Please contact Max Gilbert if you have questions.
 

“What  is Technical Diving?”  
Technical Diving is diving beyond Recreational limits with the proper training and equipment.  In other words, technical divers break the rules you learned in your recreational diving training about depth and time limits. Tech divers usually dive below 130 feet, and they usually incur a decompression obligation that prevents them from ascending directly to the surface without making decompression stops.
 

“Where can I go and what can I do?”
The Windjammer in Bonaire… she’s an old three-masted schooner that sank off the north end of the island, in 190 feet of water.  Still intact, she’s a fantastic, but seldom-visited dive attraction.
Lake Jocassee, South Carolina…  Remember the movie Deliverance?  Lake Jocassee is the lake that was formed by the dam that was being built in the movie.  There’s lots of good wall diving, an underwater hotel, an old bridge, and an underwater girls’ school.  It’s where I go to do deeper dives, and to do the graduation dives in the Tec 50 course.
The Andrea Doria… Sunk in 1956 off the coast of New York after a collision with the Stockholm, she’s in about 250’ of water.  Often called the “Mount Everest” of Technical Diving, the Doria has been on my bucket list for quite a while.
The U-852… a German Unterseeboot, sunk off the coast of New Jersey during World War II.  Not many people get to touch this piece of underwater history.
 

“Why in the world would anyone want to become a Technical Diver?”  
The answer to that question varies from diver to diver.  Some technical divers enjoy using and tweaking all the cool gear that’s required for technical diving.  Some divers enjoy the unique challenges that technical diving presents.  Lots of us have a need to go see what’s down there… just a little bit deeper.  Some folks just want to see if they have what it takes to be in an elite crowd.  Whatever your reason is, your hard work will be rewarded with a strong sense of accomplishment.
 

“Who can be a Technical Diver?”
Just about anybody, with a few requirements.  You have to be 18 years old, and you have to be reasonably fit.  You don’t have to be a world-class athlete, but you should be able to manage your own equipment without assistance, in and out of the water.  You also need some dive experience and some training prerequisites, which is covered in the sections on the course offerings.
 

Want to get started?  
SDI has a couple of programs for you to “get your feet wet”.  If you just want to see what diving in a technical rig is like, you can join us for a Discover Technical Diving experience.  We’ll help you get geared up, and let you try it out in a swimming pool.  If you are a little more serious, but don’t quite have the pre-requisite courses knocked out, you can take the Discover Tech class.  I’ll help you get your own rig set up, we’ll do some dives together, and then you can gain experience diving a technical set-up within recreational limits.
 

Start walking the walk…
If you’re leaning towards technical diving, you may want to direct your training and diving experience towards meeting the pre-requisites.

    Because technical dives tend to be longer than recreational dives, and we often go to deeper colder water, dry suit training is a must.  You should be comfortable in a dry suit, and have 20 or more dives in one.  
   Deep diving experience and training is also required.  You’re going to learn to dive beyond recreational limits, so being trained to dive all the way up to those limits makes sense.
    Nitrox training is also required.  You’ll be using nitrox to decompress or to extend the no-stop limits of your dive, so you need to know about all the cool stuff we teach in the nitrox class.
    Rescue Diver is a great certification for everyone to have, but it’s a definite must-have for technical divers.  
    Although it’s not strictly required, the new PADI Self-Reliant Diver course is highly recommended.  You’ll learn a lot about technical gear and dive planning, and you’ll be able to get some additional experience that will    really pay big dividends.
    Sidemount diving is a technique long-used by cave divers, but in the last few years, it’s gained a lot of attention in the recreational and technical diving community.  You can do all the technical courses in sidemount… your back will thank me in the morning, but you will need training and experience in the technique.
 

What gear do I need?
It depends on whether you want to do your training in sidemount or back-mounted doubles.  Either way is fine.  If you follow the links, I’ve made a complete list for both options.  For most folks, side mount diving is something completely new and different, which means you need some training and experience in sidemount before your technical training.
 

What pre-requisite courses and technical courses does Southeastern Divers offer?
Each of these courses gets its own page!
Nitrox
Deep
Drysuit
Rescue
Self-Reliant
Tec 40
Tec 45
Tec 50
Gas Blender


Want more?

Me too.  I’m always digging into this topic or that subject when it comes to technical diving.  I’ve got a growing pile of articles that I’ve found useful and interesting on this page

Max