Learn Tech

Southeastern Divers, Inc.

2720 Governors Drive SW, Huntsville Alabama 35805 - Phone: 256-536-8404

"Training the best divers in North Alabama since 1980."

Learning to Tech Dive

For those of you who have been following my adventures as I’ve gone through the training to become a technical instructor (click here to read about it), you know that I’ve done a lot of work to get ready to teach technical diving classes at Southeastern Divers. I have now earned my Tec Deep Instructor rating, so it’s time to start talking about the courses that are to be offered!

Now I know that not everyone wants to take the plunge quite as suddenly as I did, so there are a couple of classes that may suit you. You can see if technical diving is for you without making a large time investment or purchasing technical diving gear.

The first class is called Discover Tec. In this class, you’ll learn what kinds of gear tech divers use, how to set it up, and you’ll get to do a dive using it, either in a pool or in confined open water. If you feel comfortable, you can even do the skills that are part of Dive 1 in the Tec I class. You’ll do the first two Knowledge Reviews in the DSAT (Diving Science and Technology) Tec Deep Manual. If you decide to continue your tech training later, the work you do in this course may be counted. To participate in the Discover Tec Program, you only need to have 10 dives in your logbook.

For the more experienced diver, we’ll have the Tec Basics class. This class is designed for divers who might not meet the requirements for the Tec I class, but are still interested in technical diving. Because we’ll do some technical dive planning in this class, you’ll need your Nitrox certification to participate. You’ll do the first two dives from the Tec I class, and these dives may be credited towards that class when you take it. On your dives, you’ll learn how to use stage bottles, make gas switches, calculate your air consumption rate, and how to handle some typical emergencies that tec divers encounter. These two dives lay the foundation for the rest of the DSAT technical diving classes.

Here’s another plus… you can count the Tec Basics class toward your PADI Master Scuba Diver rating, the highest rating that PADI offers to recreational divers. For those interested in pursuing their Master Scuba Diver rating with a slant towards technical diving, I’d recommend the following courses: Nitrox, Equipment Specialty, Deep Diver, Dry Suit, and Peak Performance Buoyancy.

I’ve had a blast learning to become a technical diving instructor. It’s been a lot of hard work, but every drop of sweat was worth it. For those of you who are interested, I hope you’ll join me soon to learn to dive deeper and longer than you’ve ever dived before!

Dive on!

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