About Dive Rutland

Inspiring Lives, One Person at a Time

Diving has a way of changing your perspective.

The first breath underwater. The moment you achieve neutral buoyancy. Your first UK wreck. Finding your first nudibranch. Descending deeper than you have before. Or simply discovering that something you once thought was beyond you is actually within reach.

At Dive Rutland, that is what we are passionate about — helping people discover what they are capable of underwater.

We are an independent dive centre based in Oakham, Rutland, providing diver training, professional development, equipment, servicing, trips and adventure.

We work with divers at every stage, from someone taking their first breaths underwater to experienced divers developing specialist and professional skills.

But we don't believe in simply putting people through courses.

We teach people, not courses.

Everyone learns differently. Everyone arrives with different experiences, confidence levels and goals. Our training is built around the individual rather than treating every student as a number on a course register.

Our aim is simple: to develop confident, capable and independent divers who understand what they are doing — not divers who have simply collected certifications.

That means taking the time to explain the why, developing real-world skills and encouraging divers to think for themselves.

Because a certification card doesn't make you a good diver.

Training, experience, practice and good decision-making do.

Meet the Dive Rutland Team

The people behind the diving

Dive Rutland is more than a shop, a pool session or a certification.

It's the people you learn from, dive with, ask questions of and continue your diving journey with.

Our team brings together different experience, qualifications and diving interests, but we share the same approach: high standards, good training and a genuine enthusiasm for diving.

Tracey Roberts

Owner | SSI Instructor Trainer

The person behind Dive Rutland.

Tracey has been leading Dive Rutland since 2015 and is a full-time SSI Instructor Trainer, supporting divers from their first certification through to professional development.

With more than 5,000 personal dives, extensive teaching experience and a background that spans recreational, professional and adaptive diving, Tracey has spent years helping people become more confident and capable underwater.

Her approach to teaching is straightforward:

Teach people, not courses.

That means understanding the individual, adapting the teaching to the student and making sure people understand why they are doing something — not simply teaching them to perform a sequence of skills for an instructor.

Tracey is particularly passionate about UK diving, professional development, diver safety and helping people progress beyond their comfort zone without pushing them beyond their limits.

She also believes strongly in the value of good equipment. With experience on both sides of the counter, she would rather help a diver make the right purchase than sell them something simply because it's on the shelf.

And after thousands of dives, there is still one thing that hasn't changed:

Tracey would rather be talking about diving than almost anything else.

Tracey's diving

Role: Owner & SSI Instructor Trainer
Experience: 5,000+ personal dives
Specialisms: Professional development, UK diving, adaptive diving, drysuit diving and diver development
Passion: Developing confident, capable divers and diving professionals

Who We Are

Dive Rutland has grown from a small independent dive business into a full-service dive centre, while deliberately retaining the personal approach that makes us different.

The business has been under Tracey's leadership since 2015, and diving has been a huge part of her life for many years.

But qualifications and experience are only part of the story.

We genuinely enjoy teaching.

Whether we're helping someone overcome their nerves on their first pool session, working through a difficult skill, developing an instructor, or discussing the best way to approach a challenging UK dive, we care about the person in front of us.

The wider Dive Rutland team brings its own experience, enthusiasm and specialisms — creating a centre where divers can learn from more than one instructor and continue developing as their diving progresses.

SSI — Our Training Agency

Dive Rutland has been an SSI member since 2023, and since January 2026 we have been exclusively SSI for diver training.

Our move to SSI wasn't about simply changing the logo on our certificates. We had already spent time working with the SSI system and had seen how well it fitted the way we wanted to teach.

We value the flexibility of the SSI system, its digital learning and app experience, the opportunities for professional development and the way it allows us to concentrate on what matters most:

Teaching people to become better divers.

SSI also gives our divers a clear pathway to continue their development — from their first certification through specialist training and on to professional qualifications.

For us, the agency is the framework.

The teaching is what makes the difference.

#wearessi

More Than a Dive Shop

Dive Rutland isn't simply somewhere to buy scuba equipment.

Our shop is a place where you can touch it, try it, discuss it and understand it before you buy it.

We believe in buy once, buy right. The cheapest piece of equipment isn't necessarily the best value, and the right equipment is the equipment that suits you, your diving and your experience.

From masks and computers to exposure protection, regulators, BCDs and technical equipment, we'd rather spend time helping you choose the right product than sell you something you don't need.

And if we don't have what you're looking for, we'll do our best to source it.

We also offer equipment servicing and maintenance, helping divers keep their equipment working properly and ready for the next dive.

Training With Real Diving in Mind

Good diving skills shouldn't only work in a swimming pool.

Where appropriate, our training is conducted in real diving position rather than relying on kneeling on the bottom, so students develop skills they can actually use when they are diving independently.

We place a strong emphasis on:

  • Buoyancy and trim

  • Equipment familiarity and pre-dive checks

  • Buddy awareness and communication

  • Dive planning

  • Air management

  • Problem-solving

  • Situational awareness

  • Knowing when to speak up — or call a dive

Our goal isn't to create divers who can perform a sequence of skills for an instructor.

It's to create divers who can use those skills when they actually need them.

Safety Isn't an Add-On

Safety isn't something we put at the bottom of a course checklist.

It is part of everything we do.

Our school equipment is modern, maintained and regularly serviced, with equipment available in a wide range of sizes. Our breathing air is externally tested, and our training is conducted with conservative staffing ratios — typically 1:1 or 1:2 for open-water training.

We also believe that safety comes from more than equipment and ratios.

It comes from good training, good preparation, good planning and the confidence to stop when something isn't right.

There is no shame in saying “I'm not comfortable with this.”

There is considerable wisdom in it.

We Love UK Diving

You don't need a tropical sea to have an incredible dive.

British diving has wrecks, walls, reefs, marine life, history and challenges that can make you a better and more rounded diver.

From inland training sites to the coast, and from local day trips to destinations such as Scapa Flow, we want our divers to experience what UK diving has to offer.

Yes, the water can be cold.

Yes, visibility can be unpredictable.

And yes, sometimes you need a little more neoprene — or a good drysuit.

But that's part of the adventure.

Learning to dive comfortably and competently in UK conditions gives you skills and experience that travel with you wherever you dive in the world.

Diving With a Purpose

We want people to enjoy diving — but we also want them to understand the environment they are visiting.

Good buoyancy protects the seabed. Good finning protects marine life. Responsible interaction means allowing animals to behave naturally. Understanding what you are looking at makes a dive more interesting and, hopefully, makes you care more about protecting it.

From marine-life identification and ecology to responsible diving practices, we encourage our divers to become better observers and better ambassadors for the underwater world.

Because you can't care about something you never take the time to understand.

Small By Choice

Dive Rutland isn't trying to be the biggest dive centre.

And we aren't trying to be the cheapest.

We are deliberately small, independent and personal.

That allows us to concentrate on the things we believe matter:

Quality training.
High standards.
Good equipment.
Personal service.
Experienced instructors.
And divers who are genuinely prepared for their next step.

Our county motto is Multum in Parvo — “much in little.”

We think it suits us rather well.

Training. Travel. Equipment. Adventure.

Whether you're:

  • Taking your first breaths underwater

  • Working towards your next qualification

  • Developing specialist skills

  • Buying your first set of equipment

  • Preparing for UK diving

  • Planning your next dive trip

  • Considering a professional diving career

  • Or simply looking for somewhere to talk diving over a coffee

you're welcome at Dive Rutland.

We want to be more than the place where you completed your course.

We want to be the place you continue to come back to as your diving develops.

Because diving isn't something you simply finish.

It's something you keep discovering.

Dive Rutland

Inspiring Lives, One Person at a Time

Multum in Parvo

Training. Travel. Equipment. Adventure.

Where to Find Us

You'll find us at:

Unit 2B Station Approach
Oakham
Rutland
LE15 6QW

We have four marked Dive Rutland parking spaces directly opposite the unit, making it easy to park when visiting us.

We're based in Oakham, but Dive Rutland attracts divers from across Rutland and the surrounding counties, including Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Nottinghamshire.

Our customers and club members regularly travel from places including Melton, Stamford, Peterborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Bourne, Grantham and Cambridge.

Wherever you're starting your diving journey, there's a good chance you'll find someone here who has travelled the same road.

Our club members and customers regularly travel from places such as Melton, Stamford, Peterborough, Leicester, Nottingham, Bourne, Oakham, Grantham, and Cambridge – so no matter where you’re coming from, you won’t be alone.