About Wight Dive School

Wight Dive School is a PADI dive school on the Isle of Wight, offering scuba courses for everyone from complete beginners to advanced divers. We teach in a heated pool and in the open water around the Island, with a focus on safe, personalised training and small, friendly groups.

Our courses run from Try Scuba and PADI Open Water through to Advanced, Rescue and a range of speciality courses. Whether you are taking your first breaths underwater or building on skills you already have, our instructors are here to guide you every step of the way, so you can explore the Island's marine life and underwater landscapes with confidence.

A PADI Recreational Facility

Wight Dive School is recognised by the PADI Europe, Middle East and Africa Retailer & Resort Association as a PADI Recreational Facility, under member number S30620. It means our training, our instructors and the way we run our courses are all held to PADI standards, so you can be confident that the qualification you earn with us is recognised by dive centres worldwide.

Meet the team

Ian Vallance

Ian is the founder of Wight Dive School. With a lifelong passion for the ocean and years of diving experience, he set up the school to share the thrill and the calm of the underwater world with others. Whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced diver looking to go further, Ian is there to guide you, with safety, confidence and enjoyment at the heart of everything the school does.

Kim Langridge

Kim is one of the UK's most highly qualified diving professionals, with decades of experience in the water. He has dived around the world in just about every capacity, as a student, instructor, commercial diver and holiday diver, and in 2011 he completed the PADI Course Director Training Course. Since then he has worked with students across the UK and Europe on their way to becoming PADI Instructors, and he still loves sharing that first step underwater with new divers here on the Island.

Carley Divish

Carley has been a divemaster since 2022 and has worked around the world, from the Dominican Republic to the Isle of Wight, with experience in archaeology, biology, conservation and videography. For Carley, diving is where she has the most fun: no one talking, plenty of fish, and lots of equally enthusiastic people to welcome into the underwater world.

Claire Kemp

Claire grew up on the Isle of Wight, where days spent sailing and exploring the coastline sparked a lifelong love of the ocean. She became a PADI Open Water Instructor in 2010, but it was discovering freediving in 2016 that truly transformed her connection to the water: the simplicity, calm and freedom beneath the surface quickly became her passion.

When she could not find local freediving training, Claire created Esprit Freedivers, now a welcoming community offering PADI Freediving courses, pool sessions and ocean adventures both in the UK and abroad. Supported by her husband, friends and a team of dedicated instructors, the school continues to grow. If you would like to experience the peace and joy of freediving, or to hone the skills you already have, Claire would love to welcome you to the Esprit Freedivers family at espritfreedivers.com. And every so often, we persuade her to strap a tank on her back and come and help out with our open water classes.

Dan Gaches

The Red Sea, the Red Sea and the Red Sea are Dan's top three diving destinations, and to help fund the habit he owns and runs The Old Barracks Cafe in Puckpool Park.

Dan has been a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor for well over 10 years. That experience, together with a real enthusiasm for helping people discover the underwater world, makes him a hugely popular instructor. If you are not lucky enough to meet him in the pool, do pop down to Puckpool for a great breakfast, and if you mention that you dive with Wight Dive School he may even try to persuade you to book your next diving holiday abroad. Probably somewhere in the Red Sea.

Ready to dive in?

Feel the thrill of scuba diving in the waters around the Isle of Wight. Take a look at our courses, or get in touch to start your adventure.