PADI wreck speciality

[trewbs]

I am thinking of doing the PADI wreck speciality course and was wondering what it consists of. I am very interested in getting involved in serious wreck diving, would this be a good course to start with?

Any comments or experiences gratefully received.

T

 

[Lemonade]

Very basic introduction to wreck diving - some pointers on assessing the wreck, reel use, some other techniques and highlights.

The most useful thing I gained from this class is being aware of how dangerous wreck diving can be unless you have necessary skills, plan and equipment.

 

[SCDiver]

I have done 3 of the 4 wreck dives to complete my PADI Specialty in Wreck Diving. The first dive was just a orientation to wreck diving, some of the generic do's and don'ts. The second dive was to familiarize myself more with the wreck, remembering key points and doing an external drawing of the wreck on my slate. The third wreck diving I had to again do a drawing with the inclusion of minor peneration and drawing what I saw there. Normally, this is the dive where you get some reel experience, however my instructor was also my cavern specialty instructor, so we jsut reviewed this more to refirm that I could do a knowledge dump of knowledge use.

The fourth wreck to complete will be somewhat of a full penetration with reels, lites, drawings, etc. so my instructor is very intense on knowing all the safety parameters.

One point of advice.... If you plan to penetrate a lot of wrecks, I would highly recommend the cavern specialty as well, simply because wrecks are confined spaces like caverns, and that course teaches you an enormous amount about reels, lites, safety, silt effects and prevention, moving through confined space with little disruption to the evironment.

Hope this in soime way helps....

 

[SubMariner]

One point of advice.... If you plan to penetrate a lot of wrecks, I would highly recommend the cavern specialty as well, simply because wrecks are confined spaces like caverns, and that course teaches you an enormous amount about reels, lites, safety, silt effects and prevention, moving through confined space with little disruption to the evironment.

Actually, a properly taught Wreck Specialty includes all that, plus what has already been discussed.

Don't forget that not all wreck diving is penetration diving. Some cannot safely be penetrated, so we have to admire them from outside.

Needless to say, the more you do a particular type of diving, the more you learn.

~SubMariner~

 

[trewbs]

thanks for all your help guys. I'm enjoying some unseasonally hot weather at the moment, just thought i'd let you know.

 

[MikeFerrara]

SubMariner once bubbled...


Actually, a properly taught Wreck Specialty includes all that, plus what has already been discussed.

Don't forget that not all wreck diving is penetration diving. Some cannot safely be penetrated, so we have to admire them from outside.

Needless to say, the more you do a particular type of diving, the more you learn.

~SubMariner~

But...for what ever reason the wreck specialty does NOT include air sharing touch contact line drills or no vis line drills like a cavern class does. A situation that would require these skills is even more likely in a wreck than in a cavern.

The requirements of a PADI wreck class don't give much more than lip service to antisilting techniques. NOT a good thing to skip. An instructor at least is required to be a cave diver to teach cavern. That isn't true for wreck so there isn't any reason to believe that the instructor has training or experience in penetration techniques.

 

[SubMariner]

The requirements of a PADI wreck class don't give much more than lip service to antisilting techniques.

As with any course, it depends on local conditions and how much the Instructor is willing to put into the dives. Since our most of our diving experience comes from cold, low vis Canadian waters, we naturally reinforce anti-silting techniques.

I can't speak to what other Instructors do.

~SubMariner~

 

[MikeFerrara]

SubMariner once bubbled...


As with any course, it depends on local conditions and how much the Instructor is willing to put into the dives. Since our most of our diving experience comes from cold, low vis Canadian waters, we naturally reinforce anti-silting techniques.

I can't speak to what other Instructors do.

~SubMariner~

Certainly a good instructor will teach a good class. My only point was that IMO, in this case the course requirements don't insist on it. I think there are many instructors rated to teach this class who probably shouldn't attempt to teach in an overhead. I know it's true because I was one of them. LOL. I had no real training or experience in working with lines/reels and yet was able to teach this class.

Technically you can't add the cavern line drills to a wreck class. If I had to teach this course now, since I am a caver instructor I would have the student sign up (do releases) for a cavern class and do the OW line work. If they didn't want the cavern cert they could drop out of the cavern class and do their wreck class. That way I would be teaching cavern skills in a cavern class and all would be legal and I would be able to sleep at night.

 

[pdoege]

I don't know about the PADI version.

The SSI version, as I was instructed, consisted of 2 dives and some book work.

No anti-silt, reels, or contact communication. Pretty much a waste of time and money.

There may be SSI instructors that do a better/more thorough job out there somewhere.

IMHO,
Peter