DSAT Tec 50

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.

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.

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

¿Cuánto tiempo se tarda?

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!