Forbidden Planet

Too often in diving we’re told not to go deep or go into decompression. Well in recreational diving we shouldn’t. With a single tank and limited time we’d soon be in trouble if we broke limits. The problem is, that denying the means doesn’t dampen the desire. The curiosity we have for what is down there is a healthy and natural human reaction.

If your favourite wreck or reef was suddenly placed at 40-45m deep instead of 30m then you’d probably still want to visit it. Now the depth and time available will conflict with your recreational qualifications.

So, is that it then?

Far from it: Technical scuba diving agencies also recognize these recreational limits but provide the additional training through structured courses to reach new depths and time durations. They work just like your previous training:

Start in the classroom
Learn about new subjects
Become comfortable with the equipment at about 6m deep
Practice new skills in the shallows
Increase depth, time and your development gradually
Put your new knowledge to use at sea
Continue diving in with a sensible and structured approach

That’s right – you don’t reach the maximum depth until the END of the course. Depth ISN’T the product. The product is the development of you and where you can go.

The good news is that when you take a beginner level tech course ALL of your diving improves. Why wait several years prising information from reluctant dive guides when you can have a big injection of knowledge and development in one hit? This ‘spike’ of learning reverses back into recreational diving. You’ll be surprised at what you can learn on tech courses:

How to call a boat from underwater
How to reach previously ‘forbidden’ places
Four ways to deal with a free-flow
How to stay 3 times longer on your favourite wreck and come up with over 100 bar
Six ways to deal with tank or regulator failures
How to halve your deco stop time, safely
Two ways to use your ears as depth gauges
How to achieve the buoyancy of a fish
Six ways to deploy an SMB
Master your underwater lighting equipment
Know more than the dive guide leading you
How to read a computer without a mask
Improving your air consumption (making your tanks last longer!)
Feel sleepy after dives? How to reduce tiredness by using Nitrox
How to dive with two tanks
Five reasons why you might want to
How to escape from an entanglement wearing tech gear
How to double your dive sites in one course
Learn advanced and interesting theory ‘way outside the manual’
How to rescue a tech diver
How deco training makes you TEN TIMES better at recreational diving
How to handle multiple tasks and procedures at depth and stay in control
Learn proper finning and streamlining techniques
How to dive with air and Nitrox on the same dive
Learn a new language underwater – advanced hand signaling
Learn where all the secret tech sites are around the Red Sea
How to dive with 50 or 100% Nitrox, safely
Attain superior and professional level underwater skill development
How to plan your dives on a PC
And…how to produce effective bailout and redundancy plans

As you see, tech divers don’t just ‘chance their arm’ but acquire a broad range of skills and knowledge just like soldiers, pilots, captains or anyone else in occupations of increased responsibility or higher risk environments. You can do it too, with a bit of dedication and commitment. You’ll be surprised at what you might find out about yourself.

The list of courses follows a natural progression of diver education from recreational Basic Nitrox Diver to Trimix Diver. Read about each course, some reasons for doing it, what you’ll learn and how you can put them to good use. You can start when you like and progress as you see fit. The important thing is to know that the training is there if you ever want it. Never do anything for reasons other than your own.