Technical Diving

Photo by: @Barefoot_Bentley

Where do I start?

The first and foremost question you need to ask yourself is: Why do I want to become a technical diver?

There is no room in tech diving for an ego, and its important to come into it for a good reason, not just “I want to impress my friends”.

Personally, I love deep shipwrecks. I wanted to spend more time on deeper wrecks, and was consistently being held back by my gas and no decompression limits. For some people its a specific site they want to dive, or generally wanting to continue their education and improve skills and knowledge.

Passed that, what you really need to succeed in technical diving is a good foundation of your core diving skills: Buoyancy, Trim, Finning techniques and planning. You should be able to perform complex tasks without having to even think about floating in place. Be able to move your body in the water without struggling and have a good understanding of every piece of your equipment and its function.

Course Layout

Technical diving is centered around the basics. Your first course will most likely be “Intro to Tech”. This two day course will get you into the equipment you will be using for all your future diving - typically manifolded doubles with a single slung decompression cylinder. You’ll learn how to set the equipment up and the core skills like gas sharing and emergency shutdown drills.

The next step will be your Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures. This is a 4-6 day course where you will learn to plan dives requiring mandatory decompression, execute those plans and what to do if anything goes wrong. This will certify you to 150 feet of depth, and this is where you will learn the fundamental skills that will follow you throughout the rest of your technical diving journey.

Moving forward, actually diving is the best training there is. Many people try to rush the trimix and advanced trimix levels, but it is absolutely vital to have not just the skills, but the experience needed to progress.

Personally, with todays rising costs of helium and massive improvements in technology, I have become a strong advocate for moving on to a CCR when you feel you are ready to progress past the AnDP level. It does have its dangers and costs, but also a massively increased safety factor in a lot of ways, and at the trimix level the costs are recouped surprisingly quickly.

Already Tech certified, but struggling to find buddies or not confident in your own skills yet?

I work at a dive shop that does tech dives at least once a week! I am always happy to act as a guide, show you around our wrecks, help with planning and discuss anything related to tech with you!

At the very least, I will be a buddy that you can entirely rely on, and will be there if you have any kind of problem or question.

Let me know if you’re interested in getting a tech guide!

Rebreather? Barely know ‘er!

Photo by: @floridatechnicaldiving

I personally dive the Dive Rite O2ptima Chestmount. I have been diving rebreathers since before I was even a technical diver. I could write an entire book about rebreathers, but for the sake of a legible website, I will keep it brief.

Yes, they take a healthy financial investment to get into, but if you’re investing in a unit that will absolutely change every aspect of your diving. Being entirely silent underwater, the local wildlife treating you as one of their own and never having to worry about gas are just a few of the advantages.

Once you start diving a Rebreather, it will become part of you. Every dive without it you feel like you’re missing the most important part of your dive.

If you have any questions about rebreathers in general, feel free to contact me! I will spend all day talking to you about them.

  • To begin your TDI Advanced Nitrox/Decompression Procedures course, you need a minimum of 25 Logged dives and your Advanced adventure diver certification.

    Personally, I do require a rescue diver certification (for my own safety) and that we do a regular dive together so I can assess your knowledge and skills.

    learn about the TDI requirements at https://www.tdisdi.com/tdi/get-certified/decompression-procedures-diver/

  • Just like in recreational diving, the easiest place to start is just trying it out! Come do a rebreather discovery course! Try out someone else’s rebreather in a pool and see if it would even interest you.

    Keep in mind - You don’t actually need to be a technical diver to dive rebreathers!

  • Tech diving is a small community. Everyone is weary of diving with people they don’t know, and there’s plenty of people that may be great divers but not the best of buddies.

    South Florida has one of the best tech communities on the planet, and after a couple of dives with either a friend or a guide you’ll be sure to meet plenty of people you can contact for future dives!

    Let me know if you’re interested in hiring someone to show you around our local deep wrecks!