As a long time but infrequent diver I found I needed a Scuba Review to be able to go on a dive trip while on an imminent cruise.
Dave was extremely helpful and got me fitted in at very short notice, and Steve my instructor was very patient in the pool sorting out my rustiness and accumulated bad habits !
They were all very friendly and chatty, and I picked up some great tips about dive trips for the future too.
Dave also rebatteried and checked my Suunto computer on site in 2 days so I'm all ready to go.
Only minor niggle is that parking by the shop is difficult - but that's down to the local Council, not them!Tv

My wife and I had not dived for over a decade and were planning a holiday with some diving so needed a refresher to say the least. From first contact with Andy, who explained the options, to the theory and 2 pool refreshers with Steve, Will and Tom we cannot fault the service. We would thoroughly recommend Dive Northampton, everyone we met was very friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. A great company/club.

After mixing up my dates, I missed the scheduled classroom session. I was not penalised for this at all and was re-scheduled 6 weeks later at no extra charge. As there had been almost 7 weeks from when I finished studying for the class to actually taking the class, I must admit that a lot of what I'd learnt had been forgotten.
Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the class which was delivered in a clear and concise manner which was far easier to absorb than from the PADI manuals.
The verbal delivery provided much more information than is available in the PADI manuals and so it didn't feel like a box ticking exercise.
On top of this, free coffee and biscuits whilst I really felt I was learning something.
What more can you ask for?

I completed my Deep Dive speciality recently with the Dive Northampton Team. This was the first time I had been past 30 metres and I was excited and nervous about it at the same time.

The quality of the dive plan briefing and safety briefing were first rate, the seriousness of taking divers to this depth for the first time was obviously not lost on the team, displayed by the high ratio of staff members to students.

I was put at ease, and had all of my questions answered to my satisfaction making me more confident to go to these depths in the future.

Thanks to Pete and Rachel for an excellent day!

Having qualified in Egypt as a PADI Open Water diver number of years ago I was rather anxious and yet excited about breaking into the territory of rebreather diving.

However under the expert guidance of Andy Hillier and Drew Williams I was soon experiencing the delights of bubble fee diving.

The course structure enables you to work through the technical aspects at you own pace and with the support of the dive teams expertise and experience you quickly acclimatise to the differences of a rebreather to open circuit diving.

From the perspective of safety and re-enforcement of strictly adhered to safety procedures I’ve found what was at first a daunting experience turn into something that has given my diving a real buzz.

The training is second to none, and it’s been easy getting clear answers so that I can confidently deal with a wide range of issues & situations.

The one great thing at Dive Northampton is that they have rebreather equipment available for you to try – that’s not something that every dive centre is able to offer.

All of the equipment is current and unlike other dive centres using their equipment is very much like trying out brand new – in my experience rental equipment at other dive centres is something of a lottery and that is definitely not the case at Dive Northampton.

The combination of expertise, quality training, top notch equipment makes you want to learn and keeps you diving. Thank you guys.

I have recently completed the "Self Reliant Diver Specialty" with Dive Northampton and found the course as described by staff members bloody difficult to do, but like most things in life you only get out what you put in. I was left with no illusions about what was described to me by Drew Williams it will be one of the hardest Specialty courses you will do, but the one you will probably get the most out of.
The course started in the classroom and we were taught by Andy Hillier about the pros and cons of finding yourself alone in the water being comfortable with the fact, knowing how to cope, what to do and first and fore most getting yourself safely out of that situation. Now I'm not preaching here and this cert does not let you get in the water alone and do what you want, but it gives you the skills to be confident within the water, something Drew and Andy made quite clear from the offset. Im not going into the course too much as its a very intense programme and i feel you need to have a good level of experience before you go ahead with the Specialty but thats my opinion.
The second part of the course was at stone cove, a fairly relaxed affair but you were left to make mistakes as thats how you learn. Drew said to me "in the water you only get one go" and he's right no room for error so i best make sure i get it right. The only thing i will say about the practical skills are "NO MASK SWIM FOR 18m" (please bare in mind this was Stoney early winter at 8 degrees) i shouted back at Drew and he made me do it twice. (thats what you get for not doing it properly.)
Ive been diving now for a few years and use a D800 slr camera underwater and I have quite often lost my buddy, but the skills Drew taught on a practical level at stoney I will use for many years to come, I like to think that Andy and Drew know their onions when it comes to diving and thats why I went to DN on a friends recommendation.

I have just completed my open water course with Dive Northampton and am now looking forward to the club holiday next year. I was really nervous doing some of the skills but found the staff very supportive giving me plenty of time and support to practise the skills until I felt confident.

Dry suits were provided automatically which was great. I didn't really appreciate why until I saw other dive schools with students walking around freezing in wet suits while their instructor kept warm in his dry suit. Thank you guys for taking our comfort into account as well as your own.

The club is great. An opportunity to meet other people with a passion for diving. It also a good way to meet new dive buddies if you didn't do the course with a partner.

Now planning on doing my advance course with them.

I have recently returned to diving after a long break for pregnancy, childbirth and simply time!!

As a very experienced diver I none the less realized my return would need to be gentle, redevelop my skills and certainly regain my fitness. I took some time to visit different dive shops, clubs and diving opportunities within a 20 mile radius of my home - taking in a lot of bucks Northants and beds, and finally honed in on Dive Northants. Alot of BSAC club members recommended DN to me - not least for equipment servicing and tank servicing (after all both had laid unused in the garage / dive bag for 3 years) - but from the moment i walked into the dive shop it felt like home. With young children, diving in a family environment is vital - many clubs and groups describe themselves as such - but DN really is. Divers when not diving are encouraged to bring family to pool and socials - and of course leave them behind when there are adult events, or in open water diving environments (so we get grown up time too!!). Every week there are TWO pool sessions to practice skills, and dive trips combined with training at Stoney. Everyone is enthusiastic and loves diving. It feels like a new diving home.

Best of all I was superbly impressed with DN attitude to safety and standards. I am a qualified PADI instructor - which may not necessarily make me a good diver - and may not mean I am good at diving in every condition I encounter. I have been lucky with my skills development stretched across warm, temperate and cold waters, dry and wet suit diving, good and poor visibility, fresh and salt water. None the less, Andy and the DN team really pride themselves on high quality skills training, equipment which is serviced and cleaned to a standard I have never previously seen in ANY PADI site worldwide where I have worked taught or dived, and renewall of equipment every year. There is also a clarity for instructors to be fit, pass their medicals WELL, and be absolutely fully insured and up to date. So regardless of my experience, I have been given a clean slate and the time space and encouragement to hone those skills again...

Of course all such requirements are an absolute when teaching in the UK - yet DN's and Andy's attitude to instructors feeling comfortable back in the water, honing their skills and teaching students to a high level that will ensure that beyond qualification they could autonomously dive within their qualification limits and requirements safely and enjoyably, is foremost in their minds. The whole team-teachign approach and high instructor to student ratios are ulike any I have seen elsewhere - it really encourages me to want to be involved.

To this end I have been super grateful that i found DN and that I have been gvien time and space, suited also to my own personal circumstances, for my return to the water. Honestly - I have run skills circuits under water and been in stiches of laughter at the good and sometimes less sucessful 'practises' I have made under the watchful eyes of DN instructors - exactly what diving skills are about - having fun but ensuring that you are safe - to yourself your buddy and others around you. I am also being given time - not just to recognise that a break makes skills rusty (think driving or biking) but that like such skills they come back - the more you practise - you get better and better at them, and that soon I'll be back to all being second nature, and on a new skills upward trajectory. I am so grateful to instructors who have taken time to help a fellow instructor, not just felt the need to have an evening in the pub, or simply teach to badge colect - its a superb recognition of how unselfish the instructors are....

i am very grateful to all the instructors at DN for helping me with care and consideration back into the pool and diving - can't wait to see you all in the open water and for many years to come.

I completed my open water course during November 2012 and can honestly say that I could not fault Dive Northampton at all. The theory side of the course carried out by Ann in the classroom was really factual and well explained. She was very knowledgeable and explained things that I sometimes struggled to make sense of in an easy way for me to understand.

The kit assembly supervised by Richard on my first day was really good fun. He showed me how to assemble the kit then I had to copy his instructions over and over until I was doing it with my eyes closed. Richard was patient with me and always made sure he explained why I needed to do things the way they needed to be done, and that helped me remember for the next time.

The pool sessions were a bit of a task for me as I have a bit of a fear of water, but I explained this to my instructor Steve who understood completely and made me feel more at ease. He was also very patient with me as I struggled to do the mask skills and I even had another instructor Pete helping me.

The pool itself and facilities were very good. There was a room off the poolside to get the kit on and buddy check and a bar upstairs to debrief following the pool session which was nice as it gave me chance to chat to the others doing the course to find out how they were getting on before we left for the evening.

The open water side of the course which was done at Stoney Cove was again a challenge for me. Drew was my instructor on the last day of the course and he was extremely patient with me. I did make mistakes and I panicked during the morning dives but both Drew and Steve managed to calm me down and keep me safe and I got through the course.

Needless to say, over the past year since completing my open water course I have now dived in Jordan, Malta and The Caribbean and feel that without the help, support and a great deal of TLC from the staff at Dive Northampton I would not have had the most amazing experiences underwater that I have had and feel that if it wasn’t for them I would have let my fear get the better of me and would have quit. So glad I went with Dive Northampton! Thank you team!!!

I have just completed a Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty with Dive Northampton and am very happy with the way my course went. Everything was easy, right from booking the course in the shop through to taking part and receiving my certification card afterwards.

I was very lucky that I was 1 on 1 on the course, although I hear that this is not uncommon at Dive Northampton. My instructor, Steve made sure that all of the necessary paperwork was filled in before the course started - the usual medical statement and liability release - and then discussed the course with me. What would happen and what coursework I needed to do before the dives. We then agreed on a date and time to meet at Stoney Cove where I would complete the two dives needed for the course.

On the day, Steve checked through my knowledge reviews and discussed a couple of points with me that I'd got stuck on. I found him to be encouraging without actually telling me the answer. Rather he encouraged me to re-discover knowledge I already had! He then took me on a site orientation so that I was happy with all of the facilities on offer at Stoney Cove.

Before each dive, Steve briefed me fully on what was expected from me, what route under water we would follow and went over the signals he would be using. We also had a post-dive brief each time to discuss how things had gone and to see if there was something different I could try on the next dive, like changing my weighting and how it was distributed.

I really enjoyed the whole experience. The dives were conducted in a relaxed but professional way and although I wasn't aware of it, Steve must have been keeping an eye on the time as he kept the course moving along but without making me feel rushed or harassed.

After completing the dives and the coursework, we filled in our logbooks together and I was presented with a temporary certification card. My nice new plastic card arrived from PADI just 6 days later!

I cannot comment on the dive shop's full equipment as I used my own BCD and regs. I did use a cylinder provided by the shop, however and this was as to be expected - good clean air with no taste. Steve had brought various spares with him just in case - which was a good job as I had forgotten to put my drysuit hose back on my regs after a trip to Egypt. He just calmly fitted one for me and the day wasn't lost!

Overall impression: very professional, friendly and relaxed and I will definitely be using Dive Northampton again.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please read carefully the answer from the shop at the end of the text as we agree with them on at least 3 points. People often very happy put 5 stars for no reason but only under emotional answer and reversly put 1 star everywhere when they are not happy. Thus punctuality, quality of air (very rare to find bad air in Europe which is not the case in Asia for example) and safety should not be at this level.

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My partner and I booked on a Padi Refresher course with Dive Northampton before our holidays. We were really looking forward to it having bought ourselves some new gear, we couldn’t wait to get down there and get stuck in. Sadly it was a really negative experience.
When we did our theory in the shop all was fine – the instructor Rachel was great – really fun and friendly and putting everything across well.
Once we moved onto the equipment assembly portion of the course everything went downhill. The chap’s approach to instructing had very much to be desired! He was very aggressive and rude. Snapping at us and barking orders. It was shocking really – and I think he knew full well that his manner was inappropriate but thought he could get away with it. He seemed like he was getting satisfaction out of trying to make us feel and look stupid (maybe doing this to people feeds his ego?) he seemed to enjoy picking apart every single thing we did. We were well aware we needed to recap – that’s the point of the course, but the aggression we were treated with was appalling. He was very cold and abrupt snapping ‘no!’ ‘stop!’ ‘No!’ every time we went to do something – we are not experts, we wanted to learn, happy to be told we are doing something wrong or be shown a better way but this kind of ‘picking-on’ approach was really horrible.
By the time we had driven to the pool – thoroughly upset we just hoped we would have a different instructor and that all would be fine.
Sadly, our instructor had the same attitude.
So again in the equipment room we are picked apart piece by piece, for not doing things their exact way – hey – no problem if they want to be fussy, that’s great in fact because we could learn but when it is delivered with such aggression and rudeness, well that changes things. If you are having a go at your customers, speaking in an aggressive tone, snapping and being abrupt – well, that’s not teaching – that’s bullying.
By the time we got to the pool I really just wanted to go home – at the end of the day if you’ve made your happy excited customer feel that way then something is wrong.
In the water if you asked any questions you were treated as if you were stupid. There was little explanation as to why you would do something or in what scenario. I felt this could have been better. The instructor – Drew – was shaking his head at us and fiercely gesturing under the water. He was clearly frustrated and annoyed. He grabbed me twice and yanked me up to the surface without warning. We didn’t feel this was appropriate from an instructor. You’re there to help people and to teach, not to make them feel terrible and uncomfortable. If you don’t make any mistakes you don’t learn.
I feel I would have enjoyed my day and got much more out of it had we had Rachel as our instructor in the pool. The constant bully – approach was just a bit much for me personally, I found the whole experience very upsetting and shocking.
Steer well clear!!!
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Management Response from Dive Northampton:
I was distressed to hear that the customers had such a poor experience, especially after we worked so hard to fit them in at the last moment before their holiday, something sadly not mentioned in the review. I have of course raised the points they cover with the two staff members involved. I will will also pass their comments on to Rachael as she represents the single ray of sunshine in what was a pretty cloudy day for them. I cannot comment directly on the points raised simply because I wasn't present at the time. I did manage to get to the Pool in time for the end of the session but wasn't made aware that they were unhappy until after they had left. This meant that I was unable to discuss their experiences personally which would have been my preferred option. I was told after they had left and that things had not gone well. For this reason I made sure that I had a chat with the other participants am pleased to report that they ended up having had a very positive experience from the day. That doesn't detract in any way from the seriousness of the issues raised and clearly there is no way I am prepared to accept that we failed to provide them with the quality of experience that they expected. Again, I can only assure you that this is very much the exception, with the overwhelming majority of our divers having very positive experiences. Indeed, this is the first time I can remember that any negative feedback has been posted about the team here. In recognition of their dissatisfaction, I offered the customers a number of alternatives, including a full refund of their fees. I hope that they can appreciate that sometimes things just go wrong. Whilst this shouldn't happen, I believe that the important thing to do in these situations is to accept that things should have gone better, put processes in place to ensure it doesn't happen again and most importantly of all, apologise to those involved and try to make it up to them. In response to the specific ratings where they fall outside those mentioned above: Punctuality - No mention of lateness was made and therefore a single star for punctuality is giving a false impression. Indeed, everything went in full accordance with the schedule. The Equipment Condition 3 Star Rating - The equipment used was only approximately 3 to 4 months old and supplied by some of the best known and trusted manufacturers. Clearly a mid-rank score here was somewhat unkind. Staff Professionalism - I am not prepared to accept this. The individuals concerned acted in a way to ensure the customer's safety at all times. Sadly, our attempts to ensure their safety was sometimes at odds with their expectations on how a Scuba Review should be conducted. This is not unprofessional, simply indicative of the expectations of divers who have trained abroad and then come back to the UK and face the standards in place here. Safety equipment - this was all tested and in place. Indeed, the pool is located within our local Hospital grounds - how much safer could we make it? Quality of air - our 3 monthly, independent air analysis reports indicate that our air quality not on meets the standard for diving generally, or even meets the standard for technical mixed-gas diving but exceeds high-altitude military specification. Quality of service is subjective and I cannot comment on this beyond what has been said already. Value for money - on the basis the event ended up costing them nothing, this again is unfair in the extreme. Andrew Hillier, Dive Northampton