PADI Specialties
Do you enjoy a certain type of dive more than others, or maybe you want to learn more about a certain style of diving, or possibly you just want to develop your existing dive skills and repertoire making you a better all round diver - if any of the above is true about you then you should investigate the PADI Specialty courses. All of the courses are taught by instructors who have proven experience and a passion for that area of diving and with a wide range of courses to choose from there is definitely something for everyone. Have a look at the exciting alternatives below and open your eyes to further possibilities in the underwater world:
PADI Specialty courses offer you the opportunity to increase your knowledge and experience in specific areas of diving. With courses ranging from Underwater Naturalist to Wreck Diving, a specialty course can open your eyes to aspects of diving you never dreamed existed. We can offer specialty licenses covering a broad range of subjects taught by instructors who have proven their expertise in each area. Choose from the list of exciting alternatives below:
Deep Diving Specialty
Want to go deeper – learn how to safely plan and explore the deeper sites of our underwater world. This is a comprehensive course that covers everything that you need to know about taking your diving literally to the next level. Areas covered include specialist equipment preparation, dive planning and the benefits of multi-level diving for us as we go deeper. As many of the best dive sites on utila and throughout the world allow for deeper exploration the Deep diving Speciality equips you with all the knowledge and know-how to do so in a safe controlled and of course fun way!
Learn how to plan and run deep dives safely. This course deals with everything you need to know, from special equipment considerations to nitrogen narcosis. The deep diving specialty is ideal preparation for wrecks like the SS Thistlegorm. This is in fact a very useful speciality as any dive below 18 metres is considered a deep dive. The depth of normal leisure dives often exceeds 18 metres, at least for a portion of the dive.
Night Diving Specialty
Intriqued by what happens to the reef at night, do the fish sleep and what wakes up? Well then the Night Diving Speciality course is a must for you. During this course you will learn techniques in how to communicate and navigate with reduced visibility. As well as increasing your knowledge with regard to the nocturnal happenings on the reef, you will also learn the special procedures necessary for planning and running a night dive. You will definitely look at the reef in a different light after this!
An introduction to underwater nightlife, the night diving specialty covers techniques for communication and navigation in limited visibility, as well as the special procedures necessary for planning and running night dives. A night dive specialty will give you the opportunity to see the reef life in a different light.
Naturalist
One of the most popular courses for both divers and instructors, and no its not nude diving! Within this comprehensive course your understanding of the reef and it amazing ecosystem will blow your mind. No dive will ever be the same again, once you learn about the complex relationship of all the organisms that you see and even those that you don’t see or didn’t even no existied. A course that can be completed in just one day over two dives will be the beginning of a contuning search for
This is one of the most popular courses among our instructors, and will open your eyes to the flora and fauna of the Red Sea in a way you would not have dreamed possible. You will learn about the marine ecosystem, the life cycle of the coral reef, and discover relationships between the different creatures that you never knew existed. The underwater naturalist specialty will give you a new perspective on diving and increase your appreciation of the underwater environment.
Enriched Air/Nitrox Specialty
Ever felt like you want to stay down for longer but restricted due to no decompression time. With the enriched air/nitrox course you can. How? Due to enriched air having a higher concentration of oxygen our bodies absorb lower amounts of nitrogen than diving with ordinary air which in turn increases our NDL. Of course there are limitations but you will learn all about these during your course as well as learning how to plan and conduct enriched air dives, how to analyze the contents of your tank and how and why we record this information. This course has a minimum age requirement of 15 years.
With enriched air/nitrox you can dive more safely and for longer (subject to certain limits, of course!), since your body absorbs less nitrogen than when diving with air. The course takes 1 day, and can be done on the dive boat. You will learn how to plan and conduct enriched air dives, analyse the oxygen content of your tank, complete a fill log and rent nitrox tanks. You will make two dives using nitrox. Your Specialty certification allows you to dive with nitrox worldwide. Minimum age 15 years.
Digital Underwater Photography Specialty - NEW!
A brand new course developed by PADI to capture those amazing underwater moments that you just don’t want to forget. Taking pictures has never been easier thanks to digital technology and now with this specialty course which is designed to show you how you can get the best result while shooting under the sea. The course also includes how computer technology can make your good pictures even better with the aid of desktop programs such as Photoshop – and before you ask, no, it’s not cheating! The bonus of this course is that it is not restricted to just the divers snorkerlers can also reap the benefits!
This course enables you to get good underwater photos, faster! You will learn how to take full advantage of digital technology to capture the underwater world with your camera and computer. The course takes 1 day, with two dives. It covers cameras and housings, underwater photography techniques, and making the most of your pictures on a computer. This Specialty is also open to snorkellers.
