Technical Courses

Who Should Take this 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.

What will you learn?

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.

The scuba gear you will use

You’ll want to have your mask, fins and exposure suit. Your PADI Tec Instructor will have the technical diving equipment, including but not limited to – two tanks, primary and backup regulators, and technical diving BCD and harness or sidemount harness.

Prerequisites:

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.

Course Dates: Scheduled course dates can be found on our training calendar. We also schedule classes on demand, so if you don't see something that works for your schedule, please contact us to see if we can work something out for you. 

Course Locations: ​This is a short confined water session in the pool.  Pool sessions will either occur at our on-site pool or at the Edward T. Hall Aquatic Center. 

​Course Fee: $295.00

If you're interested in technical diving, but haven't yet met the prerequisites for the PADI Tec 50 Diver course or PADI Tec 45 course, you can consider enrolling in the PADI Tec 40 course. It is the first subdivision of the full PADI Tec Deep Diver course and consists of the first four dives. Because you can do one of these dives in confined water (such as a swimming pool), many divers start the Tec 40 courses in the winter months, ready to continue in open water when spring arrives.

The Learning Materials you will need:

You'll use the Tec Deep Diver Crew-Pak, which introduces you to 

- tec diving lingo
- emergency procedures
- decompression and stage cylinder handling
- gas planning 

The pak includes a manual, dive planning checklist and dive planning slate. The optional Equipment Set-up and Key Skills video on DVD is a great tool to help you practice at home in between your tec diving adventures. You'll continue to use the Tec Deep Diver Crew-Pak through Tec 50. Contact us to order your materials.

The scuba gear you will use:

You use recreational scuba equipment, with some minor additions to enhance your ability to deal with tec diving conditions. Southern Maryland Divers can provide you with all the gear requirements needed for this course via rentals, or gear purchases. 
Gear Requirements for this course can be found HERE.

Prerequisites:

- Be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Be a PADI Enriched Air Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Be a PADI Deep Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Have a minimum of 30 logged dives, of which at least 10 dives were made with enriched air nitrox deeper than 18 metres / 60 feet.
- Have a medical form signed by your physician 

Course fee: $695.00

**Course cost includes instruction and certification card upon successful completion. Students are responsible for books, all gear, boat charter fees, gasses, quarry entry fees, and travel associated with the class**

The Tec 45 course picks up where Tec 40 leaves off and takes your training as a tec diver further and deeper. It is the second sub-course in the full PADI Tec Diver course.

The learning materials you will need:

You'll use the Tec Deep Diver Crew-Pak, which introduces you to 

- tec diving lingo
- emergency procedures
- decompression and stage cylinder handling
- gas planning 

The pak includes a manual, dive planning checklist and dive planning slate. The optional Equipment Set-up and Key Skills video on DVD is a great tool to help you practice at home in between your tec diving adventures. You'll continue to use the Tec Deep Diver Crew-Pak through Tec 50. Contact us to order your materials.

You will learn to:

- The skills and equipment and planning need to dive to a maximum of 45 metres/145 feet
- The knowledge to plan and execute single and repetitive decompression dives using a single stage cylinder of EANx or oxygen to accelerate or add conservatism to the decompression stops.
- There would be no time limit to amount of decompression
- Prepare for and respond to foreseeable technical diving emergencies
- Master the basic skills and procedures you will need as you move into deeper technical diving

The scuba gear you will use:

You will use basic tec diving equipment. Southern Maryland Divers can provide you with all the gear requirements needed for this course via rentals, or gear purchases. 
Gear Requirements for this course can be found HERE

Please contact us about gear requirements as we offer discounts to our students on gear purchases. 

Prerequisites:

- Be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- A PADI Rescue Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Be a PADI Enriched Air Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Be a PADI Deep Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- PADI Tec 40 (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Have a minimum of 50 logged dives, of which at least:
- 12 dives were made with enriched air nitrox deeper than 18 metres/60 feet
- 6 (with or without EANx) dives were deeper than 30 metres/100 feet
- At least 18 years old
- Have a medical form signed by your physician 

Course fee: $695.00

Course cost includes instruction and certification card upon successful completion. Students are responsible for books, all gear, boat charter fees, gasses, quarry entry fees, and travel associated with the class

The Tec 50 course completes your training as an entry-level tec diver, taking you past the limits of recreational diving.

The learning materials you will need:

The Tec Deep Diver Crew-Pak, which introduces you to tec diving lingo, emergency procedures, decompression and stage cylinder handling and gas planning. The pak includes a manual, dive planning checklist and dive planning slate. The optional Equipment Set-up and Key Skills video on DVD is a great tool to help you practice at home in between your tec diving adventures. 
Contact us to order yours now! 

The pak includes a manual, dive planning checklist and dive planning slate. The optional Equipment Set-up and Key Skills video on DVD is a great tool to help you practice at home in between your tec diving adventures. You'll continue to use the Tec Deep Diver Crew-Pak through Tec 50. Contact us to order your materials.

You will learn to:

- Make actual decompression dives as deep as 50 metres/165 feet
- Use enriched air nitrox and/or oxygen for decompression
- Use desk top decompression software to create custom dive tables and plan your dives
- Qualify to make technical decompression dives independently

The Scuba Gear you will use:

You will use basic tec diving equipment. Southern Maryland Divers can provide you with all the gear requirements needed for this course via rentals, or gear purchases. 

Gear Requirements for this course can be found HERE

Please contact us about gear requirements as we offer discounts to our students on gear purchases.

Prerequisites: 

- Be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- A PADI Rescue Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Be a PADI Enriched Air Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Be a PADI Deep Diver (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- PADI Tec 45 (or hold a qualifying certification from another organization)
- Have a minimum of 100 logged dives, of which
- 20 dives must be enriched air dives
- 25 dives must be deeper than 18 metres/60 feet
- at least 20 dives must be deeper than 30 metres/100 feet
- At least 18 years old
- Have a medical form signed by your physician 

Course fee: $695.00

Course cost includes instruction and certification card upon successful completion. Students are responsible for books, all gear, boat charter fees, gasses, quarry entry fees, and travel associated with the class

Extend your depth range the right way with a blend of helium, oxygen & nitrogen (trimix). The Tec Trimix 65 course introduces you to using trimix down to a maximum depth of 65 metres/210 feet.

Course Description:

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

The scuba gear you will use:

You’ll use full technical equipment and you may use a technical sidemount configuration, plus two stage/decompression cylinders. Your Tec Trimix Instructor may suggest other equipment.

​Southern Maryland Divers can provide you with all the gear requirements needed for this course via rentals, or gear purchases. 

Gear Requirements for this course can be found HERE

Please contact us about gear requirements as we offer discounts to our students on gear purchases. 

Prerequisites:

You’re qualified to enroll in the Tec Trimix 65 course, if you:

Are a PADI Tec 50 diver
Have a minimum of 100 logged dives
Are at least 18 years old
Have a Medical Statement signed by a physician within the last 12 months

Note that qualifying certifications from other diver training organizations may apply – ask your Tec Trimix Instructor.

Course Fee: $1495.00

**Course cost includes instruction and certification card upon successful completion. Students are responsible for required course materials, all gear, boat charter fees, gasses, quarry entry fees, and travel and rental fees associated with the class.**

Want a more relaxing way to dive? Back problems keeping you from entering into the world of Technical Diving? Looking to find a way to carry more air, but don't want the hassle and cost associated with having doubles? Sidemount diving is for you! You will be issued a PADI Tec Sidemount Diver card. 

Tec Sidemount offers the same benefits as the PADI Sidemount Diver course but gives you the opportunity to dive with 2+ cylinders for extended dive times.

What you will learn:

The advantages of diving in sidemount configuration with multiple 2+ tanks 
- Gas supply and tank configuration considerations
- Streamlining
- Redundancy and more

​- What gear is used to safely use sidemount configuration
- Different configurations and safety
- How to care for the gear after it is used

​- Water entry / exit methods
- Removing and replacing tanks
- Trim consideration

The Tec Sidemount Diver course is a great way to get started into technical diving because the skills you learn in this course will train you to handle multiple cylinders on a single dive. You can combine what you learn in the Tec Sidemount Diver course with other open-circuit tec courses that you take, or certifications you’ve already earned, to take advantage of sidemount’s cylinder configuration and handling advantages.

The Gear you will need:

Because we will be tweaking your gear to your body size and this takes a considerable amount of time and effort, it is required that the student have their own sidemount BCD and stage bottle rigging. We offer these items at a discount to our students so please contact us before you purchase your gear. If you already have your own gear, we can certainly help you get streamlined and comfortable in it during your class. 

Prerequisites:

By the start of the course, a diver must be: 

1. Certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or have a qualifying certification from another training organization. In this case, a qualifying certification is defined as proof of Advanced-level scuba certification with a minimum of 25 open water dives. 

2. Be at least 18 years of age. 

3. Have logged 30 or more dives.

Course Fee: $395.00 as a standalone course - $295 as an upgrade when taken with Tec 40

**Course cost includes instruction and certification card upon successful completion. Students are responsible for books, all gear, boat charter fees, gasses, quarry entry fees, and travel associated with the class**

More people are diving with enriched air and this means the demand for enriched air fills is also increasing. 

However, there needs to be someone qualified to administer these fills to meet this demand. This is where the PADI Gas Blender course comes in. 

It can result in one of two certifications: PADI Gas Blender or PADI Trimix Blender.

What you will learn:

The Gas Blender course will train you as a qualified gas blender, allowing you to provide gas mixes to appropriately Technical scuba diving trainingcertified consumers. 

You'll learn the physical properties of oxygen, its associated hazards, handling requirements and what cleaning equipment is necessary. Finally, you will learn the five methods of obtaining the desired enriched air nitrox mix and the various methods used to obtain proper helium mixes.

The learning materials you will need:

What are the four main types of oxygen? What is oxygen clean? What are the five methods for blending Enriched Air? These questions and more are covered in the Gas Blender manual. Contact us to order your manual. 

As a gas blender you must be familiar with the physical properties of oxygen, its various forms and purities, hazards and special handling requirements. The Gas Blender Manual and CD-ROM, in conjunction with your instructor, will familiarize you with the procedures and techniques needed for gas blending.

Prerequisites: 

You must be 
- A PADI Enriched Air Diver certification (or qualifying certification from another organization)
- At least 18 years old

Southern Maryland Divers can teach this course and you will actually get to do some real blending. We can facilitate partial pressure filling, continuous mix blending, oxygen and helium boosting as well as several other methods to obtain the desired mix. Using our compressor, you get hands on experience blending real gasses, something most shops can't offer. We can offer this class just about all the time. Contact us to book your course.

Nitrox Blender Course Fee: $495.00

Trimix Blender Course Fee: $495.00

Both Nitrox and Trimix Blender as one class: $895.00

**Note** - Nitrox blender is a required prerequisite for trimix blender.