Technical diving courses
If you're looking for a challenge beyond recreational diving, learn to dive with gas blends, plan and carry out deeper dives.
Why DSAT Tec 40?
For serious divers looking to explore San Andres`s reef to depths and times beyond the recreational limits, DSAT Tec40 is the place to start! Be among the first to safely explore the secrets of San Andres's deep coral walls with up to 10 mins of deco to 40m/130ft with a single decompression cylinder with up to 50% 02.
DSAT Tec 40
Course details
- Duration: 4 days
- Course Price $ 2.500.000 COP
Prerequisites
- Age 18
- PADI Advanced Open Water
- PADI Enriched Air Nitrox Diver
- PADI Deep Diver
- 30 logged dives
- 10 logged dives on EANx deeper than 18m/60ft
- 15 logged dives deeper than 30m/100ft
- Physical fitness to support 50kg/110lbs of equipment
What will I do?
The Tec40 course is your introduction to the world of Tec diving. In this course you will learn how to adjust and configure a technical rig for correct fit. Whilst we do have rental equipment available, you are best advised to bring your own equipment or buy a rig from us for your training. This ensures that you will be training in the equipment you will use after the course; thereby getting the most out of our guidance and experience in adjusting it to fit you perfectly (this takes hours, not minutes!). We have selection equipment from Dive rite and Oxycheq available for sale at excellent prices.
Once you have been oriented to your equipment and it has been adjusted, we will spend time in the classroom discussing the new challenges and procedures you will be facing as a technical diver. Planning a technical dive involves using decompression software, paying attention to detail, preparation time, and patience. A significant part of the classroom time is spent training you to use this software, and helping you get the most out of your computer. One of the biggest differences between recreational and technical diving is the need to plan your gas consumption during a dive since running out of gas on a decompression dive is not an option! You will also be learning new procedures and checklists which are used before and during the dive to ensure you remain safe when switching gasses and performing decompression stops.
There are four dives in the Tec 40 course; each dive builds upon the skills learned previously in the course. Each dive will take you progressively deeper as you get more familiar with the new equipment and procedures.
Dive 1 will be conducted in the confined water, or a nearby shallow dive site. With warm crystal clear water we will have all the time we need to introduce you to the equipment and practice the basic procedures you will use on every dive you do as a Tec Diver. You will handle multiple tanks, start calculating your gas consumption rate, practice out-of-air emergencies, refine your weighting and buoyancy control and start learning how to deal with valve or regulator failures. You will also learn how to deploy a lift bag and perform a simulated decompression stop.
Dive 3 takes you deeper still and continues building on the skills from Dives 1 and 2. On this dive we are looking to see that you are mastering the skills that you have been learning previously. Exercises introduced in the previous dives should be performed quickly and efficiently.
Dive 2 will take place at a shallow open water dive site. On this dive you will continue practicing many of the skills from dive one, but with a greater focus on calculating your air consumption rate. We will also start testing your time, depth and gas awareness. Technical diving involves constant alertness to potential problems by monitoring multiple gauges; it is this type of awareness that would stop a minor issue from becoming a major emergency.
Dive 4 to a maximum of 40m/130ft, will take you beyond no decompression limits. For the first time you will have a real decompression obligation, which means keeping a cool head and using the skills and awareness you have developed in the previous training dives.
What do I need to start?
You need to be 18 years of age or older and PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certified (or an equivalent certification from another organization). You also need to be PADI Enriched Air Nitrox certified (or qualifying certification from another organization) and have the PADI Deep Diver Specialty. You will also need proof of 30 logged dives, with 10 dives to at least 30m/100ft, and 10 dives on EANx to at least 18m/60ft.
Any of these certifications can be completed at the dive shop. Contact us about Nitrox/Deep/Tec packages available.
How long will it take?
The DSAT Tec40 course generally takes 4 days.
What do I earn?
You will be certified as a DSAT Tec40 Diver, which allows you to use decompression software and dive computers to plan and execute decompression dives with not more than 10 minutes of total decompression, to a maximum depth of 40 meters/130 feet, and use a single cylinder of decompression gas up to 50% oxygen to add conservatism to the required decompression.
Where can I go from here?
Deeper! DSAT Tec 45 expands your knowledge and your tec diving range. Take the next step!
Why DSAT Tec 45?
The DSAT Tec45 course is the next step to advance your Tec training after the DSAT Tec40 course. In this course you will start diving beyond recreational depth and time limits as well as using a decompression cylinder with 100% O2 for accelerated decompression. If you did your DSAT Tec40 training in a single tank configuration, DSAT Tec45 will also introduce you to the use of multiple tanks.
DSAT Tec 45
Course details
- Duration: 4 days
- Course Price $ 2.500.000 COP
Prerequisites
- Age 18
- DSAT Tec40 (or qualifying certification)
- PADI Rescue Diver (or qualifying certification)
- Emergency First Response or current CPR/First aid (within 24 months)
- 50 logged dives
- 12 dives on EANx deeper than 18m/60ft
- 6 dives deeper than 30m/100ft
What do I need to start?
You need to be 18 years of age or older, PADI Rescue Diver certified (or an equivalent certification from another organization), EFR trained (within the last 24 months), and have completed DSAT Tec40 (or an equivalent certification from another organization). You will also need proof of 50 logged dives, 6 of which should be to 30m/100ft or deeper, and 12 dives on EANx to at least 18m/60ft.
How long will it take?
The course generally takes 4 days.
What do I earn?
You will be certified as a DSAT Tec 45 Diver, which allows you to use decompression software and dive computers to plan and execute decompression dives to a maximum depth of 45 meters/145 feet, and use a single cylinder of decompression gas up to 100% O2 to accelerate decompression.
Where can I go from here?
DSAT Tec 50 and beyond! In the course, you will learn new skills, expand on your decompression options and continue to explore our unique deep walls where few divers have had the opportunity to venture. Contact us to arrange your training today!
What will I do?
Dive 1 is conducted at a shallow open water dive site. If it has been a while since your last Tec dive this will refresh your Tec skills in a safe and controlled environment. If you are coming straight from the Tec40 course or you have recently executed Tec dive, it is still important to carry out the dive at a shallow depth due to the complexity of the new skills being introduced - especially those skills relating to buoyancy issues. This will be a long dive, meaning that shallow depths are required to ensure adequate gas supply.
Dive 2 will get you more familiar with the skills from Dive 1 at a greater depth. During this dive we will start to test you with 'problem scenarios', not only to ensure your continued mastery of the motor skills you have learned previously, but also to test that your decision-making reactions are the correct and quick enough. Most of these surprises will consist of simulated equipment failures.
Dive 3 further increases the depth and the complexity of the problem scenarios, with the added challenge of gas narcosis. At this point, we want to see you continue making the right decisions, staying aware, and responding promptly when problems arise. By the end of this dive you should also have a very accurate idea of your surface air consumption (SAC) rate for the working part of the dive and during decompression.
Dive 4 for will take you deeper than you have ever gone before! Using a single stage cylinder of EANx or O2, we will dive to 45m/145ft, with a full decompression schedule. This dive is usually made at the point of the island, where we will explore a deep ledge that is well known for hammerhead sightings.
Why DSAT Tec 50?
The DSAT Tec50 course continues building on the skills learned in the DSAT Tec40 and DSAT Tec45 courses. In this course you will be handling more equipment and going even deeper than before. As with the previous two courses we start in shallow water, reacquainting you with Tec diving if it has been a while since your last dive. Then we will introduce the skills needed to handle two decompression gases, advancing from the single decompression gas from DSAT Tec40 and DSAT Tec45. In this course you will go to a maximum depth of 50m/165ft.
DSAT Tec 50
Course details
- Duration: 4 days
- Course Price $ 2.500.000 COP
Prerequisites
- Age 18
- DSAT Tec 45
- PADI Rescue Diver
- Emergency First Response or current CPR/First aid (within 24 months)
- 100 logged dives
- 20 dives on EANx deeper than 18m/60ft
- 15 logged dives deeper than 30m/100ft
What do I need to start?
You need to be 18 years of age or older, PADI Rescue Diver certified (or an equivalent certification from another organization), CPR/First Aid trained (within the last 24 months), and have completed DSAT Tec40 (or an equivalent certification from another organization). You will also need proof of 100 logged dives, 15 of which should be to 30m/100ft or deeper, and 20 dives on EANx to at least 18m/60ft.
How long will it take?
The course generally takes 4 days.
What do I earn?
You will be certified as a DSAT Tec50 Diver, which allows you to use decompression software and dive computers to plan and execute full accelerated decompression dives to a maximum depth of 50 meters/165 feet, and use two decompression gas cylinders up to 100% O2.
Where can I go from here?
DSAT Tec Trimix65 and DSAT Tec Trimix. Building on the skills that you have learned in the DSAT Tec50 course, getting your buoyancy control very precise, you will extend your decompression options with the addition of Helium. In the course you will learn about some of the added concerns with using Helium as a breathing gas. Deeper still!
What will I do?
Dive 1 will be at a shallow open water dive site, where we will be working on the weighting adjustments that you are likely to need in order to carry two decompression cylinders, and manage those buoyancy changes throughout the dive. Cylinders become gradually more buoyant as you breathe the gas, so the more tanks you take, the greater the change in your buoyancy profile as the dive progresses. Learning to deal with these changes is a key focus in dive one of the Tec50 course, as depth errors on decompression stops are not an option. This becomes increasingly difficult when donning and staging the tanks underwater and at the surface.
Dive 2 will continue testing your ability to handle multiple cylinders and start dealing with more problem scenarios based on realistic equipment failures. We also starting working on sending emergency signals to the surface, and planning realistic missions - going to greater depths just for the sake of it isn't a good enough reason!
In Dives 3 and 4 we move into full accelerated decompression dives to a depth of 50m/165ft. By this stage your skills, awareness and reactions have been honed enough to handle demanding deep dives. Typically we will do at least one if not both these dives around the Remolcador Wreck. This is a dive site that is only accessible to Tec divers, so you will be one of the few to have seen it up close! With enough bottom time to enjoy a good tour of the wreck and surrounding deep walls, the deco obligations will be a challenge you are ready for
Tec Sidemount Diver
Course details
- Duration: 4 days
- Course Price $ 2.500.000 COP
Prerequisites
- Age 18
- Emergency First Response or current CPR/First aid (within 24 months)
- 30 logged dives
- Nitrox diver certification
