Appreciation, Search & Recovery, Chartwork & Position Fixing, Automated External Defibrillator, Buoyancy & Trim Workshop, First Aid for Divers and Practical Rescue Management.
What does your training team look like?
Our current Training Officer, Craig Cameron, took over from Ralph McBride, who passed the regulator over after 40 years of delivering excellent training to all our members. The team includes one Advanced Instructor Trainer, three Advanced Instructors, eight Open Water Instructors and six Assistant Instructors. The team is very passionate and proud about passing their knowledge and skills of our sport onto a diverse mix of members year after year.
Where does basic training take place?
Initial training for Ocean Divers lasts about 12 weeks and is carried out at Lisnasharragh Leisure Centre, which has a diving pool that can be set at various depths down to 3.8m. We tend to hold open-water training at a site on Strangford Lough known locally as the Inner Lees, a wreck site giving depths between 5m and 12m. This is an easily accessed shore dive leading to the wreck of the Empire Tana, a Second World War Liberty ship, which also acted as part of the Mulberry harbour at the landing beaches in Normandy. During the 1940s she struck a reef in Strangford Lough and has since broken into two( the Inner and Outer Lees). The Inner Lees is a great training site because it allows for skills to be tested in a reasonably controlled open water area.
In June 2024 several of our members marked the 80th Anniversary of D-day by laying a wreath at the site.
When is the local dive season?
Most of our diving takes place between March and October, so we can revisit sites throughout the season and witness the sea life flourishing as the water warms
CSAC divers planning next dive in Gozo
up. It is possible to dive all year round in the waters of Northern Ireland, but the weather is regularly a challenge. It can be unpredictable and even the best laid plans can be scuppered by strong winds or rain. We overcome this by adopting a flexible approach, especially to our training where we have back up plans in place to ensure that if plan A does not work out, we can always adopt plan B.
Where do you dive?
We are fortunate to live on a relatively small island, with easy access to a wide range of sites and more than our fair share of wrecks to explore, some as shallow as 6m. Over the
Tim Boyd and Dale Aiken, D-Day commemoration, Empire Tana
Club RIBs leaving Strangford Lough
CLUBFOCUS
summer of 2024, members attended dive rallies in Teelin, Donegal, hosted by Donegal Bay SAC and Hook Head in Wexford, hosted by Hook Head Sub Aqua Club. These were great opportunities for us to extend our knowledge of dive sites around the coast and meet divers from all over Ireland.
Tell us about some favourite sites …
There are some easy-to-access shore dives on Strangford Lough and Belfast Lough that provide handy sites for a dip in the evenings after work. The Pins in Strangford Lough just outside Portaferry, is less than
Congratulating newly qualified Ocean Divers, Dan and Caroline
Dive Leader training at Clifden, west coast of Ireland
33