Sea Survival - How to Safely go Sea Diving

August 3, 2020 With approximately 17,820 kilometers of coastline, the UK has countless opportunities for sea diving and hosts marine environments that rival the best in the world. With the right training, scuba diving in the UK and Ireland can be phenomenal. There are however hazards to UK sea diving that many divers are unaware of. Read on to find out more and learn how to safely go sea diving.

Learning how to safely plan and conduct sea dives.

It was on a warm sunny day in June that I found myself back in the United Kingdom (UK) and en-route to the UK’s southern coastline to visit the Royal National Lifeboat Institutions’ (RNLI) headquarters in Poole. A great weekend ahead was planned, spent with my colleagues from the SSI UK head office and an amazing group of our UK SSI Dive Center owners and SSI Instructor Trainers. Our mission, to officially launch the SSI Sea Survival program….

Sea diving in the UK.

With approximately 17,820 kilometers of coastline, the UK has numerous opportunities for sea diving. The marine environment is incredible and offers a fascinating range of wrecks and wildlife for XR divers around the coastlines to enjoy. What many divers might be unaware of are the potential hazards that UK sea diving can present. For divers who have trained inland or at warm-water holiday resorts, UK sea diving presents some challenges that they need to be prepared for in order to reduce the risks of accidents. With the right training, experience, equipment and conditions, scuba diving in the UK and diving in Ireland can be phenomenal! READ MORE: HOW TO BE SAFE WHEN MAKING SEA DIVES.

Working with the RNLI to save lives.

We were honored to be invited to the RNLI head office, led by Nick Fecher, with his amazing team of hardworking individuals all with one mission "to save lives". Our main aims of the weekend were:

• Provide our UK SSI Instructor Trainers with the knowledge and training necessary for them to plan and conduct the SSI Sea Survival program.

• To brainstorm with the RNLI and the coastguards about what we can do as a training agency to help minimize sea diving incidents.

• To see the RNLI’s well-equipped facilities, where they put their trainees through their paces in an "all-weather/all conditions" training pool.

• To take part in a joint training exercise with Poole and Swanage lifeboat crews.

• To examine the use of various surface signaling devices and evaluate their suitability for sea diving.

• To practice how to recover divers from the sea in varying equipment configurations.

• To practice search patterns and techniques to locate a missing diver.

• To plan and conduct a UK Sea Dive in the local area.

The RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crews provide a 24-hour rescue service in the UK and Ireland and there are over 350 lifeboats in the RNLI fleet based at stations around the UK and Ireland. Between them, RNLI lifeboats cover 30,000 kilometers of coastline and some busy inland stretches of water. The RNLI lifeboats are divided into two categories: all-weather lifeboats and inshore lifeboats. The different lifeboat classes within these categories mean they can reach people in all kinds of situations and locations. To see these vessels in action is inspiring to say the least. It was a privilege to be able to work alongside the RNLI with the joint mission to protect and educate our divers, and ultimately save lives.

The SSI Sea Survival Program.

I think that we would all agree, that we came away with more knowledge and experience which we can use to directly educate and train our UK divers. For more information on the SSI Sea Survival program contact your local SSI Diving Centre for the details and the availability of training dates. For more information on the RNLI and the work that they do, or to make a donation visit the RNLI website. Many thanks to the RNLI and the RNLI photographer Nathan William for allowing us to share their amazing pictures from our time with them.  WATCH THE SSI/RNLI DIVER SEA SURVIVAL COURSE VIDEO. You could be rescued more quickly or may not even need rescuing if you have the right diving survival skills. The videos of Sea Survival on SSI’s YouTube channel will help you to do the right things in dangerous situations at sea. Source: image©Nathan William