Annual subscriptions are used to fund the club, with no profit made. The bulk of this covers the hire of one of the best swimming pools in Gloucestershire for diver training plus the upkeep and maintenance of the club boat and its accessories. Many club members use the pool sessions for fitness swimming if they are not involved with any specific training.

It is assets like these, for use by club members, that enable us to plan regular and exciting diving expeditions at relatively low cost.

New club members receive a Joining Pack which comprises of a ring-binder qualification book, club diving manual and Sub Aqua Association (SAA) membership card. Membership of Cheltenham Sub Aqua Club also includes SAA third party insurance.

Existing divers who trained with another recognised agency need not retake exams or qualifications. Instead they may be crossed over to an equivalent qualification and either remaing at this level or further their training. See Qualification Crossover Guide below.

A medical self-declaration form must be completed before diving with the club or diver training can begin.  In most cases an examination is not required, but if one is usually the cheapest place to get this done is from your GP.

When comparing the cost of CSAC subscription fees to other clubs consider whether they run their own boat or whether they resort to chartering boats at extra cost or maybe only undertake diving from the shore or inland quarries.

Likewise, compare the cost of a single course done with a dive school to the subscription fee that will get you the same training (and maybe also more advanced training to follow) as part of being a full member of the club.

However, it is worth noting that if you are a non-diver in a particular hurry to learn, and cost is not too much of an issue, then a dive school can usually train you to the standard required for open water (sea) diving in less time. If you do this, come and see us about joining the club anyway if you want someone to dive with! You won't have to retrain and could take your diving skills further with us.

For more information about the club and how to join have a look at answers to some frequently asked questions or e-mail us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The club is primarily funded through an annual subscription. It is always good value because, since we are a non-profit organisation, this amount is set annually to be the minimum that the club can operate at - in fact it has not been increased for the last couple of years.

The annual subscription is pro rata, eg if you join in June you only pay half the annual sub for that year.

There is also a one-off joining fee for new members which covers the SAA joining fee, joining pack etc.
This is a fixed amount (ie not pro-rata) but you only pay it when you join the club.  A discount on joining fee is available for existing SAA members.

Types of club membership:

Example:
If you intend to join as a full member sometime in May. 
Annual sub pro rata is for 7 months (we do not count partial months), ie £110.83.
Cost for membership till end of December in first year is £45 + £110.83, ie £155.83.
Cost for membership in subsequent years (assuming annual sub remains unchanged) is £190.

Annual costs may seem a lot at first, but it actually works out about the same as just two weekends diving from a chartered boat and much less than one diver training course with a dive school!

Note:
The club relies on having working capital at the start of each season in order to pay for things up front like the pool hire, boat maintenance and SAA fees so ideally we need annual subscriptions paid in full at the beginning of each year or on joining the club. However, we recognise that this does not suit everyone's financial position so we are able to be flexible. 

Unfortunately we cannot support direct debit instructions, as the set up costs are too much for it to be a viable option for the club, but it is now possible to stagger the payment of annual subscriptions with three post dated cheques submitted at renewal time or on joining the club. The club's Treasurer will not cash these until the dates given - usually the first day of the three months following renewal or on joining (assuming there is at least three months left of the calendar year).

On joining the club or renewing membership you are committed to subscribing to the end of the calendar year. However, once again we can be flexible in releasing members from this obligation in certain personal circumstances reviewed by the CSAC committee on a case by case basis.

Contact the club ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or speak to the club's Treasurer for more details if these exceptions are likely to be of interest to you to find out what is possible.

The following table shows equivalent diving qualifications of various agencies compared to the diving grades ceritified by the Sub Aqua Association. (Since the SAA is a member of CMAS, each SAA qualification also has its CMAS equivalent shown afterwards in brackets).