BSAC in Patong?

[eric-the-viking]

Can any of you expats do a little research for me ?
i want to know if the are any BSAC dive clubs in Patong ?
i know the are plety of PADI but i am a BSAC diver and i am thinking of renewing my memebership else where.
I know i could the go BSAC 19 route,but i would still like to be affiliated to a club .

[LivinLOS]

One of my mates is an instructer / DM on an alternative to PADI.. Cant remember the initials tho (thought it began with an I).. Will ask him when I see him.

[dogblower]

South East Asia Liveaboards certainly used to have some sort of BSAC affiliation - it may be worth getting in touch with them at Scuba diving courses in Thailand, Indonesia and Burma

[eric-the-viking]

thanks gents
(just thinking a head for the futre )

[nelsonone]

I haven't come accross anyone in HKT offering BSAC.....well make that LOS altogethere ETV-what stage are you interested in achieving ??-I have various PSA + SSI +PADI quals but if you eventually want to become an instructor in Thailand you will probably need to convert to PADI at some stage.....they should however really be interchangeable as you pass the same skill sets at the relevant stages......except for PADI at Open Water Level where you have to learn your tables rather than a dive computer.....keeps you locked into PADI which is how they like it......

[LivinLOS]

Thats what my mate is.. SSI !!!

I think theres only 2 SSI boats / operators last count.. Hes SSI and presumably padi also..

[Crustasian]

A few years ago a group of Brits who all work in diving out here proposed forming an official BSAC club and run it like UK.They even had a CI examination set up and BSAC officials came out.

It never got enough support or members and I think it withered away.

Dive Asia were the main backbone of the planned club.

[eric-the-viking]

Originally Posted by nelsonone

I haven't come accross anyone in HKT offering BSAC.....well make that LOS altogethere ETV-what stage are you interested in achieving ??-I have various PSA + SSI +PADI quals but if you eventually want to become an instructor in Thailand you will probably need to convert to PADI at some stage.....they should however really be interchangeable as you pass the same skill sets at the relevant stages......except for PADI at Open Water Level where you have to learn your tables rather than a dive computer.....keeps you locked into PADI which is how they like it......

i am already a sports diver and just in the process of completeing my dive leader.
I also have the assistant dive instructor .
but i think your right and that i should start looking at doing a padi cross over course eventually.

[seafox]

Originally Posted by eric-the-viking

i am already a sports diver and just in the process of completeing my dive leader.
I also have the assistant dive instructor .
but i think your right and that i should start looking at doing a padi cross over course eventually.

PADI and NAUI if possible. PADI is the most marketable with NAUI #2 worldwide.

[nelsonone]

Originally Posted by seafox

PADI and NAUI if possible. PADI is the most marketable with NAUI #2 worldwide.

I would choose PADI if I was looking to become an instructor in Thailand at some stage.......it is like the old VHS vs Beta argument.......despite sometimes being better systems (I like the BSAC block way myself) it is pure brute market strength that always wins out in the end....

Good luck with it ETV.....

[seafox]

Originally Posted by nelsonone

I would choose PADI if I was looking to become an instructor in Thailand at some stage.......it is like the old VHS vs Beta argument.......despite sometimes being better systems (I like the BSAC block way myself) it is pure brute market strength that always wins out in the end....

Good luck with it ETV.....

The store I used to work for was NAUI when I first started teaching. All of the instructor's had 5-8 years experience.

8 years ago they changed over to PADI.

Just quit working for them this June as I did not like the direction that store was heading in respect to it's training procedures. The average experience of their instructors was not 1 and 1/2 years and some were just certified divers with only 100 dives under their belt, which is minimum requirement for becoming an instructor. California is one of the hardest training environments for divers and it is an accident waiting to happen as most of the instructors have not scuba diving experience let alone teaching experience. If I was ever on a boat or at the beach with one of these newbies and something happened then my butt could get sued also. Not that they could win a case against me but I would end up in the newbie instructors case and I did not need that.

I like BSAC and CMAS a lot and really enjoyed teaching NAUI but unluckily they definitely are poor step children compared to PADI, unluckily for the dive industry.

[eric-the-viking]

like i said i looking at the distant future not the next couple of years.
but its all worth looking into .
i also have a few other ideas but they are on the back burner for a while yet.