Diver Training with Capernwray Dive School
Frequently Asked Questions.
Capernwray Dive School is acknowledged within the diving industry as the leading provider of diver training. We select the best, most experienced staff, provide the best facilities and incorporates the most up to date technology to ensure that your learning experience is the best one possible. This reflects in the esteem with which Capernwray trained divers are held by dive professional worldwide.
We have gathered together a list of the most frequently asked questions about out dive school here. If you require any further help, please feel free to mail us at divingschool@dive-site.co.uk.
Please use the following links to answer your queries:
- Why should I train in the UK?
- How will I stay warm?
- Diver training sounds very hard and difficult..,
- Do I have to do all the training at Capernwray?
- What is included in the price , I've seen a similar course advertised for less...,
- Where will I dive on the course?
- How are the courses scheduled-when does the next one start?
- Why PADI qualifications?
- How many people in each class?
- Do I need a medical?
- How long does the course take?
- What will I do on the course?
- Who can I dive with after the course?
- Which courses do you offer?
- What is the minimum age for diving...?
- Do you offer any payment options?
Why should I train in the UK? (After all, it is cold!)
We believe that training in the UK with Capernwray Dive School offers several advantages. Firstly, it removes the time pressure that occurs when you are on holiday. If you are only abroad for a short time, this means that the instructors there simply cannot take as much time as may be necessary to ensure that your training is thorough. Secondly, you are spending money on travelling to a foreign destination, why not do the “hard” work in the UK before departure, and maximise your enjoyment on holiday. Lastly by training in the UK, this will allow you to dive in the UK. Similar to many outdoor activities, diving can be very enjoyable even in very cold conditions with the right equipment and training. Even if UK diving does not appeal, at very least this will allow you to keep your diving skills current in between holidays!
As mentioned above, the key to staying is being correctly dressed! We chose to conduct all our open water training in drysuits. There is an element of additional training required and we incorporate this into the course fees and structure. If you learn to dive “dry”, it opens up the possibility of diving in the UK, which will give you the opportunity to keep your diving current between your holidays! Once trained in a drysuit, diving in a wetsuit is straightforward, whereas this is not the case in reverse.
Diver training sounds very hard and difficult, I’m not sure I will be capable of completing it.
In our experience, people learn best when they are enjoying themselves. With this in mind, and with the excellent programs and materials from PADI, we strive to guide you through the process with as little difficulty as possible. PADI bases all it’s programs on them being performance not time based, so the reality is that “failing” a course is not possible, we will just spend more time ensuring that you successfully complete all the course requirements.
Diving is not a physically demanding activity (if you are doing it right!) and bear in mind that the purpose of learning to dive is for enjoyment-if you are not enjoying it-don’t do it!
We offer regular PADI Discover Scuba Diving experiences over the summer months. These are an ideal way to try diving out, and include a basic introduction to diving on land and shallow confined water accompanied by a real open water dive. Please see the specific course details for more information.
Do I have to do all the training at Capernwray?
We offer a full range of referral options for those who simply can’t stomach the thought of UK diving! We can do the knowledge development and confined water (swimming pool) sessions here, allowing you to complete elsewhere. In fact we can do any parts of the courses you would like. We run some of our courses in conjunction with trips away at home and abroad, and do utilise other inland diving sites that have facilities that Capernwray does not (e.g. depth)
What is included in the price?
When we quote a whole course price, this includes everything you need! It is dependent on course type, but will normally include a personal copy of the relevant student manual, video, crewpack (dive tables, slates etc), all necessary gear hire, air fills, dive site/pool entry fees, registration or certification fees, tuition and experience dives as prescribed in the course outline. Many of our courses actually include extras (e.g. dry suit training/extra dives/free gear hire after the course) that are not normally included-please see the individual course outlines for more information.
I’ve seen a similar course offered for less elsewhere, why should I pay the extra?
Well, as mentioned above, the quoted course prices are very comprehensive in what they include and are very competitive. When considering prices, please bear in mind that what you are purchasing is not a qualification, but training towards a qualification. Capernwray Dive School has a justified and envied reputation as being the best and most thorough diver training school available. We could make the courses cost less (and many do) but ultimately what you will get is less training. If you are considering diver training then it actually makes sense to seek as thorough an education as possible!
When comparing prices, please check to see whether you will in fact be training in a dry suit, all materials and dives etc. are inclusive, and that you are going to be safe and trained in the best way possible. Too frequently, other dive schools will cut corners to reduce costs, this is not in your best interests! We do not pretend to be the cheapest, but as you are paying for training (not qualification), our prices should re assure you that you are getting the best available and excellent value.
In addition, the Health and Safety Executive place certain conditions on all diver training in the UK. Ultimately the purpose of these conditions is to ensure your safety. Amongst the requirements is that not only will there always be an instructor in the water with you, but there will actually be another rescue trained diver as well. We will always have someone on the surface keeping an eye out for you. These rules are actually the law in the UK, and we feel that they help us to ensure that you are getting the safest, highest quality education that can possibly be provided. Capernwray Dive School are proud to be completely HSE compliant.
Where will I dive on the course?
Our prime dive site is at Capernwray Diving centre. This is a limestone quarry, with light clear water, safe conditions and an array of interesting and wacky objects to maintain your interest levels! It is undoubtedly the best training facility in the UK, as witnessed by its popularity amongst divers. For more information on the site, pleased feel free to browse the www site at www.dive-site.co.uk. We normally use a swimming pool in Carnforth for our confined water sessions.
Occasionally, we need sites with more depth than Capernwray can provide. Typically, we use Wastwater, a fresh water lake in a beautiful mountain valley in the west Lakes. Wastwater has the advantages of being very deep (if needed), but also having water that is frequently gin clear. It is about one and a half hours drive from Capernwray.
We run trips away from Capernwray at regular intervals through the year. We visit a wide variety of UK and foreign destinations. Often these trips combine pleasure diving with training. Please feel free to ask for more details
How are they scheduled or when does the next course start?
Due to the popularity of Capernwray Dive School, we do not advertise specific start dates for each course. When we do, we tend to be swamped, and this reduces the effectiveness of the training being offered. We try to offer you as much flexibility as possible (within reason) so as to fit in with your lifestyle. We do not recommend intensive courses, but favour spreading the learning out as much as possible by using evenings and weekends, and other times that do not conflict with your other commitments.
We normally ask that you pick up the course materials some time before you plan to start the course. This allows you time to familiarise yourself with them and to complete any home study that may be required.
Capernwray Dive School are proud to be a PADI Five Star IDC centre. PADI is simply the most widespread and successful diver education system in the world. Their support materials are excellent, and the array of courses they offer is very comprehensive. PADI diving qualifications will be accepted in just about every country worldwide. The PADI system of diver education is the unrivalled leader both here and abroad, allowing for excellent, enjoyable education and high standards.
How many people in each class?
Big classes and good education do not mix well! If nothing else, being part of a big group means by definition that you will have less of the instructor’s time than you would have had as part of a small group. One of the advantages of our flexible approach to scheduling is that it allows us to work in small groups. For most courses, we aim to have student: instructor ratios no higher that 3:1. Often we work in groups of 1:1 or 1:2.
There are a few continuing education courses (e.g. Rescue Diver) that are best run with higher ratios, when these are planned, we will advertise dates in advance.
For non-leadership PADI courses, the medical takes the form of a questionnaire. This lists a series of medical conditions that could cause problems to you as a diver and requires you to make place a yes/no answer next to each of them. It is obviously in your best interest to answer these truthfully! If there are any yes answers, we must require you to have a diving medical to ensure that it is safe for you to proceed. We can arrange for this with our resident specialist diving doctor if required.
How long does the course take?
As mentioned above, our courses are goal-oriented, not time-oriented. Courses takes as long as is required. Typically our courses are longer than many of those advertised-this is due to them being more thorough! However, as we are flexible with scheduling, this is not really a drawback. An Open Water course with us, for example, takes most people about 5-6 days to complete-which is still only 1 day/week over 6 weeks.
Most courses involve a multi-sensory based learning style, with a combination of reading, watching, reviewing, doing, and practising. Some of this may well take place at home prior to or during a course. When there are specific new skills to be introduced, normally this will take place in a confined water environment. With a very few exceptions, all our courses will involve open water dives! Please have a look at the individual course outlines for specific information.
More importantly, we strive to make your learning experience fun, interesting and enjoyable. Some parts of courses may prove challenging as ultimately this is a sign that you are learning (!), but our staff are highly skilled, and will guide you through the learning process.
Who can I dive with after the course?
We are very fortunate to have the support of a growing band of “Capern-aholics”, who like nothing better than going diving! Often we will be able to team you up with people from this group for diving after the course. This is an informal group, but there is normally someone around to have a dive with. Provided you are qualified to the level of the dive, we welcome Capernwray Dive School students to come and join in when we are running training dives with other students. If you want to come diving, please feel free to give us a ring and we will always try to fix something up.
As mentioned above, we run trips away, within the UK to venues like Scapa Flow, Portland, Cornwall, St. Abbs and Oban. These are open to anyone, but tend to be offered to dive school students first. We also run regular diving holidays abroad- these are advertised at the dive centre as well as on the web.
We offer the full range of PADI courses, from Discover Scuba all the way through to Divemaster, Instructor and Professional Development. You can complete your entire diving education with us! Currently, we also offer 18 speciality courses, including Drysuit Diver, EANx Diver, Underwater Navigator, Search and Recovery Diver, Deep Diver and Wreck Diver and any of these can lead to the prestigious Master Scuba Diver qualification.
Normally incorporated into Rescue Diver courses, we offer Divers Alert Network (DAN) diving First Aid Courses. These include the 02 First Aid for Diving Accidents, Advanced 02 Provider, Hazardous Marine Life Injuries, and Automated External Defibrillation courses. We also offer Emergency First Response (EFR) First Aid Courses.
For technical divers, we offer IANTD, DSAT and GUE training courses. We offer training up to full Trimix diver qualification.
What is the minimum age for training with Capernwray Diving School?
Whilst we have no problem with training younger people in diving, we feel that the UK is not a suitable diving environment for people younger than 12 years of age. This is largely due to the equipment required to deal with the cooler water temperatures and our sometimes lively sea conditions. Hence the minimum age for enrolling on our courses is 12.
Do you offer any payment options?
All our diver-level courses require a minimum £50 deposit (£100 for Rescue) upon enrolment. You can then chose to pay as you go (bear in mind that you set the schedule and hence the payment frequency!) or in amounts during the course. Prior to the last component of each course (open water dive/knowledge development session etc), all outstanding balances are due. Leadership level courses typically require payment in full prior to the course. We will not issue certification if courses have not been paid for in full. Please see our terms and conditions for more details.
OPENING TIMES
(except bank holidays)
Tuesday - Friday 10.00 am - 5.00 pm
Saturday - Sunday 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Bank Holidays 10.00 am - 5.00 pm
Please note last dives are one hour prior to "gates closed" time
PRICES
All divers must be registered
Qualified Diver Registration -
£15.00 for life
Entry level trainee - £5.00/6 mnths
Upgrade from Trainee to Qualified - £10.00
WATER TEMPERATURE
Water Temperature
23 July 2008
16.5°C
Visibility
Excellent