have no problems with scuba diving. Q 4. Do I need my own SCUBA equipment? A. No. In most cases, we will be able to provide you with the necessary equipment for your course. However, if you wish to purchase your own equipment we are happy to chat about suitable starter-kit items and reputable brands and put you in touch with our suppliers in Essex or Suffolk. Click Here for more details.

Q 5. Do I need to be a good swimmer to scuba? A. No, SCUBA is not about swimming, so you do not need to be a great swimmer, but, you do need to be able to basically swim and float. If you are uncertain or just not confident in your swimming ability, then drop us an email and arrange to come along to one of our pool sessions for an informal chat, you are probably worrying unnecessarily or expecting to much of yourself. Q 6. What if I am not sure about scuba but want to give it a go? A. The best advice is to take a Try Dive first. This in an inexpensive way of finding out if you will like scuba. Click on the link Here to find out about Try Dives with Essex School of Diving in Colchester, Essex.

Q 7. Is scuba diving expensive? A. In relation to other activities which require professional teaching the answer is no. Scuba is generally cheaper than Golf Lessons, learning to Drive, Music lessons and many more leisure activities. Once you have qualified, you can hire equipment from Dive Centre's around the World, meet lots of interesting people and have some great fun days out scuba diving. Q 8. Can anyone learn to scuba dive? A. Anyone from the age of 10 years and up and is in reasonable health can learn to scuba. For your safety, we ask you to complete some simple health and responsibility PADI questionnaire forms before your Try dive or course. Please download and complete the forms from our Diving Courses page. If there any health concerns, you can take the questionnaire to your doctor for a final check out before diving. Take advantage of our FREE Try Dive offer, Click HERE .

Q 9. What is the basic scuba course I can do so that I can dive anywhere in the World? A. Our entry level course that gives you Full certification is called the PADI Open Water Course, For full details of this course click Here. Q 10. What is meant by a 'referral' course? A. A referral course is the first part of the Open Water course, The pools skills, Theory and Final exam are completed in this section at a leisurely pace. Your logbook is updated and you will receive a referral certificate to take to any Dive Centre of your choice to complete the second part of the Open Water course (4 open water dives). This course is suitable for those going on holiday and if you do not want to spend time in classrooms abroad or doing homework whilst on holiday. For more details about our Referral course click Here .

Q 11. What is an 'Express Referral' course? A. The course is the same as the referral course above but is completed over 2 or 3 sessions (depending your learning ability) and is 'one to one' instruction. Ideal for those going on holiday in the near future. The course cost a little more than the one above as a dedicated instructor is assigned. Click Here for more info on the Express Referral course. Q 12. I haven't dived for more than 6 months or more. What should I do? A. PADI advised you take a Scuba review which refreshes your pools skills and theory. It also gives you the chance to gain help on anything you do not understand or have been struggling with. For those who have not dived for 2 or more years we advise our Scuba Review Tune Up program. Click Here for details of both types of Review.

Q 13. I have completed my Open Water certification, what course or diving can I do next? A. You have 3 options. You can do Adventure dives. Click Here You can do your Advanced Course. Click Here You can complete some Specialities. Click Here Q 14. Do you run the PADI Rescue Course? A. Yes. This course is very involved but rewarding at the same time. Once you have received this certification you will be considered a very experienced diver, who can look after themselves. For more details on the course click Here. In addition to the Rescue course, you will have to complete the PADI Emergency First Responder (EFR) course first unless you have an equivalent and current certification. Click Here for details.

Q 15. How do I get my Master Scuba Diver certification? A. The MSD is the highest non-professional ranking of Scuba Diver and shows you are a committed and very experienced diver who has dived in many varied conditions. This certification is only awarded to a select few who have completed many courses and 5 Specialities. Click Here for more details Q 16. I want to turn Professional. How do I go about it? A. The first Professional course is the Divemaster Course. It is considered the hardest yet most satisfying and knowledgeable course of all. Click Here for more details about our Divemaster course. Q 17. Do we run a Dive shop or sell diving equipment? A. No. As far as we know there are no Dive Shops in Colchester.We only run a Training School. We believe in Free enterprise when it comes to buying equipment, such as over the internet. Our course costs are kept low and competitive as we have no shop overheads. This way we can deliver the best possible, dedicated diver training service to you without 'pressure' selling tactics of equipment to make up for shop losses or cheap diving courses.

Q 18. Why should I choose Essex School of Diving to learn scuba diving? A. We are a friendly, long running, established Dive School. Trained and Supported by PADI with a proven reputation, our Safety record is second to none and we give a good 'value for money' service. To see our Dive professionals click Here. But don't just take our word for it, see what people say about our staff and training by clicking Here. Q 19. Are there any safe Scuba Diving sites in Essex? A. Unfortunately, we are not very well suited for diving sites in Essex. The coastal waters on the East coast (Clacton, Walton etc) have very little to offer and tend to be of bad visibility with rip tides, which are not suitable for safe diving conditions. There are no quarries which meet the required HSE standards, so as safety is our prime concern, our safest and best diving sites are Guildenburgh, Peterborough or Stoney Cove, Leicester (pictured to the left) or we occasionally use Buckland Water in Kent.

Q 20. Do we do Equipment Servicing? A. No. We are Professional instructors who teach diving courses. Servicing of equipment can be dangerous if not performed by manufacturer certified service engineers. We use Planet Scuba in Bishop Stortford to carry out all of our servicing requirements. Phone Number 01279 466011

Q 21. Do we supply Air Refills? A. Sorry, We do not supply Air Refills to the Public. Q 22. Do we run a Diving Club? A. Not really a club as such. We run scuba diving events, some social evenings and events, holiday trips and student holidays, which of course anyone can join us on. You are always welcome to join us on our scuba qualifying sessions where you can buddy up and dive with someone. Click HERE for some more information.

Q 23. Do I need Diving Insurance? A. When you dive with us you are fully insured through the School. If you want to dive with others or on holiday, you should have your own diving insurance policy. We can recommend specialist insurance companies to you who will cover your diving, equipment and travel if necessary. Please note some Travel insurances offer to cover diving, however, their policies are often found 'wanting' in the event of a claim. This is fact!

Working together with Essex School of Diving for a Safer diving world: First Aid Training Essex