Photo credit: Kristina Pedder
Kristina Pedder meets the well-wheeled members of an exclusive special branch of BSAC.
A BSAC special branch is a type of club with restricted membership, often associated with a workplace or organisation. In 2023, around 12% of BSAC’s UK members were part of a special branch; with figures rising to 18% overseas. Why mention this? Because in 1982, the prestigious Royal Automobile Club, which was established in 1897 to champion motoring and motorsports, founded its own sub aqua club, a special branch dedicated to diving. More than 40 years later, the club continues to foster a passion for the underwater world. Let’s explore how its members dive in style.
Members in black tie for awards night
Where is the Royal Automobile Club?
The Royal Automobile Club operates across two locations. In the heart of London, Pall Mall boasts a historic, Grade-II-listed swimming pool over a century old, where we conduct most of our scuba skills training. Nestled in the building’s basement, the warm, elegant setting provides a uniquely surreal training experience.
Meanwhile, Woodcote Park, near Epsom, offers a country club atmosphere with golf courses, leisure facilities and a swimming pool. However, with most of our dive equipment stored at Pall Mall, training sessions are typically held there.
How does the club support diving activities?
The Royal Automobile Club generously supports all its activity groups, including the Sub-Aqua Section, allowing us to provide top-quality training and events for our members. In fact, you could say we’re one of the best-funded BSAC clubs.
The famous RAC pool
Who are your members?
The RAC has a membership of 17,000 adults aged 18+. Within this, the Sub Aqua Section has around 1,200 registered members; although only 50 to 60 actively participate in diving and training. Club members can join sub-aqua activities at no extra cost.
What is the breakdown of your diving members?
Most of our diving members hold BSAC Ocean Diver qualifications, along with various PADI certifications. Many have trained within the club. We also have a significant number of members eager to explore diving but yet to take the plunge.
Instructor Chris Barsley leads a training session, Pall Mall
What resources does the sub aqua club have?
In addition to our pool for confined-water training, we have meeting rooms for theory lessons and written exams. Our extensive range of diving equipment includes dive computers, fins, BCDs (in sizes S to XL), regulators, masks, and more. Members can borrow this equipment free of charge for club dive trips or personal use, subject to committee approval.
The committee has recognised a shortage of dive equipment specifically for women, particularly BCDs. To address this, we’ve expanded our collection by adding several women’s BCDs to the kit store.
Tell us about your instructor team
Our Diving Officer and lead instructor, Chris Barsley, is a BSAC Open Water Instructor (OWI) and Dive Leader with 27 years of diving experience. Supporting him are two assistant instructors, Ed Moores and Andrew Philip, who are currently training to become full instructors.
Instructor development is a key focus this year. To support this, we are actively supporting more committee members by running a Dive Leader course, a prerequisite for the BSAC instructor qualifications.
Pool training
What training is most popular with members?
Try dive and skills refresher sessions in the pool are extremely popular with those curious about scuba diving. After the try dive itself at 7pm, participants are invited to join us in the Long Bar around 9pm for drinks and dinner, and their first drink is on us.
The Ocean Diver course is the most popular training, attracting new members eager to learn to dive. The next Ocean Diver course will take place in 2026. We also offer a range of courses, up to and including the Dive Leader course later this year.
As scuba divers, we naturally promote a deeper appreciation for the underwater world, and our overseas diving trips often spark an interest in photography. To build on this, we’re excited to launch in-house underwater photography courses for our members; led by Nur Tucker, our club Chair, who is also Chair of the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP). These sessions will include both classroom instruction and practical pool training.
Tell us about your diving?
Our training dives are typically held at Vobster Quay, an inland site in Somerset. While the club doesn’t dive locally very often, we also use Wraysbury Dive Centre, located west of London, as it’s an excellent site for beginner divers.
Currently, we don’t offer drysuit training, as most of our members prefer warm-water trips. The majority of our diving takes place overseas, usually from charter boats.
Training at Vobster Quay
So where do you go?
Our next major dive trip is to Sharm El-Sheikh in the Red Sea, scheduled for November 2025. Recent dive trips have included Cozumel, Mexico and another favourite destination for members has been Ishigaki, Japan.
Father and daughter members Miaya and Nigel Roberts on a trip to Oman
What achievements are you celebrating this year?
The section recently celebrated 43 years as a BSAC special branch, a significant milestone.
Our main goal is to have fun and introduce more people to the world of diving, and we’re proud that the Sub Aqua Section is one of the most active and popular groups at the Royal Automobile Club.
We’ve hosted five major educational talks, featuring leading figures in the underwater world. Attendance at these talks ranges from 50 to 170 people, and they are open to members and their guests. The RAC subsidises these events, allowing us to bring in renowned speakers, including: Kat Zhou, Underwater Photographer of the Year, speaking on ‘Blackwater Diving’; Henley Spiers on ‘Diving with a Submersible to 500m in the Maldives’; SCUBA magazine editor Simon Rogerson on ‘Understanding Sharks’; Alex Mustard on diving the Thistlegorm; Nur Tucker (voted Most Promising British Underwater Photographer in the 2020 UPY competition) on ‘Above and Below the Ice in Antarctica’; and Rick Stanton on ‘The Thai Football Team Rescue’.
We also host a number of sub-aqua specific social events throughout the year, including our annual Christmas event, complete with a champagne reception and an elegant dinner in the Committee Room.
Club Chair Nur Tucker also serves as Chair for the British Society of Underwater Photographers
What is the club planning for the next few years?
We aim to continue the success of our educational talk series, focusing on raising awareness of ocean conservation and exploration. Expanding training opportunities and developing more instructors is also a priority. We’re excited about the possibility of organising more overseas dive expeditions and, of course, introducing our underwater photography training sessions.
The Royal Automobile Club Sub Aqua Section is a vibrant community of passionate divers, explorers and ocean enthusiasts. With a robust training program, thrilling travel opportunities, and a strong commitment to education, we look forward to growing, learning, and diving together for many more years to come.
Article ‘Club focus: Royal Automobile Club Sub Aqua Club’ by Kristina Pedder first published in SCUBA magazine, Issue 156 June 2025.
Help me find scuba diving near me!
If you want to learn to dive in London with The Royal Automobile Sub Aqua Club, please contact Nur Tucker.
