Peeblesshire Sub-Aqua Club was formed in March of 1995 after a "come and try" run by Don Lees and Chris Sutcliff. Shortly afterwards the branch was formed bringing together qualified divers and new trainees from the Peebles area. Don gifted the club with some weightbelts, 3 cylinders, 2 regulators and a stab jacket to get started, and Chris became the first BDO assisted by Sunny. The main reason for starting up the new branch was to allow the members of the local community to learn how to dive locally. Although Peebles is not on the coast training can be carried out in the safety of the local swimming pool. The ScotSAC training methods ensure that the trainees sharpen their skills in the pool before going to the sea to complete their training. Most dive sites, east and west are accessIble from the club's base at Peebles and the club draws from a large area around Peebles for its members.

As The Scottish Sub-Aqua Club’s training and safety record is second to none and envied by every other dive organisation in the world, Peeblesshire Sub-Aqua Club wanted to be part of the ScotSAC as it is known within the branch. We hope the information on these pages will answer some of your questions about diving in Scotland. Training is carried out in Scotland by two methods. The first is what is sometimes called the "Fast-track" method which most of the dive shops and diving schools use. With this method they promise to train you within a week or over a couple of weekends. This is an ideal method for training if you were on a holiday resort and time was limited, however this can also prove to be an expensive way to learn and the qualification you will receive is only the most basic level.

Learning to dive with the Scottish Sub-Aqua Club may take longer but you will have a qualification that is recognised world-wide and is synonymous with safety and high standards.