There are three parts to certification: knowledge development, skill practice and open water dives. You can complete all three parts locally, on holiday, or split between the two.
Divers who are comfortable with sidemount diving can also enjoy open-water dives. Why? Because sidemount diving is very easy and comfortable.
Depending on the environment and type of diving each configuration has its advantage and disadvantage. Diving in caves or wrecks the preferred way to dive for sure is either Sidemount or rebreathers. There is also an option for a Sidemount rebreather which makes the diver more streamlined to fit through narrow restrictions. Sidemount also gives the diver the advantage to leave tanks behind that will be picked up upon exiting the cave or wreck. To fit through narrow bedding planes unclipping the tanks makes the profile of the diver even smaller and places that are not available to a backmounted twinset diver become accessible.
Scuba diving requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Chronic health conditions, certain medications and/or recent surgery may require you to get written approval from a physician before diving.
If you are not ready to dive locally, but wish to support your local dive center, you can complete eLearning courses and coursework close to home. You can then travel to complete your training dives. Ask your local PADI Dive Center for a referral.
My first pool sessions were difficult. I felt like an open-water diver once more, strapped into twin tanks and trying valve drills. The Tec 40 and 45 courses were difficult at first, but I soon found that new skills became natural and I enjoyed the course. The joy of Tec diving lies in taking your diving skills, buoyancy, and awareness to the next level. The feeling of knowing that you are capable of handling life-threatening situations at depth and without needing to descend to the surface (dues to decompression requirements) can be quite satisfying. It's satisfying to execute your dive plans with military precision.
There are many great readings about technical diving. Some are stories of personal experiences and adventures in technical diving that are definitely worth reading. Some of the greatest books for sure are:
Skills (specific) – Throughout the tech programs the specific dive skills for that category of diving are practiced until faultless. For overhead diving navigation and line skills are honed in until they’re automatic. Decompression divers can plan and execute the stops and gas management without blinking an eye. Rebreather divers meticulously build, test and break down their units to ensure perfect functionality of the equipment. Skills for each course are laid solid in the first level of certification, and advanced from there. Each step deeper or further hones these skills and adds additional challenges to develop a well rounded, well prepared and well informed diver.
International Training, the parent organisation for Technical Diving International / Scuba Diving International (TDI), offers both SDI (and TDI) versions of their Sidemount Diver courses. Both courses are very similar. Both courses share the same learning materials (which were written by us). What is the difference?
If you plan to go sidemount, particularly if you are a tec diver already, you will need to learn about your new rig. How to adjust it, how it can be used to enter the water, and more.
Sidemount rigs were created originally for cave diving.
Academics – The academic parts of technical courses are similar to any other class in scuba diving. Students will learn from their instructors and do some self-study. Technical courses require a lot more planning than most people are familiar with, but they are crucial to a successful dive. Gas management will be a more involved part of overhead and decompression dives than many divers are used. The computer program calculates the required gas volumes and reserves for each dive.
Sidemount diving can be fun, especially if your are a tec diver. Learn how to adjust your rig and how to get in the water with it.
‘Diving into Darkness’ by Phillip Finch is telling the story about an Australian cave diver trying to recover a body in a South African cave called Bushman’s hole.
According to experts, approximately 40% of technical divers enroll in additional education and training programs. This yields a reasonable estimate of approximately 160,000 active technical divers worldwide.