FAQ
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Where is the clubhouse and when is it open? Do you have a bar?
We'd love to see you at the clubhouse! We've recently redecorated inside.
We're open every Friday unless the following Monday is a bank holiday. We're open from 7:30pm until late. Our address is Manchester Diving Group, 475 Barlow Moor Rd, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, M21 8DQ. Here we are on street view.
We're also open on the first Monday of every month from 7:00pm for the lecture nights.
We do indeed have a bar, come join us for a drink and a chat about scuba diving!
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You're not a PADI Diving School. What does that mean?
We are a club and not a commercial organisation. We have an enthusiastic group of divers who arrange dives for fun and not for profit. We have a social scene, meeting for drinks, BBQs, dinners etc. We go on dive trips and holidays together.
Our training is delivered on a not-for-profit basis by trained volunteers so courses are delivered at cost only. The IANTD qualifications we can provide are internationally recognised and our training is thorough.
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What is the IANTD?
The International Association of Air and Nitrox Divers is one of the many scuba diving certification boards out there that are internationally recognised.
Our MDG instructors are IANTD qualified to train clubmembers and sign them off on IANTD certifications.
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You're not a BSAC club either. You're independent. What does that mean?
Very little in the grand scheme of things! Independent diving clubs and BSAC diving clubs are extremely similar in the way they operate. They are all co-operatives of enthusiastic scuba divers.
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MDG has turned 70 years old? That's wild.
Tell me about it! Back in those days MDG clubmembers were making their own wetsuits in the basement of the clubhouse and helping the police search for evidence in rivers and lakes every other week.
We have so much written history that we have yet to collate, scan and document. Any help in doing this would be greatly appreciated!
We're celebrating our 70th year with a big club trip to Bali and also at the annual Open Day which is on the 12th of July from noon at the clubhouse. There will be a BBQ. Looking forward to seeing you there!
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Are cylinder fills free? When are cylinders filled?
Air cylinder fills are free, however donations towards the upkeep of the compressor are greatly appreciated and can be given over the bar.
Cylinder filling is done on the Friday club nights. Bottles that are for filling can be given to the the person doing the compressor shift around 8pm. They are then usually ready by 9:15pm. You can leave bottles on the carpet outside of the compressor room if there is no-one there but please tell the Equipment Officer so they know.
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Do you hire equipment?
Cylinder and equipment hire is free for trainees, but we don't hire drysuits, undersuits, gloves, hoods or divecomputers. All other gear is available. Qualified members will pay a hire cost for equipment. Qualified members can hire the portable compressor for dive trips.
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When and where does the pool session run?
The pool we use is Hough End Leisure Centre on Princess Road. We hire it every Friday night unless the following Monday is a bank holiday. It runs 8pm - 9pm and there is a £5 charge per person to cover the cost of the hire.
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Are you dog friendly?
Absolutely! We love dogs and take them wherever we go that isn't on or under water.
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What is parking like at the clubhouse?
We have some parking space at the front of the clubhouse, and space for some more cars on our grass at the back. You may need to hop out to move a cone or ask Colin to lower a barrier for you. Traffic wardens wander the area so be careful about parking on the road.
If parking on the back be careful not to drive over the remnants of last year's bonfire as there may be sharps in it.
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Can I hire the clubhouse for a party?
We love hiring out the clubhouse. We spent a lot of work doing it up so we like it when it gets used! Our capacity for parties is between 50 and 95 people. We have limited availability for parties due to our liscensing. We don't hire the clubhouse for birthday celebrations where the birthday haver is turning an age younger than 30.
If someone is going to be celebrating their 30th or above birthday or if you are planning a different sort of party please get in touch using our Contact Us form or at buddy@manchesterdiving.org.uk and we can see if the clubhouse is available to you.
Then we'll ask you what kind of drink you would like us to stock at the bar
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Isn't Manchester a bit far from the sea?
We'd argue no!
We're quite well placed in a central location for diving Anglesea, Isle of Man, Ireland, the North Sea and Scotland too, giving us plenty of choice on the places we go for scuba diving.
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Can I drive the boat?
The short answer to this is yes. We do boat handling courses at Debdale Outdoor Centre and if we are out in the club boat elsewhere there may be an opportunity for you to have a go.
If you have a Royal Yachting Association boating certification already then you can hire the club boat at the Equipment Officers discretion.
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Where can I get my equipment serviced and tested?
Chris at Scuba Workshop in Rochdale is your best bet. Another clubmember may be happy to assist with dropping off or collection if they are heading that way anyway. We have been using Chris's excellent services for many many years.
If you need work doing on a drysuit and don't fancy using the original manufacturer then Drysuit Doctor can be good. Roho repairs membrane drysuits. Take a look at our Friends of the Club page for more information on things like this.
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What is the minimum age for scuba training with MDG?
16+
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How fit do I need to be?
You don't need an Olympic athlete to dive but reasonable level of fitness is required for UK diving. The equipment is heavy, and you will need to carry it. You will be climbing in and out of boats and a certain amount of swimming can be involved.
Also, in order to dive with us, you need to be free of certain medical conditions that are a risk to divers or to have been signed off by a diving doctor.
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Do I need to be a confident swimmer?
The short answer to this is yes. Competent swimming is important for safe scuba diving. Part of training will be pool tests involving swimming. If the tests are challenging then they are excellent opportunities to gain confidence and capability in the water. We will be encouraging you all the way!
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Is there theory involved with dive training?
Yes. There is some theory to learn. A good understanding of the effects of pressure on bouyancy, gases and the human body is important.
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Do you run theory sessions? I heard something about lecture nights.
We do. The first Monday of the month is lecture night, starting around 19:45. It gives clubmembers and guests the opportunity to present a talk on anything sea and scuba. It also lets us run through theory elements of scuba qualifications.
It can be good to arrive early for these presentations, because clubmembers often volunteer to provide food for these lecture nights, sold to cover costs. Andy's curries and Lety's chillies are delicious.
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All this reading is making my eyes hurt. Show me some diving!
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Very funny. Where's the real link?
I couldn't resist, sorry. Here is the real link.
Footage and editing courtesy of Sid, our Chairman.
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What will be my first qualification if I train with MDG?
That depends a little on what kind of diving you are looking to do and how soon you are looking to get a qualification.
As a general rule, our instructors try to spend a bit longer with trainees before the first certification so they can sign them off on Advanced Open Water with Nitrox as the first thing, which is a very significant step in diver training and leads to great club diving opportunities!
It may be that this doesn't suit you and you'd prefer to do Open Water only to begin with.
Having a chat with Martin, our Diving Officer, about the different certifications and which ones to aim for will be a good idea.
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Open Water? Advanced? Nitrox? What are you talking about?
It felt like a lot to learn when I started as well, but Martin is extremely helpful. Visit the clubhouse and chat with us about the kind of scuba diving you would like to do. It gets much easier after that.
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What equipment will I need?
For training you will need a drysuit, appropriate thermal undergarments, gloves and a hood. You may need a mask if the club doesn't have one that fits you just right. Clubmembers may be able to lend to equipment such as this for a few dives.
The rest of the essential gear is free to hire from the clubhouse for trainees. You may need/want to buy a dive computer as well.
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As a trainee hiring out kit, what should I ask for from Pete the Equipment Officer?
It can be best to ask for equipment between 7:30pm and 9pm on Friday nights.
Pete may want to know what kind of diving you are doing. Are you diving in the pool, freshwater or saltwater? Do you need a dry suit inflator hose on your regulator if you are going to be in a drysuit? If you have a cylinder already, have you checked that the connection matches the regulator or vice versa, and if it doesn't, do you or someone you are diving with have an allen key so that you can change it?
If you need pretty much everything, you can go ahead and ask for 'full kit'. That will get you the regs, BCD, fins, mask, full cylinder and weights. It won't give you the gloves, a hood, an undersuit, drysuit or dive computer however - because we don't hire out those pieces of equipment.
Pete will take your MDG training card and hold on to it while you have club equipment. Please return equipment it the following Friday after using it if possible.
Remember to look after the kit! Someone at MDG will have shown you how to stack the equipment in a car, but make sure cylinders are chocked nicely so they don't roll and nothing is being needlessly squashed, bent or kinked. Be sure to rinse off equipment if you have been diving in the pool (chlorine) or the sea (salt). Put regulator dust caps and cylinder inserts in sensible places and please use a proper allen key to change cylinder inserts, not a screwdriver. Remember to empty BCDs of water and to refix the straps before returning them.
Keep regulators and masks nicely tucked away, it's very easy for someone to accidentally step on gear, especially on a busy boat.
Always lay cylinders down horizontally on a flat surface unless it's tied up, out of the way or you've got a hand on it, especially if it's near someones car! Cylinders are easily knocked over if they are standing vertical.
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How much does it cost to get qualified? I don't have a drysuit yet.
It's less expensive to train with MDG than many alternatives because we are a not-for-profit club. Our very experienced instructors are volunteers who don't charge for their time or services. You will only be charged to cover our own costs.
For a beginner it will cost somewhere around £550 for Advanced Open Water with Nitrox certification. This takes into account club membership fee, pool fee, drysuit hire, entry into divesites like Capernwray and Eccleston Delph, petrol money, insurance and the IANTD certification cost. You can save yourself some money in the long run by purchasing a drysuit instead of hiring one.
To put these costs in context, PADI diving schools charge £450 just for the training and certification of a basic open water that only lets you go down to 20m. Their Advanced Open Water costs another £295 and at the end of the course you may not have anyone to dive with! We fully recommend learning to dive as part of a club of enthusiasts like MDG, instead.
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What do I need to achieve before certification? How long does it take to get qualified?
You would likely need at least 10 nicely logged open water dives and to show confidence in open water tests, as well as be able to demonstrate an understanding of scuba diving theory.
You will be given an MDG training card to keep track of your achieved tests.
Qualifications can comfortably be achieved around the 6 months mark.
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How much does the equipment cost?
As with many adventurous sports new equipment is expensive. It can cost over £3,000. Considerable savings can be made buying second hand but there is a risk of purchasing poor quality equipment.
We provide club members with help and support when buying their own equipment. We will arrange trips to Roho Watersports and Otter Drysuits to browse and try things on.
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I don't drive / I don't have a car. Is this a problem?
Not at all. Lifts are always available. We can get you from the clubhouse to Hough End Leisure Centre and back and we can get you to dive sites as well. Carpooling happens frequently anyway to save on fuel costs!
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It's been a long time since I've dived and I'm diving on holiday soon. Do you do refresher training?
Yes, we offer refresher training to non-members through booking a trydive.
If you want you can become a member and we'll be happy to assist every way we can in preparing you for your holiday and any other scuba diving you would like to do.
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Do you dive wrecks?
Diving wrecks is one of our favourite things to do! Scapa Flow is full of them. To tell the truth though, there are as many ways to enjoy scuba diving as there are scuba divers. Some of us do it for the wildlife, some of us for the wrecks and some of us just for the peace and quiet!
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Do you accept guest divers who are not members of MDG?
Members from other clubs are generally always welcome at the clubhouse, we love planning trips with other clubs, especially if it means we get to fill boats more often!
Members from other clubs may dive with the MDG at the discretion of our Diving Officer
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Do you do other things aside from diving?
Loads! We are a social club that get together often. We have an annual combined halloween and bonfire party on the Saturday between the two and we have the annual black tie Dinner Dance around November, which lets us celebrate the years' diving and give out some awards for the navigation and underwater photography competitions.
Whilst we were in Skye we took a day off from scuba to enjoy some archery, axe throwing and walks including the Old Man of Storr.
If it's a Friday and the clubhouse is quiet it can be worth checking to see if we haven't got hungry and gone to the Coriander!
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Underwater photography competition? Sign me up!
Awesome! The deadline for photo and video submissions is usually in early November. Take a look at our Gallery page for info and inspo.
On the subject of competitions we also have the Roger Lyons Underwater Navigation Competition which usually happens in October. It's great fun relying on our compass bearings to reach as many marks as we can in the shortest time!
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Can you do nitrox fills?
Given a weeks notice, yes we can
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