Scuba diving from boats is an everyday occurrence. Whether on a private vessel or one of the many charter dive boats available worldwide, divers are frequently not aware of the special procedures and etiquette used when boat diving. The SDI Boat Diver course will introduce you to some different types of boat diving and the skills needed to plan and conduct a boat dive with maximum safety. The list of skills and knowledge you will obtain during this course is long and includes:

• Safe entries and exits
• Proper stowing of equipment
• Safety procedures
• Planning boat dives
• Drift diving from live boats

During the course you go on two dives and put to use the valuable information you have learned

The SDI Computer Diver course is for divers who have not yet used a dive computer or for divers that want to learn a little more about the computer they are using. During the course and the two dives that go along with it, your SDI Instructor will cover:

• Computers vs. tables
• Display information
• Types of computers
• Downloading information
• Utilizing planning modes
• Programming computers

Personal Dive Computers are used by the vast majority of divers today and have proven to be a valuable tool for monitoring and documenting dives

SDI’s Deep Diver course is a must for any diver wishing to explore a little more and will teach you the risks and benefits of deep diving. Many interesting sights lie just beyond 18m/60ft such as beautiful wall dives, ship wrecks, and critters that don’t come into the shallows. During the course, your SDI Instructor will take you on two covers skills like :

• Proper descent
• Air management
• Effects of nitrogen narcosis
• Dive planning

By the end of the course your knowledge and comfort level will have increased. The Deep Diver course has a maximum depth of 40m/130, the suggested sport diving limit.

For those divers wishing to go a little father or a little faster the SDI Diver Propulsion Vehicle course (DPV) is the perfect course. This course is also ideal for divers needing a little assistance getting through the water due to leg problems. While taking the course your SDI Instructor will teach you about:

• Battery burn times
• Selecting a DPV
• Ear equalizations
• Descents
• Ascents
• Care and maintenance of the DPV

Some of the best dives in the world are found in currents where the nutrients are rich and ready to be feed on by soft corals, sponges, and Manta rays. Whether you’re planning on drifting down a wall or shooting through a passage, the SDI Drift Diver course will teach you the techniques for doing it safely. The course covers:

• Tides and currents
• Buddy procedures
• Entries from live boats
• Navigations
• Buoyancy control

The SDI Dry Suit Diver course will open up a whole new world of diving to you. Many of the waters around the world are better dove in a dry suit. These waters have an abundance of marine life waiting to be seen and photographed, dry suits are also being used in tropical waters during the cooler months. Your SDI Instructor will teach you:

• Selection of a dry suit
• Care and maintenance
• Emergency procedures
• Proper weighting
• Buoyancy control

There are many things that you as a diver can do to maintain your equipment and the SDI Equipment Specialty course is just the place to learn how to do that maintenance. This course covers BCs’, regulators, wetsuits, dry suits and many more of the equipment items used while diving. Your SDI Instructor will teach:

• Proper cleaning of equipment
• Proper storage
• Transportation and storage of dive cylinders

As divers, we have a vested interest in protecting the marine environment. In many cases, divers do not have environmental information about their own local sites. The SDI Marine Ecosystems Awareness specialty will increase the Open Water Diver’s understanding of marine environments, the problems facing these unique ecosystems, and the role that divers can play in protecting our marine resources. Your SDI Instructor will cover your local diving ecosystems as well as others around the globe.

For those who want to test the waters, this is the course for you. The SDI Scuba Discovery Program gives you a glimpse into what you can expect to see in the underwater world as well as what you could expect to learn in the SDI Open Water Scuba Diver Course. You will be shown the basic safety procedures for enjoyable scuba dives under the watchful eye of an SDI instructor. You will learn skills like equalizing your ears, buddy checks, basic buoyancy control, and underwater communication. You will also be given an introduction to basic scuba equipment and scuba skills followed by an underwater tour in the local marine environment.

If you enjoy this experience then the SDI Open Water Scuba Diver course is your next step.

SDI’s Search and Recovery Diver specialty will teach you the basic of searching for a lost object from outboard boat motors to jewelry. You will also learn to recovery the object once it is located this includes the use of lift bags and tying lines underwater to secure and lift the object. Your SDI Instructor will cover skills such as:

• Carrying deploying and attaching lift bags
• Conducting search patterns
• Entanglement avoidance
• Recovering and preserving objects

At one point or another, a diver has found himself alone during a dive, whether it may have been intentional or not. SDI’s Solo Diving is the practice of self reliant scuba diving without a “dive buddy”.

Solo diving, once considered technical diving and discouraged by most certification agencies, is now seen by many experienced divers and some certification agencies as an acceptable practice for those divers suitably trained and experienced. Rather than relying on the traditional buddy diving safety system, solo divers should be skilled in self-sufficiency and willing to take responsibility for their own safety while diving.

One of SDI’s most popular courses, the solo diver program teaches experienced recreational divers how to safely dive independently of a dive buddy or strengthen your buddy team skills. The course stresses on proper dive planning, personal limitations, accident prevention as well as the benefits, hazards, and proper procedures for diving solo. You will also learn the additional equipment that is required for solo diving including its proper usage and assembly. This is the perfect course for underwater photography and underwater video divers as well as those diving with their children or buddies that may not very experienced in scuba diving.

At one point or another, a diver has found himself alone during a dive, whether it may have been intentional or not. SDI’s Solo Diving is the practice of self reliant scuba diving without a “dive buddy”.

Solo diving, once considered technical diving and discouraged by most certification agencies, is now seen by many experienced divers and some certification agencies as an acceptable practice for those divers suitably trained and experienced. Rather than relying on the traditional buddy diving safety system, solo divers should be skilled in self-sufficiency and willing to take responsibility for their own safety while diving.

One of SDI’s most popular courses, the solo diver program teaches experienced recreational divers how to safely dive independently of a dive buddy or strengthen your buddy team skills. The course stresses on proper dive planning, personal limitations, accident prevention as well as the benefits, hazards, and proper procedures for diving solo. You will also learn the additional equipment that is required for solo diving including its proper usage and assembly. This is the perfect course for underwater photography and underwater video divers as well as those diving with their children or buddies that may not very experienced in scuba diving.

Many great dives are located just off shore and can be easily accessed from shore. The SDI Shore and Beach Diver course will teach you the proper techniques for entries and exits, navigation, avoiding currents, and planning of safe shore dives.

The SDI Research Diver course will acquaint the open water diver with the fascinating topic of Research Diving. After the completion of this course, you will be better able to discover, explore, and appreciate the underwater environment by using research techniques and better preserve and protect the underwater environment. Some of the topics your SDI Instructor will cover include:

• Ecology
• Food chain
• Data collection
• Survey techniques
• Mapping
• Basic oceanography