Aquaventure PADI 5Star Dive Center

What is Tec Diving?

Technical Diving allows you to extend your diving beyond recreational “no stop” limits. This allows you to plan longer dives at shallower depths, or to plan dives to more advanced depths and locations. Technical (tec) diving allows you to greatly expand your diving skills and knowledge and can provide you with experiences and exploration opportunities in places very few people will ever see:

- Increased Range - Exploring deeper than 40 metres/130 feet
- Increased Diving Environments - Diving in caves, shipwrecks or other special environments
- Increased Skills - Using specialized gas mixtures and decompression procedures
- Specialized Equipment - Using highly specialized equipment, like a rebreather

PADI's full open circuit Tec Deep Diver program consists of three courses: you'll start with Tec 40 and proceed to Tec 45 and Tec 50 courses. If your pre-requisites allow, you may take all three back-to-back or one at the time and continue to build up over time.

Tec Equipment

You’ll start with your basic scuba diving equipment and add technical equipment, which essentially means you’ll begin to double up on gear. You may dive with backmounted or sidemounted cylinders. Minimally, you must have additional breathing gas and redundant regulators in case of emergency. While sidemount or backmounted twins are required for Tec 45 and beyond, a Tec 40 can use either a larger cylinder with an H or Y-valve with two independent regulators or they can use a single cylinder with standard regulator setup, but carry a pony bottle.

Other equipment

- Compass, slate, delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB) or lift bag, emergency signaling devices, Z-knife, shears, and safety reel/finger spool.

Full Technical Rig

In recreational diving you use one scuba tank, but tec divers typically wear twin cylinders either backmount or sidemount, plus one or more additional tanks, each with different gas blends. They usually have two or more completely independent regulators and dive computers, as well as other dive gear backups. Here is what a typical tec diver might use:

- Primary mask and backup mask
- Fins -Tec divers often use dry suits, requiring large style, open-heel adjustable fins.
- Wing-typed BCD and harness -or a Sidemount Harness
- Primary and secondary regulator – one for each cylinder. These are usually DIN
- Twin cylinders, decompression cylinders/stage bottles – These should have DIN valves for a more secure connection.
- Multigas dive computers and submersible pressure gauge (SPG)
- Dive computers, one primary and one backup, track and display decompression requirements, and allow tec divers to switch to different kinds of gas - blends to optimize decompression.

Other equipment

- Compass, slate, delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB) or lift bag, emergency signaling devices, backup dive tables, Z-knife, shears, and safety reel/finger spool.

PADI Tec40

Are you a scuba diver looking for a new challenge? Or maybe you’re wanting to explore underwater places deeper than 30 meters or that nobody has ever seen before? Then the PADI Tec 40 course might just be for you. Not only is this course a great place to start your technical diving journey, but you will also have the chance to build on and advance your recreational skills.

Consists of seven knowledge development sections, four practical application sessions and four training dives. Designed for the diver transitioning from recreational diving to technical diving.

The PADI Tec 40 course is where you transition from recreational diving to technical diving. It's a natural progression from Tec Basics, or it can be your first tec diver course. It is the bridge between no stop diving and technical decompression diving. You will gain experience and begin building the knowledge and skills you need to continue your tec diver training. You will qualify to make limited decompression dives to 40 metres/130 feet and use up to 50 percent oxygen as a decompression gas.

To enroll in the Tec 40 course, you must be:

- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, and PADI Rescue Diver recommended
- PADI Enriched Air Diver
- PADI Deep Diver or proof of 10 dives to 30 metres/100 feet or deeper
- 30 logged dives
- 18 years old

Time Commitment: Approximately 3 days. If students don't come to this course with the required basic skills to conduct these types of dives, then the instructor may have to recommend starting with extra training dive(s) in shallow water.

Note:

- You need to have a PADI Medical Statement and Questionnaire signed by a physician within the last 12 months. Note that qualifying certifications from other diver training organizations may apply.
- You need to have a DAN Dive Insurance, Sport Silver / Sport Gold or equivalent, covering technical diving.

PADI Tec45

Extend your depth limit to 45 metres/150 ft. Learn to plan and execute repetitive decompression dives using a single stage/decompression cylinder.

This is a course where you rise to the challenge and commit to becoming a technical diver. The PADI Tec 45 course extends your depth limit to 45 metres/150 feet. You will learn to plan and execute single and repetitive decompression dives using a single decompression cylinder with up to 100 percent oxygen.

\You will use double cylinders, which can be either back mount or sidemount diving configuration. Tec 45 is a prerequisite to Tec 50. There is also an option for divers to earn a Tec 45 Trimix Diver certification.

To enroll in the Tec 45 course, you must:

- PADI Tec 40 Diver
- PADI Rescue Diver*
- Minimum of 50 logged dives, with at least 10 dives deeper than 30 metres/100 feet
- 18 years old

* If meeting this with a qualifying certification, provide proof of CPR/First Aid training within the previous two years..

* You also need to have a PADI Medical Statement and Questionnaire signed by a physician within the last 12 months. Note that qualifying certifications from other diver training organizations may apply.

PADI Tec50

Make extended range dives up to 50 metres/165 ft. Learn how to make dives with multiple decompression stops, using two decompression gases.

As a Tec 50 diver, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to make extended range dives to a maximum of 50 metres/165 feet. You’ll know how to make dives with multiple decompression stops using two decompression gases. It's not easy to reach this level. Earning your Tec 50 certification opens the door to deeper diving expeditions. There is also an option for divers to earn a Tec 50 Trimix Diver certification.

To enroll in the Tec 50 course, you must:

- PADI Tec 45 Diver
- PADI Rescue Diver*
- Minimum of 100 logged dives or 75 hours
- 18 years old

* If meeting this with a qualifying certification, provide proof of CPR/First Aid training within the previous two years.

Technical Diver