Welcome to a new world

Congratulations! You are about to take the first steps on entering an amazing and very special world right here on planet earth.

We know you’ll have lots of questions, so we’ll be here as your guide and mentors as we dive right in. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Try it out first

Scuba diving is exciting, fun – and often once you try it, you’ll see how addictive it is! We offer an excellent introductory PADI Discover Scuba Diving course. With over an hour in our pool, you’ll get a full scuba experience with one of our expert PADI Divemasters who will show you the exciting fundamentals.

Afterwards, you can decide whether you’d like some further training towards a formal qualification, with either the PADI Scuba Diver or (ideally) the full PADI Open Water Diver courses.

For younger divers who are at least 8 years old, we recommend the PADI Bubblemaker and PADI Seal Team programmes.

We also offer courses without scuba – you might want to try our PADI Skin Diver or PADI Freediver courses, if this interests you.

2. Begin your training

PADI training is very fun, professionally structured, and extremely welcoming to all – regardless of your previous experience in the water.

You have a couple of options; the most popular and sought out is the PADI Open Water course. You can do the full course with us right here in UK waters, and benefit from some of the best instruction and quality standards possible. This also teaches very valuable skills diving in a range of environments.

If you don’t want to dive in UK waters, that’s fine too. You can complete the course on a referral basis, where you learn and practice the full range of skills in a pool setting with our fabulous staff. You then complete the remaining 4 open water dives within the next 12 months with any other PADI training centre abroad.

You just need to be at least 10 years old. For younger divers who are at least 8 years old, we can start their scuba journey with the PADI Seal Team & Master Seal programmes.

Pushed for time?

You also have the option of the PADI Scuba Diver course. You essentially do about half of the PADI Open Water course, with 3 pool dives and 2 open water dives in UK waters. You still earn a certification, and are able to dive in open water to 12m depth – under the direct supervision of a PADI Divemaster or Instructor.

You can always take the next step to complete the full PADI Open Water course whenever you’re ready, too.

3. Continue your journey

Once qualified as an PADI Open Water Scuba Diver, your journey is really only just beginning. There are so many new skills to learn and have fun with, and so many places to explore them with!

Most of our divers have that much fun, they go straight on to complete their PADI Advanced Open Water course – and enjoy all the benefits that it brings. This course enables you to go deeper, gain better buoyancy and builds upon the things you’ve already learned to help make you a great diver. You just need to be at least 12 years old.

You can also start to explore diver specialties that interest you personally; this could be Wreck Diving, Enriched Air (Nitrox) diving, Underwater Photography – or anything you like, really!

Equipment & materials

Everything you need is provided by us when you choose PADI Bubblemaker, Seal Team, Discover Scuba Dive, Scuba Diver & the PADI Open Water Course.

This includes your educational materials, now delivered conveniently through e-Learning, so you can learn the theory wherever and whenever you please. 

You can find full details of what’s included in the information for each course.

The diving

The diving you do will depend on the course or programme you are taking with us, so see the individual course for more specific details.

One of the most common questions we get asked is ‘where will I dive’. Most courses are split between confined water dives and open water dives.

Your confined water dives will take place at our indoor pool in Lincoln, whilst the open water dives are in deeper water, outdoors (in the UK this is often Capernwray, but other locations may be selected).

Diving in cooler UK waters may not sound as inviting as warm tropical waters, but trust us – it’s well worth it. The UK waters are often glossed over as a diving venue however they are full of amazing sea life. From the Grey Seals in the Farne Islands to the Basking Sharks on our West Coast, the UK has so much to offer. We have over 10,000 amazing ship wrecks around our shores too. 

The Stellar Crew

We have a very straightforward philosophy; we are totally committed to ensuring you – our customer – has the best, safest and most enjoyable experience possible. It’s as simple as that!

Here at Stellar, we all love to scuba dive, and we love to have fun doing it. We absolutely want you to feel the same way when you dive with us.

We can very proudly boast that we’re a PADI 5-star Instructor Development Centre. Put simply, this means we also train the trainers – so naturally we take our education of safe diving very seriously. You’re in safe hands, and you’ll have a lot of fun in the process too.