Seasearch Devon

Seasearch dives are organised in Devon all year although the winter ones tend to be arranged at short notice. Summer day and weekend survey trips are usually planned in the winter and advertised via the local email list, on this website's diary page and on the national Seasearch website.

Qualifications.

To take part in dives organised by Seasearch coordinators we require divers to be at least PADI Advanced, BSAC Sport diver or equivalent with a minimum of 25 sea dives of which 10 must be in cold water (ideally British). For some trips divers need to be more experienced and this is clearly stated on the dive trip details. Divers should also have an in date medical (self cert is acceptable) and must carry third party liability insurance (club divers usually have this through their club memberships, other divers can obtain it through organisations such as DAN). We are not a dive training organisation neither do we have kit for hire.

Courses

Many divers start by attending a Seasearch course. The entry level is a one day Observer course which costs about £40 and includes marine life classification, habitat types, recording techniques, identification aids, simulated video dives and much more, ideally followed by a day diving to put it all into practice. Divers need to complete 5 Observer recording forms and have them signed off by a tutor to gain their Observer qualification so we usually add a second day for two dives. Observer courses are run several times during the year at various locations, usually as required. The course can be run specifically for a club or group if there are enough people (minimum 10) or individuals can join one of the timetabled courses.

For those with some experience we run a Surveyor course which is a two day course with a dive on the second day. This trains you to complete the more comprehensive Survey form.

Presentations

The local coordinator can come and talk to clubs or groups about Seasearch. There is no charge for this but as Seasearch runs on a very limited budget a contribution towards travel helps.

Diving

Organised dives are on the diary page. However, any dive can be a Seasearch dive and we encourage you to fill in a form from any of your dives! Forms and guidance notes can be downloaded from the Seasearch website or from the links page.

Seasearch in Devon is supported by: