Dacorum Sub Aqua Club

Skills Development Courses

What's a Skill Development Course?

Skill Development courses(SDCs) are

• 1 to 3 day courses concentrating on teaching a small set of concentrated skills
• They consist of both theory and practical sessions
• 8 SDCs contribute to the Advanced Diver qualification
• Most SDCs have a low minimum entry qualification

Types of course

The Club itself runs or is able to organise SDCs such as:

• The core Pre 2002 Advanced Diver SDCs:
  • Oxygen Administration (for diving first aid)
  • Practical Rescue Management (dealing with emergencies)
  • Dive Marshalling and Planning (organising trips)
• Group A Pre 2002 Advanced Diver SDCs:
  • Boat handling (learning to drive a RIB or inflatable)
  • Chartwork and Position fixing (for boat navigation and dive site selection)
• Group B Pre 2002 Advanced Diver SDCs:
  • Search and Recovery (finding and lifting underwater objects)
  • Advanced Diving Techniques
  • Advanced Nitrox Diving
• Other SDCs:
  • Nitrox
    • Basic Nitrox Diving
    • Extended Range Diving
  • Dealing with emergencies
    • First Aid For Divers
    • Lifesaver
    • Advanced Lifesaver
    • Rescue First Aid
  • Interests
    • Marine (wildlife) identification
    • Underwater photography
  • Others
    • Use of Full Face Masks
    • Compressor operation
    • Outboard engine maintenance

Select this link for Technical diving training.

Select this link for the full list of SDCs.

Other diving organisations such as the Nautical Archaeology Society offer courses in their specialised areas.

Where can you do SDCs?

There are three providers of SDCs:

• Dacorum Sub Aqua Club

We aim to run the key Advanced Diver SDCs each year. We have instructors who can run the courses. We are the cheapest, the amount of travel is minimal, you are with people you know and will dive with, but the courses have inflexible timing and numbers are limited.

• Regional Coaching Scheme

BSAC Eastern Region runs each of the Advanced Diver SDCs and some other popular SDCs each year. These are cheap, you can meet other divers from local clubs, you can learn how other people do things, but the courses have inflexible timing and you must book far in advance.

• BSAC Schools.

As there are many professional schools, courses from schools can arranged at short notice. They often run the more modern, high tech and profitable courses. They do, however, cost more and some people report that the quality of some professional courses is lower than that of many amateur courses.