Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Dive training in Brisbane

Hi - Am planning to live in Brisbane for 8 months with the family and am considering taking my 11 year old son for dive training - too farging close to the GBR to not go diving on it.

Anyone reccy a good program, especially for kids?

Most that I have seen around start won't teach kids under 12, and not every one does this. Most seem to be from around 15 - 18. So I would start first with finding one that will take him and then go from there.

Of course you do know it's about 1700kms from Brisbane to Cairns..just checking :)

Phoebe

Yea, but there's nothing *in* that 1700km to slow you down with looking!

I can't recommend them because I've never dived, but the only dive company I know of is ProDive (see http://www.brisbanediving.com/).

Their HQ is in Milton of all places (just outside the city) on the corner of Baroona and Milton Rds - I see groups of bedraggled-looking diver types hanging around there now and then waiting to be collected.

Edit: I just check their website and saw they also have a heated indoor training pool at their training centre at Bulimba, on the other side of the city. Nice locations.

Pro-Dive and Mike Ball have been around a while and are reputable. It is likely you will need a medical certificate for dive training - a good idea, with what they have found out about the relationship betwee PFO (patent foramen ovale) and decompression illness. http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/faq.asp?faqid=60

To another subject - lobster (well, cray in Oz,) is there, in Brissie ask for "Moreton Bay bugs," the local slipper lobster. Mmm!

Medical for my son? Is that a speciality thing or something a doc would pick up on routine school physicals.

Me, personally, I have close to a thousand hours in shallow (<40 feet) and at least a hundred at 60+. So if anything was gonna happen, no doubt it would have already happend.

Of course that was ten years and a few thousand business dinners ago....

I believe it's for people who will undertake basic dive training. I've been scuba diving 50 years, have over 25 certifications and 31 countries dived in, and have not been required to take any medicals in Queensland (or other states in Australia.)

I may be wrong - they may just require the usual medical certification form, like PADI (but tailored to the Queensland Government.) What the Compressed Air Recreational Diving and Recreational Snorkelling Industry Code of Practice states:

For people doing entry-level certification for open water diving

These people should be certified as being medically fit for diving in accordance with -

Appendix A of AS4005.1 1992 – Prediving Medical Examination for Prospective Recreational Scuba Divers; and

Appendix B of AS4005.1 - 1992 – Typical Medical Form for Prospective Recreational Scuba Divers.
This certification should be provided in English, preferably by a medical practitioner with experience in diving medicine, within 90 days prior to the commencement of training.

The employer or self-employed person at a workplace where people are engaged in entry-level recreational certification training should ensure that all students are certified as being medically fit for diving.

For more information, in Brissie, you can call

Brian Marfleet (07) 3872 0677 or Michael Williams (07) 3872 0678

BTW, the Queensland Government website (http://www.qld.gov.au/) has lots of good information.

Medical for my son? Is that a speciality thing or something a doc would pick up on routine school physicals.

Me, personally, I have close to a thousand hours in shallow (<40 feet) and at least a hundred at 60+. So if anything was gonna happen, no doubt it would have already happend.

Of course that was ten years and a few thousand business dinners ago....

Good lord, what happened to "Put Another Dollar In" and "Not Another Useless Instructor?"

Well, presumably they got docs in Brisbane, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I'd recommend that you sign up on scubaboard.com and post your question there in the right forum. Like FT'ers, scubaboard members are very knowledgeable and helpful.

Perfect, thanks, done.

I believe it's for people who will undertake basic dive training. I've been scuba diving 50 years, have over 25 certifications and 31 countries dived in, and have not been required to take any medicals in Queensland (or other states in Australia.)


Indeed , that is the case. To comply with Australian Standards, the school/instructor needs to ensure that the person undertaking the training has a medical which complies with 4005.1 ( those teaching should have a medical to AS2299.1 ).

There is no medical requirement just to go diving

Dave