Technical Diving: Go Deeper, Longer & Safer
Cave diver on deco
Congratulations!!! You've made the first step in exploring the world of "technical" diving.
Decompression or technical diving is simply described as diving beyond the normal realms of the Recreational/Sport diver in one or more ways.
Individually or in combination these usually result in you exceeding, in a planned manner, the recreational no decompression limits. I.e. you are in decompression.:
- Depth, e.g. beyond 130 fsw (feet of sea water)
- Time
- Breathing gas mixes (nitrox/trimix, multiple mixes)
- Overhead environments such as wrecks and/or caves (needs additional training)
Technical diving doesn't have to imply heavy equipment and cold water. For example the Florida Keys, Bahamas and much of the Caribbean offers warm water, clear visibility and spectacular dive sites rivaled the world over.
Technical diving also offers recreational divers, wishing to enhance their hobby, the opportunity to tune much of their existing equipment to safer configurations.
Technical diving isn't for everybody but those who can accept the challenges will be rewarded with a new caliber of dive experience.
The Challenge: "Technical" diving is for divers who are keen to learn more about the physics and physiology of diving and who are prepared to impose discipline to their dives - pre, during and post. The challenge also requires you to master new equipment configurations.
The Reward: opening up a multitude of wrecks and sites to longer or deeper dives. Typically away from the potentially crowded recreation dive sites with the opportunity for new discoveries and adrenalin pounding experiences. Camaraderie amongst technical divers provides you with a broad wealth of experience to seek out advice on sites and gear.
Technical Diving: Training Agencies & Courses
As with recreational diving there are many agencies who offer training for your technical diving needs. There are many similar sounding courses that result in different qualifications and frequently different pre-requisits.
Confusion reigns!
Technical diving has a number of diverse roots, for example New Jersey wreck diving, Florida & European cave diving as well as warm water deep wreck divers. With different origins comes different training styles and some instructors are staunch in their approach that "its their way or the highway". The origins of each of the agencies can also be a refelction of their standards/course progression.
At BubblesOptional we want to teach discipline and common sense, as well as following agency standards, to make you as safe a diver as possible with training designed to help you towrds your long term goals.
The 'roadmap' (to the left - and downloadable below) shows some of the different courses and agencies in relationship to just a sample set of the many peneomenal dive dites around Florida.
PADI
Latest of the 'big' agencies to enter into the technical diving. The PADI TecRec program is strongly focused around team diving and slowly building depth and skills of the technincal dive candidate. The granular structure allows some courses to be combined.
IANTD
Florida based International Association of Nitrox & Technical Divers has been training divers for over 30 years: firsts include - trimix, inwater recompression and CCR. They provide the flexibility needed build divers training around their long term objectives.
TDI
TDISDI agency, also Florida Based, started off life as Technical Diving International so you could say it's "in their blood'. Great tools and support for instructros and divers alike. TDI provides a flexible path for development of technical divers.
Training Programs
At BubblesOptional we aim to coach you through the initial experience/training and then as a mentor as you progress into the serious echelons of scuba diving.
Programs available include:
- Discover Technical & Experience Rebreather/CCR
- Self-Sufficient Diver
- Advance Nitrox & Trimix Diving
- CCR training
Without proper training any sport or activity is not without its danger. We also recommend you explore courses that will compliment your diver training:
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