Specialty SCUBA Dives Open New Underwater Worlds
Training for Wrecks, Night Diving, Deep Diving, Drift Diving, More
Jan 19, 2009
Certified divers are technically certified to dive without supervision (although divers should always dive with a buddy). In reality, it takes quite a few dives before a newly certified diver starts feeling at all natural breathing underwater through a regulator. And there is always more to learn.
Advanced and specialty courses teach the skills necessary to dive safely in specialized environments, from caves to wrecks. An advanced certification course, for example, covers night diving, deep diving, and underwater navigation. In addition students can experience other topics of interest such as wreck diving or drift diving.
Deep Diving: SCUBA At 100 Feet
Basic open water courses train divers to go down to about 60 feet. But many standard dive sites, including walls and wrecks, are at depths of 70 or 80- feet - deep enough that a safety stop is not merely recommended; it is required to minimize the chance of getting the "bends" (decompression sickness). Recreational divers can go as low as 100 feet (and even a little lower, for short periods of time) without needing to decompress. But to do so, divers need to be aware of risks such as nitrogen narcosis and the bends, and need more training in dive profile planning, safety stops, and the use of spare air.
Wreck Diving: Importance of SCUBA Skills Such as Buoyancy
Wrecks offer some of the most interesting diving opportunities. By providing shelter and nooks and crannies for sea life to hide in, they become virtual ecosystems. And of course, they offer historical interest as well. But they also present dangers. Penetrating a wreck (going into a space where there is no direct way to simply return straight to the surface) should only be done by divers who have special training. In addition, diving outside a wreck requires good buoyancy control to avoid kicking up silt, and an awareness of surge. Getting cut on rusted old metal can also pose a risk.
Cave Diving: Challenges and Safety issues of Caves
Like wrecks, caves offer interesting dive sites to those trained to enter them. Lack of natural light, an obstructed path to the surface, the possibility of disorientation, and wave surge are only some of the challenges that face divers in a cave.
Night Diving: Rules for Diving in the Dark
Some divers are terrified of night diving; others see it as a magical highlight, when a whole other group of animals comes out, including lion fish, eels, and even sharks, rays, and sea turtles. Night diving requires knowing the ins and outs of gear and equipment, as well as tricks for communicating in the dark through the use of hand signals and lights. Night diving also requires good buoyancy control to avoid falling on sea urchins, kicking up silt, and annoying everyone else in the dive group.
Drift Diving: Going With the Flow (or Current)
Drift diving is often simply a matter of not fighting the current: Divers lie in the water and float along like Superman. Drift diving requires the ability to stay with a buddy, and the awareness of currents, which can push divers dangerously down or up, as well as forward. It also requires good planning in order to be able to meet the dive boat at the end of the dive.
Critter Diving: Seeing Underwater Wildlife Up Close
Naturalist courses are available, which teach divers about the animals and plants of the underwater ecosystem, including sea life that is safe to touch, sea life to avoid, and sea life that is downright dangerous (stone fish, lionfish, some corals and jellyfish). On a critter dive, divers might learn about anything from snails to sharks.
By taking an advanced or specialty course, divers can safely branch out and find dozens of new ways to explore the under-sea world.
