Wreck Diving Certification

If you go to my blog on Scuba Diving - Learn to Dive Safe, you will see I have done 3 basic classes on Wreck diving. How to Evaluate, navigate, map, penetrate, and special considerations. Todays class in just on what doe it take to be a certified wreck diver for PADI.

As with most PADI classes you will get your course book with the associated DVD. It would be wise to read the text, watch the DVD, and do the required knowledge reviews before you do the dives. Some shops will have a brief class to discuss the material and go over the answers to the reviews.

After the book work it is time to do the required dives, There are 3 dives that must be completed prior to certification. I will go through each dive briefly.

DIVE 1

This dive could be part of the Advanced dive certification. On this dive, you simply will dive on the wreck and do an overview, This will be on the exterior of the wreck. Get the general feel of the wreck, how is it sitting, and where are the hazards. In other words, just have fun diving a wreck. Watch the aquatic life that lives there. During this dive practice avoiding silting. Learn to navigate on a wreck by following the wrecks features (layout), feature references, and base line references.

DIVE 2

Now we start to do some work on this dive. Go to my blog on Scuba diving yo learn more about this. On this dive you will navigate and map the wreck. Look to areas that you can penetrate later. Assess for stability. Look for possible hazards, points of interest, and general condition. Two Benefits to map a wreck are to simiply future dives and to help plan for a possible penetration of the wreck.

DIVE 3

First you will practice how to use the penetration line on the surface. Then when you do the dive you will use the penetration lines along the outside of the wreck. This way you see how to handle the lines underwater. Swim out from the wreck and use the line as a retrieval line. Swim along the lines using your lights. Need to see how you handle all the gear at one time.

DIVE 4

This dive can either be a tour wreck dive or a penetration dive. Some wrecks you dive on can not be penetrated. So you do not need to penetrate to get the certification. But It is nice if you could penetrate a wreck under the supervision of an instructor.

You need to learn how to avoid the 5 hazards of a wreck: This is why special wreck training in essential:
1. Loss of direction
2. No direct access to the surface
3. Restricted passages
4. Falling objects
5. Silt


Once you have completed all 4 dives, and the knowledge reviews, then you will awarded the Wreck Diver Certification.

Wreck Diving Limits - Are You Diving to the Limits ?

When we talk about penetrating a wreck we, as divers, are always interested in the light we will have inside. Some of the light comes from the surface in the form of ambient (sun) light, while we provide other light from the dive lights we carry. Remember you should always carry one primary and at least 1, of possible 2 back up lights. The more backup lights the better.

During this blog we will talk about the limits established for diving in overhead environments. Here we are talking about a wreck, but it could, and does cross over to diving in a cave. In the near future I will have on my talkshoe show # 20348, Ron Carmichael who is an expert in training divers to dive in a cave. Look for dates of that interview in an upcoming blog and talkcast.

There are at least three limits we must observe.

1. Edge of light zone
When you enter the wreck and look back you will see some light, that is the ambient light coming from the surface/ Stay within this light that is available. Meaning that you should not penetrate if you can no longer see this light. If the dive is murky, then there will be less natural light entering the wreck. This also means, of course, that you should not make a penetration dive at night.

2. Linear distances of 40 meters /130 feet
In open water per PADI guidelines, a diver should not dive deeper than 40 meters / 130 feet. This is of course the recreational safe limits. There are courses that teach divers to dive deeper, but only attempt that under a certified instructor. Similarly, your maximum distance from the surface when penetrating a wreck should not exceed this same distance. This means that the depth of the wreck and penetration distance should not exceed 130 feet.

3. One third of your air supply
Whenever you dive in an overhead environment you dive and exit the wreck with 2/3 air and this includes the time it takes to surface. Simply put it this way, 1/3 to dive and go into the wreck, 1/3 to exit and go to the surface and 1/3 reserve.

This is known as the "Rule of Thirds". Saving two thirds of your air for exiting gives you more than of the most important factor you need to handle a problem inside a wreck: time.

You do not have to surface with 1/3 air, just exit the wreck with the air. You can dive around the wreck till an appropriate time to surface as you would if in open water. If diving deep, make sure you give yourself time to do a 15 feet stop for 3 minutes, ie a safety stop.