Dive Specialties

[Mikiko]

I was wondering if you could, which 5 specialty courses you would choose and why:
If you have any specialty courses which ones do you have and which would you choose next.
Thank you for you time.

 

[Warren_L]

It all depends on the type of diving you want to do. What someone else does may hardly be relevant to you and your type of diving. I'm assuming you are referring to the PADI specialties?

For me, I do a lot of cold water wreck diving, which of course is pretty prevalent in Ontario. For this, I've done deep, drysuit, night and nitrox. I think that pretty well sums it up. As far as the other specialties, well, whatever fits best with your dive plans.

 

[Chris Red]

My guess is you're thinking about your first 5 specialties, because curiosity might just catch up with you

For my first 5 I chose Night, Wreck, Equipment Specialist, Drift and Nitrox, but I'll be taking more... like drysuit, underwater naturalist and who knows.

I was looking for specialties that would complement my interests; wreck diving and night diving, but the more I dive the more interests I develop... like fish identification would lead to photography, and wreck might lead to marine archeology.

I found taking the specialty courses was fun and a chance to meet other divers which leads more diving and ...
Well you get the picture.

 

[FreeFloat]

I'm only Open Water qualified, so I have yet to take the Advanced course or any specialties. Woo hoo! I'm already looking forward to them!

I think I'd be most interested in wreck, night, drift, multi-level, and nav.

Especially useful for my are would be the wreck and drift, and as for night - well, I enjoy sailing my boat by day, and I enjoy sailing my boat by night - but they're COMPLETELY DIFFERENT experiences - and I can't wait to see how different diving by night will be!

 

[Warren_L]

Night diving - it will be a whole new world, Freefloat. Nothing like you've seen before.

 

[dutchfin]

Like it was said before, it all depends on the type of diving you plan on doing. Personaly myself, I believe Peak Performance Buoyancy and Navigation are key ones. Gives you a sense of where you are in the water column, and helps lower stress levels by giviong you the confidence of being able to find your way back to your entry point..........

 

[Kevin R]

I would call NTD in Kingston and book yourself on a DIRF course vs. the peak perf. buoyancy course. You'll learn much more than just buoyancy as it also covers buddy skills, dive planning, equipment selection, etc. This will make you much more comfortable in the water and save you money over taking multiple "speciality courses"

Kevin

 

[divemed06]

I'd go with...

Rescue...always good to have
Drift....funnest way to dive
Navigation...makes diving more enjoyable and safe
Wreck...wreck capital of the world
Search and Recovery...fun course
Night...increase diving opportunities
PPB...good buoyancy makes things so much simpler


....taking a specialty course is lots of fun and you CAN learn alot...just make sure that you choose an instructor that isn't just teaching what is required for the cert card...example, an instructor who tells you "I only need to see this skill /rescue once" is most likely not going to provide you with a positive learning experience. Get your money's worth. Best of luck.

 

[Chris Red]

As Warren noted

It all depends on the type of diving you want to do. What someone else does may hardly be relevant to you and your type of diving. I'm assuming you are referring to the PADI specialties?

If you are following the PADI path then 5 specialties will lead you to Master Diver (on top of AOW & Rescue).

The Advanced includes buoyancy and navigation components, as well as some of the others. Taking the specialties reinforces and builds on those skills... Something to consider after taking the Advanced.

 

[TimUK]

Like all the other replies......depends what you want to get into.

For me it was UK diving, sea and inland.

Dry suit
Peak performance bouyancy
Enriched Air Nitrox
Deep
Navigation

Remember you don't have to stop at just five.


Good luck