Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
February 2008    Download the Entire Issue (PDF) Available to the Public Vol. 34, No. 2   RSS Feed for Undercurrent Issues
What's this?

Why Technical Training is Worth Your Time

from the February, 2008 issue of Undercurrent   Subscribe Now

Let’s face it, the standard openwater certification has its limitations. Unless you’re content gazing at moray eels in a coral reef for the rest of your life, your options to explore wrecks, enter caverns and dive deeper or longer simply are severely limited. Today, courses like advanced nitrox, extended range, advanced wreck, decompression procedures, doubles training, and trimix are plentiful. It’s a natural progression to open new doors and tackle new challenges as long as they’re within your comfort zone, which you can expand greatly with increased training. I’ve found that whenever my diving zest ebbs, the remedy is a new certification course.

Cavern and cave courses literally open up a new world of diving. For closer looks at marine life without bubbles getting in the way, take rebreather training. These courses are more expensive than their openwater counterparts, however, and require the purchase of dependable and topquality equipment you must maintain.

Learning some technical skills is a good idea for any serious diver. If you’re not interested in decompression diving, consider taking a wreck diving course. This training will teach you how to get safely inside the wrecks where the real exploration begins. For the deeper wrecks, get your advanced nitrox certification. You’ll learn how to sling a decompression bottle on your BCD, and what nitrox mix to use at what depth. A decompression “hang” can be shortened immensely by using nitrox. The next course is called “decompression procedures.” Other variations to consider are, depending on the certifying agency, “doubles training” and “extended range.” Trimix (basically the addition of helium to further lessen the DCS risk) and advanced trimix courses would complete the curriculum. These courses cost between $400 and $1000, even more, but your deep-water welfare is worth the expense.

Technical Diving International lists dive centers worldwide that offer courses from Advanced Wreck to Trimix. Go to www.tdisdi.com and click on “Find a Dive Center” to locate those teaching a specific course in your area.

Charles Ballinger is the author of An American Underwater Odyssey: 50 Dives in 50 States. His website is www.dive50states.

I want to get all the stories! Tell me how I can become an Undercurrent Online Member and get online access to all the articles of Undercurrent as well as thousands of first hand reports on dive operations world-wide


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

cd