Learn to dive in Sussex, Kent and Surrey with Sussex Scuba diving courses

What do we offer

Sussex Scuba are the owners of Mike's Waterfront Warehouse in East Grinstead. The business is owned by Derek and Denise Lancaster, both of whom are very experienced divers and trainers.

The business has been established for almost 9 years and has built up a very strong customer base. The Centre has already achieved the prestigious PADI 5 Star status and as such can offer the complete range of products and services. This includes a very well stocked and varied shop, full on site regulator servicing, air and Nitrox to 300bar, tank inspections, dry suit repairs, and now we are able to offer a full range of PADI courses up to Divemaster level, making us the complete centre for all your requirements.

Our Philosophy

We firmly believe that diving should be fun and safe, with the emphasis on safety. All our instructors have been trained by PADI, the world's largest diver training agency and have therefore received extensive training in all aspects of diving. The two owners have also had extensive training in other sports for over 10 years each and have worked with children and adults extensively. In addition all instructors have CRB approval thus clearing them to work with children. All classroom training is conducted in our own training school and is always fun and lively. We actively encourage lively interaction and good humour

Our Staff

Meet the team!! The school has continued to grow and we now have five Instructors and eight divemasters. All of whom are very experienced and passionate about diving

Denise Lancaster - Instructor

Denise is a currently a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) and as with all the team at Sussex Scuba Denise’s number one priority is safety quickly followed by fun. Diving is a great sport for everyone regardless of age size or gender and Denise is very keen to encourage this to everyone she trains. She has been diving for several years and once again has dived extensively in the UK, particularly the South Coast along with Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Tenerife, and various Caribbean Islands.

Denise is not only very passionate about diving but she also gains a great deal of enjoyment from helping others to develop and enjoy diving. She has been involved in training and coaching for over 10 years. As a Master Scuba Diver Trainer Denise can also teach 9 diving specialties, including Nitrox, deep, wreck, and Emergency First Responder training. As with all our instructors and divemasters, she has CRB approval. Denise is particularly keen to work with women as she feels she has the necessary experience and knowledge to work with them with the particular issues they may have

In accordance with the Sussex Scuba philosophy Derek is passionate about safe diving. All diving should be conducted in accordance with best practice, but it should also be fun, otherwise why bother. Derek has been diving for several years both in the UK and overseas. He has experience diving all over the South coast of England and West Wales, along with expeditions to Tenerife, Cyprus, various Caribbean Islands, Turkey, and the Red Sea.

Derek not only has a genuine passion for diving but more importantly he has a passion for teaching and working with people to develop their skills and therefore enjoyment. He has been involved in training and teaching adults and children for over 17 years, prior to that was head of training for a major multi national corporation.

As a Master Scuba Diver Trainer Derek (MSDT) is also able to teach 10 specialties, Emergency First Responder training, Derek also has CRB clearance which is necessary before anyone is able to train children.

Brian Smith - Instructor

Great picture but we still need the details !!

Helen Wooton - Divemaster

Helen has been diving for several years in the UK and overseas and has experienced a wide range of diving environments and challenges. Helen's motivation is to help people to enjoy themselves while learning, and to give them the skills to ensure that they continue to enjoy, and share her passion for diving. Helen lists patience as one one of her strengths which she uses to great advantage when teaching, to ensure that everyone is able to master the required skills

Gary Pointer - Divemaster

Gary has been diving for almost 10 years and during that time has dived all the great sites of the world, several times over !!!. Not only is he massively experienced as a diver, his training knowledge and experience is also massive. Having started his career with PADI, Gary crossed over to BSAC in 1998, where he rose through the ranks becoming an Open Water Instructor. Following this experience Gary developed his deep and technical skills with TDI and SDI and is now experienced in deep, cave and re breather diving.

After such varied and valuable experience, Gary still gets his biggest kick from watching newly qualified divers emerging from the water with a smile on their face

Amy Muggeridge - Divemaster

Amy qualified as a divemaster in 2005 and has already gained valuable experience teaching in Spain. Particularly good with nervous first timers, Amy describes herself as an "aquatic geek" loving all things fishy and maritime. So much so that Amy will be leaving us in September when she goes to University to do a Marine Biology course. Good luck with that

Sam Wilson

General assistant, labourer, dogsbody, gofer, and surface cover !!!. Sam does it all. Although Sam is the youngest member of the team he is a very experienced diver. He has dived in the Red Sea, in the Med, Tenerife, and more importantly at many of the UK's dive sites off the South Coast

John Needham - Divemaster

John has been diving since 2001 and qualified as a Dive Master in September 2006. John is also an EFR instructor. He has dived extensively in the UK, Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

A quote from John "For most people diving is as near to going into space as you can get. I still can't believe that I can hover upside down on a tropical reef looking under coral at the fish".

Being involved in training new divers is a wonderful experience - the initial excitement when they start their course and through to the look of achievement when they qualify is really worthwhile.

Allan Freeman
Assistant Instructor

Allan has been diving since 1998 and in that time he has dived all the world's top dive destinations including: Malta, Caribbean, Red sea (many, many times), various Mediterranean sites and many UK dives. Allan is also a very keen teacher and has been teaching PE and general fitness work for many years to adults and children. He still gets a buzz from seeing people enjoy, (and making sure they enjoy !!)their first experience with scuba

John Davies - Divemaster

John's love for diving began on a round the world trip in 2004. he was lucky enough to complete his Open Water on Australia's Gold Coast, and his Advanced Open Water on the Great Barrier Reef. After enjoying his diving around Australia and the Far East, John's next port of call was Catalina Island off the coast of California, where he then completed his Rescue Diver. After some more diving gaining valuable experience, John qualified as Divemaster in the Bahamas in 2005. Since returning from his travels John is now a regular UK diver though he does admit to preferring the warmer water !! John is now at University studying for a Marine Biology degree while working for us during his summer break

Tom Jackson - Saturday Boy

Tom is our Saturday Boy

Storm - Scuba dog

The shop dog! Storm is a Weimaraner. His love of diving and divers started as a puppy when he was first brought into the shop. He quickly got used to the loud noises of the compressor and tanks discharging, and the people coming in and out. He is especially fond of training courses. He will always have a little wander in just to see who is there. This room is also particularly popular with him around lunch time when he likes to make sure that lunch is up to scratch !!

Storm's main hobby is chasing rabbits, as he is not that fond of water !!!