Recreational Diving

For some skindiving is the beginning, a first step towards scuba certification. For others skindiving is the only way to explore the underwater world, free from the encumberence of scuba and the noise of bubbles.

This class will teach you the techniques of skindiving that you will use to dive and swim safely underwater with mask, fins, and snorkel. You will also learn about the marine environment, currents, surge, some basic applied sciences that relate to skindiving, and marine and environmental hazards, how to avoid them, rescues, and appropriate first aid.

You will spend approximately 3 hours in the classroom and 2 hours learning and practicing skills in confined water before completing two open water skindives.

Prerequisites

• Minimum 12 years of age
• Have a desire to learn

Your Scuba Diver certification is where your underwater adventure begins. During this course, you will learn the fundamental knowledge and skills to safely scuba dive to a depth of 60’ in open water. When you complete your class, you and your buddy will be free to explore and discover the many wonders of the underwater world.

You will learn about dive equipment, the science of diving, responsible diving practices and the environment. You will also learn many skills in the water and have as much time as you need to practice so you are comfortable and confident in the water.

Where you do your dives is up to you. South Florida offers a wide range of dive sites from which to choose. And there is 70% of the earth that is under water, so if you want to go somewhere special let us know and we can take care of the details.

You know how to take care of yourself underwater. The Advanced Open Water Diver Course provides you with training and experience to dive in a wider variety of conditions and to perform a variety of different tasks under water. While there is an academic component, this is a very experiential course with the emphasis on diving and helping you achieve an even higher level of comfort and control of yourself and your gear in the water. (Note: Equipment Requirements vary with dives.)

When added to safe diving practices, Enriched Air Nitrox is the easiest way reduce the risk of decompression sickness. You will learn how to choose the proper blend of Nitrox for your dive profile, determine maximum depth limits for your Nitrox mixture, analyze your breathing mixture, and plan and safely execute each dive. You will also learn about the physiology of oxygen and nitrogen; advantages, disadvantages, and risks of Nitrox; oxygen toxicity; hazards and precautions of handling oxygen; the concept of Equivalent Air Depth; use of Nitrox with standard Air Dive Tables; common gas mixing procedures; and equipment requirements.

A good rescue is undramatic and begins long before there is a problem.

The Rescue Diver course will train you to be aware of conditions and stressors that may lead to distress and how to avoid them or recognize them in yourself and others.

Prerequisites

• Minimum 17 years of age
• Have a desire to learn
• Advanced Open Water Diver certification or equivalent
• CPR & First Aid training
• Oxygen Administration for Dive Injury training

For divers who are adequately protected, cold water diving can be just as amazing as diving on a tropical reef. Vibrant colors, abundant marine life, and dive sites that are as breath-taking as anything under the sea all await divers prepared to enter cold water.

You will learn the knowledge and skills to safely don, dive with, doff and store a dry-suit; and be introduced to the different types of suits and undergarments so you can make an informed decision on purchasing a dry-suit. You will learn:

• Dry suit buoyancy control skills
• Dry suit maintenance, storage and basic repair
• Undergarment (fleece or overall-type garments worn under the dry suit) options

Practical skills you’ll master in this course

• Dry Suit Familiarization
• Safety Checks
• Entry Techniques
• Bubble Check
• Buoyancy Check
• Descent techniques
• Fin Pivot
• Hover
• Excess gas in feet emergency roll drill
• Stuck inflator emergency drill
• Stuck exhaust valve emergency drill
• Ascent procedure
• Remove and replace scuba unit and weight belt on the surface
• Exit techniques
• Removal of dry suit, storage and maintenance

Any time you’re diving at 300 to 3000 metres/1000 to 10,000 feet above sea level, you’re altitude diving. If you want to explore the hidden world of a mountain lake, the Altitude Diver Specialty course is for you.

As a diver trained to dive at high altitude, you will be ready to explore alpine lakes, visit more challenging dive sites, see sunken forests, and satisfy your curiosity for “I wonder what’s down there?” Altitude diving also means exploring places many people have never seen.

Diving below 20 metres/60 fsw requires more attention to detail and greater proficiency in dealing with problems that arise. You have less no-decompression time and air consumption is higher with depth. And then there is nitrogen narcosis.
This course will introduce you to the challenges and risks associated with deep diving to 30 metres/100 fsw and will give you first hand experience in dealing with the effects of nitrogen narcosis.

Prerequisites

• Minimum 16 years of age
• Have a desire to learn
• Advanced Open Water Diver certification or equivalent
• Rescue Diver certification or equivalent

In this course, you will be introduced to the amazing world of exploring sunken vessels, aircraft, and other natural and artificial wrecks. You will learn about safety, hazards and cautions, special risks of overhead environments, entanglement, limited visibility, deep diving, equipment, location of wrecks, sources of information, search methods, underwater navigation, legal aspects, artifacts, treasure, salvage, archaeology, and much more. This course may also be combined with Wreck Penetration Diver and Deep Diver.

This course will introduce you to the requirements and techniques involved with blending Nitrox and mixed gasses, handling high pressure oxygen, and cleaning equipment for oxygen compatibility.

Every diver will benefit from this course at one time or another. Not intended to make you a repair technician, during this class you will completely break down and reassemble your regulator and BC learning how they work and how to properly maintain them for maximum performance and reliability. You will come away with great insight into your equipment and the knowledge to perform simple adjustments and field repairs that can save your dive or that of someone around you.

Master Scuba Diver certification is the highest level of certification for recreational divers and recognizes you as an expert at performing a wide variety of tasks in many different environments.

Prerequisites

• Minimum 15 years of age
• Have a desire to learn
• Advanced Open Water Diver certification or equivalent
• Rescue Diver certification or equivalent