To learn to scuba dive with Dacorum Scuba will cost you around £340 upfront. This includes your BSAC membership fee, training packs, kit hire. See more detail for our 2025 Ocean Diver course. Training, diving and qualifying with Dacorum Scuba is good value.
Once you start your Ocean Diver training, it’s a good idea to purchase your own basic kit; a mask first, followed by a snorkel and then fins. When you progress to open water you will require a wetsuit or drysuit. These can be borrowed/hired, but you may want to purchase your own to ensure a good fit and familiarity. When qualified, divers will need to obtain their own full set of gear, although some prefer to hire it, especially when travelling overseas.
Ocean Diver trainees can opt to use club kit for their initial training in the pool and open water. Kit hire includes:
Trainees are fitted with a numbered set of kit, but the kit remains in the club kit store for other users. The deal for kit hire covers Ocean Diver pool training and open-water training and experience dives. The kit hire lasts for your Ocean Diver training course or a maximum duration of six months. After that, the kit should be returned to the Equipment Officer. The cost is £150 upfront, with a £50 refund when kit is returned to the Equipment Officer in good condition at the end of the period.
Air from the club compressor is free to members. At first, the training team will make sure you have gas for your pool lessons. Members are shown how to use the club compressor for decanting gas soon after they join the club and then become responsible for filling the cylinders they are using. Any member can ask for help at the compressor. Oxygen for nitrox mixes can be bought and blended at the club compressor by suitably qualified divers.
As with most specialist gear, there can be a huge range in prices, but budget for £100 upwards for a pair of fins, mask and snorkel. Wetsuits for UK diving start from around £150 and drysuits from £500, going up to over £1,000 for a top-end drysuit. To fully equip a diver, expect to pay around £1,500. If your kit is well-maintained this will be a long-term investment. Always ask your instructor and other club members before you buy. They have a wealth of experience that they are happy to share.
Club members can arrange to use items of club kit if they are not being used by the Ocean Diver trainees. The club maintains a range of cylinders, regulators, BCs and some entry-level dive computers (Suunto Zoop). The cost is £5 per item per day of diving. Monies must be paid to the treasurer in advance. You’ll need to contact the Equipment Officer to check availability. It is always a member’s responsibility to return cylinders to the kit store full of gas. Any problems with club kit should be reported to the Equipment Officer immediately.
