About Us
Here at UCC Subaqua, whether it’s snorkelling or something deeper that piques your interest, we have you covered. There are many reasons to take up diving in Ireland, from discovering a new world beneath the waves to meeting new people and making friends for life. If it is for the thrill and adventure, or the serene experience of beauty and discovery, scuba diving is open to everybody. As part of our club, you will get the experience of a lifetime and the skills and qualifications that are accepted worldwide.
Modern scuba diving is very safe and easy to learn; we begin training with lectures and pool sessions leading on to dives as you progress. No expensive gear or prior experience required. If you are interested in learning to scuba dive or snorkel, we are open to complete beginners as well as the more experienced divers.
Here at UCCSAC we will take you on an adventure and train you up to become a qualified diver. We are a branch of CFT, the Irish Underwater Council, which is an affiliate member of CMAS, the international umbrella organisation for recreational diver training organisations. We are a continually active club with some fantastic trips away to be had to explore the coasts around Ireland. We are also very social and like to meet up regularly to chat about past, present and future diving. Make no mistake, the underwater world is the last great wilderness on the planet. For more information, follow us on social media or send us an email.
We currently do not have a TikTok account
Qualified Divers
Information for anyone with a diving qualification
Are you already a diver?
Brilliant. The club is always delighted to meet new people who love diving as much as we do. Join us, bring your experiences and dive some of the best sites in Ireland.
But Im not a CMAS diver.....
That is fine by us. We know that there are excellent divers all over the world who have qualified with other organisations. It doesnt matter if its BSAC or PADI, SSI or RAID, Diving Ireland has an equivalence recognition programme which allows divers from all of the major training agencies to crossover for free.
Why do I need to crossover?
Diving Ireland operates on a club system that is quite different to most dive centres, its one of the reasons we are a member club. It does mean that all of our members must also be members of Diving Ireland. Remember, crossing over is free for most divers.
Membership comes with a host of benefits such as dive insurance and access to our training courses. This lets you dive with us and continue your diving career through us. We have instructors in the club which allows you to progress to whatever level you want with in house training. There are also annual dive rallies run by other Diving Ireland clubs that we always attend.
Benefits of diving with UCC
We are a close knit club and many of our instructors and alumni members have been diving with the club for a long time. Being a member means you get all of the local knowledge and experience of these club member.
As a university club for university students we also provide a lot of the equipment that you may not already own. From tanks to regs, BCDs, wetsuits, weights and more. We have a Coltri compressor in our club cages to provide our own fills of air, nitrox and even trimix. Our club dive boat is called Anne Bonny. Bought in 2016, we keep this 7m RIB on a mooring in Oysterhaven for most of the season, though we bring her out for special occasions and weekends away.
Get in touch with us now through our social media channels or the contact form.
New Divers
Information for anyone who has never dived before
Welcome
We love to get new divers in UCC. The majority of our members had never dived before joining the club and received a lot of their training and experiences right here. We all think that SCUBA diving is an amazing sport, that opens up a whole new world that most people never get to experience.
Below you will find all of the information you need to know to get started with the club.
Our Qualifications
We are a member of Diving Ireland, an affiliate of CMAS - The World Underwater Federation. CMAS is one of the worlds oldest underwater diving organisations and is more suited to club style diving like ourselves rather than some of the other big names such as PADI or SSI. It is recognised around the world so once you get your certificate from us, you can dive anywhere.
The first course you can do with us is your Diver 1* (D*). This training program aims at introducing the fundamentals of SCUBA diving to new entrants to the sport of recreational SCUBA diving. This training and certification will enable you to do dives to a maximum depth of 20 meters in a safe manner.
Training
The course involves a series of lectures, pool sessions and open water training.
We start your training on Tuesday nights in UCCs lecture halls and the pool at the Mardyke Arena. There are pool sessions for snorkel skills and for SCUBA skills so you know the techniques and the equipment you will need.
Open water snorkels are all part of the experience and we try and do these in Lough Hyne in West Cork or closer to home in Oysterhaven.
Open water SCUBA training can start as soon as you have completed the pool sessions and the weather gets a bit nicer. We bring you to a range of nice spots and for your first 4 dives you will enjoy some shallow diving (max 10m) to get your bearings and show you have learned the skills needed.
What you need
We provide as much of the equipment as possible that you will need to start diving. There are just a few things you need to get you started.
- A basic snorkelling kit - Mask, fins, booties, snorkel and gloves. This can be bought through the club if you dont already have it.
- Club membership
- Diving Ireland membership
- A diving medical
What you get
- An international diving certificate
- Access to all the equipment you need to dive - tanks, regs, wetsuit, BCD, unlimited air fills, weights.
- 1 year membership with UCC SubAqua Club
- 1 year membership to Diving Ireland
- 1 years diving insurance (included with Diving Ireland membership)
Get in touch with us now through our social media channels or the contact form.
