PADI TEC REC Courses
The PADI Tec courses is where you transition from recreational scuba diving to technical diving. Tec 40 is the place to start because it’s the first subdivision of the full PADI Tec Diver course and bridges the gap between no stop diving and full technical deep decompression diving.
Technical (tec) diving means going beyond recreational scuba diving limits. But, tec divers will tell you that it’s really about the challenge and adventure of exploring places that no one else has ever seen. Tec diving is not for everyone, but it does attract experienced divers who want to go beyond their current limits and are willing to accept the added risks, training, investment and commitment it demands. If this is you, then PADI TecRec courses are your ticket to extreme adventure.
What is technical diving?
Technical scuba diving involves going beyond recreational scuba diving limits and includes one or more of the following:
- Diving beyond 40 metres/130 feet
- Required stage decompression
- Diving in an overhead environment beyond 40 linear metres/130 linear feet of the surface
- Accelerated decompression and/or the use of variable gas mixtures during the dive
- Use of extensive equipment and technologies
- In technical diving the surface is often inaccessible in an emergency, so tec divers use extensive procedures, equipment and training to manage the added risks and potential hazards. Although founded on extensive open-circuit scuba technology, tec diving has been revolutionised by the development, availability and reliability of closed circuit rebreathers (CCRs). CCRs have numerous benefits and provide tec divers with significantly more time underwater.
You 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, then as you move up through the course, tec 45, tec 50 and tec 65 trimix.
To enroll in the Tec 40 course, you must be:
A PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
A PADI Enriched Air Diver with at least 10 dives using enriched air deeper than 18 metres/60 feet
A PADI Deep Diver or proof of at least 10 dives to 30 metres
At least 18 years old and have a minimum of 30 logged dives
The Tec courses consists of knowledge development sections, practical application sessions and training dives.
You must complete each course before being able to move onto the next one.
The theory sessions will be at the centre on a week day. There will then be pool session on a Saturday alongside open water dives either at NDAC or Malta.
Discover Tec course:
Curious about technical (tec) diving, but not sure about jumping into a course? Discover Tec is a short confined water experience that allows you to give technical diving a try. You get to wear all the extra tec diving gear and take it for a test dive. Your PADI Tec Instructor may introduce a few basic skills, such as primary to secondary regulator switch and gas shutdown procedures. If you’re interested in tec diving and are a PADI Open Water Diver, at least 18 years old, and have a minimum of 10 logged dives, you qualify for Discover Tec.
Your PADI Tec Instructor will explain the equipment you’ll use and go over basic tec diving procedures, such as the importance of diving in teams. You’ll get in the water, make gear adjustments, then simply explore and get a feel for the equipment. Discover Tec may credit toward the Tec 40 course if you successfully complete the Tec 40 Training Dive One required skills. Ask your instructor about this option if you’re interested.
Tec 40
The PADI Tec 40 course is where you transition from recreational scuba diving to technical diving. It’s a great place to start because it’s the first subdivision of the full PADI Tec Diver course and bridges the gap between no stop diving and full technical deep decompression diving. You 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. The Tec 40 course consists of three knowledge development sections, three practical application sessions and four training dives. You’ll learn about:
You will learn technical diving’s risks and responsibilities. Technical diving equipment, proper rigging and set up. Gas planning, oxygen limits and decompression planning. Team diving techniques and emergency procedures, such as dealing with free flows, manifold leaks and out of gas situations
Tec 45
The PADI Tec 45 course is the second part of the full PADI Tec Deep Diver program. You’ll extend your depth limit to 45 metres/145 feet and learn to plan and execute repetitive decompression dives using a single stage/decompression cylinder. It puts you in a complete tec diving rig, which can be either backmount or sidemount. You’ll also make accelerated decompression dives using EANx or pure oxygen. This is a course where you’ll rise to the challenge and make the commitment to become a technical diver.
Your Tec 45 training consists of three knowledge development sections, three practical application sessions and four open water dives. Building on what you learned in the Tec 40 course, you focus on the function and maintenance of tec diving equipment and associated issues. You continue fine-tuning gas planning and calculating accelerated decompression stops. Plus, you learn to think like a technical diver.
Tec 50
Part 3 of the full PADI Tec Deep Diver program. Develop competency & have the skills to dive to a max of 50 metres/165 ft. Learn how to extend & accelerate decompression stops using up to 2 gases. The third part of the full PADI Tec Deep Diver program is Tec 50. As a Tec 50 diver, you show that you’ve developed competency as a tec diver and have the skills to dive to a maximum of 50 metres/165 feet. You know how to make extended, accelerated decompression stops using up to two gases. It’s not easy to reach this level and earning your Tec 50 certification opens the door to deeper diving expeditions.
The Tec 50 course includes two knowledge development sections, three practical application sessions and four open water dives. A primary focus of this course is mission planning and execution. You also learn more about handling emergencies and how to think like a technical diver.
Tec 65
If you’re into technical diving then you know that to extend your depth range you need to use trimix – a blend of helium, oxygen and nitrogen. The Tec Trimix 65 course introduces you to using trimix down to a maximum depth of 65 metres/210 feet. There are advantages to using three gases, but you need to know how to do it right. Earning the Tec Trimix 65 certification makes deeper exploration a reality. You will learn trimix diving depth ranges. Exposure planning. Selecting a mix. Argon inflation systems. Handling three or four decompression cylinders. Decompression models. Emergency procedures. Decompression software and multi-gas computers
Tec Trimix
Ready for the outer edge of technical diving? The Tec Trimix Diver course takes experienced tec divers and turns them into extreme divers who go deeper and visit pristine sites where few others will ever go. During the course, you’ll make dives as deep as 90 metres/300 feet, but once you earn this tough certification, there are few limits. Your training teaches you to build experience gradually and you do it because you’ve made it this far and have more exploring to do. The Tec Trimix Diver course emphasizes mission application gas selection options, especially deco gases. Bubble models and deep stops. Using multigas trimix computers. Handling up to four stage/deco cylinders.
Tec Sidemount
If you’ve looked into technical diving, you realize that tec divers always wear more than one tank. Sidemount is an increasingly popular way to configure multiple cylinders for technical diving. You can enter the world of tec diving with the Tec Sidemount Diver course and apply what you learn to other TecRec courses. Your instructor may offer to integrate this course with the Tec 40, Tec 45 or Tec 50 courses. If you’re a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, at least 18 years old and have a minimum of 30 logged dives, you qualify to enroll in a Tec Sidemount Diver course. It’s recommended that you also have a PADI Enriched Air Diver certification.
You’ll learn about the advantages of diving with a sidemount configuration and how to set up a tec sidemount harness. You’ll get hands-on training during one confined water session and four open water dives where you’ll start with two tanks and add at least two more, maybe even getting to six sidemounted cylinders.
DSAT Gas Blender
The PADI Enriched Air Diver course is the most popular diver speciality course and the number of technical divers is on the rise, which means that lots of scuba divers want enriched air and gas blends. The Tec Gas Blender course teaches you to blend enriched air nitrox. Being the blender is a key job at a busy PADI Dive Center or Resort and your work allows other divers to do what they love to do – scuba dive. If you’re a PADI Enriched Air Diver and are at least 18 years old, you can enroll in a Tec Gas Blender course.
The Tec Gas Blender course includes three practical application sessions, but no dives. During independent study and instructor-led review, you learn about the advantages and disadvantages of different blending methodologies. To blend enriched air and Trimix to within one percent of the target mix. About the potential hazards related to handling oxygen, and how to manage those risks. To demonstrate the steps for oxygen cleaning equipment, along with the requirements for oxygen service.
Have a look if we have any dates for courses coming up by viewing our calendar.