Mobby
Member
Registered: 31st Dec 07
Location: Leicestershire
User status: Offline
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Going Egypt and want to go diving, can i just go and dive or do i need a PADI certificate ?
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N16K
Member
Registered: 4th Oct 04
Location: Belfast, NI Drives: Corsa D SRi, Tuned Cooper S, B
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i think it depends if a "guide/professional" is with you or not. With a guide/professional no, otherwise not sure.
[Edited on 07-07-2010 by N16K]
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Ste
Premium Member
Registered: 5th Mar 03
Location: Taif, Saudi Arabia
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PADI is a load of crap anyway.
Pay And Die Instantly as it's known to BSAC members. You don't need any qualifications to dive, and if the instructors are PADI then they won't have any either 
I would rather lose by a mile because i built my own car, than win by an inch because someone else built it for me.
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Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Ste W
PADI is a load of crap anyway.
Pay And Die Instantly as it's known to BSAC members. You don't need any qualifications to dive, and if the instructors are PADI then they won't have any either
True.
Just to elaborate on that, you generally have 3 options;
-Learn to dive PADI in this country, go abroad and enjoy the diving without any time wasted practisting/training while on holiday,
-Learn to dive over there, spend slightly less time actually diving and more time training
-learn with BSAC in this country and dive abroad, as above
PADI courses are more like a business, you pay a fixed fee at the begining and then for everything else you want to learn, you pay another fee for, i.e learning to dive in drysuit, nitrox, deeper depths etc.
With BSAC you pay around the same amount up front but the above courses do not cost you anything, but you can take on additional SDC's (skill development courses).
Extra courses ive taken;
-o2 Oxygen Administration
-First Aid Diver
-RYA Boat Handling
-Advance Nitrox
-VHF Handler
My personal opinions (as Ste pointed out), PADI is a money making machine. You could probably do 4/5 0-20m dives once your trained and then learn to dive down to 35m with very little experience.
Training support is very limited, you tend to sit with a book infront you and learn very little about the true affects of diving on your body.
With BSAC, I actually waited over a year and completed atleast 50+ dives before I decided to advance onto deeper depths.
With BSAC you learn about the serious affects diving has on your body, what happens to blood cells, how the oxygen/nitrogen is stored around your body etc etc
Take a look at the website Ive designed for my local club: http://www.streetdivers.co.uk/
Some of the stuff in the FAQ you might find useful.
HTH 
[Edited on 08-07-2010 by Bart]
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C2RL R
Member
Registered: 28th Mar 02
Location: Redcliffe, QLD
User status: Offline
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If you just want to try it out then you can do the PADI Discover Scuba Diving course. it's pretty cheap to do and you will learn how to use the equipment before doing a dive in shallow water.
From my experience of snorkelling in Egypt i would imagine this would be cool as there are some amazing reefs in very shallow water.
you wont get any qualifications by doing the discover course though so if you want to take it further you should be looking at doing the Open Water Diver course.
you could do the full course at a dive centre in Egypt but this would take up a few days of your holiday which most people wont want to do. IIRC the open water diver course is in three sections - classroom theory stuff, confined water dives (swimming pool) and then open water dives. what a lot of PADI centres in the UK do is offer a referral course. this is where you do your classroom and confined water sessions over here before you go on holiday. then they give you a refferal which means you do the open water dives abroad. this is the way i would do it as the diving over there is quality and it wont take up too much of the holiday.
actually, i've just had a look on the PADI website and it seems that you can do the theory stuff online. i've not heard of that before so fuck knows how it works.
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C2RL R
Member
Registered: 28th Mar 02
Location: Redcliffe, QLD
User status: Offline
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ah bollocks you got in there first with a better answer!
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Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by C2RL R
actually, i've just had a look on the PADI website and it seems that you can do the theory stuff online. i've not heard of that before so fuck knows how it works.
lol, my point exactly.
With BSAC you get 1to1 tuition and all your questions answered 
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C2RL R
Member
Registered: 28th Mar 02
Location: Redcliffe, QLD
User status: Offline
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yeah it does enforce your point that. PADI is a large business that just wants to make money so the online tuition is just another way for them to coin it in.
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Tiesto
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Registered: 6th Jun 02
Location: Hinckley, Leicestershire
User status: Offline
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My brother works at Stoney Cove Diving Centre (quarry filled with water), and he swears by BSAC.
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Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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I know a few ppl who attend Stoney Cove.
I think its on par with my local quarry (Vobster Quay).
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Mobby
Member
Registered: 31st Dec 07
Location: Leicestershire
User status: Offline
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So im not really going to be able to do diving. if it means ill spend the whole holiday doing it. im taking the missus
Are there alot of coral reefs to snorkle too?
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C2RL R
Member
Registered: 28th Mar 02
Location: Redcliffe, QLD
User status: Offline
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i'm assuming you are going to sharm as you haven't said? yes the snorkelling is really good. best place i've done it and thats including the caribbean.
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