Each PADI Specialty that you complete will bring you closer to the Master Scuba Diver(tm).
Television, magazines, stories from a friend – it doesn’t matter the source, exploring the underwater world and escaping the surface is enticing and exciting. So how do we keep exploring? What exactly is technical diving?
Each PADI Specialty you take will help you get closer to becoming a Master Scuba Diver(tm).
Technical diving can still be fun but is not recommended for anyone who wants to go deeper. Cave and decompression diving are more dangerous. You can reduce this risk by training and planning well in advance. Divers who do these dives are expected to be of a higher standard. Technical diving requires practice. You can't learn enough by reading and researching. Divers will find that the minimum standards for diving are often exceeded during training and technical instructors may do this. Technical training teaches divers redundancy. Problems can be solved from 1500ft within a cave. Then, an exit to the surface is possible. This is a crucial aspect of diving in this environment. It sounds complicated and scary. Technical training is both challenging and fun. It also gives divers the opportunity to explore parts of the globe that are not accessible to them.
The next day it was on to technical sidemount, which means adding our deco 50-percent oxygen and 100-percent oxygen tanks on either side. This increases your profile underwater so you must keep the tanks as trim as possible against your body. You have a couple of clips on each side of your waist. As you breathe down your tanks and they become positively buoyant, you adjust your tank position to the second clip position. The aim here is to be as streamlined as possible. Every few minutes you also switch your breathing from one tank to the other. That way the pressure in each tank runs down at roughly the same rate, and if there is a failure with either tank or regulator, you’ll still have gas to breathe. As with all new things, building up experience is key to comfort and enjoyment. I spent the next few days doing deco dives with the sidemount rig, buddied up with Evolution co-owner David Joyce — a hugely experienced Tec diver and Trimix instructor. On one dive we visited the Japanese Mogami wreck down at 164 feet, where I was beguiled by the bits of old gas masks, uniforms and even a few bones we saw.
We offer the TDI course as an option, although we can also teach the SDI course if asked. This course can be taken on its own, or with the Apprentice Cave Diver course.
How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba DiverAnd then there are the rebreathers…a rebreather is a machine that recycles exhaled gas and is the preferred method for ‘very’ deep dives in order to use the gas carried more efficiently. In this case the exhaled gas is going thru a canister filled with a chemical which is called Sofnolime or scrubber to remove CO2 from the breathing loop and the remaining gas will be inhaled again by the diver. Metabolised oxygen is replaced into the loop to keep the oxygen content in the divers’ body at the desired pressure.
Skills (specific). Throughout the tech program, specific diving skills are practiced until they are perfect. Overhead diving navigation and line skills can be honed until they are automatic. Decompression divers know how to manage the gas and plan stops. Rebreather divers meticulously construct, test and tear down their equipment to ensure that it is functional. The skills required for each course are mastered at the beginning level. As you progress, they can be further developed. Each level takes these skills further and creates new challenges that make you a more knowledgeable, competent and well-rounded diver.
Cave passages that have been formed through millions of years of erosion are only available to those who are certified in overhead diving. They stretch thousands upon thousands of feet. The incredible time span in which these caves were created is a testament to their unique beauty and tranquility.
Initial pool sessions were hard. I felt like an openwater diver again, strapped in to the twin tanks trying to conduct valve drills. However, as we moved through the Tec 40 to 45 and 50 courses, our skills improved and we were able to enjoy the course. The most satisfying part of Tec diving is taking your skills, buoyancy, knowledge and awareness to the next stage. It is quite exciting to be able to manage life-threatening emergencies at deep water without having to climb to the surface (due decompression requirements). It's gratifying to execute your dive plan in military precision.
Sidemount cylinder mounting was developed for cave diving. They have been more popular in technical diving ever since. They are able to seperate the dual cylinders and mount them on either end of the diver's body. While this prevents the diver from breathing from one cylinder in case of a failure of the regulator, it allows them to have easier access to the valves. Sidemount diving provides a diver with a more horizontal profile but a smaller vertical one.
If you will not be using sidemount during your cave diver training, what you should be looking at is our CDS Basics Orientation course.
To make dives beyond 130ft, decompression divers will add Helium to the cylinders. Then they can explore the realm of the uncommon. Their experiences at wrecks and reefs are often less frequent than those of astronauts who visit the moon.
You will need your standard wetsuit, fins and mask as well as a computer, compass and DSMB.
5-6 days
Rebreather training classes are typically 5-6 days long, but can be longer depending on a variety of factors such as the training agency, your local conditions, your instructor, and your ability to meet the class standards.
- Increased Bottom Time A Closed Circuit diver is not concerned with running out of gas because they are only limited by decompression. This can also be reduced by selecting an oxygen partial pressure that provides the diver with virtually limitless bottom times in 60 feet or less of water.
2-3 hours
Even with small cylinders, you can usually dive for 2-3 hours (rebreathers typically have two 2/3l cylinders or one 3/5l cylinder).