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 The
Llantrisant Sub-Aqua Club has been in existence
for over 40 years and currently has members from all
over South Wales and even further afield.
We meet every
Monday night at the Llantrisant Leisure Centre where
we hold our pool training from 8.00pm 'til 9.00pm then
after this we meet in Dylan's bar on Level 3 in the
leisure centre from 9:00pm onwards for a social meeting,
lectures, slide shows, etc.
We do most of our UK based
diving off the Pembrokeshire
Coast in West Wales. We have three club boats comprising
one 5.5 metre and two 6.5 metre RIBs which are kept
at the West Wales Diving Centre. Our list of diving
events for the current season is published on the Dive
Schedule Page.
 We
are always ready to welcome new members whether they
are complete beginners or qualified divers.
Club members are trained by a team of enthusiastic,
experienced divers so that they become both competent
and safe divers with qualifications that reflect the
high standards of the Sub Aqua Association.
Refresher training sessions for qualified divers ensure
that good practices are maintained, safety being the
paramount consideration.
We also offer courses within the SAA structure for members
to develop their practical and theoretical skills. Individuals
are encouraged to achieve qualifications in oxygen administration,
boat handling, VHF radio operation, first aid, diver
rescue, underwater photography and many others.
 As
well as being active in the UK we also run trips all
over the world to dive in some of the most beautiful
and exotic locations on the globe and to experience
the wonders of some of the magnificent coral reefs of
the world. Locations include; The Red Sea,
The Great Barrier Reef,
The Maldives,
South East Asia,
Cocos
Island,
The Caribbean, Cuba,
Florida and East Africa.
If you are already a member of another diving organisation
and would like to become a member of our club you would
be more than welcome. We can easily cross over any existing
qualifications you may have to SAA equivalents.
For more information on crossing
over Click Here
An
old member from years ago |
Brief History
The club
was founded in 1960 as the "Underwater Spartans" and
is now one of the oldest established sub-aqua clubs
in Wales.
Training was initially held in an outdoor pool but then
moved to Guildford Crescent swimming pool in Cardiff
and then finally to the pool at Llantrisant Leisure
Centre in Mid. Glamorgan. The club transferred to Tonyrefail
for a short period but was relaunched as Llantrisant
Sub-Aqua Club in 1982.
 When
the club was originally founded it was affiliated to
the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC)
but in 1983 the club left BSAC to become a member of
the Sub Aqua Association
(SAA), an organization comprised of independent sub-aqua
clubs in the UK.
Today the club meets regularly every Monday evening
at Llantrisant Leisure Centre pool for training and
then at Dylan's Bar on level 3 to provide a social dimension.
 The
Bomber
In
1991 Llantrisant Sub-Aqua Club made national news when
members of the club found the submerged remains of a
WW2 Wellington Bomber.
On September 21st 1991 a group of four divers were diving
near Marloes Bay off the Pembrokeshire coast when they
came across the submerged wreckage of an aeroplane.
After extensive research, the aircraft was identified
as a Wellington Bomber from RAF 304 Squadron which had
crashed soon after takeoff during a mission on 3rd August
1942 claiming the lives of all six members of the Polish
crew.
 During
subsequent dives, the area was extensively surveyed
and searched for further wreckage. The machine guns
and propellers were then raised and brought ashore in
an operation involving over thirty divers over a series
of weekends. They have since been restored to something
approaching their original condition.
On 15th July 1993 the Polish Sailing Ship Iscra was
docked in Newcastle upon Tyne. A ceremony was held aboard
involving representatives of the Polish Military and
War Veterans Association where one of the propellers
and a machine gun were donated to the Polish government.
The relics have since been taken to Poland and installed
in the Military Museum in Warsaw where a plaque was
installed acknowledging the efforts of Llantrisant Sub-Aqua
Club in recovering and donating the relics to the Polish
people.
Today, a propeller and one of the Browning 303 machine
guns from the aircraft can be seen in the ATC museum
in Abergavenny, South Wales.
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