About Club
| Born in 1993, UCD Sub-Aqua has grown from small beginnings and we are now a large ever-expanding club with almost 100 members. We have a strong focus on training with a large influx of new trainees every September. There is a huge input from club members in all aspects of running the club and we can now instruct on all Irish Underwater Council training courses. Diving is a non-competitive sport that involves snorkelling and diving all over ireland. Scuba diving offers a unique and personal glimpse of life beneath the sea. Training comprises a series of lectures on dive theory with practical pool sessions every Tue night from September to Feb. There are Dublin bay snorkels throughout the winter as well as weekends away all year round. Weekly (midweek and weekend) Dublin bay wreck and scenic diving trips are organised from March to September. We dive on all Irish coasts, especially the western seaboard where there is great diving for all levels. The club also offers training in all aspects of diving and once you have completed your 1* qualification, the world is your oyster and you can expand your dive experience by training for your 2**, 3***, Monituer/Instructor, VHF radio licence, diver medic, Fetac boat handling certificate or rescue diver. We welcome beginners and experienced divers as it runs crossover courses for all recognised diving organisations. Don't let anyone tell you there is nothing to see when diving in Ireland! You just need to check out our photo gallery to know there is plenty to see above and beneath the waves on UCDSAC trips and other events! |
Message from Irish Underwater Council
Ireland, being an island on the western edge of Europe and on the Continental Shelf, is perfectly suited for the sport of SCUBA diving. Our waters provide dive sites of varying quality and standards to encompass all individual requirements. Due to it's small size it is relatively easy to travel from one part of the country to another, giving divers the opportunity to travel for one, or more, days' diving.
The dive season generally starts around March and ends around October. It is possible, of course, to dive outside of this, but due to adverse weather and sea conditions it is not appealing. Diving in Ireland started off in the early fifties (Belfast Br. B.S.A.C.) with a few adventurers overcoming many difficulties to dive, sometimes in remote locations, for short dives to shallow depths. In those days their equipment was very much the deciding factor on duration and depth. Today it is much easier and more comfortable, but as a result we are now more exposed to various physical and physiological dangers.
From those early divers, we learned all about the sites they visited, the good and bad points, where to go, what to see and what to do. Much of this information was passed by word of mouth through club newsletters and periodicals. In the early sixties independent Irish diving clubs formed the umbrella body, Comhairle Fo-Thuinn the Irish Underwater Council (C.F.T./I.U.C.). The Council regulates all aspects of diving in Ireland and represents Ireland at C.M.A.S.
- From CFT Introduction to Diving.